Del Rey Acquires The Wallflower and Othello
(New York, June 15, 2004)-Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, announced two new major Kodansha manga acquisitions today, both geared for release in October of 2004. The Wallflower and Othello are among the most popular titles published by Kodansha in Japan. Both are shojo (geared toward girls) manga, although they will appeal equally to females and males in the U.S.
The Wallflower (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge) by Tomoko Hayakawa tells the story of four handsome boys who have been given the chance to get free rent, but only on one condition: They must transform the landlady's niece into a proper lady! Enter Sunako Nakahara, the agoraphobic, horror-movie-loving, pockmark-faced, frizzy-haired, fashion-illiterate hermit who has a tendency to break into explosive nose bleeds whenever she sees anything attractive. This project is going to take far more than our four heroes ever expected; it needs a miracle!
Othello, by Kodansha Manga of the Year award winner Satomi Ikezawa, stars Yaya, the nicest girl in high school-and everyone's favorite doormat. No one treats her well, but Yaya is just too shy and trusting to believe the worst of her friends. When it all gets to be too much, Yaya goes away... and a new personality, NANA, emerges! NANA is ready to show Yaya's false friends for the slime they are, and to kick some serious butt in the process. But can Yaya understand what's happening to her mind?
"Othello and The Wallflower represent a great next step from our manga launch in May," said Del Rey's Director of Manga Dallas Middaugh. "Readers have praised our translation work and extra materials, and we intend to bring the same level of quality to these works. Both represent some of the finest shojo coming out of Japan today, and I hope everyone enjoys reading them as much as I have!"
These new titles round out the recently launched Del Rey manga program, which includes Tsubasa, xxxHOLiC, Gundam Seed and Negima! The titles launched in May 2004 and scored the top two and four out of the top twelve slots on the Nielsen Bookscan graphic novel bestseller list for the week of their debut.
About Del Rey Books: Del Rey Books (http://www.delreybooks.com) was founded in 1977 as a division of Ballantine Books under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn Del Rey and her husband, Lester Del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction and alternate history in hardcover, paperback, and now e-book formats. The Random House Publishing Group is a publishing group of Random House, Inc, the U.S. publishing company of Random House, the trade book publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's leading international media companies.
About Kodansha Ltd., Publishers: Kodansha is the largest trade book publisher in Japan. Founded in 1909, the company by virtue of its long history, the quality of its publishing, and its established network of sales and marketing is regarded as the trade book market leader in the publishing business in Japan. Moreover, Kodansha has been recognized as the leading publisher with a mission to introduce Japan through its publishing business.
The Wallflower (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge) by Tomoko Hayakawa tells the story of four handsome boys who have been given the chance to get free rent, but only on one condition: They must transform the landlady's niece into a proper lady! Enter Sunako Nakahara, the agoraphobic, horror-movie-loving, pockmark-faced, frizzy-haired, fashion-illiterate hermit who has a tendency to break into explosive nose bleeds whenever she sees anything attractive. This project is going to take far more than our four heroes ever expected; it needs a miracle!
Othello, by Kodansha Manga of the Year award winner Satomi Ikezawa, stars Yaya, the nicest girl in high school-and everyone's favorite doormat. No one treats her well, but Yaya is just too shy and trusting to believe the worst of her friends. When it all gets to be too much, Yaya goes away... and a new personality, NANA, emerges! NANA is ready to show Yaya's false friends for the slime they are, and to kick some serious butt in the process. But can Yaya understand what's happening to her mind?
"Othello and The Wallflower represent a great next step from our manga launch in May," said Del Rey's Director of Manga Dallas Middaugh. "Readers have praised our translation work and extra materials, and we intend to bring the same level of quality to these works. Both represent some of the finest shojo coming out of Japan today, and I hope everyone enjoys reading them as much as I have!"
These new titles round out the recently launched Del Rey manga program, which includes Tsubasa, xxxHOLiC, Gundam Seed and Negima! The titles launched in May 2004 and scored the top two and four out of the top twelve slots on the Nielsen Bookscan graphic novel bestseller list for the week of their debut.
About Del Rey Books: Del Rey Books (http://www.delreybooks.com) was founded in 1977 as a division of Ballantine Books under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn Del Rey and her husband, Lester Del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction and alternate history in hardcover, paperback, and now e-book formats. The Random House Publishing Group is a publishing group of Random House, Inc, the U.S. publishing company of Random House, the trade book publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's leading international media companies.
About Kodansha Ltd., Publishers: Kodansha is the largest trade book publisher in Japan. Founded in 1909, the company by virtue of its long history, the quality of its publishing, and its established network of sales and marketing is regarded as the trade book market leader in the publishing business in Japan. Moreover, Kodansha has been recognized as the leading publisher with a mission to introduce Japan through its publishing business.
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