A press release sent out by Viz Media late last week revealed some new titles coming out later this year. A little lack-lustre a PR may be but I love to hear this kind of news directly from the publisher, and doubly so during this season which is generally down time for manga licenses.
So what new titles do we have to look forward to?
First up on the list was a new Pokemon series – Pokemon Adventures: Black & White (Edit: Currently it is unconfirmed if Pokemon B/W will be released under the Pokemon Adventures series’ title). This particular announcement is really well timed since the new Pokemon games just came out yesterday (of which I’m currently making my way through White!). This series is written by the same author responsible for the previous Pokemon Adventures volumes and has returning artist Yamamoto Satoshi who took over from artist MATO as of volume ten. The first two volumes will be released in July 2011 (Note cover image is a placeholder for final Viz Media cover design). [Editor’s Note: More information about Pokemon B/W in follow-up post]
Offering more volumes of continuously loved franchises, there’s more Yu-Gi-Oh on the horizon with Yu-Gi-Oh 5D. I haven’t really followed the series since Yugi was no longer than main character but based on the synopsis this looks like the manga version of the story currently being aired on television – so battling in an apocalyptic future on motorcycles. The first volume is due out in July 2011.
Confirming and scheduling a previously revealed series, Viz Media lists Psyren – a story about a boy fighting for his life in an alternate dimension – for release in October 2011. Just in time for Halloween! Following that in November is a one-shot collection of stories by Natsume Ono title Tesoro – twelve short works and bonus material from the creator of not simple! and House of Five Leaves.
Lastly for ‘new’ series is Dawn of the Arcana with its first volume coming out in December. It sounds like a pretty classic fantasy series about a Princess being betrothed to a Prince and learning the backstabbing ways of the royal court and the magic that overlaps it. While I love a classic English-fantasy story, what really makes me curious about this story is the artwork since, upon looking them up, this artist has lovely covers!
And to top things off, we have coming to us omnibus collections of CLAMP’s X/1999! As a huge CLAMP lover and collector everything with their name on it I can find, this really excites me. I already own Viz Media’s last run of the series, and though I’m not one too bothered by flipped artwork, I’m looking forward to re-experiencing the story in it’s original format. Each volume will have 3 books in 1 plus extra full-colour illustrations. Combined with Dark Horse’s omnibus editions, CLAMP is getting an impressive second-wave shot at English readers for nearly all its series – that’s really something and speaks a lot to their popularity (and the faith in their works bringing in new fans as well).
Lots of neat stuff here and there’s more I’m eager for than indifferent towards so yay! How about you? Something here an especially exciting new title to look forward to?
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Manga always needs to sneak its way in somehow though and I bought two books that I absolutely adored upon reading. First was the second volume of Bunny Drop from 
