Y Square English Review

The English reviews keep piling up!  Y Square has a new review up at Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review.

 I haven’t been a teenager for a long time and school is (thankfully) a distant memory as well. Consequently, there was nothing there that engaged me at all. I read the whole thing but there was nothing there that made me want to keep reading.

In the End – English review

There’s another review of the English version of In the End up, this time at Prospero’s Manga.

This could have been an ugly look at the real world of abuse, but instead the author wants the reader to feel some kind of sympathy for Ren without putting enough work into describing Ren’s motivations.

Apologies and some Licensing News

Sorry for the lack of updates, everyone– I’ve been devoting every moment of my time to trying to break into the business myself!

Here’s a few bits of information I’ve spotted, though, for those interested in titles that have been licensed for release in the USA.

Yen Press has a new and improved website, and on their long list of titles one can spot Y Square Plus. There’s no more info up yet (release date, ISBN…), but I’ll try to let you know when I find it!

Also licensed but not widely announced: Tokyopop’s In the End. ActiveAnime did an advance review, and has little bad to say.

There is a great deal of mature subject matter in this story. It is not for the faint of heart or those hoping for neat endings with pretty bows to tie things up nicely. Although the men in this manga are drawn exquisitely and with edge, that edge is a part of the story and the riveting illustrations. A look that is a cross between punk and Goth, the dark drawings have detailed designs that are uncommon in most manga and have a unique texture to them that is absorbing to look at.

Yen Press Interview

YaoiSuki recently interviewed Yen Press, and there was a brief mention of Y Square and global BL. Who knows, maybe this is a hint that they’ll be licensing Y Square PLUS as well?

YS: Yen has some global manga in its repertoire, specifically Y Square by German-born Judith Park, as well as your acquisition of ICE Kunion’s manhwa titles. Do you have any plans to release global boys love manga?

KH: Funny you should mention Y SQUARE as I think it is a book that a lot of BL fans will truly appreciate. There are a couple of nods in there to the BL community as it were…and it’s just a hilarious book. So far as releasing BL from countries other than Japan is concerned, we’re really open to anything that reflects the artistic and storytelling quality we feel fans should expect. […]

Boys Love authors in Germany take note! You may be next~

The English version of Y Square can be purchased here.

Yen Press & Y Square

Sorry about the long dry spell! We hope to start posting somewhat regularly again… there just hasn’t been too much news to report, lately! We’ve also been a bit busy trying to pitch our works… hopefully we’ll be able to talk about those here someday. ;/

For the English speakers reading this blog, you might be interested in taking a look at this blurb about Yen Press’ upcoming release of Judith Park’s Y Square. If interested in pre-ordering the book, you can do that here!

• Release Date: December 12, 2007
• ISBN: 978-0-7595-2405-7

More Tokyopop Updates

Tokyopop’s new series have pages and ISBNs now, for those interested. We’ll let you know when they go up on Amazon.

Tylsim – ISBN: 978-3-86719-215-6 (though on Amazon, it lists a different Tokyopop book with the same ISBN)
Daemonenjunge Lain – ISBN: 978-3-86719-299-6
Stupid Story – ISBN: 978-3- 86719-316-0
Liberty- Raised out of Dirt – ISBN: 978-3-86719-341-2 – €16.00
Yonen Buzz United – ISBN: 978-3-86719-350-4

Also of note are a number of new global manga Tokyopop has licensed for release in German— alongside the normal titles from their US branch is an 8 volume work from France, Pink Diary.

Pink Diary, by Jenny – v1 ISBN: 978-3-86719-301-6 – 12/2007
Sorcerers & Secretaries, by Amy Kim Ganter – v1 ISBN: 978-3-86719-309-2 – 01/2008
12 Days, by June Kim – ISBN: 978-3-86719-311-5 – 12/2007

Lastly, Tokyopop looks to be enjoying the success of Grimms Manga, and has decided to rerelease the single volume work. The new book will be hardcover, contain unpublished material, and have one other surprise. There’s no word yet on how much the new release will cost. The soft-cover can still be bought here.

Tokyopop – New Works and Old Ones Licensed

To start off, we’ll mention a quick, easily overlooked tidbit– on the tails of the success of Yonen Buzz and Gothic Sports, Tokyopop has decided to license In the End, by Pink Psycho, and Evergrey, by Mary Hildebrandt & David Boller for release in America this February and March.

In the End can be pre-ordered here, with the ISBN 978-1427807182.
Evergrey v1 can be pre-ordered here, with the ISBN 978-1427807151.

Tokyopop isn’t slowing down anytime soon, it seems–  three new series have been announced, along with a photobook and a behind-the-scenes book. Images from all 5 books can be seen here.

Daemonenjunge Lain (Demonboy Lain) by Natalie Wormsbecher (December 2007)

Natalie Wormsbecher’s first book was Summer Rain.
The shy girl Ari makes a most unusual acquaintance one day When she walks under an old oak tree, a boy literally falls on her head, claiming quite seriously to be a demon.
Because Ari helped him after his fall, he wants to thank her by protecting her and never leaving her side. Ari, on the other hand, is not at all happy with this idea, and her slightly irritable boyfriend Mark definitely isn’t…

Tylsim by Reyhan Yildirim (March 2008)

The young hero Auru sets off one day to find a mysterious stone for a dark person who commissioned him. During his travels, on which he’s accompanied by his dragon Kita, Auru not only meets a pretty but somewhat moody witch and a fear-inducing giant spider, but also a broom in human form…
Wonderfully detailed characters, suspenseful adventures, and a big chunk of humor make Tylsim a real treat.

