Et Cetera, a nine-volume series by Tow Nakazaki, features the adventures of a Chinese orphan heading across the old west for Hollywood with dreams of becoming a star.

Tramps Like Us, a seven-volume series by Yayoi Ogawa, delves into the life of a woman who picks up a young boy off the street and brings him into her home.  Originally published in Japan by Kodansha as Kimi ha Pet, this series served as the inspiration for a hit live-action TV series starring Jun Matsumoto.

Instant Teen:  Just Add Nuts, a four-volume series by Haruka Fukushima, stars a fifth-grade girl who desperately wants to be beautiful and ends up taking some magic pink beans created by a mad scientist.

STONe, a two-volume series by Shin-Ichi Hiromoto (who illustrated Dark Horse's Star Wars:  Jedi manga series), is about a near future world where our wasted planet is covered by sand and stone, with terrifying creatures battling with humans for survival.

The first volume in each of these four titles, which join other recent releases in the ever-growing Tokyopop manga line (see 'Tokyopop to Publish Threads of Time and Tokyo Tribes' and 'Tokyopop Has Heat Guy J Manga'), will retail for $9.99.