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Licensing | Press Releases | Release Lists

On The Shelf: July 10, 2013

On The Shelf: July 10, 2013

Books, book, books. Make sure you don’t miss your second – and possibly last – chance to buy two of my favourite manga series, with Fullmetal Alchemist 3-in-1 (Vol. 05) and Tokyo Babylon Omnibus (Vol. 02). I’m really loving this new(ish) omnibus trend. They’re often worth every penny and then some~

Case Closed (Vol.47) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
The Flowers of Evil (Vol.06) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Fullmetal Alchemist 3-in-1 (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
RIN-NE (Vol.12) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Tiger & Bunny (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Tokyo Babylon Omnibus (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


Manga Minis: Sailor Moon Delay, New Hetalia, Shonen Jump Grows and CLAMP Slows

Manga Minis: Sailor Moon Delay, New Hetalia, Shonen Jump Grows and CLAMP Slows

 RightStuf announced that they have plans to publish the next two volumes of Hetalia in their continued partnership with Tokyopop. Hetalia (Vol. 04-05) will be available “before the holiday season” according to the Tokyopop manga twitter. Exact date obviously varies! RightStuf and Tokyopop previously released the third volume exclusively through their online sites, and print-on-demand issues of the first two. (Source: AnimeNewsNetwork)

 Kodansha Comics revealed at Anime Expo that they’ll be speeding up their release of Attack on Titan. Starting in August the company will be releasing one volume a month in both print and digital formats. By doing this they should be caught up to the Japanese volumes by the end of the year. This is fantastic news for the manga readers! The only downside is as someone trying to stick to just the anime until it catches up, this pains me on a very conflicted level. The pressure! The temptation! It’s sad and beautiful. (Source: AnimeNewsNetwork)

 Some actually sad news came from Kodansha Comics when they had to announce that the 20th Anniversary Sailor Moon art book would be delayed. The book was supposed to come out sometime this year, but has been pushed to 2014. At least the reasoning isn’t bad – it’s said that the delay is because Naoko Takeuchi is still working on new content for the book. The art book isn’t the only thing from the Sailor Moon anniversary that’s met with delays as the new anime has been pushed to some undetermined time in 2014 as well. (Source: @debaoki)

 Flipping back to good news, Viz Media announced that their digital Shonen Jump will now be available in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Yay! This is fantastic news indeed. While those living in those areas will not be able to access the back issues, they’ll still get all the same content on a weekly basis as those already subscribed. It’s a fantastic deal, guys, so get on that and enjoy! (Source: AnimeNewsNetwork)

Gate 7 (Vol. 03) Convention guest news: Dark Horse and San Diego Comic Con are welcoming the creator of Lone Wolf and Cub, Kazuo Koike, to it’s event later this month. Then in August, California Japan Expo is hosting the manga artist and character designer for Neon Genesis Evangelion, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto.

 And last but not least, there’s been speculation for a while that CLAMP’s Gate 7 series is on hiatus and CLAMP fans have found plenty of new evidence to support it. While the story hasn’t really clicked for me, the loss of eye-candy alone makes this sad news indeed. While the original plan to release this series globally on the same day didn’t happen, Dark Horse has still been releasing the volumes in English as they become available. CLAMP’s currently on-going series include xxxHolic and Drug & Drop, a continuation of Legal Drug.


Marital Bliss as Vertical Licenses Moyoco Anno’s Insufficient Direction

Insufficient Direction

Vertical Inc had their first of a few upcoming license announcements this week at Anime Expo:

Insufficient Direction – Moyoco Anno

This amusing looking one-shot is an autobiographical piece about Moyoco Anno’s relationship, and eventual marriage, to Hideaki Anno. Moyoco Anno already has a fair sized following among manga readers – her most recent title was Vertical Inc’s Sakuran – but I’m curious to see if this being a story staring the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Hideaki Anno, boosts it as well.

You can look at a view sample pages for this book on its Amazon.jp page. In her books, Moyoco Anno often depicts herself with a baby-avatar and from the preview it looks like she’s continuing to use that in Insufficient Direction. It might take some careful reading to remember that the ‘baby’ is Moyoco Anno herself. Looks to be a funny read though!

Vertical Inc dates the release for this book in Spring 2014.


Viz Media Adds New Akira Toriyama Series to Weekly Shonen Jump

Jaco the Galactic Patrolman

The future is now! In this week’s issue of Shonen Jump, Viz Media revealed that they’ve licensed Akira Toriyama’s brand new on-going series, Jaco the Galactic Patrolman.

Viz describes Jaco as “the story of a powerful alien policeman stranded on Earth.” While that may not be much to go on, the mere fact it’s by Akira Toriyama – creator of Dragonball and Dr. Slump – is reason enough to look forward to it. It looks to be a return to his comedic roots, though I do hope it still takes itself a little seriously sometimes as I love the balance between those two moods that Toriyama can achieve. The promo picture already makes me eager to read it. His art always strikes that pleasant chord of being both fun and nostalgic.

Jaco is scheduled to start in the July 15th edition of the digital magazine. As the series itself was only revealed late last week, it was exciting to read about it’s English inclusion only days after.

Shonen Jump is also offering a discount on its already really cheap – seriously, how do they do that? – yearly subscriptions for Shonen Jump. During this weekend of Anime Expo, a year’s worth of weekly content will be available for only $19.99/US.


On The Shelf: June 26, 2013

On The Shelf: June 26, 2013

It’s a busy week for Kuriousity as half our writers, myself included, gear up for the upcoming Animaritime. It’s the final prep-day countdown! But that doesn’t stop us from oogling this week’s new assortment of manga, which includes a whole bunch of new Yen Press books.

