Maniax is said to include all of Ariga's 1997-98 gag strips, Rockman Remix's "Destruction Order" and "Rockman X Megamissions" stories, a variety of four-panel, miscellaneous strips, conceptual art, and a supposed new, untold story exclusive to the anthology. With so much content, you can bet this is going to be one thick book! And you're right: Maniax clocks in at an enormous 425 pages in A5 format.
Original due out this month in Japan, Wedge Holdings has since revised the book's release date to July 11, 2011. An official price tag has yet to be disclosed, but Amazon is offering pre-orders at 2,625 Yen (roughly $32.67). Sounds about right for an A5 book.
Maniax certainly seems like a fun project, especially if you're a fan of Ariga's light hearted mini strips. No word on this one coming Stateside, but given UDON's recent localization track record, I'd say chances are good.
Source: CapKobun
It's not that wise to expect this entire book to be licensed for overseas, because the majority of the Maniax stories were already included in the Megamix volumes.
ReplyDelete...Except the Rockman X one and this supposed new story. Those weren't, and frankly I would just prefer it if they were included in the Gigamix releases.
Oh...
ReplyDeleteAnd I was going to say "The chances of localization BETTER BE GOOD!" If it's true that we saw some of it in Megamix already, then wtf? They should make Rockman X Megamissions and new story as a separate book! Now THAT I would like to see. XD
I think the possibility that Udon brings this over is really good. Megamix and Gigamix have been real hits so far and they've already made their allegiance to localizing and producing Megaman books quite clear. I don't see why they wouldn't keep going. Especially since the big stories here certainly aren't yet available in the States and will sell based on that alone.
ReplyDeleteFor example, "Destruction Orders" from Remix is actually VERY distinct from "R Destruction Orders" from Megamix and as such I was hoping it would be included. For the sake of completion and to show how far Ariga has come since that story (which I believe was the very first that he made) and how he changed and improved upon it after starting a the actual series.
The gag strips, I'm not so sure about. The book is going to be BIG so there's a lot of material that most likely didn't make it into stateside editions of Megamix. For example, I think there's a 4koma series for Rockman World 5.
Mega Mission and the new story are great news but I'm disappointed that "For Whose Sake?" from the Rockman 9 Arrange Soundtrack isn't featured. I can see keeping it exclusive to the album, increasing incentive to buy physical copies in Japan but here in America, it would be a nice bonus.
Alice might have a point with the comics that were not included...
ReplyDeleteBut there would have to be A LOT to give more incentive to localize this volume.
Also, I'm pretty sure America is not all that fond of "different version" compilations.
I'll give Phoenix, licensed by Viz, as an example. Osamu Tezuka did two versions of the Dawn chapter, but Viz only brought the revised version and not the original version in addition to it, even though another one of their volumes included other early stories. Whereas in other countries such as France, they did localize both.
@Dr. Jerk: Then again that was Viz. This is Udon. They're totally different companies.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping that the compilation goes on!!! :D
Okay well you have a point that it was indeed Viz. But I just have a feeling that most people here don't like the idea of seeing different versions of the same series.
ReplyDeleteVertical, another very trusted publisher, had announced the Shoujo version of Princess Knight. I honestly doubt that anyone would want to license the Nakayoshi version after that.
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ReplyDeleteWhat I've MOSTLY been interested in, but never hear about, is whether or not we'll ever see the Rockman 9 story from the soundtrack included in any of the American releases. =(
ReplyDelete