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Yen Press’s new manga titles weren’t the only treat they had in store for Sakura Con 2014. The publisher also announced a brand new imprint – Yen On – dedicated to the publication of Japanese light novels. As the name directly implies, light novels are novels only… light, meaning not as dense or lengthy as most novels we’re accustomed to. They also have accompanying artwork inside.

A publisher for light novels is something I’ve seen plenty of interest for, but of course seeing interest from inside the anime/manga fandom isn’t necessarily indicative of an actual support base. Though many light novels are original properties – with the most popular receiving manga and anime adaptations after the fact – they’re still mostly seen as simply counterparts to their other more popular connected mediums in North America. Cute anime girls on covers also aren’t a big selling point for the average reader like they are in Japan, as evident by Yen Press’s decisions to sell the original volumes of Spice & Wolf with new photo-realistic cover art. I can’t say if those had any positive or negative affect on sales but it was certainly a thing that happened.

So how about Yen On then? If any publisher was going to do this, I don’t think anyone’s surprised it’s Yen Press. The manga publisher has already released several light novels including The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Sword Art Online, and the aforementioned Spice & Wolf. I’m curious to see if they’ll keep promotion focus on the existing anime & manga fan base, or if they’ll continue trying to push light novels to the wider young adult reading audience as well. Where will I see these books shelved in Chapters & Indigo stores in 2015?

Yen On is launching with three series to start:

Another – Yukito Ayatsuji
A Certain Magical Index – Kazuma Kamachi & Kiyotaka Haimura
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? – Fujino Omori & Fujino Omori

Another is a title I know from Yen Press’s omnibus release of the manga last year, a creepy horror story that had me almost leaving the lights on when I went to sleep. It’s about a class of students haunted by a vengeful spirit, one who appears among them as an extra classmate and brings about gruesome deaths.

Yen Press previously released the Another novel back in 2013 but in digital format only. This October they’ll be launching their new imprint with a hardcover print edition of Another that includes both volumes combined into one.

A Certain Magical Index is also a title I’m familiar with, but by reputation only. This light novel series has spawned multiple manga series and an anime. The story is set in a world where people have supernatural abilities, but political and societal struggles erupt between different factions of these individuals depending on how they gained their powers, plus what they are. The main setting for the stories is a technologically advanced academy where students with these abilities reside.

Yen On’s first volume of A Certain Magical Index is scheduled to be released this winter.

Last but not the least bit short in name is Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?. I’ve seen the joke about long light novel names plenty of times, so Yen On launching with a title like this seems a perfect fit. As for the story itself, the series is set in a fantasy world where a floundering adventurer teams up with a failed goddess.

The author of IIWTTTPUGIAD is new to North American publication but the artist, Suzuhito Yasuda, is known for their manga series, Yozakura Quartet, which was published by Del Rey. The first volume of IIWTTTPUGIAD is due sometime this winter as well.

Categories: Licensing
Tags: A Certain Magical Index, Another, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Light Novels, Yen On, Yen Press

Yen Press Kicks Off Con Season with New Manga at Sakura Con 2014

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Earlier in the month Yen Press released their first big wave of news for 2014, starting with a number of new manga licenses at Sakura Con:

King of Eden – Takashi Nagasaki & SangCheol Lee
Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara – Suu Minazuki
Love at Fourteen – Fuka Mizutani
The Angel of Elhamburg – Aki

King of Eden immediately grabs attention with its author, Takashi Nagasaki. He co-authored the majority of Naoki Urasawa’s most popular series, including Pluto, 20th Century Boys, and Monster. I didn’t actually know this until reading Yen Press’s introduction to King of Eden, and this new knowledge ensures I’ll be keeping an eye out for Takashi Nagasaki’s name in the future. This is the artist, SangCheol Lee’s, debut professional work.

