May 11th, 2008
by Katherine Dacey
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Is it just my imagination, or has Dark Horse quietly shelved Bride of the Water God and Translucent (a fate that also seems to have befallen XS Hybrid, a manhwa I was decidedly less enthusiastic about)? Scanning their website, I didn’t see the next volume of either scheduled for release between now and October. A quick search of Amazon didn’t yield any hits, either. Does anyone know what’s befallen these series? God, I hope I haven’t fallen for two more DH titles that will never reach closure—after the heartbreak of Club 9 and Satsuma Gishiden, I’m beginning to feel like a commitment-phobic bachelor, at least as far as DH’s manga/manhwa are concerned.
And speaking of books in limbo, what’s befallen Aki Shimizu’s Qwan? According to the Wikipedia, six volumes have been released in Japan, but Tokyopop has yet to publish anything beyond volume four. I’m wondering why it’s been almost a year since the last release—is it a licensing issue, or has Tokyopop caught up to the Japanese edition? I’d hate to see this offbeat shonen fantasy languish in manga purgatory, as its gorgeous artwork and compelling, folkloric storyline deserve a bigger audience.
4 Comments Add your own
1. Ed | May 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
About Qwan. The series just ended in Japan and the last three volumes came out in the last 12 months. Given how long it takes to localize most manga, looks like TP was pretty close to caught up when they released vol 4. I’d expect vol 5 to get a SKU in the next few months, with 6 and 7 to come not too long after.
2. Katherine Dacey | May 11th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Ask and ye shall receive! Thanks, Ed–glad to know that this series isn’t going to disappear into licensing limbo.
3. Lori Henderson | May 12th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I really hope Bride of the Water God doesn’t go the way of the dinosaur either. It’s the only manga I read from Dark Horse, I was hoping they were starting to get it, that all their blood, sex and violence isn’t going to bring some of us in. **sigh** I hate incomplete series. I got burned enough from ADV. I hope Dark Horse *doesn’t* take lessons from them.
4. Drusilla | July 3rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I don’t know if anyone’s still watching the comments on this, but there is definite confirmation that Bride of the Water God has NOT been dropped by Dark Horse, and that they are in fact planning to bring out Volumes 3 and 4, which is tremendously good news:
http://klaraflame.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/confirmation/
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