Kasia, Marco, and Lillian are presiding over the Tpop panel, and they’re starting off with upcoming titles, like the Ghostbusters OEL. Artists include Yamashita, Johnson, Delk, Lorenzo, Schelfer, Watson, and Steinbach. Coming out around the same time as the video game.

OH GOD DISNEY. Camp Rock, High School Musical, and Hannah Montana comics…

This has been announced but here’s the first real discussion of it: full-color manga from non-Japan, non-US countries. The first title is Orange by Hong Kong artist Benjamin, due out February 2009, and I have to tell you– the cover is HOT.

Then there’s Pixie, which is thematically more manga-like than Orange. It’s by Mariolle and Aurore, hailing from France. This one was originally a large trim-size book (think TinTin), but they’ve been working their butts off to make sure the art and everything comes out well in a smaler trim size– regular manga size, for the record.

Last up is Luuna, about a Native American girl. I can’t read the names of the artists on it.

Moving forward with other titles that have been announced, they say? Tsubasa: Those With Wings (aka Tsubasa wo Matsu Mono) by Fruits Basket creator Natsuki Takaya.

A, um, Battlestar Galactica manga. Huh. Apparently they’re in close contact with the writers of the recent TV series, so they’ve got some plotlines that were actually supposed to be in the TV show that they didn’t have time to actually do. So, for BSG fans, this could be cool. That’s due out in March ‘09, ish.

They’re coming out with a novel of Tarot Cafe, written by Chandra Rooney and illustrated by Sang-Sun Park, who did the original manhwa, of course.

The .hack//G.U. novel is going to come out next winter, and they’ve acquired Peacemaker Kurogane, the follow-up to the original Peacemaker manga.

I’ve totally lost track on what’s actually new and what’s not, but here’s Nanae Chrono’s Momo Tama, which actually kinda reminds me of Potemayo in style o_o The Japanese title is Senki Senki Momotama, and it looks ridiculous and awesome. And it also includes hot dudes and fighting and action and stuff. Sounds win!

Kare Kano creator Masami Tsuda’s Castle of Dreams, which is actually two of Tsuda’s anthologies combined into one book.

Aaaand NG Life, by Mizuho Kusanagi, of Mugen Spiral fame (but very different).

Oooh, Togainu no Chi manga, by Sugaro Chayamachi and Nitro+ CHIRAL. This is a manga adaptation of a violent, action-oriented BL game. Yes, you heard that right.

This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, based on the Gainax anime of the same name. And then Maid-sama! (also known as Kaichou wa Maid-sama!), by Hiro Fujiwara, about a feminist school president who secretly works in a maid cafe. Mwahaha. Looking forward to that one, which runs in Lala with Host Club and Vampire Knight in Japan.

Last but not least, Demon Sacred, from Jyu-oh-Sei creator Natsumi Itsuki, he rmost recent series. Apparently it involves demons and unicorns. What more do you need?

Q&A now…are they going to continue publishing the Gundam manga Ecole du Ciel, which was suspended– it’s among the titles that are being re-evaluated after the Tpop/Tpop Media split and layoffs. When might we hear about them? As soon as possible but no specific timeframe yet.

Any shot at the .hack//sign SD 4koma strips coming out? Not at the moment, and Tpop is a little wary of the gag strips because they’re hard to translate (AzuDai being an exception, Lillian notes).

How can someone who is an established manga artist in China approach Tpop to publish their works? Sounds like he’s talking about someone specific. In the case of Benjamin, he has an agency, but the person this guy’s talking about can just contact someone at Tpop directly.

A fan of the bind-ups wants to know what other series are going to be done that way. They’ve done Sgt. Frog, KareKano, ReBirth, Chronicles of the Cursed Sword, Battle Royale, and they’re doing an ultimate edition of DramaCon– a 624-page book, with a 15-page bonus story and some stuff. Due out in October. Also I Luv Halloween is getting a bind-up, and Ai Yori Aoshi, and they’re considering many other series. They’ve even talked about doing one for Loveless– it’s just a matter of permission. Oh, and a Demon Host of Ouran bind-up. And the question asker wants Tactics, but that’s not super-long or finished for now.

What’s up with the light novel line? Like the manga, some of them are being re-evaluated but they plan to continue some, like Twelve Kingdoms. But they’re still working it out with the rights holders in Japan.

Questions on Battlestar Galactica (for which there is apparently an exclusive toaster being sold at San Diego Comic Con, scary!). The new manga is set in season 3, and it has not been determined if it’ll be pre-New Caprica(sp?) or post, but it’ll be an anthology of shorts.

I can’t even describe this question. This guy wants to find the UK office, and he wants them to do manga versions of ancient Egyptian scrolls, or something?…Tokyopop is handling this waaay better than we are, I can’t stop chuckling.

How about the reaction on the Kodansha news, will it affect Tokyopop– especially titles like Beck. As far as they know there should be no effect; they haven’t gotten any news from Kodansha, so speculation on that front was apparently wrong. It’s mostly business as usual for Tpop, since they don’t get a lot from Kodansha these days anyway.

Whose idea was it to publish tankobon instead of just single issues? Lillian says VIZ actually had been doing it for some time and Tpop (back when it was Mixxzine) did floppies, but eventually it was probably Stu who made the decision for Tpop, since he usually does. He also standardized the price and trim size.

Any update on the Return to Labyrinth and Dark Crystal manga in terms of releases? Labyrinth 3 is due out in December, and Crystal volume 2 should be sometime early next year, probably.

Same question but on Mamotte Shugogetten, which is still on the schedule. Volume 2 should be out soon. See, these questions I normally get annoyed by: “just check the website!” But it’s so hard to do that with TOKYOPOP. Lillian mentioned that they’d be updating the site soon, but they’ve been saying that for a while, so we’ll see.

Two final questions: next one, will you please stop releasing yaoi in the US? He’s wearing an Anime Pulse t-shirt…hmmmmm! I might sell him to Yaoi Press.

Last question: do they have an affiliation with Capcom? And will they please do the MegaMan manga? Lillian says it’s a good question, they have a relationship with Capcom, so it’s a possibility.

Tags: ax08, liveblogging, TOKYOPOP

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