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Vertical Adds Gundam: The Origin, Wolfsmund Manga

North American publisher Vertical announced at its Otakon panel on Sunday that it licensed Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin manga, Mitsuhisa Kuji's Wolfsmund manga, and Hiroki Azuma's General Will 2.0: Rousseau, Freud, and Google philosophy book.

Gundam: The Origin is a 23-volume re-imagining of Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise's first Mobile Suit Gundam anime project by the anime's character designer. Yasuhiko takes the One Year War that launched this influential "real robot" story and offers his own interpretation with tweaked mecha designs, extended subplots, and reworked story elements.

The manga launched in the inaugural issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Gundam Ace magazine in 2001, and it ended a decade later with an announcement of a new anime project. Viz Media published part of the manga in North America before, but it stopped about a quarter of the way into the series. Vertical will publish the series in hardcover, similar to the ongoing Keepsake Edition (Aizō-ban) reissue that Kadokawa Shoten is publishing in Japan.

Ōkami no Kuchi Wolfsmund is a story set in the European Alps during the beginning of the 14th century. A ruthless gatekeeper stands watch at Wolfsmund — "the Mouth of the Wolf," a fortress checkpoint at the St. Gotthard Pass going into Italy. Travelers from all walks of life try to pass through the way station, but they must first face interrogation by the gatekeeper. Things rarely end well for those who attempt the passing.

Kuji launched the manga in Enterbrain's Fellows! magazine in 2009, and Enterbrain published the third book volume last year.

In General Will 2.0, Azuma reinterprets philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's concept of the "general will," revising it to fit the 21st century while looking at new possibilities in democracy offered by recent technological advances.

Kodansha published this latest book by Azuma last November. In addition to being a critic of Japanese pop culture and society, Azuma wrote the acclaimed Otaku: Japan's Database Animals book and co-created the Fractale anime series.