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Licensing | Press Releases | Release Lists
It’s like Christmas come early with release weeks like this – a whole bunch of must-have manga titles! My top pick goes to Princess Knight (Vol. 02) but Blood Alone (Vol. 05) and a slew of Viz Media titles aren’t far behind it.
You can read the full list of titles shipping out this week, along with my usual random synopsis and price-noting, over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.
It’s Wednesday! And the fifth Wednesday in the month too, that’s an extra week of new comics. You can see the list of new manga out over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.
The big titles out today are the long-awaited new volume of MPD Psycho from Dark Horse, and the seventeenth and final volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack from Vertical Inc. I may very well cry when I finish that one – it’s never easy when one of your favourites comes to an end!
Digital Manga’s newsletter came out yesterday, re-confirming their license of My Cute Crossdresser and listing another title, Starry☆Sky. The first volume of the series is due out in April 2012.
Starry☆Sky is a manga series based on a visual novel game of the same name published in Japan. It’s one of several manga adaptations of the story which follows a girl entering a private school that was until recently an all boys’ school. Over time she makes friends with a group of boys who’re based on the Western zodiac and romance ensues.
Starry☆Sky seems like an odd choice for releasing as a June book, similar to what I thought when I first saw My Cute Crossdresser licensed for Project-H. My confusion wasn’t helped by the genre listing of ‘shonen’ on Digital Manga’s website. This manga series was originally released in a magazine, Comic B’s-Log Kyun, that publishes shoujo series. Some of them look to have some BL-implication – such as a version of Togainu no Chi – but none implicitly boys’ love in nature. With that in mind, plus that it’s based on a shoujo girl-is-surrounded-by-a-harem-of-young-men-who-could-love-her game, is Starry☆Sky being published under their June line for actual BL content or just having a high pretty boy count?
Update (11/12/2011): Digital Manga has switched Starry☆Sky‘s imprint to DMP.
Digital Manga added some new books to their website this week. Among them was a new one-shot book they’ve named My Cute Crossdresser. It’s a hentai title being released under their Project-H imprint. The book is scheduled for release in April 2012 at $17.95/US and 19.99/CAN.
My Cute Crossdresser is a collection of four one-shot stories plus one longer story that lasts three chapters. As the name and cover suggests, the book contains some cute teenage boys dressing in cute little school uniforms, among other things. It’s a trap! Just the kind you’ve been warned about in advance.
I was surprised at first to see this kind of hentai title released under Project-H with the previous three books having the more ‘typical’ hentai look to them. You know, girls and boobs. I’m certainly not denying the diversity in the hentai genre (porn for everybody!) but didn’t expect to see a cross dressing story like this out in English. Then again with Digital Manga’s Doki Doki “the gateway between shojo to yaoi”, this new license seems like it could be an entertaining gateway between their hentai and yaoi imprints. As a buyer of both genres, you can bet I’ll be ordering it!
You can get a bit more info about My Cute Crossdresser and view interior preview pages at its Amazon.jp purchase page. The English edition isn’t yet available to pre-order. My thanks to J.R. Brown for finding the Amazon Japan listing.
Halifax is having its first snow of the year today and it’s hitting hard! Stores are closed and transit is slowed or stopped – not very good conditions for getting out to buy new manga. It is a great day to sit at home in a cozy pair of PJs and enjoy a stack of manga you already have though (you know, even more so than usual!).
Sailor Moon (Vol. 02) and Codename: Sailor V (Vol. 02) are the two big titles out this week, the latter of which comes to an end as the storyline merges with Sailor Moon. If you’re reading them both, be sure to read Sailor V first! I’m also really eager to pick up a copy of Saturn Apartments (Vol. 04) and see if I can finally find a copy of Project H’s first title, Shocking Pink! now that it’s on the open market.
You can read the complete list of titles out on the shelf this week at my (aptly named) On The Shelf article over at Otaku USA.
Seven Seas has announced two new manga licenses today, both of which should please many a manga reader.
Girl Friends – Milk Morinaga
I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!! – Kusano Kouichi
Girl Friends is a five-volume yuri series by one of the genre’s most well known creators, Milk Morinaga. This is Morinaga’s first title to be released in English.
