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2 manga series finish
stories in Japan

A pair of manga that are in the middle of their U.S. publishing runs recently completed their stories in Japanese anthologies.

Manganews.net is reporting that Kou Fumizuki's "Ai Yori Aoshi" wrapped up its 10-year run in Young Animal magazine on Aug. 26. The series, centered around young heiress Aoi Sakuraba, her childhood crush Kaoru Hanabishi and the trials of love, is currently up to Volume 9 in Tokyopop's translations, with Volume 10 scheduled for release this month.

Also ending as of Sept. 27 in the Dengeki Gao! anthology is "DearS," a tale of beautiful alien girls blending into Earth society. Collections of this series, by the manga studio collective Peach Pit, began appearing in Japan in 2002. In America, three volumes have been released by Tokyopop domestically, with the fourth due out Oct. 11 ...

Upcoming meetings

» Anime/manga art group Mangabento holds its third and final September meeting on Saturday at the Academy Art Building, 1111 Victoria St., from 1 to 4 p.m. The exact room hasn't been set as of press time, but check with the guard at the front desk for that information ...

» Oahu Anime Explorer's next meeting, originally scheduled for Sept. 24, has been bumped back a week to Oct. 1 due to scheduling conflicts at the normal meeting place (HMC Academy, 555 N. King St.). However, there have been rumblings of plans for an alternate activity on the 24th; check the Web site, www.oahuanimeexplorer.com, for updates on that front ...

A very anime vacation

I'm off to celebrate my birthday by buying tons of anime collectibles in the San Francisco Bay area, so I'll be leaving this column in the equally capable hands of my tag-team partner, Wilma J., for two weeks. I'll be back Oct. 3.