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Posts Tagged Del Rey

Review: Air Gear (Vol. 13)

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo


Manga-ka: Oh! Great
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: July 2009

Synopsis: “Ikki is close to realizing his dream of becoming the Wind Keeper, and his achievements have won him a mysterious admirer: the beautiful Kururu, who claims that fate decrees she must serve the Wind Keeper. Who is this gorgeous girl–and could she be Ikki’s destiny?”

The first portion of the book slogs along like the volumes before it, too bogged down in its own ego to really establish half as much drama as it intends. While initially I lamented the loss of the series’ most slickly executed style, by the end I was finally granted a glimpse at the Air Gear I originally fell in love with.

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SDCC’09 Samplers: Part Two

SDCC Samplers

Today it’s part two of my look at the manga samplers handed out at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. Last week I went through some of Viz Media’s offerings and today I take a look at another of their sampler books, plus a really pleasantly plump CMX sampler and a look at some recent Del Rey books properties. One thing’s for sure, my to-buy list keeps getting progressively longer with each one.

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PR: Del Rey Manga Announces SDCC Acquisitions

Del Rey Manga Announces Acquisition of Code: Breaker, Panic X Panic, Pink Innocent

SAN DIEGO, CA – July 25, 2009 – Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today at Comic-Con International two brand new shôjo manga acquisitions, and a brand new series from the creator of Samurai Deeper Kyo.

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Del Rey With Kodansha Listings, Digital Manga Picks Up DQ License

Makoto Tateno's Premonition, Yotsuba and Akira

Some note-worthy new listings popped up on Amazon over the week and this time one of them even comes with a confirmation from the company.

Two new Digital Manga listings of interest: one is for another omnibus edition of a previously released series of theirs, this time Hinako Takanaga’s fantastically charming Little Butterfly (big recommendations from me on this one!). This joins the already confirmed omnibus for Makoto Tateno’s Yellow.

Speaking of whom, Makoto Tateno’s boys’ love series Yokan is now listed on Amazon from Digital Manga under the name Preminition. Some yaoi fans may recall this title as having been previously licensed by the now defunk DramaQueen (under the title Omen). Word is that several of DQ’s licenses have begun to expire after years of no releases, which means there’s a likely possibility for more license rescues in the coming future. Preminition, along with a couple other newer licenses, are now listed on Digital Manga’s website.

Other Amazon finds of interest includes two editions of Yen Press’s upcoming first volume release of Soul Eater, one of which apparently coming with a presumably-snazzy slipcover. Extra attention for a series with a big fan base? Speaking of big fan-base (which should be bigger still!), Yen Press will be releasing not one, not two but six volumes of Yotsuba&! this September!

And lastly, though my Twitter followers heard this from me a couple days ago, listings for Akira by Kodansha Comics (previously reported as one of the most solid pieces of Kodansa-related news the English manga world has gotten so far) are now all being listed as the following: Akira Volume # (Akira (del Rey)).

This isn’t the first time I’ve noted overlap in publishing credits between Kodansha Comics and Del Rey, who already has a close connection with the company and releases their titles predominantly. Of course this could just be a slip-up on Amazon’s part, though some other retail sites have the publisher for Kodansha Comic’s rereleases of Akira and Ghost in the Shell listed as Random House (of which Del Rey is an imprint of). Is Del Rey merely helping Kodansha find footing in North America? Or could Kodansha Comics show up as another Random House imprint as a more all-inclusive joint agreement for manga releases? Time will (we hope) tell for sure!


Kuriousity at SDCC: Del Rey

Technical troubles are delaying this post of mine on Del Rey’s Saturday panel, but I did attend and there was plenty of info shared by the pleasantly enthusiastic staff.

The panel of staff members included Del Rey’s Associate Publisher, Editor, Licensing and Acquistion Handler, Marketing Manager… and “just a writer” (info was withheld so as not to spoil news delivered in the panel).

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Review: Fairy Tail (Vol. 01)

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo


Manga-ka: Hiro Mashima
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: March 2008

Synopsis: “Cute girl wizard Lucy wants to join the Fairy Tail, a club for the most powerful wizards. But instead, her ambitions land her in the cluthes of a gang of unsavory pirates led by a devious magician. Her only hope is Natsu, a strange boy she happens to meet on her travels. Natsu’s not your typical hero – he gets motion sickness, eats like a pig, and his best friend is a talking cat. With friends like this, is Lucy better off with her enemies?”

