Comic-Con '09: Yen Press Adds New CLAMP Manga, Tackles Scanlation Questions

After announcing that they added fan favorite manga Black Butler (a.k.a. Kuroshitsuji) by Yana Toboso to the Yen Plus magazine line-up and previewed art for the Twilight graphic novel now in the works, how could Yen Press top all this swoon-worthy goodness? By announcing the acquisition of a new CLAMP title for 2010, Kobato, that's how.

Calling it "our biggest announcement of the year," Hassler revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2009 that Yen Press acquired the rights to publish Kobato, an ongoing series about a kind-hearted girl who works at a kindergarten. Besides working with children, Hanato Kobato's on a mission to fill her bottle with others' suffering, so she can fulfill a secret wish. But the catch is that she can't fall for anyone that she helps. What is her wish, and what's with this smart-alecky talking blue dog who hangs out with her?

"We could not be more thrilled and honored to be releasing this new title in the States," said Hassler. "We know that this is one that many were looking forward to seeing."

Hassler, Senior Editor JuYoun Lee and Editor Tania Biswas also had several other titles to announce for 2010, with something to please almost every kind of manga reader.

For the anime fans, Yen Press announced two titles that have tie-ins with fan-favorite series from two hot studios, BONES and GONZO.

• Darker than BLACK by BONES, original story by Tensai Okamura, illustrated by Noki Ya
  Originally featured in Monthly Asuka magazine, Darker than BLACK is about a time in the not-too-distant future when a mysterious presence appears in the sky that replaces all the real stars in the sky with fake celestial bodies. These fake stars all have ties to a a mysterious band of assassins known only as "Contractors."

• Romeo x Juliet by GONZO, art / story by Reiko Yoshida, based on the original story by William Shakespeare
  Recently released on DVD by Funimation, Romeo x Juliet offers a sci-fi take on the classic tragedy about two star-crossed lovers. "Will their story finally get a happy ending?" asked Hassler. "I think no."

Josei manga, or comics for female readers who crave more than just high school hijinks is still a very small part of the manga market in the U.S., but that's not stopping Yen Press from bringing something new for this underserved audience.

• Natsukashi Machi no Rozione by by Sumomo Yumeka
  From the creator of The Day I Became a Butterfly and Same Cell Organism (both yaoi manga titles published by June Manga) comes a collection of four short stories that mix fantasy, romance and sci-fi, "with a wonderful, delicate style that she's known for," said Biswas.

• Bunny Drop by Yumi Unita
  "This is a title we are very proud that we got," said Lee. "lt's along the lines of With the Light, it's very sweet story about families and relationships." A 30-something bachelor finds out at his grandfather's funeral that his grandfather has fathered an illegitimate child with a much younger woman, and that this young child (who is technically his aunt) doesn't speak at all. The rest of the family is ashamed of this child, so it's left to our hapless hero to take care of this now orphaned child. As time goes by, the two learn how to become a family together.

For the cat-girl contingent, Yen Press also announced a title that'll make them purr.

• Omamori Himari by Milan Matra
  "The hero is a 16-year old orphan who has really bad cat allergies," said Biswas. "He meets this girl and his eyes start watering and his nose starts running… he wonders, 'what's going on here?' When he meets this mysterious girl again, she's wearing a very elaborate kimono, and she reveals to him that she's a demon spirit who is charged to protect his family. Now that he has this otherworldly samurai cat girl living with him, his allergies are the least of his worries!"

For girls who love shojo manga stories about geeky girls and hot guys, Yen Press has got a few treats in store:

• My Girlfriend's a Geek (Fujyoshi Kanojo) by Pentabu, with art by Rize Shinba
  "This one is also a title that we're very, very excited about," said Lee. "You know how geeks are the cool trend nowadays -- but it's usually about guy geeks who are into computers and nerdy stuff. With this story, there's a twist -- it's about a guy who finds out that he's dating a serious fujyoshi (girl geek) who's into anime, manga and games. So it's about him learning about her world.

  "We're also publishing the novel that this manga is based on," added Lee. The novel is actually a collection of blog posts, where this guy describes his everyday interactions with his not-so-ordinary girlfriend. "It's very fun."

• Otome by Yuuki Fujinari
  "This is one of my favorites of the new announcements," said Hassler. "I like to think of this like She's All That, but she's really dumb." He continued, "Everything is pretty average about Hitomi. She's an average student, she's got an average brother and average looks. The only thing that stands out about her is her weight. Weighing in at over 220 pounds, she's no elegant swan. But this wasn't always the case! When she was younger, she was a child beauty queen who'd often take home the prizes."

  "It was only when her sweet tooth took over that Hitomi put on the weight. So when she moves into her older brother's apartment, she discovers that his neighbors are the five hottest boys at her school. When they decide to bring Hitomi back to her cute and beautiful self by keeping her away from sweets, it's a recipe for disaster!"

  "I wanted to add that there's a lot of books where the girl wears glasses and underneath it all, she's a real beauty? In this one, the girl always kind of looks like a dumpy little chibi character that you see on the cover," laughed Lee.

