Cel Shaded Jason Yadao

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Tokyopop bids aloha to older manga series

When a manga publisher says it plans on taking several completed series out of print, one ought to take notice and grab whatever copies are remaining before they disappear from stores forever.

Such is the case with Tokyopop's announcement that it ceased publication of 26 titles on Jan. 2 and will be pulling the plug on an additional 43 titles in May.

All of these series have completed their stories, so there is no need to worry about premature endings. A full list is at www.tokyopop.com/oop, but here are my picks on what to get if you're lucky enough to find any of these titles locally:

» "Cyborg 009": Shotaro Ishinomori is considered one of the all-time greats in the manga world; among his stories are the basis for local favorite TV series "Kikaida" and "Kamen Rider V3." This tale of an international team of humans-turned-cyborgs who rebel against their creators is one of Ishinomori's classics.

» "Kodocha": Child TV star meets bratty classmate; star brings classmate under control; star falls in love with classmate. I discussed this wacky romantic comedy in depth in "Drawn & Quartered" on Oct. 23; in case you missed it, shame on you! Just kidding; it's available at starbulletin.com.

» "Marmalade Boy": OK, try to follow along: Two groups of parents divorce, trade spouses and remarry, and everyone moves in under the same roof. All of this shuffling brings a hot guy and a cute girl together as brother and sister. Inevitable romance ensues.

» Any CLAMP titles: "Suki," "Shirahime Syo," "Clover," "CLAMP School Detectives," "Man of Many Faces," "Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland" and "Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders" might not be the female manga collective's best-known works, but they're certainly worth checking out. Art fans also will want to pick up the "Cardcaptor Sakura" art books.

» "Stray Sheep": Because they're cute. Trust me on this.