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Posts Tagged NYCC

PR: Yen Press Announces New Licenses at New York Comic Con

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, October 11, 2014

Yen Press Announces New Licenses at New York Comic Con

NEW YORK, NY (October 10, 2014) – At its panel at New York Comic Con today, Yen Press announced a number of highly-anticipated forthcoming manga publications.

The light novel series Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and A Certain Magical Index were already on the new Yen On list, specializing in translated light novels. Today, Yen Press announced the acquisition of the manga series as well. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? is by Kunieda; the original story is by Fujino Omori and the character design by Suzuhito Yasuda. A Certain Magical Index is by Chuya Kogino; the original story by Kazuma Kamachi and the character design by Kiyotaka Haimura.

Also announced were Emma by Kaoru Mori, author of the acclaimed A Bride’s Story and Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something, also published by Yen Press; and Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova, author of Nightschool and illustrator of James Patterson’s Witch & Wizard, both also published by Yen Press.

The other announced publications were:

Trinity Seven, by Kenji Saitou and Akinari Nao;
Chaika, The Coffin Princess (manga) by Shinta Sakayama, original story by Ichirou Sakaki, character design by Namaniku ATK;
First Love Monster by Akira Hiyoshimaru;
Prison School by Akira Hiramoto; and
Alice in Murderland by Kaori Yuki.

PR: Viz Media Announces New Manga Licenses at 2014 New York Comic Con

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, October 9, 2014

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VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF MANGA LICENSES FOR
TOKYO GHOUL AND SO CUTE IT HURTS!!

North America’s Leading Manga Publisher Thrills Fans At New York Comic Con 2014 With The Announcement Of A Harrowing New Action Horror Series And A Hilarious New Shojo Manga Title

San Francisco, CA, October 9, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announced the acquisition of a pair of exciting new manga (graphic novel) titles during panels held during the recent New York Comic Con 2014.

Fans attending the East Coast’s biggest pop culture and comics event enthusiastically welcomed the announcement of the Summer 2015 launch of creator Sui Ishida’s horror action series, TOKYO GHOUL, which will be published under the VIZ Signature imprint, as well as Go Ikeyamada’s cross-dressing comedy, SO CUTE IT HURTS!!, set to be published under the Shojo Beat imprint. Both titles will be released in print as well as digitally.

TOKYO GHOUL  Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens 
Print MSRP: $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN  Available June 2015
This riveting horror/action series about a reluctant monster has been one of the year’s most fan-requested new titles. Ken Kaneki is an ordinary college student until a violent encounter turns him into the first half-human half-ghoul hybrid. Trapped between two worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers.

SO CUTE IT HURTS!!  Rated ‘T’ for Teens 
Print MSRP: $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN  Available June 2015
The fun begins when the cross-dressing starts in this hilarious new high school shojo manga comedy. The Kobayashi twins, Mego and Mitsuru, were named after historical figures, but only Mego has grown up with a taste for history. So when Mitsuru is in danger of losing his weekends to extra history classes, he convinces his sister to swap clothes with him and ace his tests! After all, how hard can it be for them to play each other?

PR: Viz Media and ReedPop Welcome Manga Artist Takeshi Obata to New York Comic Con 2014

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, September 30, 2014

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VIZ MEDIA AND REEDPOP WELCOME MANGA ARTIST TAKESHI OBATA TO NEW YORK COMIC CON 2014

The Seminal Artist Of DEATH NOTE And ALL YOU NEED IS KILL To Appear At Panels And Exclusive In-Person Signing Session; Will Also Participate In Signings During New York Super Week

San Francisco, CA, September 29, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, and ReedPOP, the largest producer of pop culture events in the world, are proud to welcome one of Japan’s preeminent manga artists – Takeshi Obata – for his first-ever U.S. personal appearance. His visit is co-presented by The Japan Foundation.