Yen Press describes King of Eden as “a sweeping new masterpiece of the grotesque”, beginning with a village massacre and the capture of the killer responsible. They’ll be doing a simultaneous publication of King of Eden starting May 1, 2014 – only two days from the time this post goes up!

Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara – which I’m going to have one heck of a time trying to pronounce to my local comic store if I choose to order it – is an amusingly perverse sounding story that reminds us to be careful what we wish for. A young man wishes that his beautiful beloved manga heroine was real, only to suddenly find himself face to face with her. However to his surprise she’s not the docile woman he’d always read about and now he has to learn how to deal with her very forward and overprotective nature.

Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara is scheduled for November 2014. This will be the second Suu Minazuki title released in English, the first being Tokyopop’s completed Judas.

In contrast to that pervy romantic comedy comes Love at Fourteen, a romance Yen Press describes as “a charming, bittersweet slice-of-life story” for those who “have a soft spot for subtle (not to mention adorable) romance”. The story is about two mature-for-their-age teenagers falling in love in junior high.

Admittedly nothing about that description is much of a grab. Teenagers falling in love… okay, we’ve read that a million times. The artwork though – pictured above on the right – does look really charming. I believe this is Fuka Mizutani’s first title to be released in English as well. I’ll likely give the first volume a try when it’s released this November.

The title that did get me giddy right away was The Angel of Elhamburg. I own both Aki titles that have been released in English previously – Olympos by Yen Press and Utahime by Digital Manga. I was immediately smitten with Aki’s gorgeous artwork (pictured above to the left) and thoughtful writing. The stories are more emotional than plot-driven and have given me food for thought on more than one occasion. I’m really excited to own another Aki book, plus see how Yen Press handles the publication after their beautiful work on the single volume, Olympos.

The Angel of Elhamburg is about a knight and his king when their friendship is strained by jealously, all as an angel overlooks their lives. This one-shot book is scheduled for Spring 2015. In the meantime you can see sample pages for The Angel of Elhamburg on Amazon.jp.

Along with all those lovely looking manga titles, Yen Press also announced an art book for Jun Mochizuki’s Pandora Hearts, titled Pandora Hearts ~odds and ends~. Yen Press’s past art book releases – which have included Kingdom Hearts and Soul Eater – are fantastic quality and definitely collectible items worth every penny. I’m confident Pandora Hearts‘ fans are in for a treat!

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Aki, artbook, Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara, King of Eden, Love at Fourteen, Pandora Hearts, Takashi Nagasaki, The Angel of Elhamburg, Yen Press

PR: Yen Press Announces New Licenses and Light Novel Initiative at Sakura-Con

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, April 19, 2014

Yen Press Announces New Licenses and Light Novel Initiative at Sakura-Con

NEW YORK, NY (April 19, 2014) – At its panel at Seattle’s Sakura-Con today, Yen Press announced a dedicated program for the English-language publication of Japanese light novels, to be branded Yen On. The newly established Yen On brand will expand on the imprint’s previous light novel offerings, which include such properties as Spice and Wolf, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (co-published with sister company Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), and the forthcoming releases of Sword Art Online and Accel World. Yen On will formally launch in Fall 2014 with a goal of releasing approximately twenty-four books in 2015.

Yen Press also announced several new licenses of popular manga series. The following is a summary of the new acquisitions announced today:

King of Eden
Takashi Nagasaki, critically acclaimed co-author of Monster, 20th Century Boys, Master Keaton, Billy Bat, and Pluto, pens a sweeping new masterpiece of the grotesque with artist SangCheol Lee. Released in cooperation with Haksan Publishing, chapters will be serialized digitally with global availability beginning May 1, 2014.

PandoraHearts ~odds and ends~
The dark whimsy of Jun Mochizuki’s New York Times best-selling world comes to vivid life in this art book featuring over 120 color and black-and-white illustrations from the imagination of the author. This lavish edition will be available in November 2014.

Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara
Two-dimensional love bursts into reality when Sora Nagihara leaps off the manga page and into Shouta Yamakawa’s life in this hilarious fantasy romp from Suu Minazuki. The first volume will debut in November 2014.

Love at Fourteen
Fall in love with Kanata and Kazuki, two unusually mature teens, in this bittersweet manga from the creative talent of Fuka Mizutani. The first volume will be available in November 2014.

The Angel of Elhamburg
Aki returns to the Yen Press list with the tale of a precarious friendship between a king and his knight that begins to crumble under the weight of jealousy and contempt as a beautiful angel looks on. The Angel of Elhamburg will release in Spring 2015.

Another
Published digitally in two volumes by Yen Press in 2013, Yukito Ayatsuji’s spine-chilling horror novels make their way to bookstore shelves in a hardcover omnibus edition under the Yen On brand in October 2014.

A Certain Magical Index
One of Japan’s most beloved light novel series (and one of our most requested), A Certain Magical Index will help launch the Yen On venture. Kazuma Kamachi’s epic tale of clashing Magicians and Espers, accompanied by Kiyotaka Haimura’s lush illustrations, will debut in Winter 2014.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
One of the light novel category’s latest breakthrough successes, Fujino Omori’s hilarious fantasy about a hapless adventurer and a failed goddess, with illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda, will round out the Yen On initial launch list in Winter 2014.

Yen Press Collects Haruhi Anthologies for October Omnibus

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Yen Press isn’t letting their Haruhi Suzumiya library gather any dust as they catch up with the release of its main series by year’s end. The publisher will be releasing a hefty collection of Haruhi stories later this year:

The Celebration of Haruhi Suzumiya – Various Creators

This omnibus collects three different anthologies of stories starring the characters of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Yen Press previously released an anthology like these ones on its own, The Misfortune of Kyon & Koizumi, which I read, enjoyed and reviewed last year.

These three Haruhi anthologies have stories from a bunch of different artists and writers, making them a fun read for the diversity of content. This omnibus collection clocks in at 528 pages and will be released in October. The book will cost $29.00/CAN, $26.00/US, and can be pre-ordered now from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com.

News credit goes to AnimeNewsNetwork

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Omnibus, Yen Press

Good Things Come In Threes With New Yen Press Licenses

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, February 15, 2014

Yen Press managed to do the nearly-impossible yesterday by announcing three new manga licenses… via their own website! It was a triple Valentine’s Day treat:

Accel World – Reki Kawahara & Hiroyuki Aigamo
Barakamon – Satsuki Yoshino
Übel Blatt – Etorouji Shiono

We’re so used to finding out licenses via social media or retail listings, that reading the news first from a company’s RSS feed felt like a foreign experience. It’s also been a while since we’ve heard licensing news from Yen Press in general. I’ve no complaints of course, and all these licenses look great. It’s also the first time any of these creators have been published in English.

Accel World is a repeat title for Yen Press. They announced that they had licensed the original light novels last summer. The story follows students who can log into their school network to participate, and compete, in a virtual world where winning imbues the players with powers in the real world.

Baramamon – which has some adorable looking cover artwork – is about a young calligrapher who must move to a small island. There his city habits are tested as he befriends the locals and gets accustomed to his new life there. This series looks really charming – I hope the covers don’t steer me wrong!

And then there’s Übel Blatt, a series I’ve already seen compared to Berserk repeatedly. As a fan of that series, I’m certainly not adverse to another violent, fantasy epic full of elves and magic. The story follows a young swordsmen with a dark past out on a quest for revenge! Good stories can come from small plot packages. Yen Press will be releasing Übel Blatt in omnibus editions collecting two in one.

All three titles are scheduled to start in Fall of this year.

