Anime Expo '08: TokyoPop Adds TV Tie-ins, New/Old Takaya Manga

The TokyoPop crew cruised into their Saturday morning panel at Anime Expo with a box full of goodies and a handful of new manga announcements. If I had to sum it up into a few themes, it boils down to:

• New/old stuff from favorite TokyoPop artists
• Miscellaneous shojo manga, including a fun romantic comedy about maids
• Movie / video game / TV-tie in manga
• Full-color international graphic novels

New Releases of Older or Recent Stories by TokyoPop Favorites

• Tsubasa: Those With Wings by Natsuki Takaya - April 2009
  With Fruits Basket coming to an end soon, TokyoPop is fulfilling the wish of many Furuba fans by publishing an earlier work by Natsuki Takaya, Tsubasa o Motsu Mono. Tsubasa is Takaya-sensei's second series (Fruits Basket was her fourth), and the art style should remind many readers of the first few volumes of Furuba. Originally published as six volumes, Tsubasa: Those With Wings will be released by TokyoPop as three double-sized graphic novels.
  It's set in a post-apocalyptic future and centers on a couple who are on the run. Kotobuki is an ex-thief and Raimon, her companion is an ex-military commander who once tried to arrest her, but is now her lover. The pair want to live in peace, but there's an object called a Tsubasa, which grants its owner special powers. It so happens that Kotobuki and Raimon are sought after by forces who want to use their skills to find this elusive and desirable object.
• Momotama by Nanae Chrono - January 2009
  From the creator of Vassalord and Peacemaker comes a "bizarro retelling of the Momotaro (Peach Boy) story," said TokyoPop Senior Editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl. "There's hot guys, a little cute demon dude, and there's lots of action. It's very funny," said Diaz-Pryzbyl.
• Peacemaker Kurogane by Nanae Chrono - March 2009
  Yet another offering from Chrono-sensei -- this time, it's a five-volume follow-up to Peacemaker. "Everyone loves rebel samurai," said TokyoPop Marketing Manager Kacia Piecarz. (Especially when they're drawn as hotties).
• Castle of Dreams by Masami Tsuda - January 2009
  From the creator of Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances comes a single volume featuring two novella-length stories, Castle of Dreams and Where Angels Roam.
• Demon Sacred by Natsumi Itsuki - April 2009
  "Natsumi Itsuki is a contemporary of Masami Tsuda and Natsuki Takaya," said Diaz-Pryzbyl. Jyu-Oh-Sei, an earlier series by Itsuki-sensei is already on tap for release in August '08. Demon Sacred is her most recent series, and is about "a disease called The Return Syndrome," where people return to their youth," said Piekarz. "Plus there's hot demons and unicorns," chimed in Diaz-Pryzbyl.

Miscellaneous Shojo Manga About Maids and Reincarnation

• Maid Sama! by Hiro Fujiwara - January 2009
  Kaichou wa Maid Sama! (The Student President is a Maid!) is currently serialized in Lala, and is about a girl who attends a school that has mostly male students. She's the school president and she's known for her efforts to stand up for women's rights. However, she also secretly works at a maid cafe. One day, a cute guy who's kind of her rival discovers her after school activities, and the fun begins.
  "This is something we really liked from the very first chapter, and it's been nice to see that Japanese fans have agreed," said Diaz-Pryzbyl, noting that Maid Sama! is frequently featured as the first story and in various promos in Lala.
• NG Life by Mizuko Kusanagi - March 2009
  If you liked reincarnation-themed shojo like Please Save My Earth or historical adventures like Red River, NG Life might just be your next favorite manga series. A group of Japanese teens discover that they all knew either other in a prior life... in ancient Pompei, in the days before Mount Vesuvius erupted. This four-volume series is "a little unusual, but it's worth looking at," said Diaz-Pryzbyl.

More Manga With Movie / Video Game / TV Tie-ins

Compared to prior con appearances, TokyoPop reps didn't have much to offer by way of new original English language manga, with the exception of anthology collections based around popular TV, movie and video game properties.

• Ghostbusters by various artists - October 2008
  Inspired by the movies and the upcoming release of the Ghostbusters video game, the Ghostbusters manga takes place a bit before the video game's storyline, which is set 3-4 years after the first two Ghostbusters movies. This one-shot collection includes five interconnected stories by four different artists that "captures the humor and creepy-factor of the original story," said Piekarz.
• Battlestar Galactica Manga: Echoes of New Caprica by various artists - March 2009
  Diaz-Pryzybyl wasn't able to share much about the storylines for this one-shot anthology based on the hit Sci-Fi Channel series. "But we're in close contact with the original writers, so we'll be exploring storylines that they weren't able to explore in the TV series," she said. Associate Publisher Marco Pavia also noted that Richard Hatch, who played Apollo in the original Seventies TV series is one of the writers for this collection.
• Togainu no Chi by Sugaro Chayamachi based on the game by Nitro+ CHIRAL - January 2009
  This manga is based on a "very violent boys love game," said Diaz-Pyrzbyl. Togainu no Chi features art by the artist responsible for Devil May Cry 3. "The art is very cool looking; very stylish and gritty -- it captures the look of the game," said Piekarz.
• This Ugly Yet Beautiful World by Shubi Iinkai - April 2009
  The anime version of this GAINAX-produced series was released in 2006, but it was "stuck in licensing hell," said Diaz-Pyrzybyl. I checked out the synopsis of this series on Anime News Network and frankly, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me -- but seeing as I don't worship GAINAX unreservedly, I'm probably not the target audience here.
• Disney's Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Camp Rock Graphic Novels
  Speaking of "not the target audience..." this group of graphic novels got a bit of eye-rolling from the post-pubescent audience members present -- but I did hear a squeal or two, so these books will likely find their audiences without much help from me.

Full-Color, Manga-Inspired Graphic Novels From China and France
Most of these titles were announced at prior cons, but they're still worth noting, because they're a step in a slightly different direction for TokyoPop. For one thing, they're not Japanese, Korean or American -- TokyoPop is mining new creative turf in China and France with their new line of full-color graphic novels.

"'We've seen some amazing full-color graphic novels that are manga-inspired, but we'd say we can't do it because it's not black and white, it' s not manga," said Diaz-Pyrzbyl. "Then we said, screw it, let's start licensing these stories." Look for 6 or 7 new titles to be released in this larger (7"x10"), full-color format in 2009, including:

• Orange by Benjamin - February 2009
  Orange is about a woman who tries to commit suicide and gets stopped by a mysterious guy. Later in the story, this guy commits suicide, and the story is about how she tries to reconcile this event. "It's amazing, beautiful work," said Diaz-Pryzbyl.
• Remember by Benjamin - Summer 2009
  Diaz-Pyrzbyl announced a second title by Benjamin, and while she didn't make much mention of the plot of this story by this "Hong Kong superstar artist," she noted that Benjamin's work has been recognized and published in Japan by Morning magazine, which is a badge of honor for any international comics artist.
• Pixie by Mathieu Mariolle and Aurore - February 2009
  This three-volume series was originally published in France by Delcourt, and is about a boy who goes traveling w/ a prince, they cross a road and end up in another dimension.
• Luuna by Didier Crisse and Nicolas Keramidas - March 2009
  Luuna is about a Native American girl who is going through her rite of passage, and the ceremony to get her name. But the day for her coming of age is cursed, so the names she gets are cursed in their own way. "It's really moving," said Diaz-Pryzbyl.

Image credit: © TOKYOPOP; © Natsuki Takaya / Hakusensha