The acclaimed artist of smash hit manga (graphic novel) series such as DEATH NOTE, BAKUMAN。, HIKARU NO GO, RALΩGRAD and ALL YOU NEED IS KILL will appear at several events during the 2014 New York Comic Con. Taking place October 9^th– 12^th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York Comic Con is the East Coast’s biggest pop culture convention. Full details on the show are available at: www.NewYorkComicCon.com.

During the convention, Takeshi Obata will appear in person on two panels, on Thursday October 9^th as part of VIZ Media’s WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP panel and on Friday October 10^th with an overview of his incredible catalog of works. He will make an exclusive signing appearance at the Javits Convention Center on Thursday evening.

Takeshi Obata will also make a pair of additional appearances around New York as part of ReedPOP’s New York Super Week on Friday October 10^th at Kinokuniya Book Store and Saturday October 11^th at Barnes & Noble.

Fans are invited to stop by the VIZ Media Booth (#1944) on Thursday October 9^th for details and to secure advance tickets for the exclusive New York Comic Con Takeshi Obata signing, taking place the same day at 7:30pm at the Javits Center. Signing tickets will be distributed on a first come/first served basis promptly at 1:00pm and again at 4:30pm. (There will be no advance line-up until 15 minutes before ticket time). Each attendee that secures a ticket will receive an exclusive shikishi signing board that Obata will autograph.

Fans may also select from a wide array of Obata manga titles available for purchase at the VIZ Media booth, including special advance copies of his newest work, ALL YOU NEED IS KILL, a deluxe omnibus manga treatment of the Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s hit sci-fi novel that inspired the action blockbuster Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise. It will debut under VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump Advanced imprint on November 4^th. Other acclaimed Obata manga titles including DEATH NOTE, BAKUMAN。, HIKARU NO GO and RALΩGRAD will also be available for purchase.

VIZ Media, ReedPOP and The Japan Foundation welcome Takeshi Obata at the following New York Comic Con Panels: Read more…

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Bakuman, Conventions, Death Note, hikaru no go, NYCC, takeshi obata, Viz Media

PR: Takeshi Obata To Appear at New York Comic Con

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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TAKESHI OBATA TO APPEAR AT NEW YORK COMIC CON

Wildly Popular Manga Artist and Creative Force Behind Death Note, Bakuman。 and
All You Need Is Kill to participate in Panels and Autographing on October 9 and 10, 2014

NORWALK, CT – July 29, 2014 – New York Comic Con is rolling out power-packed appearances that showcase the hottest talent from around the globe. In continuing its unwavering commitment to celebrate the vast expanse of all things pop culture, ReedPOP, the world’s largest producer of pop culture events and producers of the event, today announced that renowned manga artist Takeshi Obata will be appearing as part of autographing and panels the Thursday and Friday of the show.

Obata is the artist of the wildly popular Shonen Jump title Hikaru no Go, which won the 2003 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize: Shinsei “New Hope” award and the 2000 Shogakukan Manga award. Obata is also the artist of Arabian Majin Bokentan Lamp Lamp, Ayatsuri Sakon, Cyborg Jichan G, and the smash hit manga Death Note. Following the hugely successful series Bakuman。 Obata’s latest work is All You Need Is Kill, a 2-volume adaptation of the novel which was also the basis for this year’s Tom Cruise blockbuster Edge of Tomorrow. Hikaru no Go, Death Note, Bakuman。and All You Need Is Kill are all published in North America by VIZ Media. Takeshi Obata is appearing at New York Comic Con with support of VIZ Media and the Japan Foundation.

NYCC 2013: Kodansha Comics Announces UQ Holder and Seven Deadly Sins

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, November 16, 2013

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You thought we were done with NYCC didn’t you?! Even weeks late, licensing news is great news indeed. Call us refreshers for all your manga convention news! Along with their Attack on Titan titles, Kodansha Comics also had a few other series under their sleeves to reveal that weekend:

Seven Deadly Sins – Nakaba Suzuki
UQ Holder – Ken Akamatsu

Kodansha Comics is touting Seven Deadly Sins as the “next Dragonball Z“. Those are some pretty big boots to fill! In this fantasy story, the manga’s lead Princess Elizabeth is searching for the seven deadly sins instead of the seven magic dragon balls. The sins are all legendary warriors and she hopes to use them to defeat the murderous Holy Knights, putting a twist on the usual who’s good, who’s bad stereotypes.

