Itsuwari no Freja barely managed to rank, but from what I can tell this is an excellent showing as far as LalaDX mangaka go, because Tendouke Monogatari’s first two volumes didn’t even rank. As far as I can tell, Hakusensha’s promotion indicates InF is a likely candidate for a move to Lala. I’m honestly not even sure why they had InF debut in LalaDX; it’s definitely main magazine quality, and most of the current crop of Lala stories are mediocre at best.

Tendouke Monogatari is currently selling significantly less than both AnS and VKM, yet it was moved to Lala recently. Its sales have been increasing slightly with each volume, but it’s still nowhere near a heavy hitter--it doesn’t even rank in week 2 for either of its most recent volumes, and its earlier two volumes didn’t rank, period. I’m still a bit miffed I lost TM from LalaDX before VKM and InF moved, but I’m hoping that will be rectified when the other two series are moved over.

Even stranger is VKM’s status, given how close its numbers are to Akagami no Shirayukihime’s sales from right before it made the switch to Lala. VKM’s sales have dropped from volume 1′s release to volume 2′s, yet it’s still consistently outperforming both TM and InF. It’s curious why it hasn’t brought back to Lala, unless Hakusensha is waiting to see whether sales continue to drop with volumes 3-5 before greenlighting it for a return to Lala. Or maybe there just isn’t enough story remaining to warrant a switch--the series could end anywhere from volumes 5-7 and stay comfortably within LalaDX’s usual series range. With any luck, we’ll get more information in VKM volume 3 when it’s released next month.

I’ll be closely watching the fates of Itsuwari no Freja and Vampire Knight Memories as they march forward. I’d love to be able to have my three favorite currently-running manga back in the same magazine within the next couple of years. It really helps the pocketbook when all one’s favorites are in one place! ^^;