I really enjoyed Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories which Yen Press is releasing as a single omnibus. Unfortunately my feelings weren’t as generous for Puella Magi Kazumi Magica. To each their own of course, and this week offers plenty to choose from. Buy and enjoy!

Aron’s Absurd Armada (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Fairy Tail (Vol.27) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Heroman (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Higurashi: When They Cry – Festival Accompanying Arc (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Nabari No Ou (Vol.14) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Negima! Magister Negi Magi Omnibus (Vol.07) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Pandora Hearts (Vol.16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Spice & Wolf (Vol.08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Triage X (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Oreimo (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


SuBLime Announces Kou Yoneda’s NightS

SuBLime Announces Kou Yoneda's NightS

Viz Media continued to please fans this past weekend as their boys’ love side-company, SuBLime, announced a new license: Kou Yoneda’s NightS.

SuBLime will be releasing the one-shot as both print and digital editions in January 2014:

“A collection of masterful, sensual stories by popular yaoi creator Kou Yoneda! In the title story, Masato Karashima is a “transporter,” a man paid to smuggle anything from guns to drugs to people. When he’s hired by yakuza gang member Masaki Hozumi, he finds himself attracted to the older man, and what starts out as a business transaction quickly spirals into a cat-and-mouse game of lust and deception. In “Emotion Spectrum,” a high-school student tries to be a good wingman for a classmate, with an unexpected result, while “Reply” is told from the alternating perspectives of an emotionally reserved salesman and the shy mechanic who’s in love with him.”

Libre – the original publisher of the title in Japan – released a portion of the book for the Kindle (CAN/US) early last year.

Though I’m not familiar with NightS, Shannon had good things to say about Kou Yoneda’s No Touching At All, which Digital Manga released back in 2010. The comments on SuBLime’s news post also speaks a lot to fans’ excitement for the release. Certainly looks and sounds good to me!


Back to the Beginning: Viz Media Confirms License of New Tiger & Bunny Manga

Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning

Just recently I finished watching Tiger & Bunny, now that Viz Media has finished releasing the series. I really loved it, and can definitely see why the title was such a hit when it originally aired. I’ve since purchased the first volume of the manga adaptation which is soon to be followed by a series of anthology books by various creators. More, I say, more!

Well Viz Media isn’t stopping there and confirmed with ANN this weekend that they’ll also be releasing the manga adaptation of the series’ first movie, Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning. This two part series will begin in October of this year, and will cost $9.99/US, $12.99/CAN for each book.

Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning is one part rehash, another half bonus chapter for the original series, which is about commercial-backed superheroes having their work broadcast for viewers’ entertainment and rating. The Beginning retells the story of the main characters first partnering up, and then gives us a story that happened during a small time skip early on in the episodes. I don’t know the exact pacing of the manga series, but the release of this side story looks to be pretty well timed to the manga which has its third volume out the same month.

It’ll be a bit odd reading the origin story again but, like the movie, this manga should offer some small little twists and a new bonus story to satisfy until the series’ more direct sequel, The Rising, comes out next year.


On The Shelf: June 19, 2013

On The Shelf - June 19, 2013

June showers bring summer… manga? I wish, because with all the rain here this summer I’d be drowning in manga instead.

Much more summery is this week’s release of Viz Media‘s Children of the Sea (Vol. 05). It’s also the last volume of the series that exists so far. While I’ll be sad to see it go, I’m really eager to see where the story ends up and hope it has a satisfying finish.

The other must-have book for me this week is Vertical Inc‘s Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin (Vol. 02). I loved the first book; and the hard copy treatment with the high quality paper is a great added bonus.

Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Children of the Sea (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kitchen Princess Omnibus (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – June 12, 2013

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - June 13, 2013

Another week, another list of new manga – another week of lots of manga. Huzzah! This week’s On The Shelf on Otaku USA has been posted, but it will also be my last On The Shelf article for Otaku USA. It’s hard to believe I’d been doing it nearly two years!

For those still looking for the weekly list,  new books will continue to be posted every week here on Kuriousity as normal. On The Shelf mini lives on!

A Devil and Her Love Song (Vol.09) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Arata: The Legend (Vol.14) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Attack on Titan (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Bleach (Vol.57) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dawn of the Arcana (Vol.10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Demon Love Spell (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
His Favorite (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossoms Pink [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Knights of Sidonia (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Loveless (Vol.11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
No.6 (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Vol.15) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
One Piece (Vol.67) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
One Piece Omnibus (Vol.06) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Pokémon Adventures Platinum (Vol.08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (Vol.10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Sankarea: Undying Love (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Skip Beat! (Vol.31) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Slam Dunk (Vol.28) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Sleeping Moon (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Toriko (Vol.16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Trigun Maximum Omnibus (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


Seven Seas Licenses Manga Sequel, Zero’s Familiar Chevalier

Seven Seas Licenses Sequel to Zero's Familiar

Seven Seas’ announced on their Twitter earlier today that they’ve licensed Zero’s Familiar Chevalier. This is a direct sequel series to Zero’s Familiar, which Seven Seas recently released the first omnibus volume of.

The story of Zero’s Familiar follows a young man bound to serve a fledgling witch who accidentally summoned him as her life-long magical servant. Zero’s Familiar Chevalier is four volumes long and will be released mid-2014 after Seven Seas’ run of the original series ends.

I haven’t read the original series (yet), but judging by response to its initial license, I imagine there’s a lot of happy people knowing there’s more for them to enjoy after the first series finishes its three-omnibus run.

Seven Seas also reminded readers about their license of the Dance in the Vampire Bund sequel, Dance in the Vampire Bund: The Memories of Sledge Hammer, which is being released starting this December (Amazon CAN/US).


Take me back to the top!