UQ Holder is a new series from Ken Akamatsu, best known to most as the creator of Negima!. Good thing too, since UQ Holder takes place in the same magical world many years later. The story begins in a small village where a group of boys dream of one day leaving and seeing the big city, and its’ giant constructed spire that leads into space. But, before they’re allowed to leave, they have to defeat their beautiful, and conveniently immortal, teacher.

Volume one of Seven Deadly Sins is scheduled for March 2014 (Amazon CAN/US), with UQ Holder (Vol. 01) right on its tail (Amazon CAN/US).

For those who’re curious and would like to read the series now, you currently can! Both these series are available via Crunchyroll’s new digital manga program. You can expect more on that news here at Kuriousity as soon as I make my way through the series they’re currently offering.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Conventions, Ken Akamatsu, Kodansha Comics, Manga, NYCC, Seven Deadly Sins, UQ Holder

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

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, October 27, 2013

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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.

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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

NYCC 2013: Viz Media Announces Shoujo, Seinen and Shorts

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, October 22, 2013

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The NYCC manga licenses – they just keep going, and going, and going… I love it! I can’t recall the last convention that had so many manga licenses in one place. Today I take a look at new licenses from Viz Media:

Battle Royale: Angels’ Border – Koushun Takami, Mioko Ohnishi & Youhei Oguma
Black Rose Alice – Setona Mizushiro
My Love Story!! – Kazune Kawahara & Aruko
Terra Formars – Yū Sasuga & Kenichi Tachibana
Time Killers: Kazue Kato Short Story Collection – Kazue Kato

Nearly every title on this list stands out to me in one good way or another. Starting from the top, there’s Battle Royale: Angels’ Border. This is a manga side-story sequel to Battle Royale, written by the author of the original books. I haven’t read those (yet) but I did read the manga adaptation Tokyopop released and have watched the movie several times, so I’m looking forward to a need to refresh and revisit. The story is split into two parts – episode 01 and episode 02 – with each drawn by a different artist. They’re both released together in this collected edition.

Black Rose Alice is a title I’ve heard praised a lot in passing but never much more than that, but I can’t deny the draw of a title by Setona Mizushiro no matter what I have or haven’t heard. I love her work, which in English includes GoComi’s Afterschool Nightmare and Tokyopop’s X-Day. She renders such heart-wrenching characters and has done some really interesting things with gender roles and the evolution of relationships. I have a couple of her other series in French, and hoped for the day we would get more in English. May this be the first of many!

As for this current announcement, Black Rose Alice enters our still vampire-hungry market with a story about a young singer who survives an accident only to find his body has never felt right since. A string of suicides by those close to him act as catalysts for a new life of romance, drama and potentially tasty looking necks.

With My Love Story!! I’m smitten with the Japanese covers. I love a title with characters that actually look like people. Too pretty can easily be too much sometimes. My Love Story!! is written by the creator of High School Debut, which I thought was a fun read, so that’s another point in its favour. The downside of My Love Story!! is it’s promoted as a love triangle story, which I’m not a big fan of. Sure almost all romances use this at some point or another but, like a cast of characters that’re too pretty to be believed, reading story after story that tends to end in watching the more likable and loyal person get left on the curb is more than a little tiring. How will I feel about” the unattractive Takeo Gouda, his cool and attractive childhood friend Sunagawa, and the pure Yamato, whose specialty is making candy*”? We shall see!

Terra Formars is the only title on the list that’s entirely new to me. It looks pretty cool though, even though the plot makes me laugh. It takes place years in the future when a team of colonists go to Mars only to discover that the mold and cockroaches they sent ahead to help prepare the land for living have since mutated into super strong humanoid cockroaches. Oops! The manga series – currently six volumes long – then follows a group of soldiers sent to get rid of them.

