Manga-ka: Ayumi Komura
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: September 2009
Synopsis: “Hayato and Hanayu learn that blood is thicker than water, even in the kitchen. First, Hayato tries to explain to a heartbroken Hanayu why a commitment he made to his ailing grandfather may jeopardize his dream of making pastries for a living. Then Hanayu learns about self-sacrifice firsthand when Patisserie Ashitaba is offered a high-profile pastry project the night before her big exam. Are her sushi dreams more important than keeping the family business afloat? Can Hanayu creat the recipe for happiness?”
After a rocky road of revelations, Hanayu and Hayato have remained friends despite their original relational-intentions. But all is not well, for along with conflicts in their dreams, Hanayu’s of being a sushi chef and Hayato’s of being a patisserie, they still have the feelings of their family to consider as well. And yet the two still have feelings for each other that go beyond friendship too, and along with some vital school exams sneaking up, there’s plenty to consider. This fifth of Mixed Vegetables is all about balance, and whether or not the volume itself achieves this with its blend of humour and romance, readers will still be left hoping Hanayu and Hayato are successful at the task.
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FOUR NEW MANGA TITLES THAT BREAK
THE BOUNDARIES OF CONVENTION
DEBUT FOR FREE – ON
SIGIKKI.COM
VIZ Media invites fans with discerning tastes to explore the four new manga series that launch today on its innovative new IKKI website. Located at www.sigikki.com, this groundbreaking online manga destination debuts the opening chapters of KINGYO USED BOOKS, HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES, AFTERSCHOOL CHARISMA, and TOKYO FLOW CHART – for free.
For those seeking manga with an emphasis on creative quality and on pushing the boundaries of the manga norm, check out www.SIGIKKI today!
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Unable to attend the Dark Horse panel at SDCC this past weekend, and hopelessly technologically limited since then, this news has taken its time making the way to the front page at Kuriousity, but that’s certainly no indication of my excitement over this announcement!
Dark Horse employees announced at their SDCC panel that they’ve acquired the licenses to multiple CLAMP series and will be releasing them in their entirety in special omnibus editions. This is a part of their continued celebration for CLAMP’s 20th Anniversary, including their recently released omnibus collection of CLAMP’s lyrical Clover series.
The series announced were Magic Knight Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura and Chobits. All three of these series were previously published in English by Tokyopop over multiple-volume runs (in that order).
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Manga-ka: Yuna Kagesaki
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2006
Synopsis: “Kenta sees Karin at work and school, each day serving as a reminder that something about the girl with the oft-bloody nose just isn’t right! He’s suspicious… and he’s not exactly subtle about it. Fearing that he might discover her secret, Karin decides to kill this potential problem–with kindness! She goes out of her way to do all kinds of nice things for him. But when Kenta catches her “feeding” yet again, the gig may be up. So what’s a vampire girl to do? Why, take the boy home to meet her parents, of course!”
Chibi Vampire is a series about a vampire teenager with a unique condition. Unlike everyone else in her family who sucks blood, Karin’s body produces too much of the red stuff. When her body makes too much, she has to either bite someone and inject the blood in them or suffer a geyser of a nosebleed. When she gives blood, her ‘victims’ become energetic and happy for a few days afterwards.
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Author: Jeon JinSeok
Manhwa-ga: Han SeungHee
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2009
Synopsis: “Sehara’s sudden departure leaves the other inhabitants of the palace dumbfounded. Willing himself out of shock, Sultan Shahryar takes matters into his own hands and goes on a journey of his own, only to end up face-to-face with the enemy… and a ghost from the past!”
After Sehara leaves willingly with the invading commander, Sultan Shahryar brashly leaves his palace to attack the political side of things head on. But before that, he must confront his own demons in the form of the woman who was responsible for them: his believed-to-be-deceased wife, Fatima.
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VIZ MEDIA PREVIEWS THREE EXCITING MANGA SERIES TO BE PUBLISHED UNDER THE NEW
SHONEN SUNDAY IMPRINT
AT THE 2009 COMIC-CON SHOW
New Manga Chapters From Each Series Will Be Previewed For Free On The Official SHONEN SUNDAY Website With Print Versions Scheduled To Be Published In 2010
San Francisco, CA, JULY 28, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, previewed three upcoming manga titles to be published under the company’s newest imprint – SHONEN SUNDAY – for a packed audience at its Anime & Manga panel discussion at the recent 2009 Comic-Con International show in San Diego, CA.
The new manga series will debut in 2010 and will include ARATA: THE LEGEND by renowned manga creator Yuu Watase, MAOH: JUVENILE REMIX based on the original story by Kotaro Isaka with story and art by Megumi Osuga, and HYDE & CLOSER by Haro Aso. Every month, the official SHONEN SUNDAY website at www.ShonenSunday.com will present a new chapter from each of the three new titles online for free, as well as post a new chapter from the ongoing action/fantasy adventure KEKKAISHI by Yellow Tanabe (rated ‘T’ for Teens; published domestically by VIZ Media).
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Manga-ka: Osamu Tezuka
Publisher: Vertical
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2008
Synopsis: “Black Jack is a mysterious and charismatic young genius surgeon who travels the world performing amazing and impossible medical feats. Though a trained physician, he refuses to accept a medical license due to his hatred and mistrust of the medical community’s hypocrisy and corruption. This leads Black Jack to occasional run-ins with the authorities, as well as from gangsters and criminals who approach him for illegal operations.”
Volume two of Black Jack served as a real character-flesher for the enigmatic doctor. The opening chapter sees him faced with the reality of the human body, that there will always be some things he can’t ever control or predict. Seeing how stressed he became, even at the positive outcome of an otherwise bizarre case, spoke volumes about his faith in his own abilities and what he believes to be set in stone. It proved a strong opener to a book full of equally revealing stories of continuing medical mysteries and materialistic morality.
