Congratulations, reader! After so many months of miraculous recovery and therapy, caused by that horrifying incident of having your house explode via plane–sized projectiles, you are finally one hundred percent recovered! Naturally, none of this would have been possible without the medical expertise of that unlicensed doctor your friends found while surfing /b/.

Of course, all of this wouldn’t have happened if you had gotten that plane-crashing-into-house insurance in the first place.

To top it off, that strange but brilliant doctor only charged you twenty-five bucks for the entire procedure and recovery! Looks like you didn’t have to do all that fundraising after all. To celebrate your good fortune, you have decided to fulfill one of your biggest dreams, and make way to the land of the Rising Sun –Japan!

Also home to a good portion of Rule 34 contributors.

You spend your vacation having the time of your life, until one day you collapse for unknown reasons while running around in Akihabara. When you finally wake up in the hospital, a nurse and a translator are there waiting to tell you that you have developed a completely new heart condition. However, the best the hospital can do is to help pay for the flight home, due to that fact that the hospital cannot care for someone in your condition. Just before the nurse can continue another doctor rushes into the room and says:

Don’t listen to these fools; they’re towing the hospital line. Nobody wants to deal with your case because not only is it expensive, but you are a foreigner –who cares about you? But, I’d be willing to help… if you’re willing to take the risk.

And then he gives you that smile that says: “Like you have any say in the matter.”

Mother of god… Bleach, a series that has been on-going for over a decade is finally coming to an end soon! The magazine known as Weekly Shonen Jump will bee announcing on Monday that the epic series is soon coming to a close.

P.S.: Wow, I remember watching Bleach years ago. I can’t even believe it still went on for this long.

Several days ago, I celebrated my 22^nd birthday, readers. And like most birthdays, it paled in comparison to previous ones while reminding me of how much older I’ve become.

Remember this place? Remember how awesome it was? Remember how after this, every other birthday sucked?

I’m only 22 though, and even though my diet is slowly but surely making its way to a prune based end – I still have time to make something out of myself. Climb mountains, travel the world, make new discoveries, moon the social elite – because we’re all aiming for that particular trophy : “Achievement unlocked – Bucket List completed.” I’ve still got time… until I turn 28. Then I’m screwed.

Okay, I’ve already nailed number 84 - ”Dedicate my life to comics.” I’ll most likely have number 324 - “Have a respectable career” when I turn twenty-six… Probably will have to write off number 1,986 - “Turn into a jet and fly into the sun like a boss” Achievement. Awww.

Iwamaki Rikitarou has hit that point, ladies and gentlemen. At age 28 he has achieved his true goal in life – absolute freedom! Freedom to live his life any way he wants it, any way he needs it! And yet, all that freedom is failing him right now. His girlfriend is fed up with his laziness and wants to leave him, his band mates don’t respect him and to top it off his dream of becoming a rock star is all but done. (Apparently all great rock stars die between twenty six and twenty eight. Go figure.) Cursing the world and the fate he has been dealt, Rikitarou does what any slacker does – gets wasted. And like most binge drinking runs, he gets into a fight where he is hopeless out classed. With his life flashing in front of his eyes, Rikitarou does the only thing any man with self worth can do…

Who would you have as a waifu? A Tsundere or a Yandere? Well look no further, Mirai Nikki will satisfy all of your needs. The suspenseful and action packed manga now makes its way to TV. Now that we are quite a few episodes into the series, it is time to make a final judgement on the Mirai Nikki anime.

Do not tell me it is another R-18 review, Sayuri. OBJECTION! As evidenced in the provided header image, your Honor; I am submitting a review of the Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Official Casebook. Today, I will be taking at look both Official Casebook Volumes 1 and 2, which covers stories on Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth. Both of the books are entirely created by fans of series, making it like a collection of doujinshi stories based on the events of the Ace Attorney series all bundled together.

There is not much of a plot to the books, as they are just collection of random stories based on the Ace Attorney series. Many of stories contain some great slapstick humor though. Some of the stories also tug at the heartstrings of the readers, which pleasantly mixes well with overall lighthearted tone of the volumes. One thing that should be noted is that people who do not know the series very well will not understand some of things going on in the various stories, as they seem to clearly be for fans of the series. The art of the books varies since the Official Casebooks are composed of different artists’ works. It is pretty interesting to see many styles of drawing in one book.

Overall: Many Ace Attorney fans will definitely enjoy the books, but for readers who do not know much about series may not be able to enjoy the Official Casebooks.

P.S. Sayuri almost missed his article today since he tried to wait for his parents to go to work, but fell asleep. Luckily, he woke up early enough to not be super late for his article today. FIX YOUR SLEEPING SCHEDULE ALREADY, SAYURI!

Happy Holidays, readers! Hope that the lot of you have finished your finals, completed your shopping, and won that battle against the hated Christmas decorations. SO, to end the year on a high note (and not because all my Christmas ideas stunk), enjoy the last issue of Manga Hermit for the 2011 year – Otoyomegatari!

It is the 19^th century. The location is a rural town, near the coast of the Caspian Sea in Central Asia. Within the town, there is a sense of urgency and excitement. It seems that one of the sons of the Eihon family is getting married, hence the excitement. The Bride-to-be is supposed to be special – coming on horseback from over the far mountains to live with her new family. I wonder what the new couple looks like - !!!

