DEL REY GETS GUNDAM SEED & NEGIMA

[MattBrady]

At its panel today, Del Rey’s Dallas Middaugh announced the publisher’s first two manga titles: Gundam Seed by Masatsugu Iwase and Negima by Ken Akamatsu. The two remaining manga titles will be announced soon, according to Middaugh.

The publisher plans to print the volumes in 5 x 7.5” trim, read right to left, clock in at 200 pages, and retail for around $10.00. According to Middaugh, as little as possible will be altered in the Del Rey versions, with the sound effects left intact.

Del Rey reports that it has broached the idea of sending its novels, such as those by Terry Brooks and Anne McCaffrety to Kodansha to see if the manga creators are interested in adapting them.

Originally, Del Rey was thinking of doing graphic novels based on its library of authors’ works, including those by Terry Brooks and Anne McCaffrety. Upon looking into it further, the publisher found that the costs for such a venture would be prohibitive. The head of Random House Asia suggested that they look into manga, and was instrumental in setting up the partnership between Del Rey and Kodansha.

Del Rey Editor in Chief Betsy Mitchell said that the partnership has all kinds of facets, including staff exchanges so each partner can become more familiar with the other’s business models.

When asked to rate the relative importance of Del Rey’s partnership, Mitchell was almost deadpan, saying that this is the first time a major American publisher (Del Rey is a subsidiary of Random House, the largest book publisher in the US) is doing manga, and that should say something in and of itself.

Middaugh stressed that the two titles announced are only the first tow of four, the other two which will be announced shortly. He also said that the publisher will be looking at the full library of Kodansha, focusing on work appropriate for ages 13 and up – although Del Rey will be open to looking at anything from Kodansha.

The Del Rey sales team has been very quick to accept and learn about the new form of product the publisher will begin offering in early 2004, with Mitchell reporting that they were eager to learn all about manga in order to better sell it to their buyers.

The relationship with Kodansha is non exclusive, that is, other manga publishers can continue to publish and acquire properties from the Japanese publisher. However, Del Rey will be utilizing Random House’s full powers in distribution – this, along with the popularity of the initial titles are intended to show the publishing world that Del Rey is looking at entering the field as a serious player in the game.

Mitchell said the she feels Del Rey’s efforts will make an impact on the rest of the traditional publishing market as word gets around, and manga is opened to an even wider audience.

Middaugh said that they are not considering colorizing the manga they repackage for an American audience, stressing again that Del Rey wants to stay as true to the source manga as possible. The original creators did not draw the manga in a way for it to be colored, Middaugh explained, so to color it would be against the intentions of the original creators.

Del Rey feels that its core demographic for its titles is in the teen rage, with 60-70% females picking up the books.

The publisher will also be working closely, and has a history of doing so, with other releases of Kodansha properties, specifically anime, such as a Gundam Seed anime.

Asked if he was scared of glutting the market with too much manga, Middaugh initially joked, “We’re only releasing four – you should talk to TokyoPop.” On the serious side, Middaugh said that the slowing in the market now is a sign of health, and that there is a natural paring of titles going on.”

Mitchell added that manga is in no way a fad, saying that there are too many varieties of it compared to what is commonly considered as a “fad.”

Both projects are very new, with Negima having started in February, and Gundam Seed just seeing its first collection two months earlier. Middaugh said that he would like to see Del Rey publish smaller projects of a shorter duration, and may do so if the four series go on hiatus in Japan for brief periods. Although, given that, by the time the Del Rey versions are released, there will be roughly a year

[drifter13x]

Wooohooo, more Ken Akamatsu in the west, bring it on! G-Seed should please Gundam fans, although it's a bit to formula for me. Let's see what else Del Rey has up it's sleeves.

[Midnight Pelican]

Originally posted by drifter13x
Wooohooo, more Ken Akamatsu in the west, bring it on! G-Seed should please Gundam fans, although it's a bit to formula for me. Let's see what else Del Rey has up it's sleeves.

What is a "gundam"?

[Grief]

Gundam (the series): Began with Mobile Suit Gundam, starring a dork name Amuro Ray. His father designed the Gundam, a large robot used in war against the Zeon, or space colonists. Y'see, long ago, colonies were made in space, called Sides, and the Zeon fight to give them freedom. The Earth Federation is opposed to this. To this end, war had been going on for quite some time. Neither side was really winning, but the Zeon had the upper hand. Until the Gundam. Amuro gets into the Gundam during a conflict in his home-colony, and becomes it pilot.


The series spawned series other series (War in the Pocket, Stardust Memory, 08th MS team) and several movies (the only one I know of being Char's Counterattack). Myself, I've never cared for these stories.


Then came the spin-off series: Gundam Wing, G Gundam, Zeta Gundam, ZZ Gundam, Last Outpost, G-Saviour, and the latest: Gundam SEED.