“When it comes to grades, bookish high school student Mariko Kumakura is at the top of her class. Socially, however, she is shy and lonely, typically eating lunch by herself. Enter the charismatic and beautiful Akko Oohashi, whose mission is to befriend Mariko and burst her out of her introverted shell. In the process of transforming Plain Jane Mariko into one of the cutest, most popular girls in school, deep feelings begin to emerge that suggest something deeper than friendship.”
Seven Seas has previously put out several yuri titles – which are stories with a focus on romantic relationships between women – including The Last Uniform and Strawberry Panic. Girl Friends will be released as two omnibus volumes, each $17.99/US for 496 pages. The first will be on sale October 2012 with the second out in January 2013.
I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!! is a multi-volume manga series about a girl with a severe brother complex:
“Junior High School student Takanashi Nao has a problem: she has a crush on her dreamy older brother, Shuusuke. Fortunately, when Nao discovers that she was adopted as a child and they’re not related by blood, it seems like the coast is clear–but Shuusuke just doesn’t see it that way.”
To be honest, this is the kind of series I’d actively avoid (incest, no thank you) but I know it has a decent-sized fan following so many will be very glad for this news! The series will be released as 2-in-1 omnibus books at )$16.99/US)/($19.50/CAN) with the first scheduled for release in August 2012 with a 320 page count.
A rather small list of titles out this week but the book count remains about the same (if not more) if you account for two more big box sets out from Viz Media. This week’s releases are posted in my On The Shelf article over at Otaku USA.
After doing this article for a few months, it’s been interesting seeing the patterns that emerge when it comes to how and when books come out. The two biggest descrepencies in information, meaning those that vary the most between what the sites says and my bookshelf indicates, are from Digital Manga and Kodansha, while Viz Media is often the most reliable (if you don’t include back orders anyway!).
Digital Manga lists release dates that only their own in-house supplier, Akadot, gets books for so they’re usually off by a month or two for anyone else (including Amazon and bookstores). Kodansha Comics predomiantly gets its books out to bookstores and online retailers on the days they indicate but Diamond Comics notoriously ships them from 2-3 weeks late from the release date. This differs a lot from Viz Media and Dark Horse titles, which always seem to be consistent between sources (excluding publisher push-backs).
Yen Press and Vertical Inc sit on the fence – usually on time but random titles arrive 1-2 weeks late from Diamond Comics. Oddly there rarely seems to be rhyme or reason to which titles arrive (or don’t) to individual stores despite ordering manifests and regardless of what titles are on the main Diamond Comics shipping list that week. Their titles do however have a tendency above others to arrive early sometimes.
Seven Seas hasn’t had enough physical releases in the past few months for me to notice a trend but that could change in 2012 based on the increase in titles we’re seeing.
Alas that at the end of the day noticing these trends doesn’t make coming up with a list that’s right for everyone any less difficult. Take this week for example, where online and chain store retailers have Sailor Moon (Vol.02) but Diamond Comics doesn’t yet have it listed as available. Frustrating both as a reader and an article writer. Patience, patience, patience…
The end of 2011 is creeping up and companies are continuing to give us lots of manga-loving reasons to look forward to 2012. Seven Seas has listed print information for three new manhwa titles up on their website this week, all you can expect to be released this coming year. Two were announced back in August but fell under the radar as footnotes in a post about their online comics initiative.
Alongside their recent news about acquiring Young Miss Holmes, the company is starting a trend of mystery-solving, Victorian-era titles. Very neat! I really look forward to reading them and it’s fantastic seeing another publisher is still actively looking into the vast Korean market of comics.
Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries – Jeon Hye-Jin
First Volume (Omnibus, 1-2): August 2012
“Lizzie Newton, a young upper crust lady with a budding career as a mystery writer, is expected to know her place in Victorian society. …While the headstrong Lizzie tolerates earnest Edwin, she is not yet ready to accept him as her fiance. Besides, Lizzie is distracted by something far more important: an apparent suicide has occurred in the manor, and Lizzie is ready to solve her first real life murder case!” – Seven Seas
Witch Hunter – Cho Jung-Man
First Volume (Omnibus, 1-2): June 2012 | Second Volume (Omnibus, 3-4): October 2012
“Tasha Godspell, also known as the “Magic Marksman,” is one of the best Witch Hunters there is. Along with his sword-wielding Jack-o’-Lantern partner known as Halloween, Tasha puts his magical training and weaponry to good use, in his constant battles against witches. And yet, he cannot bring himself to fully hate the very witches he is tasked to destroy.” – Seven Seas
Jack the Ripper: Hell Blade – Jetae Yoo
First Volume: July 2012 | Second Volume: October 2012 | Third Volume: January 2013
“Jack the Ripper is not what he seems –but the truth may be more terrible than anyone imagined. A young police detective from Scotland Yard struggles to unravel the mystery behind the brutal slayings that grip 19th Century London. What he learns will turn his world upside down, and pit him face to face against the Ripper himself. But is Jack his savior or destroyer?” – Seven Seas
Witch Hunter and Lizzie Newton were originally announced as part of Seven Seas web-comic collection, Zoom Comics. The website is currently offering free online editions to read several of Seven Seas’ original properties, including the recently published Dracula Everlasting and Vampire Cheerleaders. It will be running the first volume of Witch Hunter starting in January.
With more titles on the horizon that’ll excite quite a few fans, Seven Seas is making an impressive come back into the licensed comic publishing market. With a bunch of new titles, strong digital initiatives and comics from sources few publishers are looking to these days, they’re a company you’ll want to keep an eye on.
Digital Manga‘s newsletter came out yesterday and had an assortment of interesting news to share – some great, some neat and some that just left me scratching my head in confusion.
The company has licensed a new boys’ love title – Docchi mo Docchi by Nozomu Hiiragi. It’s a one-shot title about two men employed at the same company. Both are well known with the ladies and rivals at their jobs. When the two somehow end up in bed together, the big question becomes who’s meant to be on top?
Digital Manga also noted that they’ve acquired the license to the third volume of Dog x Cat. Neither title has a release date yet.
The newsletter also reminded readers of job listings posted on Digital Manga’s website. Those currently listed as new and ‘permanent’ there are: Manga-Comic Editor/ Production Associate, PHP Developer, Accountant, Production Associate, Graphic Designer/Marketing Assistant and E-commerce Sales Associates.
The weird news of the week from Digital Manga though is that they’ve launched a Kickstarter program to fund a second-printing of Osamu Tezuka’s Swallowing the Earth. Kickstarter is a site where individuals or groups can start up a funding project where they look to the community to pledge money to support it. I’ve seen this work successfully for independent creators who don’t have the initial means to afford print runs but a company size of Digital Manga doing it?
Two new manga licenses today, both coming our way via the power of social media. SuBLime and Project-H each announced one new title via their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Velvet Kiss (2 volumes) – Chihiro Harumi
Publisher: Project-H Books (Rated 18+)
“Nitta Shin finds himself saddled with a sudden, crushing debt. His loan agent tells him he can escape repayment if he keeps a particular woman company. He gradually learns that this arrangement might not be as easy as he once thought.” – DigitalManga
Oku-san’s Daily Fantasies – Takatsuki Noboru
Publisher: SuBLime (Rated 18+) – Digital Only
“Oku-san often buys useless stuff online, but not because it’s his hobby, but because this way he can see Sudou Riki, the good-looking delivery man. Not being able to do anything about his crush, he can’t help but fantasize…” – BakaUpdates
Velvet Kiss currently has no release date but will be in print. Oku-san’s Daily Fantasies is currently a digital only release scheduled for December. SuBLime reps remind us that strong digital sales could potentially mean print for their currently digital-only title someday.
I’d never heard of Oku-san’s Daily Fantasies until now but it seems to have quite a bit of fan excitement behind it and sounds pretty silly (in a good way!). Drama and sex is great and all but I love a fun comedy sometimes.
And has anyone looked closely at the Project-H logo before? It’s pretty clever – a cascading circular nosebleed over top an open book. I only just gave it a good look today and I was pretty entertained by it. Pervy and still visually classy.
My thanks to Sean for the heads up regarding the Velvet Kiss license.
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