It’s been over two months since Kodansha Comics USA publicized its new partnership with Random House; since then, there’s been very little information about the company’s publishing plans. Kodansha finally broke its silence today with information about their summer 2011 line-up. Folks collecting Arisa, Negima!, Rave Master, Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: The Power of Negative Thinking, and The Wallflower will be happy to see their favorite series resume production in 2011. The future of other titles seems more uncertain; there’s no word on whether Kodansha will continue critical favorites Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture or Nodame Cantabile, nor is their any information about volumes seventeen and eighteen of xxxHolic. (UPDATE: According to Scott von Schilling, Del Rey’s CLAMP titles will not shift to Kodansha Comics, but will be published as part of the Del Rey imprint.)
The “new” titles run the gamut from Gon and Until the Full Moon, both of which have been licensed before, to such new-to-the-US series as Cage of Eden and Mardock Scramble. (Folks who want to know about Mardock Scramble can check out the novel on which it’s based; VIZ’s Haikasoru imprint will be releasing it on January 18, 2011.)
Now that the titles have been announced, it would be great if Kodansha built a proper website to bring more readers up to speed about their plans. (The current one, which can be viewed here, screams 1994.) The site doesn’t need to be tricked out with videos and ads, just cover images, brief plot summaries, ISBN information, a publication schedule, and a news feed that’s regularly updated.
The full list of titles and anticipated release dates are below.
KODANSHA COMICS ANNOUNCES SUMMER 2011 MANGA RELEASES
New York, NY – December 12, 2010 – Kodansha USA Publishing is pleased to announce their exciting debut list of manga under the Kodansha Comics imprint. Fans have been clamoring to know just what books would be on the list, and the wait is finally over.
The following new titles will make their English-language debut next summer:
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney returns in this new manga series written by Kenji Kuroda and illustrated by Kazuo Maekawa. Volume 1 releases in June followed by Volume 2 in August.
- Monster Hunter Orage, by Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima, is adapted from the Capcom game and debuts in June, with a second volume in August.
- And speaking of Hiro Mashima, his bestselling Rave Master series wraps up with an omnibus collecting the final three volumes of the series in May!
- Deltora Quest, adapted by Makoto Niwano from Emily Rodda’s novels, debuts in July. The anime is currently running on TV on The Hub.
- The Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex adapts the story from the anime, which is inspired by the works of Masamune Shirow. TGITS:SAC is adapted by Yu Kinutani.
- Sanami Matoh’s Until the Full Moon makes its triumphant return to the U.S. in July. This story of a boy who becomes a girl under the full moon turns the werewolf legend on its head!
- Mardock Scramble is adapted by Yoshitoki Oima from Tow Ubukata’s novel. This exciting sci-fi tale has also been adapted into a stunning anime. The first volume releases in August.
- Animal Land, by manga legend and Zatch Bell creator Makoto Raiku, tells the hilarious and heartwarming story of a baby raised by animals. This is set for an August release.
- Masashi Tanaka’s Gon returns, giving fans a chance to rediscover the adventures of this ferocious, tiny dinosaur! August release.
- Bloody Monday, written by Ryou Ryumon and illustrated by Kouji Megumi, is an exciting thriller about a computer hacker’s attempt to foil a terrorist plot! August release.
- Cage of Eden by Yoshinobu Yamada is best described as Battle Royale meets Lost by way of Negima! August release.
- And finally, Negima! gets an omnibus release in June, collecting the first three volumes with a new translation!
In addition, several ongoing series will make their return:
- Air Gear 18 (June), Air Gear 19 (August)
- Arisa 2 (May), Arisa 3 (July)
- Fairy Tail 13 (May), Fairy Tail 14 (July)
- I am Here! 2 (July)
- Negima! 29 (May), Negima! 30 (July)
- Negima?! Neo (June)
- Ninja Girls 5 (May), Ninja Girls 6 (July)
- Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei 9 (June), Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei 10 (August)
- Shugo Chara! 10 (May), Shugo Chara! 11 (July)
- The Wallflower 25 (June)
Stay tuned for more exciting Kodansha Comics announcements to come early next year!
About Kodansha Ltd.
Kodansha is Japan’s largest publisher, with its headquarters in Tokyo. Originally established in 1909 by Seiji Noma, the company is still a family-run business. Under the leadership of Sawako Noma, company president since 1987, Kodansha continues to play a dominant role in the media world, producing books and magazines in a wide variety of genres including literature, fiction, nonfiction, children’s, business, lifestyle, art, manga, fashion, and journalism. Recently, the company has ventured into digital distribution of content as well.
I was all prepared to pitch a fit if Rave Master wasn’t mentioned. Ahh, finally, it’s coming up on two years since I bought the last volume of that, now I’ll actually be able to complete the thing.
Just need them to announce they’re releasing Beck and I’ll be totally relaxed…
Man, I hope they start releasing Historie at some point, after all I loved Parasyte by the same author. Their initial lineup (not counting previously DelRey stuff or license rescues) is pretty interesting, I feel like it’s stuff that might not have come over here otherwise. Here’s hoping they’ll also release the last 5 volumes of Cromartie High School, which wikipedia says was in one of their magazines. I’ve been sitting on just those first 12 volumes for a stupid amount of time.