Most of these take place in other realities, but all deal with the same basic concept: Colonies want freedom. Earth wants to prevent that. Person X can control Gundams. But from there they vary. In Wing there are five Gundams. In G-Gundam, every country has one.


Specifically, Gundams are large, humanoid, bulky robots, used both in space and on Earth.

[Midnight Pelican]

Originally posted by Grief
Gundam (the series): Began with Mobile Suit Gundam, starring a dork name Amuro Ray. His father designed the Gundam, a large robot used in war against the Zeon, or space colonists. Y'see, long ago, colonies were made in space, called Sides, and the Zeon fight to give them freedom. The Earth Federation is opposed to this. To this end, war had been going on for quite some time. Neither side was really winning, but the Zeon had the upper hand. Until the Gundam. Amuro gets into the Gundam during a conflict in his home-colony, and becomes it pilot.


The series spawned series other series (War in the Pocket, Stardust Memory, 08th MS team) and several movies (the only one I know of being Char's Counterattack). Myself, I've never cared for these stories.


Then came the spin-off series: Gundam Wing, G Gundam, Zeta Gundam, ZZ Gundam, Last Outpost, G-Saviour, and the latest: Gundam SEED.


Most of these take place in other realities, but all deal with the same basic concept: Colonies want freedom. Earth wants to prevent that. Person X can control Gundams. But from there they vary. In Wing there are five Gundams. In G-Gundam, every country has one.


Specifically, Gundams are large, humanoid, bulky robots, used both in space and on Earth.

Wow...sounds like another franchise in the vein of Poke-Digi-Dragonball-Mon.

Christopher

[drifter13x]

Originally posted by Midnight Pelican
Wow...sounds like another franchise in the vein of Poke-Digi-Dragonball-Mon.

Christopher

Oh, it's a Japanese franchise monster. Gundam's been around for about 2 decades now, and the flow of Gundam series has been pretty steady that entire time. A good majority of the "mech" anime's owe their many cliches to Gundam. What Superman is to super heroes, Gundam is to giant robots.

[Midnight Pelican]

Originally posted by drifter13x
Oh, it's a Japanese franchise monster. Gundam's been around for about 2 decades now, and the flow of Gundam series has been pretty steady that entire time. A good majority of the "mech" anime's owe their many cliches to Gundam. What Superman is to super heroes, Gundam is to giant robots.

Cool. You seem like someone who knows a lot about manga. If you happen to have a list of some great Manga titles from various publishers, I'd love to have it...just PM me or whatever. Email is midnightforest@aol.com...

I've only read the first volumes of Love Hina, Chobits, and Dance 'Till Tomorrow, so I could definitely expand my library...loved Chobits, btw, but the guy in Love Hina is an idiot. If it were me, I'd have bashed the girls upside their ditsy little heads by now.

[sat]

Originally posted by MattBrady
Del Rey reports that it has broached the idea of sending its novels, such as those by Terry Brooks and Anne McCaffrety to Kodansha to see if the manga creators are interested in adapting them.

If they do that, they should also send Stephen Baxter's MANIFOLD books to artist/writer Yukinobu Hoshino.

He did a 4 book modern version of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" for Kodansha with his BLUE WORLD series:


Hoshino's also has an established North American audience, from his successful 2001 NIGHTS manga trilogy, evolved from the works of Arthur C Clarke & Stanley Kubrick:


Hoshino also has a *lot* of other manga series that have *never* been translated and republished in America. Shame that. Would be nice to fix that.

[amaraswen]

Originally posted by MattBrady

Originally, Del Rey was thinking of doing graphic novels based on its library of authors’ works, including those by Terry Brooks and Anne McCaffrety. Upon looking into it further, the publisher found that the costs for such a venture would be prohibitive. The head of Random House Asia suggested that they look into manga, and was instrumental in setting up the partnership between Del Rey and Kodansha.

They should have looked into the European market. Literary adaptations in comic form are common there, even from Proust. Is there a "Random House Europe"? If so, they might take example of the Asia branch and promote BD to their mother house. A deal with Dargaud or Glénat, the largest publishers in that market would be great as well.

[Aiva]

Gundam SEED will be huge in the US, even bigger than Wing. Manga together with Anime would be killer on the kiddie's wallets. The young girls will go nuts over the bishonens again. The SEED models are already selling out. Lots of kids in the US can't wait for SEED right now. Good choice.

Does any of you guys in the know know how to get in touch with Del Ray manga's new head? E-mail address and such? I would like to ask him to bring over "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou", one of the most beautiful and original work of fiction ever. I think this would show how much depth and taste Del Ray has, bringing over a mature classic that that defy most rules of anime/manga world.

[Bloodcat]

Gundam Seed?

UGH.

Cant think of a manga series I want less.

And now this means THREE seperate companies are doing Gundam mangas.

Viz, Tokyopop, and Del Rey.

As to why Gundam Seed is lame.

