Seven Seas has actually had a bunch of new stuff they’ve announced lately. I missed the first few due to being at NYCC when they announced it (they were not at NYCC themselves, being a very West Coast group). They also solicited some titles on Amazon which could be seen before the official announcement, but which I wasn’t able to mention till now as they sort of want blogger/press types to not do that (shut up, I deleted that tweet). So, what’s new from Seven Seas besides no new Hayate x Blade?
First off, on the heels of Yen Press license rescuing Alice in the Country of Hearts, we see that Seven Seas has picked up one of its sequels, Clover no Kuni no Alice – Bloody Twins (or Alice in the Country of Clover), which ran for one volume in Ichijinsha’s fantasy shoujo magazine Comic Zero-Sum. The Bloody Twins tag is to keep it separate from the manga other one-volume Alice in the Country of Clover spinoffs, also from Ichijinsha, which I suspect might follow if this does well.
With the demise of CMX, it looked as if Softbank Creative’s Flex titles were dead as well… until now! Angel Para Bellum will be coming out next year. Its license should be no surprise, as the artist also draws Dance in the Vampire Bund, one of Seven Seas’ big successes. It’s a fantasy about angels and demons, and should broadly appeal to the same audience as Bund’s.
This next one is very pleasant to hear about for those of us who want more titles from the late Media Factory’s Comic Flapper and fewer from their sleazier yet more popular Comic Alive. Christie: High Tension will be emerging as ‘Young Miss Holmes’ from Seven Seas, in the increasingly popular omnibus format. (My baseless speculation is that this allows them to get the titles out faster in case they do poorly, thus leading to fewer cancellations and less annoying of Japanese publishers for said cancellations. Also, omnibuses DO seem to sell a bit better.) Christie is about Sherlock Holmes’ niece (so the title change works fine), who like her uncle uses her logical brain to solve mysteries. Like Case Closed but which Shinichi was a cute blonde girl? Try this. The series is 7 volumes in Japan, and also has a spinoff. The author is best known over here for the Area 88 manga Viz adapted and then cancelled back in the floppy days.
I’ve discussed Girl Friends before, back when JManga put the first volume online. Now Seven Seas has licensed all five volumes from Futabasha (it ran in Comic High!), and will be putting them out a year from now in 2 big omnibus volumes. (Where this leaves JManga, I’ve no idea. Publishers have spoken before about being reluctant to give JManga their digital content which they can market themselves.) This is a cute series about a shy high school girl who becomes friends with a more outgoing type… then realizes that she’s feeling more than just friendship. It’s always nice to see more yuri series here in North America, and this one’s pretty light and fluffy as opposed to ‘everyone ends up dead or married to men’ like old-school yuri. Now, will yuri manga fans actually purchase it? Good question…
And I should talk about I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!! (Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki ja Nai n da kara ne!!), which is another Futabasha title, from its spinoff Web Comic High! magazine. It too will be coming out in omnibus format, and follows the adventures of a girl who is madly in love with her brother, but then discovers… (wait for it…) that they may not be related after all! But she also has to deal with the other girls vying for her brother’s affection! And it has that cover, as seen above. If you read Sankaku Complex without shuddering in self-loathing, then you’ll love this title. As with Girl Friends, I will believe its intended audience actually buys things with real money (as opposed to downloading them for free) when I see it.
Great job by Seven Seas in picking these up. I hope they do well.
As a rule I hate Siscon stories I would actually read I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!!
I would think that omnibuses sell better because they are usually a better deal for the reader. And if the omnibuses are, say, 2-in-1, that means a guaranteed sale of 2 original-volumes per purchase, which is worth cutting a bit of the per-original-volume margin from the publisher’s point of view, Win-win. The main reason manga are not sold in omnibus format straight out the magazine is that they are trying to get volumes out faster as the artist is still making the series – but when something has already been finished in the country of origin, or is at least far ahead, this does not apply.
You forgot to mention Seven Seas did license Alice in the Country of Clover – Cheshire Cat Waltz, as well. Dunno if you know that they’ve licensed some more manhwa: Witch Hunter, Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries (known as Lady Detective in Korea), and Jack the Ripper: Hell Blade.
I hadn’t seen that, but it doesn’t surprise me given the Clover mangas all seem to be one-volume standalones. Thanks!
The Alice in the Country of Clover manga are a mix of one-shots and longer series. Cheshire Cat Waltz is 7 volumes.
Oooh, the one one from Area 88’s creator stands out to me. 7 volumes and in omnibus form sounds good to me! I’ll likely be picking that one up!
The I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!! license makes me cringe.. but I’m so stoked to see Seven Seas going out on a limb with some yuri again.. I hope to god it sells, because if yuri with girls as cute as the ones in Girl Friends doesn’t sell in the states, then none will.