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Accel World, Barakamon, Ubel Blatt, Yen Press

December 2013 Issue of Yen Plus to Be the Magazine’s Last

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, December 2, 2013

November’s issue of Yen Plus – Yen Press‘ monthly digital magazine – came with a special message from its editor, letting readers know that the December 2013 issue would be the magazine’s last:

“… times are changing, and just as we once had to make a tough decision to switch Yen Plus from a print to an online-only magazine to keep up with evolving market, we now stand at the threshold of another big change. And with that, dear readers, I have to announce that next month – December 2013 – will mark the final issue of Yen Plus in its current format.”

This news doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, as the roles of digital content are increasingly dedicated to delivering same-day material, and of course the ever present chant of ‘more for less’. Yen Plus originally began as a print magazine back in 2008, before switching to digital-only in 2010. However it never seemed to fully live up to reader expectations as a simultaneous chapter provider of its on-going manga, something that Viz Media’s newly relaunched Shonen Jump has finally been able to bring to English audiences only over the past year.

Yen Plus was still a fun little magazine though. I was subscribed to it originally for new chapters of Yotsuba&!. It’s top titles since have been the company’s manga-style adaptations of novels, such as Maximum Ride, Soulless and The Infernal Devices. Since these comics were created for the company and not pre-existing, this allowed subscribers to read chapters well before the collected editions were published. Different manga and manhwa series were published in it chapter by chapter as well, including currently Jack Frost and Soul Eater NOT!, the latter being one of their series published with very little wait-times from the Japanese versions.

The November issue still included their call for manga-style artists, suggesting that while the magazine is stopping, they still have plans to continue releasing their novel adaptations.

The end of the editorial letter does also note:

“…this change will open the door to all sorts of new opportunities for us!”

Any theories what this could mean and what new endeavours we may see from Yen Press in the new year? A new method of simultaneous releases? A change in their current digital edition services? Could we see something closer to Shonen Jump’s day-and-date offerings, or the file type variety of eManga for collected editions? Who knows! Personally as long as the printed books keep coming, I’m a happy reader but that doesn’t mean I’m not now much more open to digital possibilities.

Categories: News
Tags: Digital, Magazine, Yen Plus, Yen Press

NYCC 2013: Yen Press Team-Ups and Dishes Out New Manga Licenses

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, October 27, 2013

It’s time for the Yen Press edition of New York Comic Con! The manga publisher revealed a new relationship with the Japanese manga-mecha publisher, Kodansha, by announcing a handful of their titles a midst their mix of new licenses:

Ani-Imo – Haruko Kurumatani
Demon from a Foreign Land – Kaori Yuki
He’s My Only Vampire – Aya Shouoto
High School DxD – Ichiei Ishibumi & Hiroji Mishima
Void’s Enigmatic Mansion – JiEun Ha & HeeEun Kim

Ani-Imo is the kind of series I avoid due to the incest fetishism and underage characters. Not my thing! But it definitely floats people’s proverbial boat and is the first of Yen Press’s books from Kodansha. The series is about a pair of twins who switch bodies after a car accident and the caretaker brother loses his body to his once docile sister.

Demon From a Foreign Land is more up my alley. I’ll buy anything by Kaori Yuki! Yen Press seems to be counting on that fan sentiment as it’s releasing this title in special hardcover editions. After an earthquake leaves a young man homeless, he’s taken in by a rich baron, and though he finds friendship with the baron’s heir and his fiance, it doesn’t prepare him for the conspiracies and supernatural mystery that surround the home.

Then like Viz Media, Yen Press has its own new vampiric romance to throw into the still hungry market. He’s My Only Vampire is about a young woman’s relationship with her childhood friend, who happens to be a vampire. One would call that a complication.

High School DxD is a series English readers may already be familiar with thanks to its anime adaptation. The original story was a light novel, while this license being the franchise’s manga version. When a perverted teen is murdered by his first date, he’s resurrected as demonic servant to the prettiest girl at his school. Loss-to-win situation?

