Okimono Kimono and Chobits from Dark Horse

[kel-aka-gandy.livejournal.com]

Was browsing through the Dark Horse Spring 2010 catalogue, and noticed that Okimono Kimono is listed with a March 1st release date, so it's looking pretty definite for a North American release (though it says that they have worldwide rights to the book, so it may be available in other places too). Also, looks like the Chobits omnibus was pushed back a few days to February 1st (from January 27th). And they moved the suggested age up to 16+, lol.



Sorry they look so grainy, I just screen capped them from the browser and cropped the other stuff out in paint.

Comments

[batignole.livejournal.com]

oh i cant wait for Okimono Kimono, finally in a language i can understand! people at Dark Horse have no idea how much i love them haha!

it's great for Chobits too though i admit being french, it won't be of any use to me. we've had a great french version thanks to Pika years ago, an almost perfect copy of the japanese with the cards, colour pages etc. (i'm just not crazy about the french printing, the ink and the paper chosen are far to be as good as the original so i hope the US will be luckier than us).

i'm curious though as i don't know a lot about the manga industry in the US. i know it's still new and some things i've seen sort of horrified me (like censorship on xxxHoLiC's covers), but i kind of assumed Chobits had been released the exact same way as here years ago? would you mind telling me what is this edition in the end? ^^

but i just can't see why the suggested age annoys or makes people laugh haha! really, you should actually be very happy about it! in France back in the 80s, quite violent animes - clearly not for kids - were aired without warning and it caused MASSIVE problems and lots of misconceptions about manga and animes. parents felt that they all were only about sex and violence and you cant imagine how awful it's been after that. even today, when most parents have finally understand that it's not the truth, you still have journalists focused on these ideas, with the same old things we hear every year when they make their annual interviews and reports about manga conventions here. even if 16+ sounds extreme, believe me, that will be really helpful for the US to have more and more mangas and not face the problems we've been having for 30 years now ^^

[kel-aka-gandy.livejournal.com]

Tokyopop released normal editions of all 8 volumes of Chobits before, but I never bought them, so I'm not too sure on the quality (though I'd assume they were only ok, because it's Tokyopop and they love to mess manga up). These new versions are going to only have 2 volumes, but have 4 of the original volumes in one, and also include color art (which Tokyopop never has color other than on the covers, so they'll be new to the US).

I totally agree that it's a good thing about the ages, but on the Dark Horse website it was originally listed as being suggested for ages 12+ and I thought that was kind of a silly choice for them and figured they would have some problems from upset parents. But it looks like they've upped the suggestion to 16, so that's why I thought it was funny (because that's really what I feel it should have been in the first place). :]

[outou.livejournal.com]

So far as the earlier Tokyopop editions of Chobits are concerned: the translation wasn't particularly good, the layout and design of the covers were changed entirely, and--if I recall correctly--there were no color pages. (I don't have my copies with me right now, so I can't check--I'm sorry!) At least the pages weren't falling out, as was the case with the old Clover editions. :/