Random Manga Contest!

Update: Since only a handful of people have participated in this manga contest, I’ll be extending the entering deadline until June 6th. Get your entries in guys!

Here’s the deal: Every once in awhile, you buy a manga you already own. Sometimes you can return it to the store you bought it from, sometimes you can’t. I have about seven volumes of manga that I can’t return for various reasons. They are…

SkyBlue Shore vol. 2 by Nanpei Yamada (Hey! I worked on that one!)

Two Flowers for the Dragon vol. 5 by Nari Kusakawa

Bizenghast vol. 5 by M. Alice LeGrow

Red Hot Chili Samurai vol. 2 by Yoshitsugu Katagiri

Gakuen Alice vol. 13 by Tachibana Higuchi

Neko Ramen: Curry is also delicious! (vol. 2) by Kenji Sonishi

V.B. Rose vol. 7 by Banri Hidaka

All of these titles are from publishers that no longer exist, which renders them out of print. Which is why this is a contest and not a giveaway. None of these manga are first volumes, but they need good homes, so  you should enter if you want to fill the gaps you might have in your personal collections.

To enter, you will have to list the manga you want and why you love that series so much in the comments section below. You can only enter to win two manga. If you try to win more, all your entries will be disqualified. (And I can see your e-mail & IP addresses when you comment, so don’t try to trick me.) Each entry will be counted separately, so if one entry wins that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win both volumes the volumes you entered for. Good luck and be convincing!

Winners will be decided on Monday, June 6th and have their manga mailed to them after June 6th or whenever I get their addresses.

Disclaimer: The majority of these manga do have marks on the barcodes, covers and elsewhere because they were purchased at a closing Borders store or at the Tokyopop garage sale.

About Daniella Orihuela-Gruber

Daniella is a freelance manga editor and blogger. She likes collecting out of print manga and playing with her puppy. Yes, someone got her a puppy already.
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19 Responses to Random Manga Contest!

  1. Justin says:

    *groans* Crap, I’m at a disadvantage then! I don’t have any of those titles…

    • I won’t say you can’t enter just because you haven’t started collecting any of these series yet. (Especially since some are volume 2s.) Just make a convincing argument why you want to begin reading the series to prove that you will give the manga a loving home.

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  3. Well, since the only one of those series I actually read is Gakuen Alice I think that’s the only one I’m going to try for. I’ll admit that I’m not as passionate about the series as when I started (back when I started I loved the series enough/knew it well enough that I actually won one of the GA prize packs from Tokyopop), mostly because my local B&N hasn’t been carrying the latest volumes, but I really did like where the story was going. It had action, a backstory (that had pretty regular reveals too), a lot of the characters were likable, and I really wanted to see the story through to the end, to see Mikan and the rest of the kids manage to graduate/get out of the Academy and live happy lives. Considering how long the series is now I don’t know if that will ever happen but, considering what all of them have gone through, I really want to see them earn their happy ending.

    • Also, after reading the great House of 1000 Manga on ANN the other day I’m now curious about Two Flowers for the Dragon, although starting at volume five does not seem like the best place to start in a series.

      • With out-of-print manga, I find that the best place to start is whatever volume you can find. You just have to be patient enough to hold off reading the manga until you have the first volume.

        I hope you enter despite the fact that it’s volume 5.

  4. lys says:

    I already have every available volume of VB Rose, Gakuen Alice, and Skyblue Shore. However, I do not have Neko Ramen 2! I ordered it forever ago on TRSI, but apparently they were out of stock and then never got a copy in, and with Tokyopop’s closure they cancelled my order. I would love to have volume 2 join its three companion books on my shelf. As a cat lover and a slight foodie, I get a lot of enjoyment from the series. I can spend a long time just flipping the pages back and forth to watch the little flip-book animation at the bottoms of the pages. My brother reads and enjoys the series too—so it’d be doubly loved by us 😀

