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Deb's Manga Blog

By Deb Aoki, About.com Guide to Manga

Del Rey Manga Picks Up Samurai Deeper Kyo, Wild@Heart

Wednesday June 17, 2009

In a surprise announcement last week, Del Rey Manga announced two new titles. One is a new title from Kitchen Princess manga-ka Natsumi Ando, Wild@Heart. The second title was somewhat out of left field because it's a title that they're picking up in mid-stream from another publisher, Samurai Deeper Kyo.

Del Rey announced that they'll be publishing the remaining volumes of Samurai Deeper Kyo by Akimine Kamijyo, a title that has been published by TokyoPop. As a matter of fact, the most recent volume, Samurai Deeper Kyo Volume 34 was released by TokyoPop in April 2009. Del Rey announced that they'd be picking things up by publishing Samurai Deeper Kyo Volumes 35 and 36 as one combined omnibus edition, which is scheduled for a December 2009 release.

Del Rey is picking up this shonen manga title at a point when there are only four more volumes to go in this 38-volume series. While it's unclear if this is their plan, it seems safe to assume that Del Rey will also publish Samurai Deeper Kyo Volumes 37 and 38 in the same double-sized format to finish off this long-running series.

Samurai Deeper Kyo is an interesting mix of samurai sword-fighting action, supernatural drama with occasional flashes of fanservice-laced humor. If you haven't read this series yet (and I'll confess, I've only recently picked up the first volume), here's a quick description of the story.

"The story, set in feudal Japan, follows two legendary warriors and rivals, Demon Eyes Kyo and Kyoshiro. One day they meet in battle during a lightning storm, and both fighters mysteriously disappear. Kyoshiro re-emerges several months later, harboring a secret: the soul of Demon Eyes Kyo is locked inside him—and he’s determined to reclaim his body."

On the shojo side is Wild@Heart, a 3-volume series from the artist behind one of Del Rey's most popular titles, the sweetly addictive cooking manga romance, Kitchen Princess and Zodiac P.I. from TokyoPop.

Originally serialized as Wild da Mon ("It's Wild") in Nakayoshi, a popular shojo manga magazine for tween and younger teen girls, Wild@Heart is described as a "winning combination of drama, comedy and romance."

The story puts a shojo manga spin on "me Tarzan, you Jane" romance, as its teen heroine, Chino finds herself stuck with Hyou, a child her father brought home from the jungle. Wild child Hyou turns Chino's city gal life upside down, as she has to explain the ways of the urban jungle to him, and try not to die of embarrassment as Hyou creates numerous mishaps and misunderstandings in his wake.

Wild@Heart is due out in January 2010, which should help Kitchen Princess fans get over their withdrawal pangs as Kitchen Princess ends with Volume 10 in July 2009.

Check out other recent and upcoming releases in the Del Rey Manga New Manga Gallery.

Image credit: © Akimine Kamijyo, KODANSHA, Ltd., © Natsumi Ando, KODANSHA Ltd.

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