Inquisitive readers, thank you for making my life so much more difficult. In last month's newsletter, I declassified some of the mission-critical secrets of our acquisitions process. I parted the curtain to reveal Del Rey Manga's highly confidential cabals, in which we plot, Dr. Evil-style, world domination through manga publishing. Since then, I've gotten so many e-mails with more questions about how we choose which books to publish, this spy has been compelled to come in from the cold. Your interrogations were successful, and here is my signed confession.
Let's begin by cracking open a couple of classified case files. The first is Shugo Chara! by PEACH-PIT, due for release in April 2007. This case is a triumph of careful fieldwork and intelligence-gathering. We already knew that the master artists of PEACH-PIT were a couple of the world's most-wanted manga-ka, a diabolical duo as notorious as Bonnie and Clyde or Boris and Natasha. Their catalogue raisonné of crime includes such fiendishly stylish masterstrokes as DearS and Rozen Maiden. But thanks to new, hyper-advanced technology (a little gadget Q dreamed up for us called the Internet), we were able to eavesdrop on conversations all over the world. The evidence we gathered was overwhelming: Manga fans everywhere want more PEACH-PIT. In this case, we were helpless before the facts and reached a conclusion that would be irrefutable in any international court of law. We had to publish Shugo Chara!
But no spy has ever saved the day by just sticking strictly to facts. We also traffic in rumor, innuendo, and the occasional bit of stolen microfiche. Sometimes we have to go with our instincts—and take some risks. And this brings me to one of our toughest cases to date: Mushishi by Yuki Urushibara, which is being released in February 2007. Undercover field agents whispered that the Japanese anime was one of the most beautiful and dreamy they'd ever seen. INTERPOL reports from the Venice Film Festival hinted that the live-action film was yet another masterpiece by Katsuhiro Otomo on the level of his Akira and Steamboy. And then there were the chapters from the Japanese magazine of the manga itself: strange, dark, and moody, they were like satellite photos from another world. Penetrating the mists surrounding this mysterious manga wasn't easy, but our instincts told us to keep investigating. And it was worth it, because Mushishi is really something special, a chilling and gorgeous supernatural thriller. But the secret won't be ours for much longer, because…
MUSHISHI AT SUNDANCE!
The Mushishi live-action film, under the U.S. title Bugmaster, will be shown January 2007 at the internationally renowned Sundance Film Festival. It will be part of Sundance's Spectrum program, described as "a tribute to the abundance of compelling new voices and creative spirit in independent filmmaking." So if you don't believe our anonymous sources, surely you can believe Robert Redford.
HOLIDAY SHOPPING
No matter what holiday you're celebrating this month, one thing is inevitable: you're probably going to be frantically gift-shopping this month. Why not take the easy way out and buy manga for everybody on your list? Because there really is a manga series that's perfect for everyone you know!
* For the most hardcore otaku in your social circle—you know, the one with all the Gundam model kits—there's Genshiken, the hilarious story of a college anime and manga club.
* For that misguided friend who "just doesn't get manga," try the intelligent thriller ES: Eternal Sabbath or the hard-edged ninja action of Basilisk.
* For little sisters who love princesses, mermaids, and the color pink, there's the super-kawaii shojo manga Pichi Pichi Pitch: Mermaid Melody.
* For the manga fan who's read everything, take a shot at something a little different: Kazu Kibuishi's Flight, a dreamily beautiful graphic novel anthology featuring work from some of the most amazing talents in comics and animation today.
* And, speaking of things that are a little different, if you've got a special fantasy fiction fan on your shopping list (and don't mind giving books with words but no pictures) there's the Legends II: New Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy Limited Edition:
o Signed by eleven of the most acclaimed fantasy authors: Terry Brooks, Orson Scott Card, Raymone E. Feist, Diana Gabaldon, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Haydon, Robin Hobb, George R. R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Silverberg and Tad Williams.
o Cloth-bound with gold foil on cover and spine
o Slipcased and shrinkwrapped
o Limited edition of only 500 copies
* Plus, save up your gift cards: the Tsubasa Character Guide comes out on December 26th, 2006! Spend the rest of your winter break studying—Tsubasa trivia, that is.
RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH NEGIMA!
And now for a holiday that's totally stress-free: New Year's! Start your new year off organized, in control, and blitzed out by fanservice with a super-cool Negima! calendar. We have a few Negima! calendars to give away to our readers, courtesy of our friends at Universe Publishing. E-mail us, and we'll select five Magister Magi wannabes to receive their very own copy.
