New License Announcements from TOKYOPOP

In a surprise announcement, TOKYOPOP has announced several new American licenses on both the anime and manga front.

In January, TOKYOPOP will debut the English language versions of the Love Hina, Cowboy Bebop and Initial D manga. The first comic issues of Cowboy Bebop and Love Hina will contain 32 pages and retail for $2.95. The first issue of Initial D and the second issue of Cowboy Bebop will be double sized 64 page issues but still retail for only $2.95. All three series will be published in the original Japanese right-to-left page format.

TOKYOPOP has also announced that their first Cowboy Bebop Complete Anime Guide will be released in January. This 100 page reference guide will cover TV episodes 1-5 with cel art story guides, and monochrome character bios, technical guides, behind-the-scenes photos, and story details- just like a Japanese import art-book. The first of the 5 volume Cowboy Bebop Anime Guide books will retail for $12.95.

And in another surprise announcement, TOKYOPOP has confirmed that they will be bringing the Initial D anime to America. No detail was provided on the extent of the anime franchise license.

Initial D is a popular 22 volume manga series that spawned 2 TV series, a TV special, an OAV, a theatrical movie and numerous arcade and console video games. Initial D revolves around Japanese teen-age street car racing culture and is famous for its extensive use of “Euro-beat” Japanese techno/house/rave dance music and CG rendered cars and backgrounds which create a thrilling sense of speed and momentum in the show’s frequent car race action sequences.