And last up is a new manhwa series. I’m really glad to see Yen Press hasn’t dropped their manhwa licenses since the majority of their leftover ICE Kunion series’ ended. The artist, HeeEun Kim, had a work previously published in English by Infinity Studios. Void’s Enigmatic Mansion is also a unique case in that they’ll be releasing it digitally with a simultaneous release with Korea. The plot sounds episodic in nature and is just kind of series I find myself adoring. It focuses on those living in a strange house that grants their wishes, with unexpected twists to their requests.

Yen Press also announced Alice in the Country of Diamonds ~Wonderful Wonder World~ Official Visual Fan Book. As the very long name suggests, this will be a fanbook of artwork and bonus content for the Alice in the Country of… series, a franchise consisting of many manga adaptations based on the original sim games. Seven Seas and Yen Press have been sharing the market in English for a couple years with no sign of slowing.

There haven’t been any specific dates given for the release of these new licenses, but Yen Press says 2014 is the plan for all.

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Ani-Imo, Demon From A Foreign Land, He's My Only Vampire, High School DxD, Manga, Manhwa, NYCC, Void's Enigmatic Mansion, Yen Press

On The Shelf: August 28, 2013

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The student-pocalypse is upon us! It’s the last week of August and students around the world are back to the books after this coming weekend. Enjoy your freedom while you can! Which means read, read, read! … and then continue to do so.

My must-have book for this week is Vertical Inc‘s Helter Skelter. I have a lot of faith in the company’s selection for titles as it is, and this josei story – a title aimed at older woman – about a model’s use of plastic surgery to try and keep up her career, and her spiraling madness because of it, sounds like a worthwhile drama to seek out. Plus as much as I love good on-going series, a solid one shot can often be even more satisfying.

Cage of Eden (Vol. 11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Crimson Empire: Circumstances to Serve a Noble (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kingdom Hearts II (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Pandora Hearts (Vol. 17) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]

Categories: News, On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: Cage of Eden, Crimson Empire, Helter Skelter, Kingdom Hearts, Kodansha Comics, Manga, Pandora Hearts, Vertical Inc, Yen Press

Yen Press Makes Their Own Impact With Light Novels, Sword Art Online and New Madoka Magica Manga at Japan Expo

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, August 23, 2013

Word is that the new North American convention, Japan Expo: First Impact, is off to a slow start but at least one company – Yen Press – gave it the benefit of the doubt by saving some licenses to announce:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story – Magica Quartet/Hanokage
Sword Art Online Aincrad – Tamako Nakamura
Sword Art Online Fairy Dance – Tsubasa Hazuki

If these three titles look familiar, it’s because they’re all connected to recent popular anime franchises. You can currently watch the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica series on Crunchyroll, as well Sword Art Online.

PMMM: The Different Story is a spin-off of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and follows two of the characters, Tomoe Mami & Sakura Kyouko, in their own magical girl story. This three volume series is drawn by the same artist as the PMMM manga (read my review of volume one) and stars two of the original main characters. I’m hoping that equates to me enjoying it more than the recent Puella Magi Kazumi Magica – The Innocent Malice, which you can read my review for.

Sword Art Online Aincrad is the manga adaptation of the series, which was originally adapted from a light novel prior to getting an anime (more on that a few lines down!). The story follows some of 10 000 players trapped in a new virtual reality game where winning is the only way to survive and death there means death in the real world. Sword Art Online Fairy Dance is a sequel and continues the story of its leads trying to best the game’s hundred levels. This is the first time either artist has had a work released in English.

That wasn’t all at Japan Expo though. Yen Press surprised, and hopefully pleased, many readers by announcing two light novel series:

Accel World – Reki Kawahara/HIMA
Sword Art Online – Reki Kawahara/abec

Few publishers have been willing to take risks on light novels – which are niches in niches – but it seems Yen Press’s results with some of their previous light novels, including Haruhi Suzumiya and Spice & Wolf, has kept up the faith. Remember, readers, if you want them, then you have to support them!

Credit for news details goes ANN