At the New York Comic Con Viz Media announced a barrage of potent new titles that it will be releasing in 2009 including the eagerly-awaited Yu-Gi-Oh! R, Taiyo Matsumodo’s Gogo Monster, Inio Asano’s What a Wonderful World!, plus five new shojo releases for fall including Boys Over Flowers: Jewelry Box; Beast Master; Butterflies, Flowers; Natsume’s Book of Friends; and the Gentleman’s Alliance Art Book.

 

Yu-Gi-Oh! R, a manga created by Akira Ito based on the manga/card game/anime franchise created by Kazuki Takahashi, features an alternate plot line that takes place after the defeat of Marik Ishtar.  In this 5-volume series, which launches in September, the protégé of Maximillion Pegasus tries to avenge his mentor’s defeat at the hands of Yugi.  Because they appeal to younger readers, the various Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series have performed better in the book stores than in the comic shops, but no retailer should ignore this still potent property that continues to receive lots of TV exposure.

 

While Yu-Gi-Oh! R appears to be the strongest new Shonen Jump series, Hiroyuki Asada’s six-volume on-going Tegami Bachi ($7.99), which also debuts in September, is a very interesting adventure series set in a world of eternal dusk, and Ryu Fujisaki’s 4-volume (complete) Waq Waq, which ships in August, is a robot-themed science fiction adventure leavened with plenty of humor.

 

Viz Media’s Shojo Beat releases include Yoko Kamio’s Boys Over Flowers: Jewelry Box ($9.99), a one-volume epilogue to the popular series that ships in October, Kyosuke Motomi’s Beast Master ($8.99), which is due in November, is a 2-volume high school romantic comedy about girl whose love for animals isn’t reciprocated, Yuki Yoshihara’s Butterflies, Flowers ($8.99), which is slated for release in December is a light-hearted josei sex comedy for mature readers, while Natsume’s Book of Friends ($8.99) by Yuki Midorikawa is a 7-volume on-going slice-of-life comedy drama suitable for teens.  The other new Shojo Beat release is Arina Tanemura’s Gentleman’s Alliance Art Book ($19.99), which is due in December.

 

The Viz Signature imprint is reserved for high quality series with definite artistic and literary merit that have the potential to appeal to manga fans and non-manga readers alike.  There are a number of excellent Viz Signature release slated for the next 12 months including Tekkonkincreet/Black & White creator Taiyo Matsumodo’s Gogo Monster ($24.99), the emotional tale of a school boy with an overactive imagination, which is suitable for teens and due out in October, What a Wonderful World! ($12.99), a perceptive, touching seinen slice-of-life 2-volume saga from Solanin creator Inio Asano, Fumi Yoshinaga’s 1-volume josei slice-of-life manga All My Darling Daughters ($12.99), which is due out in January 2010 for mature readers, and Natsume Ono’s not simple ($14.99), a mature readers seinen single-volume manga with a distinctive art style that should appeal to fans of alternative comics.

 

Finally there is Keitarou Takahashi’s Jormungand ($12.99), a 5-volume on-going seinen series that will be published under the Viz Media imprint in November.  This saga of a gang of underground weapons sellers (reminiscent in a way of Black Lagoon), is for mature readers only.