And last but not least, there’s Time Killers: Kazue Kato Short Story Collection. This one really excites me. As the title explains, Time Killers is a collection of short stories by Kazue Kato, creator of Blue Exorcist. I love reading creators’ short stories. The boundaries of a short story can bring out a person’s best work or at least some of their most creative as they can explore ideas that might not see success in lengthier formats. Admittedly, I got tired of Blue Exorcist and dropped it at volume six, but I did love the earlier volumes so I’m hoping to re-experience some of that same adoration in these shorts.

We don’t have dates yet for these releases, but my thanks goes to ANN for the existing details*. Looking forward to them, Viz!

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Battle Royale, Black Rose Alice, Blue Excorcist, Manga, My Love Story!!, NYCC, Shoujo Beat, Terra Formars, Viz Media

NYCC 2013: Vertical Inc Deals in Fat and Falls With Manga and Light Novel Licenses

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, October 17, 2013

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Next up on Lissa-takes-a-while-to-post-manga-news-these-days, it’s more new licenses from this past week’s New York Comic Con, today courtesy of Vertical Inc:

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (Light Novel) – Ryō Suzukaze & Thores Shibamoto
In The Clothes Named Fat – Moyoco Anno

Kodansha Comics may’ve granted some wishes I thought were only a matter of time, but Vertical Inc did what I thought was impossible. The Attack on Titan prequel novel? Awesome! Before the Fall is a story that takes place seventy years prior to the events of Attack on Titan. The series is three volumes long and features the invention of the 3D maneuver gear.

Vertical Inc has the first volume scheduled to be released next summer, a couple months after Kodansha Comics will begin releasing the new manga version of the same story. I really hope this does well for Vertical, both out of adoration for the company itself and the want for more similar licenses in the future. Support the prose! I’ll be buying both versions but hope that one doesn’t negatively affect the other in regards to sales.

Next was manga time as Vertical pleased many a josei fan with their announcement of Moyoco Anno’s In The Clothes Named Fat. Vertical previously released her one-short, Sakuran (which was fantastic, by the way), and announced her romantic-autobiographical series, Insufficient Direction this past summer.

In The Clothes Named Fat is another one-shot, but set in modern day. It revolves around an office worker who is self-conscious and bullied about her weight. When her boyfriend breaks up with her, she becomes determined to lose weight no matter what.

Vertical Inc plans to release this title next summer as well. I’m really looking forward to reading it. After Sakuran, I gained a new respect for her works. A well-structured one-shot worked so much better for me than her previously released multi-book series, such as Happy Mania or Sugar Sugar Rune.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Attack on Titan, Conventions, In The Clothes Named Fat, Light Novels, Manga, Moyoco Anno, NYCC, Vertical Inc

NYCC 2013: Kodansha Comics Maneveurs Multiple Attack on Titan Spin-Offs

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, October 16, 2013

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It’s been a few years since New York Anime Fest was completely absorbed by New York Comic Con, and posts from those in attendance this year painted an even more under-the-rug picture of the anime/manga content. It was a shame, but not a big surprise. That said, manga publishers didn’t shy away from the spotlight even if it was a little restricted, and you know what that means – new licenses!

Though I was sad that another year of NYCC has passed without my presence, I was thrilled to see all the news that came from it. For me, the biggest news came from Kodansha Comics who answered some of my very recent prayers with this first batch of titles:

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall – Satoshi Shiki & Ryō Suzukaze
Attack on Titan: Junior High – Saki Nakagawa
Attack on Titan: No Regrets – Hikaru Suruga & Gan Sunaaku

The Attack on Titan anime has just recently ended. I’d been following the series via Crunchyroll and loved every moment of it. Because the anime series ended prematurely of the story, I’ve been collecting the manga as Kodansha puts it out. Their license of these three spin-off series – all of which range from newish to brand new in Japan – come as no surprise. It’s perfectly timed to when thousands of fans, like myself, are clamouring for whatever Attack on Titan they can get their hands on.