At first glance, Fairy Tail may seem undoubtedly familiar to those who’ve read the popular, One Piece. Don’t be fooled however, both are done by different creators, and despite various similarities in the visual style, there’s still some distinct differences in each manga-ka’s approach to their respective stories. As a reader who could never fully understand the appeal of One Piece, I was wary that my discontent with it could prove a hindrance here. Fortunately, I was pleased to a find a constructively linear story with interesting characters and an invigorating world of magic to explore.

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Review: Wolverine (Vol. 01) – Prodigal Son

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo


Author: Antony Johnston
Artist: Wilson Tortosa
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: April 2009

Synopsis: “Logan is a teenage rebel with a real good reason for having a real bad attitude. Ever since being left in a nearby forest–with no memory of who he was or how he got there–Logan (or Wolverine, as his classmates sometimes call him) has been stuck in a martial arts school in the icy wilds of Canada. No wonder he’s bored, restless, yearning. There’s a whole world out there, and Logan can almost taste it. But he’s chained to a past he can’t remember and can’t escape. Now it just may destroy his future.”

DelRey’s Wolverine takes the iconic Marvel character and aims to fit him into a manga-shaped mold. The story doesn’t trend new ground in either world of subject or style, but the familiar set-up just might pull off a winning combination along with Wilson Totora’s work, which finds a fairly solid style-compromise that both manga and comic fans can appreciate. It’s not the same Wolverine fans are used to, but many of the well-known features are intact, they’re just compressed into the body of a pretty- boy adolescent instead of the hairy 50+ man we’re used to. Big stretch, I know, and yet Wolverine still manages to work on some of its intended levels.

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Review: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Vol. 21)


Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: DelRey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: May 2009

Synopsis: “Fai’s secret past is revealed in horrific detail, and all his lies laid bare. Now Fai must face the rage of Kurogane, and the one person who showed Fai kindness as a child is now his mortal enemy. Can Fai survive Kurogane, Ashura-ô, and Fei-Wang Reed’s final curse?”

This entire volume consists of two things: Fai flashbacks, which serve to finally fully flesh out the smiling sorcerer’s tortured past, and then overlapping present-time fight sequences. Thanks to the number of speedline intense, dialogue-scarce action panels, don’t be surprised if you fly through this volume quicker than most. Ultimately, however, all this speed does is induce longing for the next volume to happen sooner than later.

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Review: Kasumi (Vol. 01)


Author: Surt Lim
Manga-ka: Hirofumi Sugimoto
Publisher: DelRey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: July 2008

Synopsis: “Kasumi is a special girl – and not just because she’s a super-cute high schooler with a heart of gold. She has a major secret: She can turn invisible when she holds her breath! But when she transfers to an elite private school, it gets harder to keep her superpowers secret, especially when she catches the eye of the handsome student-council president, Ryuuki, and becomes the target of his number one fan, mean girl extraordinaire Reina. Can Kasumi keep hiding who she really is?”

The brainchild of American-born Surt Lim and aspiring manga artist in Japan, Hirofumi Sugimoto, Kasumi is the story of, as the title would suggest, Kasumi. Kasumi is a young girl who finds herself attending a surprisingly prestigious private school and quickly things take an interesting turn. From the usual female bullies, and snubbing cool guys every girl there wants a piece of, Kasumi already has her hands full… oh, and the power to go invisible.

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Review: Gakuen Prince (Vol. 01)


Manga-ka: Jun Yuzuki
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2009

Synopsis: “Joshi High is an elite school that most girls in Japan only dream of attending. Then one day everything changes – the all-girl school goes coed. There’s just one catch: The girls out-number the boys. So beings a wild, no-holds-barred competition for the boys of the school. Which smart and independant-minded girl will rise above the fray?”

The brutal violence of Japanese schoolgirls in manga is nothing new to me as a reader, but the reverse harem taken to this particular extreme in Gakuen Prince was something that made me take pause. Also nothing new are the swarms of girls pining for the attention of school’s attractive male populous, but, spreading notes about their plans of sexual attack, confinement and attempted rape? This  was certainly a leap in the department of suspended belief for the sake of entertainment.

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