Missions of Love #4

Three school-uniformed teenagers are locked in a tense, close-quarters embrace on this striking cover — two girls and a boy rendered in Ema Toyama's sharp, expressive style against a cool blue-purple geometric backdrop. The tagline lays out the stakes perfectly: a secret cell phone novelist going head-to-head with the most popular boy in school, all in pursuit of "absolute servitude." Volume 4 of this romantic rivalry keeps the tension deliciously high, and at $10.99 it's a compelling continuation of one of shojo manga's more cleverly twisted love stories.