ADV Manga today announced the acquisition of 37 new manga titles. Actually over a third of the titles appear to be of non-Japanese (primarily Korean) origin, though this is hardly a negative given the strong performance of manwha titles such as Demon Diary and Ragnarok.  The titles announced today cover a number of genres and should appeal to both male and female readers in several different age groups.  Among the most notable titles announced are Peacemaker Kurogane, a historical samurai series set during the last violent gasp of Japan's shogunate and likely to appeal to the Rurouni Kenshin audience, and Gunparade March, which inspired a very popular anime series about teenage robot pilots fighting alien invaders.  Another surefire winner is Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, Sakura Kinoshita's stories of the Norse god Loki as a boy detective.

 

Eleven of the titles should have a strong appeal to the growing audience of female readers including Gamerz Heaven by Maki Murakami, author of the hit manga series Gravitation and Yo-u by Sanami Matoh, the creator of Fake, which like Gravitation is a best-selling shonen ai title here in the States.  Princess Tutu by Mizuo Shinonome is a magical girl saga that should find favor with young female readers, while Pastel Green Spell from Lee Young Yuu, the creator of the hit series, Kill Me, Kiss Me, should appeal to older teen females.  Of course no manga list is complete without a little gender bending and Ai Morinaga's Your & My Secret about a teenage boy and the girl he is in love with who switch bodies, more than fills that bill.

 

Although ADV is a relative latecomer to the publishing of manga in America, the company has already scored some major successes with its Full Metal Panic and Azumanga Daioh releases.  While other new American manga publishers such as Del Rey and Broccoli are following the Dark Horse model by releasing only a few titles, each of which has the potential to be a major hit, ADV is emulating the highly successful Tokyopop model with an extensive list of releases, which could soon even surpass ADV's gargantuan anime output, which was so high at one point that it inspired a famous inside-the-industry joke: 'Why do the American otaku wear their pants so high?'  'So they can wade through all of ADV's releases.'