Send your emails to delreymanga@randomhouse.com with NEGIMA! in the subject line, including your full name and address in the body of the e-mail (NOTE: your personal information will not be used for any purpose other than this contest). Five (5) lucky winners will be selected at random and will receive a Negima! calendar. All submissions must be received by Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007.
COOKING WITH THE KITCHEN PRINCESS!
Next year, in February 2007, Del Rey Manga will present its very first cooking manga! Kitchen Princess is the story of Najika, the Rachael Ray of the manga world: a cheerful sweetheart with an adorable smile and a magical talent for cooking. In addition to plenty of stirring shojo drama and sugar-sweet romance, Kitchen Princess has recipes at the end of every volume, for everything from taramasalata to peach pie!
But why should Najika have all the fun? Below you'll find the recipe for Najika's signature dish: Flan in a Cup. Whip up your own batch, snap a photo, and e-mail it to us at delreymanga@randomhouse.com. We'll show some of your culinary masterpieces in a future edition of the newsletter, and ten lucky winners will get an appetizing reward: a copy of Kitchen Princess Volume 1!
Send your emails to delreymanga@randomhouse.com with KITCHEN PRINCESS in the subject line, including your full name and address in the body of the e-mail (NOTE: your personal information will not be used for any purpose other than this contest. By e-mailing us your photo, you grant Del Rey Manga and Random House perpetual royalty-free permission to publish, reproduce, edit, and otherwise use the image at its sole discretion, including storing the image on the company's servers.) Ten (10) lucky winners will be selected by random drawing and will receive a copy of Kitchen Princess Volume 1. All submissions must be received by Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007.
Our marketing guru/secret culinary wiz, Ali T. Kokmen, gave this recipe a trial run in Del Rey Manga's Test Kitchen. Feast your eyes on the totally tempting result:
(Note from the Test Kitchen: Cooking this recipe is a great deal of fun, but any time you're dealing with heat, you must be careful. Make sure you have permission to be working in the kitchen and be sure you have an adult help you out. Also, y'now, I gotta admit that I'm no flan connoisseur, so I make no promises about taste. But as Najika says, you can use different toppings to complete your flan. Let us know if you find your favorite! —ATK)
Flan in a Cup
Recipe makes 4 cups of flan
Ingredients:
Flan
1-3/4 cups milk
5 tablespoons sugar
3 eggs
a little bit of vanilla
Caramel Sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon water
You can try making this special flan by pouring it in a teacup. Metal flan cups conduct heat and are hard to manage. Making the flan in a plastic container is easier and safer, and it will come out prettier!
Directions:
1. Put milk on low heat and add sugar. Stir well and when the sugar melts, stop the heat and cool for a minute. Make sure you don't let the milk boil.
2. Break the eggs in a bowl and stir well.
3. Slowly pour the milk from step 1 into the bowl from step 2 and stir. Add some vanilla.
4. Pour the mix from step 3 through a strainer. This makes the flan smoother.
5. Make the caramel sauce in a small pot. Put the water and sugar in the pot and stir quickly over high heat. When it becomes brown, remove from heat and put it into four cups.
6. Pour the mix from step 4 into the cups over the caramel sauce.
7. Fill a pot with water and put a steamer above it. When the water starts steaming, stop the heat and put the cups in the steamer. Please be careful not to burn yourself. After 2 to 3 minutes on high heat, lower the heat and steam for another 13 to 15 minutes. When you put it on low heat, move the lid a little so some of the steam will escape. The point is to maintain it on low heat. If you put a towel under the lid, water won't get into the flan.
8. Poke a hole in the flan with a toothpick, and if juice doesn't come out, it's done. After it cools, put it in the refrigerator.
* Tip: Top it with whipped cream or fruit and it'll be GOOD!!
KOUGA NINJA SCROLL CONTEST WINNERS
Winners of last month's contest: I'm blowing your cover. Listed below are some of our most cunning and valuable undercover operatives, the ten lucky readers who received top-secret advance proofs of The Kouga Ninja Scrolls. Once their mission reports have arrived, I'll share their findings in the next newsletter—so, agents, be sure to write in and tell us what you think of the book!
