Tokyopop has announced the September debut of a series of manga novels, prose versions of manga-type stories complemented by a stream of manga-style illustrations.  The first three Tokyopop manga novels include the Slayers text novel by Rui Araizumi and Hajime Kanzaka, which formed the basis for the popular and humorous manga and anime misadventures of Lina Inverse (published in manga form in the U.S. by Central Park Media), Clamp School Case Files: Paranormal Investigators, which is set in the Clamp School milieu popularized by the Tokyopop manga series, and Karma Club, the latest project from D.J. Milky, the creator of Princess Ai and Juror 13.  Though they often share themes, characters, and settings with their related manga series, these manga novels tell distinct stories and feature original illustrations.

All three manga novels are set to debut on September 7.  They will have a cover price of $7.99 and will generally have page counts between 150 and 200 pages.  These text novels with manga style illustrations have been around in Japan for years, but this marks the first time that a U.S. publisher has developed a line out of this very Japanese style of illustrated literature.