Manga Goddess and pioneer Keiko Takemiya’s space opera Andromeda Stories concludes this month with the third volume in the cosmic trilogy on sale now. Any fan of science fiction or Grand Guignol storytelling should rush out and pick up a copy. But I’m gushing, and I fear my love for Takemiya’s classic will sound like nothing more than the ranting of a company shill. So I’ll allow Katherine Dacey of PopCultureShock.com to speak for me:
Recent Vertical Releases Make Holiday Shopping Easy!
Thursday, December 20th, 2007
Vertical has supplied the perfect gift to you, its loyal readers, this holiday season by releasing a quartet of titles to satisfy the ficklest of friends and family members on your shopping list. Don’t let the anxiety of buying something for that cranky old uncle get to you this year; put down the nose-hair trimmer and send him to Northern Mongaul with Guin and his intrepid band of allies as they flee an army of 12,000 into the treacherous desert wastes of Nospherus with The Guin Saga, Book 1: The Leopard Mask. Disinterested teenagers on your list? Send the girls to outer space with Keiko Takemiya’s galactic epic, Andromeda Stories (Volume 2 is out now!) and transport the boys to Cheironia, where they can drool over bodacious babes and bathe in the barbarian swordplay of The Guin Saga Manga: The Seven Magi, Volume 1. You may be surprised to catch a mumbled, “Thanks!” beneath their seemingly unexcitable miens. Finally, for that engaged, newlywed, or married person on your list there’s Asa Nonami’s Now You’re One of Us, voted one of the best reads of 2007 by fearsmag.com, writing that it “does for marriage what Jaws did for a day at the beach.” So give ’em a gift they won’t return this year… give ’em a heaping healthy dose of Vertical.
Vertical Takes Manhattan
Friday, November 16th, 2007
December 7-9, 2007, marks the first annual New York Anime Festival, and Vertical will be there. Held at the Jacob Javits Center, the show is a celebration of classic and cutting-edge anime, manga, and Japanese culture. Vertical will be featuring some of its most popular titles at incredible NY Anime Festival discounts, including advance copies of The Guin Saga, Book 1 paperback, The Guin Saga Manga, Volume 1, and Andromeda Stories, Volume 2. Be one of the first to hear about Vertical’s 2008 publishing plans at the Vertical, Inc. panel on Sunday morning from 11:00 am-12:00 pm, and don’t miss J-Horror scribe David Kalat’s J-Horror panel on Saturday evening from 5-6 pm. There will also be free giveaways, like Aranzi Aronzo posters and the much-ballyhooed Guin masks (see previous “What’s New” item). But most importantly, we look forward to sharing some face time with our fans and hearing all your comments and suggestions. Hope to see you there!
Manga Pioneer Takemiya to make rare NA appearance
Thursday, September 13th, 2007
The Shojo legend and author of manga classics To Terra… and Andromeda Stories will be making the following West Coast stops to celebrate the 25th Anniversary and U.S. debut of Andromeda Stories #1.
September 15, 2007
Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 1201 3rd St. (3rd St. Promenade), Santa Monica, California from 3:00-4:00 PM
September 17, 2007
Powell’s Bookstore, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, Oregon from 7:00-9:00 PM
September 19, 2007
University of British Columbia (UBC) bookstore, 800 Robson St, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from 12:00-1:30 PM
September 20, 2007
Takemiya will give a lecture, “Shojo Manga Power! Girl Comics from Japan,” followed by a panel discussion featuring manga critic and editor Fujimoto Yukari and Professor Masami Toku at The Auditorium of the Asian Centre at UBC
September 21, 2007
Takemiya will give a lecture, “The Role of Manga in Contemporary Culture,” in the Main Theater at UBC’s Robson Square campus in downtown Vancouver, 800 Robson Street (near the Vancouver Art Gallery), followed by a panel discussion.
Don’t miss your chance to meet a true manga legend!
EXCLUSIVE: Andromeda Stories Preview
Monday, July 16th, 2007
Long before the Terminator and Matrix trilogies, the story of machines gaining sentience and subjugating humankind was told in Andromeda Stories, manga pioneer Keiko Takemiya’s thrilling space opera. Now you could wait until mid-September for Volume I to hit the stands or you could satisfy your craving for mind-blowing manga right this second with this exclusive sneak preview.
Talking with Takemiya
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
Attention all lovers of great manga! Shojo pioneer and To Terra… and Andromeda Stories creator Keiko Takemiya recently spoke with Deb Aoki of About.com concerning her life’s work. As one of the legendary seminal Magnificent 49ers—a women’s manga collective in the 1970s—the trailblazing Takemiya founded what is known today as yaoi. Her revolutionary ideas and themes influenced many of today’s foremost science fiction films, including The Matrix and The Terminator. Vertical published the 3-volume To Terra… in 2007 and a successful animated version of the trilogy ran in Japan in 2007 to great acclaim. Vertical began publishing Takemiya’s noteworthy Andromeda Stories toward the end of 2007, and the final volume of the 3-volume space-spanning soap opera is due in March. In the meantime, check out her enlightening interview.