ADV Manga has announced the street dates for the imprint's first two manga releases, Full Metal Panic! Mission 01 and Azumanga Daioh Vol. 1.  Full Metal Panic! Mission 01 will be out first on September 9th.  A tie-in to the popular ADV Films anime release of the same name, Full Metal Panic! combines high school comedy with mecha combat as a young secret agent is sent back to high school to protect a cute coed from international terrorists.  Much of the humor in this manga, which was serialized in Newtype USA, comes from the difficulty that the highly trained agent has in adapting to high school life.

 

Azumanga Daioh Vol. 1, which ships a week later on September 16th, is the character driven story of a precocious 12-year-old girl named Chiyo, who is promoted to high school.  Created by the iconoclastic manga-ka Kiyohiko Azuma, Azumanga Daioh is a hilarious chronicle of the tribulations of high school life.  ADV Films will be releasing the Azumanga Daioh anime series in 2004.