• Dragon Girl by Toru Fujieda
  Biswas introduced this title, from the creator of Oyayubihime Infinity.

  "In this story, an all-boys school goes co-ed. The guys are kinda excited to have girls in their midst, but they're also kind of territorial, telling to girls to stay away from their sports clubs, the cafeteria lines, and so on," explained Biswas. "But fierce and feisty Reina is not going to stand for that. Reina is the daughter of a legendary leader of the school's cheering squad, so she's determined to show the boys and her father, that she can do anything they can do, and do it better too!"

AUDIENCE Q & A SESSION BRINGS UP ORIGINAL MANGA AND SCANLATION QUESTIONS (AND ANSWERS)
And with the last of the announcements out of the way, the floor was opened up for some Q & A from the audience.

• Q: "Why is it taking so long for the Soul Eater graphic novel to be released?" (It's currently set for an October 2009 release)

  Hassler: "We had many discussions with Square Enix (the Japanese publisher and licensor of Soul Eater). It's such a massive property. We wanted to be sure to prime the market for it, so that everyone would be aware of this title. Given the nature of the story, building up the anticipation for it and its subject matter (which has a somewhat Halloween-tinge to it) lends itself to an October release date. We also wanted to be sure that we were releasing Atsushi Ohkubo's other title B.Ichi in advance of releasing Soul Eater. So all of these things combined really determined the release schedule for that book."

• Q: "What's going on with Chocolat? When is the next volume going to appear?" (Volume 7 last appeared in December 2008)

  Lee: "Well, the next volume isn't out in Korea yet. I know the creator is planning on starting on it soon, but she's been saying that for the past year. So we don't have a definite date for that. Once it's out in Korea, then we'll make sure to bring it out in the States as soon as possible."

• Q: "Is Kobato going to be serialized in Yen Plus?"

  Hassler: "No, you won't see it serialized in the magazine, but you may see some special posters or promotion in the magazine. So while you won't see the story in Yen Plus, you may see some nice extras from it featured in the magazine."

• Q: "Do you have any plans to release any new global manga titles?"

  Hasser: "We're always looking for good global manga projects, but it has to be something that our editorial staff is really enthusiastic about. We have to have a really good feel for the creator, someone that we feel can handle a full project. A lot of global creators, in respect to manga, are quite new. They are developing stilll yet, and may not have the means to grow as artists the same way as you'd see in the Japanese or Korean market. So while we're open to it, we're also very focused on the quality of the titles that we are releasing."

  "So just like what we did with Svetlana Chmakova's Nightschool, if the right property comes along, we're very much ready to support it. We don't have anything in the works right now. We do get submissions now and again; not as many as you might think. But again, there is a lot that we have turned down because we thought they weren't ready to be published, or it's not something that's right for our list."

  Lee: "Just to add to that, we might not have projects going on right now, but in our July 2009 issue we featured a short story by Queenie Chan (creator of The Dreaming and artist for In Odd We Trust) and you'll likely see more of that in the future."

  Hassler: "When we work on high profile projects (like the Twilight graphic novels), the main thing is that we're not just looking at Korean artists, but we're looking for creators who can work at a professional level that's right for the property. We find that we're often able to find that level of talent in the Korean market. If you look at the Japanese market, you'll find that there are more and more Korean creators being published in Japan."

  Lee: "Also, these creators are not necessarily well-known or famous in Korea. In our search for talent, nationality is not an issue. NaRae Lee (the artist for the graphic novel adaptation of James Patterson's Maximum Ride) was a brand new artist. At the end of the day, it's about finding the right artist for the right property. If you're an artist, you're always welcome to drop by our booth and show us your work. I hope you don't get the impression that we are only interested in working with Korean artists."

• Q: "I was wondering what kind of effect scanlations have had on your most popular titles? I know Shonen Jump / VIZ Media is trying to publish more of their titles online closer to the Japanese release datest to try to address this. What is Yen Press' stance on this issue? Have scanlations affected the sales of your titles?"

  Hassler: "It's really tough to say what effect scanlations have on sales of manga. It would be next to impossible to come up with any sort of quantifier to say this X scanlation online equals this many copies (of the licensed print edition) that were not sold. Obviously, scanlations have had the effect of raising awareness of some titles. But at the same time, they have impeded sales of some titles."

  "They are illegal usages of art that are often justified with 'Oh, if someone would just publish it, we wouldn't do this scanlation.' But at the end of the day, this is someone illegally using materials that is not their own, and benefiting in some way, shape or form from doing that. It is a process that is very problematic for the market. It's the same as in DVD sales; it's a rare example where you see fan enthusiasm negatively impacting the market."

  "Early on in the manga industry, (scanlations) were something that raised awareness. Now I think that it's something that almost any publisher would agree, is something that is impeding our ability to grow our business, and bring the fans the books that they want in the market."

And with that, Yen Press commenced upon handing out the freebies that make fans happy and make their panels such a fun, racuous affair.

I tweeted some excerpts from this panel as it happened, and a few folks were inspired by these comments as a reason to disagree with Hassler's comments and justify their stance on scanlations. But what's your take on this hot-button issue in the manga community? Add your comments below and let's get the conversation started!