Full Metal Panic Vol. 1, the first manga release from AD Vision Inc.'s new ADV Manga division debuted strongly in the bookstore market reaching number 7 on the Bookscan list of graphic novel bestsellers.  The action comedy, featuring a teenage honor student and the gung-ho Green Beret-type who is sent to guard her, proved to be an immediate hit with the heavily female bookstore audience that is boosting manga to new heights of popularity in the U.S.   For ADV, which is distributed to bookstores by Diamond Book Distributors (see 'ADV Goes With Diamond For Bookstores'), the strong debut of Full Metal Panic Vol. 1 vindicates its 'rush to market strategy,' which has left direct market retailers well behind bookstores on the company's initial offerings.

When ADV unveiled its manga division this summer, the company announced a hefty slate of eighteen different properties (see 'ADV Announces Manga Line').  Eighteen different series (plus anime art books) already marks ADV as one of the more prolific American manga publishers, but ADV is not content to stop there.  The company recently announced a raft of new titles including: Crono Crusade, Jenki Extended, Kagura Nostalgia the New Chapter, Yours and My Secret, Aria R^2, Desert Power, Blue Inferior, and Louie the Rune Soldier. As is the case with their anime releases, ADV is following a very aggressive course and releasing a lot of titles -- especially when compared with the conservative approach of another new manga entrant, Del Rey, which is inaugurating its manga line with just four properties.