At the popular anime and manga convention Otakon, which was held in Baltimore this weekend, there was a number of exciting announcements from Viz Media. The company hosted their own panel on Saturday with Sales Coordinator Mark DeVera and Senior Anime Marketing Manager Charlene Ingram. During the panel, they discussed the company's new releases. A new Dragon Ball printing will be publishing in February with full color and at a larger size, comparable to American trade paperbacks and graphic novels.
There are also a number of upcoming projects related to famed artist Hayao Miyazaki. For those who want to learn more about the life of the creator of Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso, and Spirited Away (as well as many others), there will two books put out by Viz: Starting Point and Turning Point. In addition to giving a great deal of background on Miyazaki's creativity and the progression of his career, the books will also include essays by Miyazaki himself. Additionally, there will also be a deluxe Art of Princess Mononoke book published soon by Viz.
Viz also discussed the reprinting of Naoki Urasawa classic manga series, Monster. The new editions will be published 2-in-1 style starting in July 2014 and will continue with a new volume every three months. The original series, which saw American printing from 2006 to 2008, featured 18 volumes. The story is about a doctor who makes a controversial decision to say a young boy's life rather than the mayor's. This leads to personal and financial ruin for the man. Many years later, the doctor even begins to question his own decision when the grown-up boy is linked to a series of murders. This series was also turned into a very popular anime called Naoki Urasawa's Monster. The new printings, called Monster: The Perfect Edition, will be priced at $19.99 each.
Although these are only some of the books Viz Media discussed, they were some of the most exciting annoucements at Otakon this year.