George A. Van Tine, San Antonio, TX
Dorothy Eng, East Brunswick, NJ
Matt Morrison, Milwaukee, WI
Christopher Pence, Phoenix, AZ
Neal Phillips, Kankakee, IL
James Jetton, Williamston, MI
Jennifer Stoddard, Sacramento, CA
Elisa Munnerlyn, Carrollton, TX
Joshua Alexander Ferrise, Corte Madera, CA
Joe Tran, Sugar Land, TX
What do I want this holiday season? Now that I've leaked so much classified intelligence, just three things: a wig, a new passport, and a one-way ticket to Argentina.
Tricia Narwani
delreymanga@randomhouse.com
NEW IN STORES
BASILISK 3
by Masaki Segawa and Futaro Yamada
Thanks to the machinations of the Ieyasu Tokugawa, the age-old truce between the Kouga and the Iga clans is no more–and now a fight to the death will decide which clan reigns supreme. Oboro has blinded herself in order to avoid having to kill Gennosuke, her lover and her rival. Meanwhile, Gennosuke has urged the Iga clan to join him on a journey to Sunpu to find out the real motives behind Ieyasu Tokugawa's orders to fight. But the Iga has other plans. The hirsute Nenki and the butterfly-wielding Hotarubi rush to assassinate Gennosuke, while Tenzen has sinister intentions for a defenseless Oboro. The epic battle of blood and betrayal continues!
ES 3
by Fuyumi Soryo
What does it mean to be human? Dr. Mine Kujyou thought she knew, but then she met Isaac and Shuro—genetically engineered superhumans who can read minds and control people with their thoughts. For support, Mine turns to her oldest friend, Kimiko, whom she trusts more than anyone in the world. Isaac and Shuro, the products of a cruel scientific experiment, are difficult to understand, but could her own best friend be just as mysterious? Though Mine is enjoying her quality time with Kimiko, tensions are brewing just beneath the surface—hidden jealousies and resentments that Mine is too innocent to notice. But Isaac can see them, and in Isaac's hands, nothing's more dangerous than a dark secret.
GUNDAM SEED DESTINY 2
by Masatsugu Iwase
The ZAFT Empire and the Earth Alliance are caught in a deadly stalemate now that the Alliance has attempted to retaliate against the Plant. Meanwhile, Princess Cagalli, free after escaping a political marriage to the prime minister's son, is teaming up with the crew of the Archangel in their search for an end to the war. And Athrun has joined ZAFT's special forces to fight for peace. But even though Athrun and Cagalli are united in the same cause, their fates are about to collide.
NEGIMA 12
by Ken Akamatsu
At the Mahora Academy Festival, the Budokai Martial–Arts Tournament is well under way—and it seems that all participants have something to hide. What has awakened inside Asuna during the battle with Setsuna? Everyone remains in the dark about the true identity of the curious "Colonel"—except Evangeline, a vampire who, not surprisingly, loves the dark. But how exactly did she become a bloodsucker? As for Setsuna, how deeply is the conflicted member of the "Bird Tribe" willing to look within herself? Will she be able to defeat her own worst enemy—herself?
SUZUKA 2
by Kouji Seo
After moving from the boonies to downtown Tokyo, Yamato toils at his aunt's all-girl apartment complex. But along with free room and board, he gets to live right next door to Suzuka, the girl of his dreams. Yamato is sure that he's in love with Suzuka, but what's the next step? If he tells her how he feels, it could ruin their friendship. But when Yamato unexpectedly breaks a high school track-and-field record, Suzuka suddenly seems possibly romantically interested. The words "I love you" dance on the tip of Yamato's tongue. But once he utters them, his life will change forever!
TRAIN MAN: A SHOJO MANGA
by Machiko Ocha
Geeky fanboy Ikumi Saiki has a dream that someday, somehow, he'll finally get a girlfriend. Then one day, on the train home, he rescues a beautiful girl from a troublesome drunk. Now the girl sees the hero inside the otaku—and it appears that Ikumi will finally find romance! But though Ikumi found the courage to save her, how will he ever be brave enough to win her heart?
xxxHOLIC 8
by CLAMP
Kimihiro Watanuki's after-school job working for the mysterious witch Yûko Ishikawa has taken a dangerous turn. A recent assignment cost Kimihiro his right eye to a spider with a grudge. Now the missing eye has become the latest must-have item in the spirit world. Even the Zashiki-Warashi, the pretty spirit who has a crush on Kimihiro, has become entangled in the mess…and she's being held captive by an unknown evil! Can Kimihiro save both the girl and his eye without getting himself killed?
