Tokyopop, the leading U.S. publisher of manga books, has announced nine new titles including a full color 'cine-manga' series based on the Transformers Armada TV series and Mikimoto Haruhiko's (Gundam 0080, Orguss) Macross 7 Trash.  Both the Transformers and Macross series (known in the U.S. as Robotech) are celebrating their twentieth anniversaries with a number of new releases (see 'Fleer, Rhino Get Transformers Licenses').  Mikimoto's Macross 7 Trash is a fascinating example of the 'gaiden,' or side-story, a narrative set in the same Macross 'universe' as the Macross anime series, but featuring different themes, characters, and tone.

Tokyopop's seven other releases are prime examples of both manga (Japanese) and manwha (Korean) comics.  Sgt. Frog: Keroro Gunsou by Mine Yoshizaki is the hilarious saga of an alien invader sent to prepare the way for the invasion of Earth and slowed down only a little bit by the fact that he's a frog.  Ai Yori Aoshi by Kou Fumizuki is a delightful romantic comedy that should be familiar to U.S. fans because of the extremely popular anime version of the story distributed by Pioneer.  Given the teenage female audience that Tokyopop has developed, Ai Yori Aoshi has all the earmarks of a big hit.  The other manga title in this latest batch from Tokyopop is Ghost!, a romantic drama from Shuri Shiouzu about a lonely high school boy whose body is periodically taken over by the ghosts of two deceased female classmates.

The other four Tokyopop titles announced at Comic-Con, Faeries' Landing, Snow Drop, Kill Me Kiss Me, and Les Bijoux are all from Korea.  Snow Drop, by Choi Gyung-ah and Kill Me Kiss Me by Lee Young Yuu are romantic dramas about angst-ridden teens, while Faeries' Landing (by You Hyun) is a delightful comedy with a heavy overlay of fantasy elements.  Les Bijoux (by Jo Eun-Ha and Park Sang-Sun) transports readers to another world, starkly divided in a rigid class system with small but potent elite and  powerless masses, where the only hope for the lower class is an androgynous child born of a dwarf and a hunchback.