We started this year’s AX off with the Viz Media panel.  Annette Roman was on hand to cover the manga side of the company.  She started off with information about the reformatted releases of Uzumake and Gyo, both with October release dates, dates she has argued would be ideal for horror title releases. She mentioned that they had to purchase copies of the sold out Gyo on eBay to work on the re-release.  Even though she argued to have a stinky scratch and sniff sticker placed on Gyo, the marketing people vetoed the idea.  Good thing, as my dog would have been tempted to eat it if it smelled like a garbage can…

Next up, she talked about Tekkon Kinkreet by Taiyo Matsumoto, which will have a 7 1/8" x 10 1/8" release size, and a price of $29.95.  All 3 volumes will be combined in one.  It will contain some color pages, a color poster, a new cover, and a dust jacket. She mentioned that the title is very popular in France. She described it as the touching story of the relationship between two orphans.

Shojo Beat was next. The graphic novel for the first volume of Sand Chronicles by Hinako Ashihara will be released January 2008, with a volume every four months after, priced at 8.99 with a Teen Plus rating.  This is about a girl who is forced to move from the city to the country, to a hick town with no bookstores and nothing fun to do.  Sounds like hell to me.

High School Debut by Kazune Kawahara is a "My Fair Lady" story about a jock girl who decides to become more feminine when she goes to a new school.  She recruits a guy to help her become more girly, and he agrees to help, on the condition that she doesn’t fall in love with him.  Yah, like that’s not going to happen….

Viz Fiction will have the release of Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabi in August, at a price of $23.99.  This is both volumes in one book.  It’s about a boy whose parents get divorced, and after his mother is hospitalized, he goes to a magic land on a quest to fix all of his problems.

Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara sounded interesting to me.  The previous printing of the book are selling on eBay for $400 bucks!  It will be released in October, priced at 16.99.  It’s part of the Tales of Magatama series, and is about a girl who thinks she’s a princess of the world of  light, but learns that she’s really the princess from the world of darkness. 

She mentioned that some series are coming to an end.  Death Note will end in July, and I"s in Sept.

She discussed the Naruto Nation.  They are speeding up the releases to get ahead of the anime.  Volumes 18, 21, & 24 will include special stickers.  The 4th uncut DVD boxset will be released 8/6/07, with a price of $49.98.

Shaman King is leaving Shonen Jump and will be published every two months.  Bobobo-bo will begin in the magazine in Aug.  I just can’t get excited about a manga starring a talented nose hair.  There will also be a fan art extravaganza in the Aug issue.

In Oct there will be 50 pages of Dragonball video games, manga, anime, and toys coverage, and in November, there will be a new manga series.  Which she can’t share today.  Suck!  There will also be a special preview of another un-named manga in the December issue.  Double suck!