Tokyopop Editor Jake Forbes, writing on the 'Manga Forum' on the Anime on DVD website announced a number of new titles that the red-hot manga publisher is readying for 2003 release.  The new books, in no particular order, are: Brigadoon, Baby Birth, Wild Act, Saber Marionette J, NieA_7, Brain Powered, and FLCL.  Most of the new titles, including Saber Marionette J (Bandai), NieA_7 (Pioneer), Brain Powered (Bandai), and FLCL (Synch Point), are tied to anime series that have already debuted here in the U.S.  Tokyopop itself will release the Brigadoon DVD in May of this year (see 'Tokyopop Acquires Marmalade Boy & Brigadoon').

Tokyopop, which has had great success with shoujo titles such as Chobits, also plans to continue to expand its offerings to include two Yaoi titles, Gravitation and Fake, which are set to debut in the spring.  Yaoi is a special subgenre of shoujo manga that features stories about romantic (often doomed) relationships between male characters.  Gravitation and Fake are the first Yaoi titles to be published here in the States, and Tokyopop's willingness to take a chance on the potential of this genre, which is quite popular with female readers in Japan, testifies to the company's continuing aggressive approach to the market (see 'Tokyopop Plans More Growth in '03').