I'm a librarian who loves anime, manga, and reading a wide variety of genres.
This volume is pretty solid. Also, Naoki Urasawa's Germany is incredibly small. Literally everyone is connected. You can't go anywhere without bumping into someone who's connected to Johan in some way.
Oh, and that picture book is the freakiest thing ever. No wonder hardly anyone knows about it – I wouldn't think many people would want to read something like that to their kids. I suppose it does remind me a little of Der Struwwelpeter or Max und Moritz, but those books dealt with morality and proper behavior, and I don't see that here.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)