Vertical Comics imprint: 19 books

Long considered as one of Osamu Tezuka’s most political narratives, Ayako is also considered to be one of his most challenging as it defies the conventions of his manga by utilizing a completely original cast and relying solely on historical drama to drive the plot.  Ayako, pulls no punches, and...

Longing for Something Bigger From the Eisner Award-nominated Inio Asano, creator of Solanin and Nijigahara Holograph, comes one of his most challenging works yet; an intense teen romance set in what may at first glance be one of the sleepiest places in Japan.  When Koume and Keisuke＊s...

An award-winner and top-seller in Japan, this provocative new manga handles its controversial subject with insight and sensitivity. Satoko Tawada, a 30-year-old office worker at a sporting goods company, encounters Mashuu Hayami, a 12-year-old boy, playing soccer in a park at night. She was...

An award-winner and top-seller in Japan, this provocative new manga handles its controversial subject with insight and sensitivity. Satoko considers the time she spends with Mashuu to be special. One day she gets a glimpse into his warped home life, and she wonders what she can possibly do...

Toshiko Tomura is a genius; the darling of the intelligentsia. A modern-day Michelangelo, this twenty year-old is already an established international stage actress, an up-and-coming architect, and the next recipient of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize as Japan's best new writer. Her actions make headlines...

Apollo’s Song follows the tragic journey of Shogo, a young man whose abusive childhood has instilled in him a loathing for love so profound he finds himself compelled to acts of violence when he is witness to any act of intimacy or affection whether by human or beast. His hate is such that the gods...

Toshinari Seki takes goofing off to new heights. Every day, on or around his school desk, he masterfully creates his own little worlds of wonder, often hidden to most of his classmates. Unfortunately for Rumi Yokoi, his neighbor at the back of their homeroom, his many games, dioramas, and projects are often way too interesting to ignore; even when they are hurting her grades.

Every day is a new surprise at the back of Rumi Yokoi's classroom. And she is consistently being inconvenienced by her neighbor Seki, at least he hasn't been caught... Or so she thought. Apparently someone else has noticed Yokoi and Seki back there, and this person can only imagine what that pair...

A Quiet Storm After putting up with so many distractions from her classroom neighbor Seki, Rumi Yokoi quietly begins to assert her will on a number of Seki's games.

Yokoi can’t seem to stop Seki’s increasingly creative contraptions from grabbing her attention and making her own imagination wander away in the middle of class. And at one point, Yokoi find herself in a very unexpected place indeed...

**Globe-trotting Goof ** Seki, Rumi and the rest are on a school trip. But even with so much to see and do, Seki continues to look for ways to goof around. Rumi is not going to miss the opportunity to keep him in check.

Seki’s complicated games manage to distract Rumi… even when he’s absent from school. Not only does Seki try to literally rewrite history, he performs surgery (on stuffed animals), and brings live creatures to cooking class. Meanwhile, Rumi focuses on saving the earth itself…

Holiday Hijinks Seki Claus doesn’t care if you are naughty or nice, cause he’ll be making a stop in his classroom to quietly make reindeer games. But if Rumi Yokoi gets her holiday wish he might get caught in the process.

Classroom Clowning Seki creates a new twist on a board game, crafts his own version of a jack-in-the-box, and invents a machine that recycles eraser scraps that ends up being a little too perfectly entertaining. But Yokoi discovers that the most distracting game of all involves toys that are completely invisible!