Stupid Story by Anna Hollmann (March 2008)

The beginning of Anna Hollmann’s Stupid Story was is known to some readers from Paper Theatre (from Schwarzer Turm). Starting in March, the complete story will be published in two volumes from Tokyopop.
Enough with being an outsider! Yanik is new at school, and wants to finally belong. When he meets Alan, he wants nothing more than to be as popular and desired as this girl-magnet. But when Alan kisses Yanik to prove to his female admirers that they have no chance with him, his admiration turns into dislike. At a party, at which Yanik is forced to dress as a girl, the two meet again. Alan falls in love at first sight with the pretty “girl”, not knowing who is really in front of him…

Liberty – Raised out of Dirt by Nheira (December 2007)

As part of the duo Pink Psycho, Nheira took part in the creation of In the End, one of the most successful manga Tokyopop has developed in Germany so far. Even in Japan, the volume has found fans.
In December, the artist, author and musician now puts out his first solo project. The volume (working title: Liberty – Raised out of Dirt) offers a collection of illustrations, short stories, manga, lyrics, and photos, which thematically revolve around the three levels: heaven, earth, and hell.
The complex project is being realized with the help of the two Japanese fashion labels HIDEROCK and GLAMOUR PUNKS, which created tailored and welded new outfits for the photoshoot.
Star photographer Susumu Miyawaki transformed all of this into breath-taking photos. Miyawaki-san has created a reputation for himself with his works on cover-images for known magazines such as Shoxx, Foolsmate, etc.

Yonen Buzz United (special volume) by Christina Plaka (December 2007)

The large format special volume Yonen Buzz United presents 128 pages of unpublished illustrations, sketches of the main characters, new character designs, and two exclusive short stories that grant unusual and spectacular glimpses into the Yonen Buzz universe. A detailed interview with the exceptional mangaka Christina Plaka offers interesting information about her working habits, her love of music and art. On top of that, short background info and comments on all the drawings and illustrations in the book leave no wishes unfulfilled.

Y Square licensed by Yen Press

We’ve known for a while now that Carlsen had licensed out Judith Park’s Y Square to America, but we didn’t know who it was who’d snagged it. That’s finally been revealed! Yen Press, a new contender on the manga playing field, has announced since the beginning that they would be working on global work alongside licenses from Japan.

Yen has also secured North America rights to publish Y Square from Judith Park, “the best-selling manga-ka in Germany.” Available in December, Y Square tells the tale of a young man who can’t attract women and finally asks his babe-magnet rival for pointers. Yen’s Co-Publishing Director Kurt Hassler says, “Fans of Dramacon will eat this up.”

So far we’ve been unable to find it on Amazon (unsurprisingly, given the title), and as Yen Press doesn’t yet have a site, we have no way of looking there for an ISBN. If anyone has anymore information, let us know!

Tokyopop News

Tokyopop.de sent out their newsletter today, and there’s quite a bit of news.

Christina Plaka, author of Yonen Buzz, will be a guest at Animagic 2007, where she will introduce and sign her newest book, Yonen Buzz volume 3. She will also be signing at T3, a comic store in Frankfurt, on July 7 from 2- 5pm. T3 will also show parts of the exhibition “How is a manga created – An introduction using Christina Plaka’s Yonen Buzz as an example”. Samples from the new Yonen Buzz volume are up on Tokyopop’s online Manga Player.

Gothic Sports is enjoying success all around the world! The first print run of the American issue of Gothic Sports volume 1 was sold out soon after its publication and has since been reprinted. Volume 2 will be out in September. Due to success of volume 1 in France, Anike will give autographs at Japan Expo in Paris this summer. In Japan, where Gothic Sports has been released as a cell phone manga, readers love Anike Hage’s series as well, as is evident from the guestbook on her site.

The newsletter also gives a reminder that submissions are currently open for MangaMagie 6, a drawing contest held by Animania and Tokyopop that’s judged by employees from all the major manga publishers in Germany. Deadline is August 31. Good luck to all participants!

Tokyopop updates

To start things off, here’s Tokyopop’s release calendar for the next few months:

May 2007:
Grimms Manga – Keiko Ishiyama
Iscel v3 – Detta Zimmermann
Yaru v1 – Lime Manga

July 2007:
Yonen Buzz v3 – Christina Plaka

September 2007:
Gothic Sports v3 – Anike Hage
Gothic Sports 2008 Calendar
Kleiner Thor v1 – Kim Schmidt & Patrick Wirbeleit

November 2007:
Evergrey v2 – Lime Manga

Of note is Yaru v1– Splashcomics has put up a special article, so German readers should check it out. Also of note… the upcoming Gothic Sports calendar! We haven’t been able to find any note of it other than its presence on Amazon, but we’ll let you know when we get more information.

And I’m sure some of you are getting sick of hearing about Gothic Sports in the US… well, we’re not shutting up about it quite yet. Here’s another review of volume 1 from comicsnob.com!

 The title may not be able to keep momentum going but this is a strong start — and of course, I like the uniforms. I’m giving Gothic Sports 4 marks out of 5.

What we’re most confused about is the repeated mention of “girls soccer team” floating around… Last we checked, there were at least 3 guys on Anya’s team, right? Maybe we just missed something, heh…