Happy Friday readers! In today’s issue of Manga Hermit, I decided to change things up a bit. If any of you have noticed, I’ve been on a slice-of-life run for the last couple of articles. Knowing full well that you’ll be getting more than enough of that wholesome, communal feeling during the holiday season, I had to think deep and hard about a manga that defied reality more than a human having god-given abilities. Cooks, assassins, families, music, overly compensating males – what haven’t I thought of yet?

…How have I not done any mechas yet?

In the land of Cruzon, the numerous countries have eked out a lifestyle though the use of a curious material called Quartz. There are numerous types of quartz that can be found in this realm and their applications are all but limitless. What makes Quartz truly unique is how this material is manipulated. You see, almost the entire population of this realm can use “magic” – the ability to manipulate and conjure Quartz into numerous forms and applications, from the day they are born till the day they die. Life is unfair, and sadly there are a select few who cannot utilize magic, thereby making a Quartz-reliant lifestyle a tad difficult.

Rygart Arrow is one of these “un-sorcerers”, but he’s got bigger problems than having to make a fire just to have breakfast. His beloved country of Krisna is on the verge of decimation by its neighbor - the Nation of Athens. Out-gunned, out-manned and barely having the advantage on tactics, Krisna’s eventual fall grows closer with each passing day. The king of Krisna believes that they have one last ploy to use - the discovery of a never before seen and highly advanced Golem (bipedal war machines) encased in Quartz. The problem is that it seems said golem is unaffected by magic. On a whim, the king calls in his old war cadet friend Rygart, just to get his opinion on the war and the new golem when everything goes wrong. But, curiously the golem begins to respond to Rygart’s presence…

Written by Yunosuke Yoshinaga in 2007, with 10 volumes in print and a whole mess of mecha-on-mecha action, Break Blade is one manga that breaks the mold without actually breaking the mold. An interesting mix of mecha and fantasy, readers will be hungering for more battles where Rygart and the Delphine get to show off their mettle. Break Blade’s story is solid, though there is a demand for answers on the growing conflict between Krisna and Athens. No anime/manga plot remains that straightforward after so many issues.

Happy Turkey Day, readers! I’m sure that yesterday the lot of you had your fill of food from the numerous dinners, family gatherings, parties, et cetera….that you attended. Sweet stuffing, savory gravy, mashed potatoes that just melted in your mouth and of course the thanksgiving centerpiece – turkey. I hope the lot of you that fell into a thanksgiving day stupor from all that food finally digested it because I’m giving you another heaping helping of food, whether you like it or not! In paper form!

Some of you are just getting nauseous just by looking at this photo. Ha.

Written by Tetsuji Sekiya, Bambino! is a Seinen cooking manga, with some dashes of drama and a couple “slices” of life thrown in. First appearing in the older men’s Big Comic Spirits (published by Shogakukan) in 2005, Bambino! is still been running strong, with fourteen volumes in print. The manga follows the simple story of Ban Shogo as he starts off his career as a chef. He doesn’t have extreme cooking skills, nor any blessed abilities from birth. Ban Shogo is your average college student who started out in the food service industries like most part timers. Luckily, Ban got to work in a restaurant where he could actually develop his skills, instead of flipping burgers. The head chef sees his skill and sends him to Trattoria Baccanale, the longest-running Italian restaurant in Roppongi, Tokyo, as a favor to his friend, the head chef at the aforementioned restaurant. He arrives in the dead of summer with a chip on his shoulder. And yet, the waiters and chefs give him a knowing stare – as if they know the punch line to an inside joke. Will Ban survive his time at Baccanale?

It’s 7pm down in Ginza, Tokyo. A young man walks among the numerous bars and stores, his eyes filled with wonder and self-consciousness. Seeing wealthy businessmen and their high-end dates strolling about reminds him of the dinky ensemble he is wearing and the only money he has in his back pocket – 4000 yen. Ashamed, he finds the nearest stairwell and ducks into the first door he sees.

It’s 10pm down in Ginza, Tokyo. A hostess has just quit her job after having one too many “touchy-feely” customers attempt to get her drunk. The loss of another job reminds her of the gigantic debt that she has to pay to the yakuza. But, for one night, she wants to find a place to lash out… or to at least find some peace. She finds the darkest stairwell within eyesight and brazenly walks through the thick wooden door.

It’s 1am down in Ginza, Tokyo. An intern gets dragged along with his overbearing boss on one of his bar hopping trips. Along the way, the boss criticizes the intern for his lack of skills, ability and social graces. It doesn’t help that the boss is wildly drunk. After falling down some steps, the boss waves off his intern’s forced concern for his well-being and pulls him through the wooden door at the bottom of the stairwell.

What do these three seemingly random people have in common? Read on to find out.

Music is a powerful thing, ne? Whether you’re head banging to the latest heavy metal sound, mosh-pitting with the newest grunge rock, belting out the blues at karaoke amateur hour or singing in the shower to the newest Justin Bieber song, one cannot deny that music is an inherent part of our lives. Hell, during the writing of this article I had my YouTube favorite’s list on repeat. Music is like water – we all need it, but some just throw themselves into it. Musicians, singers, conductors, DJ’s – all those people are the ones who “throw themselves into the water” as I’ve so eloquently phrased it. Which brings us to this issue's subject: Nodame Cantabile!