Anime Expo had a bunch of great announcements from manga publishers last week, and I swear I’ll be caught up with them eventually! Viz Media had its panel on Sunday and pleased audiences with two new licenses:
Deadman Wonderland – Kazuma Kondou/Jinsei Kataoka
Gangsta – Kohske
Many manga readers probably recognize Deadman Wonderland as a Tokyopop title. Before shutting down, Tokyopop had released five volumes of the series. Viz Media will be beginning with their new, re-translated edition at volume one starting in February 2014. The volumes will sell for the standard Viz Media book price of $9.99/US, $12.99/CAN
I’m looking forward to getting to finish Deadman Wonderland, which I had mixed feelings about. The story follows a boy named Ganta who is locked up in a prison known as Deadman Wonderland after he’s framed for killing his classmates. There he must learn to survive through organized death matches against fellow inmates.
Gangsta is a series new to English publication. I’m not familiar with it, but a simple Google image search and a look at those cover images was all I needed to be excited. The artwork looks amazing. The story follows two men who take on an assortment of jobs from both gangs and the police in their city.
Viz Media will begin releasing Gangsta in February as well, but this title will be released at the slightly higher price point of $12.99/US, $14.99/CAN. This matches the price of other ‘premium’ series such as Dorohedoro and Dogs, so I’m hopeful that means Gangsta will get the same large trim treatment.
Other news from the panel included confirmation the Shonen Jump series, Nisekoi, would be released in print starting in January, as well as the new full-colour edition of Dragonball in February. The Dragonball volumes will be released in a size closer to North American graphic novels, which I think will suit the bright colours nicely. Both of these titles have been running chapter-by-chapter in the digital edition of Shonen Jump.
Viz Media is also re-releasing Ranma 1/2, offering the title as 2-in-1 omnibus editions released in their original right-to-left reading orientation for the first time in English. Yay! These books will be $14.99/US, $16.99/CAN a volume and will begin publication in March.
Credit for the news’ details goes to AnimeNewsNetwork
Follow