@Angela: I started Rave Master a while ago, and didn’t keep up with it. Is it worth picking up again? I remember getting a One Piece vibe off the series, but it’s been at least two years since I’ve read a volume carefully. And yes, it would be great to see Beck revived!
@CJ: I had a similar reaction to the announcement: I thought the new roster of titles seems pretty solid. If I enjoy the Mardock Scramble novel, I’ll definitely check out the manga.
I’d also like to see Kodansha bring more of Iwaaki’s manga to the US. Parasyte is one of my all-time favorite series, and I’d welcome the chance to see him tackle something utterly different.
I have to admit with Rave Master I originally almost quit the series, but then my boyfriend got really into it so I continued it mostly for him. Then my interest swung back around and I loved it again. I can’t remember a good deal of it since I haven’t read the volumes in a while, but I remember there were a couple story arcs I felt were a complete waste, doing nothing to advance the actual plot, and he brought in too many main characters that served the same purpose (too many comic relief characters, and at least two “tough guys.”) Still, when it was fun, it was really fun. The middle is just kind of ‘eh’. I also thought Ellie was a cool, strong character, and I don’t normally have that opinion about female characters in shonen.
My biggest frustration was that if I complete this series, it’ll be the longest series to date I’ve finished. That I came so close and wasn’t able to cap it off was maddening.
@Angela – I know what you mean about getting frustrated towards the end of the series. I’m waiting on Nana to top off my longest run and I’m not sure if the NGE manga has even been keeping up an annual release.
@Kate – I knew the new Kodansha thing wasn’t going to be as bad as some people thought, but this is actually surprisingly ambitious if you read between the lines. Most of the release dates are on a bi-monthly schedule and I agree with CJ that some of these new titles may not have come out otherwise. I’ve been interested in that Animal Land title since they released a video of the artist working on it. It looks like just the sort of title that made manga popular in the west, but it’s not really western otaku chic.
@Jade Oh gosh, don’t remind me about Nana that’s going to drive me crazy, too. ^^;
I wonder if the cover design for the series will change much? It’d be weird to have one set of Fairy Tail volumes, and then the rest of the series look completely different.
@BurningLizard I’m super anal about that. I hate that the spines on my Yotsuba&! volumes are different. Hell, I even hate it when the same company changes their logo, like when Tokyopop started slapping a big red dot on every book.
@Angela: Thanks for the intel on Rave Master. Sounds like something to look for on eBay, or perhaps to read when it’s available in a digital format. I’m not sure my office can hold too many more 30+ volume series!
@Jade: It IS a pretty ambitious schedule, isn’t it? I’m just surprised by the decision to release Gon again. I didn’t think it sold that well for CMX (or Eclipse, for that matter), so I’m wondering why Kodansha thought a new edition was in order. I’ve seen folks speculating on Twitter that it’s cheap to produce (no translators needed), so maybe that was a factor. If it’s nicer than my CMX edition (say, bigger trim size or color pages), I might consider buying it again. I’m a sucker that way.
@BurningLizard: Good question! Random House (Del Rey’s parent company) is going to handle distribution and packaging for Kodansha, so I’m guessing the designs won’t change too much; save for the Kodansha logo on the spines of AKIRA and Ghost in the Shell, those editions are virutally interchangeable with the old Dark Horse editions.
@BurningLizard and Angela – Ah! I’m not too worried since I haven’t been up on these particular releases, but I’ve sold and re bought Inuyasha volumes enough times just to get a consistent trade dress that I only just read fresh material with volume seven in the recent omnibuses.
@Kate – Gon is a good example of what I’m talking about with historical appeal. It was one of, if not the first release in the US that made a sincere effort to appeal to someone besides existing comic or anime geeks. When you say Gon, most manga fans over twenty four know exactly what you’re talking about and have some memories tied to it, it’s really a classic for us. You have a point when you say it needs to bring something new to the table though. As much as I’s like to see these titles reach new audiences, Akira and GitS where handled pretty poorly when oldbies are most of who is actually buying.
@Angela, Katherine, and Jade. I’m anal like that I guess, it makes a collection weird if not all the volumes look the same. Though since Del Rey hasn’t been messing with the original Japanese covers chances are there isn’t going to be much change. Though chances also are that I’m going to be bugged by it anyway. I’m having a hard enough time with One Piece volumes no longer having foil in the title and including the name of the arc on the cover and spine after the timeskip, while my first twenty three volumes do not. O_o
Though I am just glad that the series will be continuing. I’m interested in the new Negima omnibus for the first three volumes, since apparently there were some issues with the Del Rey translations early on for that series? Little conflicted about the omnibus thing though, new translations would be great, but if changes in covers bug me in my collections, then suddenly having an omnibus mixed in with the rest of the series bugs me even more. I own the later volumes, but nothing before volume 13.
@BurningLizard – I actually think that sort of thing is a valid concern since most manga volumes are bought for a collection instead of something disposable. I’m looking at my NGE volumes lined up neatly and see a hodge-podge of random combinations of four different logos at the top and bottom of the spine. It just looks a little bit tacky for something I wanted on my shelf for…silly as it sounds, posterity.
@Jade Well, given how Mashima seems to progressively add in more fanservice to his series, I don’t know whether I want that specific collection around for posterity.
And I know what you mean, it’s practically pointless to collect something if it’s not going to look good in your bookshelf. And given how much individual manga volumes cost, vs how long it takes to read one, buying them for anything other than collecting just doesn’t make sense to me.