  5. Sarah Hayes says:

    Welp, why not? I see Bizenghast vol. 5 is on that list. Let me tell you something. I LOVE BIZENGHAST. I love the cast and the gorgeously gothic art and the dark humor and the story and the atmosphere and the mausoleum setting and the costumes and Dinah and her boys and even the typesetting is bloody epic. Bizenghast = the best gd OEL I have ever read. And I really really REALLY hope it gets finished in some form or I’ll be sad forever 🙁

    So yeah, Bizenghast! Is awesome. I’ve been reading it via my library but I’d love a personal copy to squee and obsess over. Thank you! ♥

    • Well, it’s probably no consolation, but I heard it’ll be finished by Tokyopop Germany. In German. Sooooooo, that’s a good excuse to become multilingual if you aren’t already? 😀

      (Just wanted to pass that info along. This isn’t any contest judging or anything like that.)

  6. I can’t say how much I love VB Rose, but I can say how much I’d LOVE to read it. I’ve heard so much about it from the likes of David Welsh, that it’s gone onto my list of OOP titles to try and find at used book stores and trading sites. But it’s so hard to find! I’d be happy to get any volume at this point, just to be able to read some part of the series while I continue to search for more.

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  9. Alex Hoffman says:

    SkyBlue Shore is probably one of the best new series that Tokyopop released in its last wave of new series before it closed. I love the subtlety of the first volume. It doesn’t push a lot of buttons, and it doesn’t wave or flail about to get your attention. It just presents a likeable cast with an intriguing plot that doesn’t try to overwork itself.

    I would happily take the 2nd volume off of your hands. 🙂

  10. Stephanie says:

    Yeah, so I know I missed the contest deadline but since I didn’t come across this post until today I thought I’d make a post and hope for the best because I’m somewhat desperate.

    I’ve been searching for the 5th volume of Two Flowers for the Dragon for a couple years now and have been coming up at dead ends. I really want to pick it up somewhere but I’m not willing to pay $100 for it on amazon or one of those other online retailers. It’s a great story and I love Kusakawa’s art. I’d appreciate it forever if I was able to get it from you. I’d even pay what you paid for it, or the cover price if you still have it.

    Hope to hear from you soon (even if it’s just to say sorry too late)

    • I’m sorry you’re late too, but I already promised it to someone else who technically entered the contest and expressed interest.

      Is Two Flowers for the Dragon really going for $100 on amazon? I’m surprised…

      • Stephanie says:

        I knew it was a long shot from the start *sigh* Thanks though for responding 🙂
        But yeah, on amazon a new copy goes from $69-148 (not incl.shipping)

        • Yikes! I’m really surprised at that. Perhaps you should consider looking in some comic book stores? I know of one (the one I got it from) that stocks some OOP manga. If you can find a place like that, perhaps you can find volume 5.

  11. frederick says:

    im too late for this …but i really love the manga, whatever genre is it may be…^^ i love reading them everytime i got a free time or even before i sleep..also i love to draw and do fan art of them…
    sky blue shore and bizenghast soounds interesting…^^

    i really love fantasy action manga like Ragnarok by lee myung-jin, because it gives me a random and vast ideas to write and draw my own manga…and maybe god-willing i can send my own manga to some publishers anywhere here and there…^^

    also love all works by yuu watase such as fushigi yuugi and sakura gari…^^ and just add ayashi no ceres in my list…^^

    yoko matsumoto’s The Stories From The Darkside….i have my own copy way back on my high school days and that day im starting to learn the manga style of my own… i found out that the engligh title is “stories from the darkside” release by kodansha comics nakayoshi in 1994…^^

    i also grew with CLAMP anime such as MKR. and card captor sakura…^^…i really love the artstyle though im a boy…it doesnt matter to me that all my friends are commenting if i am a gay…well, NO…there is no limit to art…its fun…^^

    its already late but i really love to share…well as of now i didnt have work and didnt buy a manga …i tightfisting my budget and up keepings are killing me …hahahaha.^^LOL…

    im doing a oneshot story to enter next year in kodansha manga contest^^…i hope if it is Gods will to win it…^^

    Merry christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!

    truly yours…

    frederick

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