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Technical troubles are delaying this post of mine on Del Rey’s Saturday panel, but I did attend and there was plenty of info shared by the pleasantly enthusiastic staff.
The panel of staff members included Del Rey’s Associate Publisher, Editor, Licensing and Acquistion Handler, Marketing Manager… and “just a writer” (info was withheld so as not to spoil news delivered in the panel).
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Here we go at the convention’s last industry manga panel: CMX Manga! A few technical difficulties slowed the start but it gave some attendees time to share a few con stories with the staff, and then soon enough, things began!
Note: Due to technical problems of my own, I wasn’t able to live blog the panels that happened yesterday but I do have all the information so that will all hopefully be up tonight!
CMX staff begin by showcasing multiple series,most of which acting as elaboration for previously announced/revealed titles while the others near-the-end are new:
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Manga-ka: Motoro Mase
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: May 2009
Synopsis: “Dear Citizen: Thank you for your loyalty. You’ve no doubt noticed that the world is a troubled place. People are apathetic, lazy, unmotivated. You’ve probably asked yourself: Why isn’t anything being done to stop this systematic decline? Rest assured that measures are being taken. Beginning today, we will randomly select a different citizen who will be killed within 24 hours of notification. We believe this will help remind all people how precious life is and how important it is to be a productive, active member of society. Thank you for your continued attention and your cooperation and participation… Congratulations! You have been randomly selected by the government… to die in 24 hours!”
It was the unconventional summary on the back of Ikigami volume one that spurred me into buying it. I’m a sucker for dystopian fiction, anything from 1984 to Battle Royal. From the two stories in this volume, Ikigami looks to be a fine addition to the genre.
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Lots of great announcements here at the Yen Press panel, so as before while this will be a brief overview until I have the time to write something full, but here’re the goodies in the meantime!
New license announcements:
Black Butler by Yana Toboso
Darker Than Black by Bones, Tensai Okamura, Nokya, Arklight
Romeo & Juliet by William Shakesspeare/Adapted by COM, Gonzo, SPWT
Bunny Drop by Yumi Unita
Sasameke by Ryuji Gotsubo
Omamori Himari by Milan Matra
My Girlfriend’s A Geek (Fujyoshi Kanojo) by Pentabu & Rize Shinba
Novel By Pentabu (blog collection by boy that inspired the Fujyoshi Kanojo)
Otome by Yuuki Fujinari
Dragon Girl by Toru Fujieda
Natsukashi Machi no Rozione by Sumomo Yumeka
Kobato by CLAMP (Coming May 2010)
Lots of great titles in the list, and following the licensing is a nice-sized Q & A which you can read a few excerpts from after the cut.
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It’s Viz again today as a full room is present to hear the news at Viz Media’s Manga & Anime panel. As with the previous panel, I’ll share the big updates here and then update later with the complete panel information later this evening.
The panel opened up with information on the previously announced Shonen Sunday. Viz staff shared some information about Shonen Sunday’s history (had no idea it’d been around in Japan since 1939!) before showcasing the current titles available in the new imprint:
Rin-Ne – Rumiko Takahashi
Kekkaishi - Yellow Tanabe
Arata: The Legend - Yu Watase
Maoh: Juvenille Remix - Kotaro Isaka & Megumi Osuga
Hyde & Closer - Haro Aso
The new titles which have not yet been released by Viz, will be available in book form in 2010 but are currently being released per chapter (for free!) over at the spiffily launched ShonenSunday.com.
You can read lots more under the cut:
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Viz Media’s Shonen Jump panel is happening as I type here at San Diego Comic Con. My first industry panel so forgive that I only have time to share so much right away ;) This post will be updated with a full overview of the panel later this afternoon. Edit: Post updated! See under the cut for the rest of the panel information.
The big announcements of the panel were two new licenses:
Toriko by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2008
Toriko a “gourmet hunter” knows that “food tastes better when you have to gather it with blood, sweat and tears.”
Bakuman by Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba
Originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2008
“The mystery behind manga-making revealed!”
The first guest of the panel is Hiroyuki Takei, creator of Shaman King and artist of the currently running Ultimo. Second guest is Stan Lee, the King of American comics himself (creator of such popular series as the X-Men and Spiderman). Excuse me while I try to catch my breath and get back to you!
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Day two of San Diego Comic Con has come and gone! Today was much the same as yesterday for me and my companions (minus the nearly-disasterous travel and hotel excursions), with the exhibition hall still offering so much in the way of explorables that a single day is never enough time for traversing the crammed hallways. Today was apparently the slowest day of the predicted weekend as well, a slightly scary note that leaves me in good mental preperation for some slow in-con travel in the days to come, but hopefully travel no less worth working through.
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Manga-ka: Hiro Mashima
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: March 2008
Synopsis: “Cute girl wizard Lucy wants to join the Fairy Tail, a club for the most powerful wizards. But instead, her ambitions land her in the cluthes of a gang of unsavory pirates led by a devious magician. Her only hope is Natsu, a strange boy she happens to meet on her travels. Natsu’s not your typical hero – he gets motion sickness, eats like a pig, and his best friend is a talking cat. With friends like this, is Lucy better off with her enemies?”
At first glance, Fairy Tail may seem undoubtedly familiar to those who’ve read the popular, One Piece. Don’t be fooled however, both are done by different creators, and despite various similarities in the visual style, there’s still some distinct differences in each manga-ka’s approach to their respective stories. As a reader who could never fully understand the appeal of One Piece, I was wary that my discontent with it could prove a hindrance here. Fortunately, I was pleased to a find a constructively linear story with interesting characters and an invigorating world of magic to explore.
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