Manga/Graphic Novels Starting With 'B'

With Aiko Iwase teaming up with Eiji to get a series in Shonen Jump, Moritaka and Akito have another major rival to contend with. Can the duo get their series serialized and succeed in Jump this time? And when Akito has to ask for permission to marry Kaya, he'll have to face her father, a master in Karate!

Still holed up in the concrete tourist trap of Osaka Castle, Bakune holds hostage a quivering clutch of elderly sightseers, and, much more valuably, the leader of the Japanese mafia, the Don of Nippon. Hemmed in by a ring of impatient cops and mobsters, Bakune puts out a call on television asking for retainers to come to the castle and serve under him! How long will it be before he realizes the Japanese government has no intention of meeting his 100 trillion yen ransom?

Now karmic retribution has fallen upon Bakune; lying comatose in a hospital bed after the hostage massacre, he seeks redemption?or at least someone to change his diaper. The psychic/psychotic daughter of the leader of the Don, Mistress Renge, plots to single-handedly invade and take over an American aircraft carrier, in a megalomaniacal bid to start a war between the US and Japan. Can the disembodied mind(lessness) of Bakune stop her?

Kojiro is an impoverished young teacher and the supervisor of his high school's kendo club. He can barely feed himself as it is, so when an old friend makes him a bet with an entire year's worth of deluxe sushi on the line, Kojiro finds a new purpose in life: to beat his friend's kendo team! But before he can arrange a kendo meet for both schools' kendo teams, he needs to actually put together a five-woman squad - and the first girl he needs is Tamaki Kawazoe, kendo athlete extraordinaire.

The Muroe High kendo team is finally stepping up their game when their regularly scheduled training routine is interrupted by... TV cameras?! Thanks to Miya-Miya's #1 fan/stalker, Reimi, the team has been lined up to appear on Burnish Academy, a competitive sports program. The only opponent fit to clash with superstar Tama is Sakaki from Youryuu Academy, but how can Sakaki put her heart into a kendo match when she's devoted all her love to another?

Up-and-coming TV personality Ryouko Toda is an ambitious young woman who's willing to use any means necessary to claw her way to the top. For Ryouko, image is key, but it's tough for this cutthroat celebrity to maintain her cool on-screen persona when she's forced to appear alongside ditzy costar Erina Sawamiya on Burnish Academy, where silly, simple Erina manges to best Ryouko in every single sport! To defeat Erina in sports and in the ratings game, Ryouko must call upon her skills not as an actress, but as a master of the kendo ring!

As the date for the filming of the Burnish Academy special approaches, the Muroe kendo team prepares for their television debut and for Tama's chance to face the formidable Ura Sakaki! But even as Sakaki's rivals prepare for a rematch against the kendo genius, her participation remains unknown.

Tama and Erina continue their match as Erina reveals her true talent to a stunned TV crew. For the first time, Tama is pushed to her limits - and by a swordswoman not much older than she. But the most ferocious battle of the afternoon is yet to come: Sakaki, driven by rage and revenge, has entered the dojo. Erina may have the skills to restore Sakaki to her former, formidable self, but once Sakaki is refocused on her true art, kendo, will anyone be able to best her?

After the intense drama of the Burnish Academy TV shoot, each member of the Muroe kendo team has a new outlook on their involvement with kendo, and Tamaki is eager to learn what reasons her friends have for participating in the sport, hoping they will help her find her own motivation. Kojiro plans a trip to observe the Gokuryuki national tournament to help Tamaki on her search, and with the support of her family and friends, Tamaki takes a confident step toward the future in the final volume of Bamboo Blade!

The girls' kendo meet continues with one victory on the board for Muroe High. Despite her inexperience, Miya's ferocious shinai is a force to be reckoned with, and Captain Kirino is no pushover either. It's a tight race until Tamaki reemerges as the bespectacled "Bureiba" to battle in the fifth and final match. But is Tamaki's weak disguise enough to mask her superior abilities?

When word of Kojiro's angry outburst at the supermarket gets around to the chairman of the school board, Kojiro's future at Muroe High is in jeopardy! But there's really nothing the kendo club can do to help... or is there? Surely the principal wouldn't dismiss the coach of the kendo team that won the National Tournament?!

With their new goal in mind, the practice meet between Muroe and Seimei High begins. As Muroe is still short a member, the girls manage to persuade Azuma to participate... just this once. As joint practice gets underway, the Seimei team is quick to spot Tamaki's overwhelming talent. To see a female kendo competitor at her level is inspiring not only to Seimei, but to Azuma as well. As memories of the thrill of the sport come back to her, will Azuma be tempted to join the kendo team for good?