News Licensing Announcements.

[Drmke]

That isn't a big deal lol I'm just glad they releasing it. They do like color themes but they kept the format which is nice. Plus, I'm sure the translation will be great minus cursing and what-not.

 

[Mushashi]

viz translations are always superb. for anyone criticisng them you are an idiot. 20 translators all checking eachother and finding what fits. weekly scan trans have nothing on these.

 

[Akiyama]

Any Tezuka fans here?
Vertical has been releasing Black Jack and now they will publish another Tezuka title.
Ayako
Osamu Tezuka
704 pages
October 19, 2010

More info on Ayako and you can compare the jap. and eng. volume covers.

 

[Mushashi]

mm tezuka. kinda pointless though theyll sell it with a tag saying 'the makers of astro boy' and unfortunetly tezuka isnt that popular now atleast his original works arent its nice to see there trying to make him popular again thanks austin

 

[Kaiten]

Yen Press

Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu
K-On!
Ai ga Nakute mo Kutteyukemasu
Bungaku Shoujo (light novel)

 

[Akiyama]

Viz - some things already posted, but now with links that contain descriptions.
Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 1 6/1/2010
Toriko, Vol. 1 6/1/2010
Afterschool Charisma , Vol. 1 6/15/2010
Dengeki Daisy , Vol. 1 7/6/2010
Hyde & Closer, Vol. 1 7/13/2010
Gente, Vol. 1 7/20/2010

---

Viz is going to release Cross Game!!!

 

[Kaiten]

It's about time Adachi got an international release. One of the defining modern mangaka, I can't believe it took this long.

 

[predsfan]

Holy crap, Adachi's finally getting released here, I may actually have to support that release (meaning, I may actually buy it ).

 

[Drmke]

Not only is it great that they are finally putting out some Adachi manga (hopes for more), but the best part is that this means they haven't given up on releasing sports manga!!!!!! Huzzah!

 

[Kaiten]

Fantagraphics has announced they will begin a line of manga. They will begin this fall with a Drunken Dream a collection of short stories spanning from 1971-2007 by shojo pioneer Hagio Moto. Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) will follow before the end of the year.

 

[Drmke]

Interesting. Says they want to only publish manga with literary merits. Maybe they will find and license some really coll stuff. Kinda excited.

 

[Kaiten]

Whenever I see a company that wants to license that style of manga, I smile. That's a lot of what I read ^_^

Part of what I like is that it is a publisher that can concentrate on small publisher material. There are a lot of good titles available from Ohta Books, Comic Beam/Fellows, and old Manga Action titles. VIZ has Shogagukan/Shueisha to concentrate on, Del Ray only works with Kodansha. I see a lot of possibilities emerging.

 

[barbapapa]

Re: Billy Bat by Urasawa Naoki

Kodansha's licensing deal with Del Ray ends next year, they have already started directly releasing back catalog under the Kodansha U.S. imprint.

Wait, what? When did this get out?

 

[Kaiten]

ANN reported on their plans last fall. The article says "Del Rey is still publishing Kodansha titles into next year." I may be reading to much into it but that sounds like this is the last year of the agreement. Considering they systematically ended their agreements with Tokyopop, Dark Horse, and various random publishers it seems like their attempting to consolidate everything under the Kodansha USA banner. Ghost in the Shell and Akira volume 1 were reissued last year; same crappy editions Dark Horse put out with a different label. I can't think of any other reason Del Ray will be releasing the last three volumes of Mushishi as an omnibus this summer.

 

[barbapapa]

Hmm, indeed. The entire "omnibus" deal does make it seems suspicious.

This isn't too good for Del Rey.

 

[Kaiten]

Considering manga with one of the biggest growth areas in publishing it would make sense for Kodansha to create an equivalent of rather than continue licensing to a sci-fi subsidiary of a U.S. publisher.

I've never really liked Del Ray. There translations are good but the series they license can be questionable, compared to VIZ and Yen Press print quality isn't all that good. Since VIZ Signature was overhauled the quality gap has been more apparent. Hopefully Kodansha releases will follow suit, should they fully take up licensing.

 

[Horsee]

New Del Rey titles:
I Am Here! by Ema Toyama - 2010 October
Arisa by Natsumi Ando - 2010 October.
Rave Master (RAVE) by Hiro Mashima 33-34-35 (last three unpublished [former publisher: Tokyopop] volumes in one omnibus) - 2010 December

Note: There still a chance to Kodansha and Del Rey extend their contact because Del Rey will start a new Kondansha title in October, however that means nothing. Unfortunately Kodansha still think that the inner market (Japan sales) is still enough. And they're right: the international sales not even close to the Japanese sales. That's why Kodansha not really interested in international market. Okay, Kodansha US exist, but that's just a little try, I think.

Tokyopop:
Lives by Masayuki Taguchi - 2010 November
Summoner Girl by Hiroshi Kubota - 2010 November

 

[Akiyama]

Viz picks up
Psyren (Dec. 7, 2010)
Kurozakuro (Nov. 2, 2010)
Itsuwaribito (Dec. 14, 2010)

There is a thread created in Psyren section about this development.

 

[Horsee]

Wow, the Cross Game will be wideban with $19.99 cover price???

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Cross-Game-Vol-1/Mitsuri-Adachi/Cross-Game/9781421537580

 

[andysislands]

Shaman King: Kang Zeng Bang (Perfect Edition), will be released in Italy starting in November 2010 by Star Comics. They will be exactly like the Japanese releases.

Additional info here: http://shamanking-nation.com/englis...king-perfect-edition-to-be-released-in-italy/


(And for those wondering if the translation/quality is any good, I can proudly say, they do an execellent job on all of their previous Shaman King/Butsu Zone work)