New works by Hideyuki Kikuchi have arrived!!!

[ChibiKami]

Hey Pluto VIII-you know what? We'll ask Kikuchi about the map of the Frontier. Anything put out by us that is a Kikuchi work is done to his liking.

A VHD video game...wouldn't THAT be cool! Could you all see it on PS3 w/graphics like Assassin Creed? That's my dream...

[Pluto VIII]

Awesome, thanks so much for even considering it.

Yes exactly, an open world game like Assassin's Creed, NOT like Resident Evil. Have you seen anything of Red Dead Redemption ChibiKami? It looks freaking amazing. Imagine exploring D's world on a cyborg horse, and the Left Hand asking you if you would like to save your game? The concept fits so well into a free-roaming scenario. They made a Fist of the North Star for PS3/360, where's VHD?

...And The Witcher gets an awesome game, and now a sequel, based on a Polish novel series that no one has ever heard of...yet they make epic big budget games that are extremely popular...it hurts my brain thinking about it.

[grimread]

But if you all have a request for a particular title-definitely let us know!

I have a request. By accident I have read on New York Anime Festival where Kikuchi,Amano and Kevin Leahy were the guest a certain unpublished Vampire hunter D story called Vampire Hunter D: The Wanderer's Ship was published in the New York Anime Festival Guide Book. http://drotaku82.blogspot.com/2008/08/nyaf-exclusive-vampire-hunter-d.html
So now my question is, will that story and other novels like the spin-off story Another Vampire Hunter: The Noble Greylancer ever be published for the broader audience again?

Also, I saw a scanlation of Doctor Mephisto manga. Are there any plans to licence that too? Hopefully not to fast. I would like to read that thing before you guys pick it up.

[crayon]

Thanks for the licensing suggestions!
I'm gonna go take a look at them now!

crayon

[kemushi]

We know that Wicked City has already been licensed by Seven Seas...

Seven Seas only licensed the original 3 volumes of WICKED CITY. They did never license any of the numerous sequels that exist in Japan. In fact I asked them about it any got this answer:

Our license was for the three novels that make up the core Wicked City trilogy (The Black Guard, The Other Side, The Scarlet Clan). As far as I've heard, there are no currents plans for Tor/Seven Seas to release any of the later spin-off or side-story novels that are set in the Wicked City universe.

So that leaves the following WICKED CITY books untranslated:

凶戦鬼（妖獣都市異伝）Wicked War Demon (Wicked City Spin-Off) / 1 volume

妖獣都市《ニューヨーク魔界戦》 Wicked City: New York Demon Realm War / 2 volumes
-
妖獣都市 魔獣児 Wicked City: Demon Beast Child / 1 volume

妖獣都市 雪洞鬼 Wicked City: Snow Demon / 1 volume

妖獣都市 魔王眼 Wicked City: Demon King's Eye / 1 volume

妖獣都市 海死記 Wicked City: Sea Death Chronicle / 1 volume

妖獣都市 黒天使 Wicked City: Black Angel / 1 volume

I don't speak or read Japanese very well so those English titles are just educated guesses made with the help of an online automatic translation website. There are most likely mistakes.

These are actually the only Kikuchi books that I still have on my list as must-reads. I'm sure he has written a ton of other excellent books but - like many, I'm sure - I was introduced to his worlds via the anime adaptations and as such am just dying to find out what other adventures Taki and Makie have had.

I don't know what the legalities of picking up a series that another publisher started would be but I'd be happy if you could at least consider it.

And if possible, please pass along my compliments to Eugene Woodbury. I really enjoy his translations and so often the immense work and care that a good translator has to invest to come up with a result that is not only faithful to the original text but also flows well in its new language gets overlooked.

[crayon]

We'll def. look into them, thanks!

[kemushi]

I'd just like to say that I appreciate the fact that YASHAKIDEN 5 will be published in March 2012 and not, as threatened at the end of volume 4, in WINTER 2012!

By the way, is the "Yashakiden: The Demon Princess"-Forum locked? I can't find any way to post a reply to the two existing topics and I also seem to be unable to start a new topic... Bit of a shame, since there'd be plenty to discuss regarding that amazing series!