Tokyopop to Launch New Pop Fiction Line

Date: 2006 May 09 10:28

Posted by Jeremy

Tokyopop planning to add new line of novels geared towards young adults.

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Tokyopop announced that they plan to expand their line of translated Japanese fiction novels by included a new line of books geared towards young adults. Called Pop Fiction, this new line will feature serialized novels not only from Japan, but from other parts of the world such as Europe, and will range from fantasy stories to psychological adventures. The idea is that the new line will fuse genres and embrace diversity to celebrate the inherent beauty in imperfection.

"One of the coolest things about these books is that even though they are disparate in genre or origin, their themes are the same: people on a journey in a world that isn’t beautiful," said Nicole Monastirsky, Senior Editor of Pop Fiction. "There’s something very comforting and intriguing about knowing that teenagers in Japan or Germany or Spain might transverse a different landscape due to their customs, history, language and geography – but that at their core, they’re more alike than different."

"Pop Fiction is the first YA line in publishing history to engage kids openly with stories from all over the planet that embody the beautiful messiness of life," added Tokyopop Publisher Mike Kiley.

Four titles so far have been announced to be published under the new Pop Fiction line. Kino no Tabi: Book One of The Beautiful World, written by Keiichi Shigawa, chronicles the adventures of young Kino as she roams the world on the talking motorcycle Hermes, staying in countries for three days and learning of their customs, sometimes with negative results. Europe's Magic Moon, created by Wolfgang and Heike Hohlbein, follows the story of Kim, who journeys into a magic realm to battle monsters and fantasical beings to unravel the secret that keeps his sister in a coma. In Scrapped Princess: A Tale of Destiny, written by Ichiro Sakaki and based on the successful anime series, a princess is prophesied to bring about the end of the world by her 16th birthday, yet manages to survive all attempts on her life. And finally, there’s Witches’ Forest: The Adventures of Duan Surk, based on the famous Fortune Quest franchise, where young amateur fighter Duan Surk gets lost in the spooky Witches’ Forest and hooks up with two other adventurers in the quest of a lifetime.

The four novels range in price from $7.99 to $10.99, and contain about 200 to 330 pages, some with black & white illustrations. The initial release dates for each book has not been announced, and no other titles have been announced to be released under the line at this time.