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall is a manga adaptation of a series of light novels. They serve as a prequel to the main story and follow a member of the Survey Corps who develops the 3D maneuver gear that would later become the signature method of fighting, and escaping, the Titans. At this point in the world, no human has been known to kill a Titan so the discovery of a new form of attack will offer humanity both a sliver of hope and important pieces of information about Titans. Kodansha Comics’ target for release is spring 2014.

Attack on Titan: No Regrets is also a prequel but stars familiar faces from the cast. The story will feature Survey Corps’ star member, Levi, and his Commander, Erwin. Readers will get to see how the two met and how Levi was convinced to become one of the strongest forces fighting for humanity. No Regrets is coming from the pages of a shoujo magazine so I’m looking forward to some beautifully drawn drama. The first colour promotional piece is already worth an oogle, as you can see from the preview in this post to your left. We should be getting the first release in summer 2014.

The third title, Attack on Titan: Junior High, is the one I know the least about. It’s also the only one that isn’t part of the chronological timeline. This multi-volume series is a comedy adaptation where the characters are re-imagined as junior high students and faculty. I don’t know who came up with this weird idea but it exists and we’ll soon be reading it. I’m not usually a fan of gag stories but when it’s a comic using the dark events of Attack on Titan as a base, I’m too intrigued not to check it out. Kodansha Comics plans the first volume for spring 2014.

On top of these three titles, Kodansha Comics also announced The Attack on Titan Guidebook: Inside & Outside. This book will contain colour artwork, character bios, concept sketches and series information. The current date for this release in English is summer 2014.

And that, fellow fans, is a lot of Titan stuff. And it wasn’t even the end of the Attack on Titan news from New York Comic Con this year. Thanks goes to Anime News Network for the news details.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Attack on Titan, Kodansha Comics, Manga, NYCC

NYCC 2012: Viz Media Announces Tiger & Bunny, Pepita and Alpha Prints

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, October 15, 2012

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The last big manga panel of NYCC 2012 was Viz Media‘s who had a couple exciting titles to cap-off one of the year’s biggest conventions.

Pepita: Takehiko Inoue Meets Antonio – Takehiko Inoue
Sunny – Taiyo Matsumoto
Tiger & Bunny – Mizuki Sukikobara
Tiger & Bunny (Anthology) – Multiple Artists

Along with these titles, they’ve confirmed that two series currently running in Shonen Jump Alpha will be brought to collected print editions as well:

Barrage – Kōhei Horikoshi
Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration – Nobuhiro Watsuki

Easy pick for the titles I’m most eager for are the Tiger & Bunny books. I still haven’t even seen the original anime series – not available to stream in Canada – but I’ve heard so many good things about it that I’m immensely curious to experience it in any form. I also purchased a volume of the Tiger & Bunny anthology series for a friend so I’ve first hand how fun that is. The first of the two T&B licenses is a manga adaptation of the series, while the anthology collection is a series of books collecting an assortment of short stories from a variety of creators.

Pepita sounds like a very potentially worthwhile read as well, described by Viz Media as such: “Antoni Gaudi was the world leader of Catalan modernist movement in architecture. Takehiko Inoue is one of the premier manga artists in the world. Inoue’s journey to Spain and to the world of Gaudi is half travel memoir, half art book, and all beauty.” Meanwhile Sunny is a new title from Taiyo Matsumoto, the creator of Tekkonkinkreet, so that in itself makes me intrigued.

Viz Media also announced they’ll be releasing 3-in-1 omnibus volumes of Dragonball and D.Grayman starting June of next year. I’m not sure what the difference will be with these new Dragonball omnibus compared to their previously released VizBIG versions, but we shall see. I’m pleased to see D.Grayman getting the omnibus treatment; it’s a series I’ve been meaning to start. Each volume of these omnibus edition will be priced at $14.99/US, $16.99/CAN.

You can read all the nitty-gritty details and extra tidbits at ANN’s write-up of Viz Media’s panel.

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