See what happens when you procrastinate? You get scooped!

I mentioned earlier that I’ve been on what’s eventually felt like a quixotic quest to find certain manga volumes at a bookstore (for some reason I don’t want to order it online, which would be much easier… I suspect its stubbornness after not finding it on my first few attempts) including Embracing Love, Kikaider Code 02 and the latest
Antique Bakery.

I finally crossed one of those titles of my list the other night at Barnes & Noble, though barely. My eyes skipped over the single volume on the shelf a few times, even when I scanned through the titles alphabetically, seeking out the spot where Kikaider should be (where it was, though my eyes skipped over it the first time).

That’s usually an indicator of poor design with me. I mean, if I can miss it when looking for the spot on the shelf where it should be and not see it… that’s a pretty stealthy design, which isn’t good design.

It’s a nice logo, sure, but I think I see some problems. First off, it seems a bad idea to combine a rather square-ish typeface with tight kerning and an outline that encompasses the lettering. Squishing those square letters together like that leaves the title looking like an indistinct rectangle when surrounded by competing manga series’ logos on the bookshelf.

(And please excuse my bad terminology. I enjoy looking at design and figuring out what works and what doesn’t, but I’m not a designer.)

And my thought after finally finding the series? "Aw, volume 2? When I find Kikader, it’s volume 2?" Looking at the cover, I realized that wasn’t the case. Still, why does a series titled Kikaider Code 02 have a logo that reads as Kikaider 02? I realize this was the second time the Kikaida/Kikaider series were seen in manga form, but this is the first one widely available to American audiences. Putting a number in the title is always a risky proposition, especially when the meaning of the number isn’t obvious or, worse, the most obvious conclusion is wrong (like my initial presumption that the ‘02′ indicated volume 2).

I was a bit surprised to learn that the book had an "M" rating. I thought Barnes & Noble didn’t carry Mature titles… or is that only the case with YAOI?