1: Bishonen hell. Much like the thing that is most hated about Gundam Wing, Bisshie boys are beloved by young women and girls with mental problems. Because they mostly want to do their own stories which all devolve into silly gay sex. Aka: Slash or Yaoi. For the big owner of Gundam, Bandai, this is BAD, as most of the fangirls are simply not interested in toy and model robots. And since Gundam is about selling toy and model robots, this is a BAD THING. Hell, ive seen reports that the Japanese team involved with Seed publically admitted to the problem and has been tweaking the show to be less "Which one of these characters is really a chick" and more about stuff blowing up.

2: Rehash of previous Gundams. Its basically the original Gundam redone with more Gundams. Blonde antihero with mask? Check. Ragtag crew on a White Base Class ship? Check. Special people going all ubermensch on everyone else meaning more cannon fodder than a division of Star Wars' Stormtroopers? Check. Obnoxious whiny angsty teenagers? Check. Times like 10.

3: Lame ass mecha. Mecha design is a personal thing, but the mecha in this show are all lame, and derivative of other mecha. I love giant robots. I seriously doubt I will be buying these robots.

4: Long time Gundam fan rage. The people who love Gundam the most have already made Gundam Wing bashing part of their pastime. Gundam Seed is basically in the same boat, only worse, as even western fans have already seen all this before. Even more damaging is classic Gundam fans who want to see the highly regarded series like Z Gundam (1985), Victory Gundam (1993), and Turn A Gundam become pissed off and cranky because the Gundam they want to see isnt being shown in place of something designed for teenaged girls. (Though Z Gundam is gonna show up sometime in the next 12 months or so..)

(For you comic people. Picture the Marvel or DC universe redone ala Ultimate, except with all the characters made massively effeminate, their outfits subtly changed, and without any heart whatsoever. Angst just to have angst, and not because it tells a good story. Hmm.. just picture Ultimate X Men but done worse... Thats Gundam Seed)

Oh yeah, and if the hardcore fans cant get legitimate DVDs of the Gundams they want, its not very hard for them to get them from bootlegs or off the Internet.

Bandai screws up again it seems...

[Aiva]

wow, can't believe there's an actual reply on a superhero site. I've made the mistake of posting here asking a manga question, but it's nice to get a real, solid response.

As to your points, well, you sounded like a typical UC fan who basically hates all AU stuff. I must tell you I am also an UC fan, hell, I'm OLD. I agree with your point of bish and yaoi being lame, but, I do enjoy the popularity of Wing and the current popularity of SEED among female fans. You and I may not like it, but Wing fan base is what SEED is after, and in my book, more kiddies (and GIRLS) into Gundam, the better.

As to your point about rehashing, have you actually seen the serie? I have almost all of the UC series, including MSG on VHS, and when I saw SEED, it really does bring back the same kind of feeling when I first saw MSG 20 years ago. There are similar plot devices, BUT it's really well done and the story telling is good. In fact I can over look the bishies cus the character development is so well done. Plus the story is dark, a lot of people and some main characters die in this one. I know it hasn't ended yet but I hoping for a Zeta like UC fanale at the end, where almost everyone dies. This show's got potential. The show retains the CORE THEME of the UC Gundam and it brings new fans to the series. And then I also love the music. I'm an old TRM and SeeSaw fan, and their work in SEED is superb.

About the Mecha, well, that's personal, as you said. I and several older fans actually liked some mecha from the second half of the show, Freedom and Justice, and I thought Forbidden really kicked ass.

As for the longtime fan rage stuff, well, older UC fans are like superhero fans; they are old and they are DYING. Without new fans, the series will die, and becomes a childhood nostalgia fandom like the DC/Marvel titles. Bandai's trying to get new fans, i.e. current teens and especially teenage girl to maintain the popularity of the series. That they did a good job. Gundam SEED is probably the hottest anime in Japan right now (according to a recent issue of Newtype), and it's THE hottest fan-sub title around the world (by BT staticstics). Great majority of these fans, are of course teenagers or young adults. Like it or not they are the people Sunrise/Bandai/Del Ray's aiming for, not folks like us. For older UC fans, there's always Zeta that's coming next year; it's got cool mecha plus deaths galor... shoud not dissapoint.

The manga's geared toward the Wing/soon-to-be SEED teen crowd, and it will be a hot seller, that's why I've said it's a great move. Sure they will not make UC nuts happy, but SEED did please some older fans like myself (I really HATED Wing, G, and Turn A, personally). Heck, since I'm into the SEED story so much, I may have to buy SEED Astray manga to see some detailed plot point, and I have never bought a Gundam manga in my life. And this is coming to a guy who's built a 1/60 F91 model. Thus I think Sunrise (Bandai doesn't control Gundam; Sunrise does. Bandai does toys and distribution) didn't screw up at all with SEED, and Del Ray made a great choice to launch their shonen-based manga line.