By Mat K.
So, there’s not actually any kind of special TokyoPop event going on, so much as its just a major release week for them, and kudos to them for that. After last week’s minimal title list, we have at least 20 new books coming in this time, which is quite a nice little selection to choose from, and pretty average considering it’s the last week of the year. That’s right, the next time I write to you guys it will be 2011. I’m also not saying every book this week is TokyoPop, but I’m always so proud of them when they print more than 2 books. Okay, so Dark Horse is dropping the Oh My Goddess! Volume 16 reprint edition this week, and Udon is reprinting the Street Fighter and Street Fighter 2 Ultimate edition TPs, which are gorgeous, full-color, oversized, $60 collections of the comics, and totally worth it. Also, Street Fighter Gaiden Volume 2 shows up (which was amazingly quick after the first volume).
Now, on to the party. There are a couple series that Tokyopop is premiering this week, and first on the block is AiON (aka Hekikai No AiON) by Yuna Kagesaki who is notorious for Chibi Vampire (aka Karin). In Kagesaki’s new series Tatsuya Tsugawa loses his wealthy parents in the middle of high school. Trying to fulfill his father’s dying wish of his becoming an upstanding man, Tatsuya attempts to save a gril from obsessive bullies only to be consumed with intrigue and slight obsession himself. But eventually his good will and earnest efforts lead him into a twisted fantasy world infested with mermaids and mind-controlling parasites. And those channel 11 kids think they have it tough in high school.
Also premiering is The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko by Tsujita Ririko. I know, it sounds like that Billie Piper show Secret Diary of a Call Girl, but it’s really not like that. Although she doesn’t get along with people very well, Lady Kanoko considers herself a perfect ‘observer.’ Her hobby is observing the students in her high school class and keeping a journal of the classroom drama. But what will happen when Kanoko becomes more than the observer, and directly involved with some of her classmates? Kind of like if Yukito from Future Diary was a girl, and instead of taking the sci-fi/horror route, Future Diary became a shojo manga…which in retrospect makes them completely different. Whatevs.
On a completely separate note, Future Diary Volume 9 also comes out this week. And completely coincidentally Sakae Esuno’s other series Hanako & The Terror Of Allegory Volume 3 arrives. Apparently, when it rains from TokyoPop, it pours. Yuna Kagesaki also has a Chibi Vampire Bites Fan Book coming out. Oh and finally, for all the squealing girl fans out there, Hetalia Axis Powers Volume 2 shows up. The hilarious 4-panel comic strips continue, and no country is spared the satire and hilarity. A clumsy, politically incorrect comedy of the relationships of the Axis and Allied Powers during the World Wars…if all the countries were cute, high school boys. How could you not squeal?
Anyway, there’s plenty of other books on the palate this week, but we’re out of time. See you all next week!
Ja Ne!
