Fanime 2008: Broccoli Leaves Two Manga in Limbo

Just because it's manga doesn't mean that it's guaranteed great sales. Just ask Broccoli Books' marketing rep Jonathan Kung. Kung revealed at Broccoli Books' FanimeCon panel that while they've got several promising new releases due out in a few months, fans of slower selling manga titles like Leave it to Piyoko and Galaxy Angel Party will be waiting in vain for the remaining volumes of these series.

"Galaxy Angel Party Volume 3 is on indefinite hiatus," said Kung. "We don't think there's enough of an audience to warrant a large print run. We might just do a low print run and just sell it at conventions instead of trying to offer it to bookstores."

The same goes for Volume 3 of Leave It To Piyoko, the ultra cute spin-off series featuring characters from Di Gi Charat.

But all might not be lost. Besides considering low print-run, convention-only editions of these lost-in-limbo titles, Kung mentioned that Broccoli is also looking into digital / online distribution through the dot-anime website. Because dot-anime site is maintained by Broccoli, but is primarily a means for promoting Bandai anime and related products, there's several kinks to be worked out before this option can become a reality.

Meanwhile, Kung shared news about the upcoming releases for Broccoli that will be hitting the stores in the next few months:

• Sola by Naoki Hisaya and Chaco Abeno - Based on the anime about an immortal girl who literally burns up if she's exposed to sunlight, Sola sounds like a vampire story, but Kung assured us that there's no blood-sucking here, but he also added that "the manga is edgier than the anime version." There's a free online preview of pages from Sola Volume 1 available now on the Broccoli website, so you can check it out before it debuts in bookstores in early July 2008.
• Nui! by Natsumi Mukai - A three volume series by the creator of +Anima, Nui! is about a young girl who loves her stuffed animals so much, they come to life whenever she's in trouble. The goofy twist? When her toys come to life, they turn into bishonen (hunky guys). There's also a free online preview of pages from Nui! so you can get a taste of this series before it arrives in stores in early August 2008.
• Honoka Level Up! by Akiyoshi Ohta and Matsuda 98 - Another three volume series, this time about a young girl who takes a job at a video game company. As she gains experience and learns more about the ins and outs of the Japanese gaming industry, she "levels up" like a video game character. Look for this one to come out in July as well.

Kung also mentioned that while he wasn't able to share any new news about Broccoli Books releases, he mentioned that he might be able to reveal more at Anime Expo 2008 in Los Angeles in early July.

Image credit: © Hima, © sola project / Media Works