Dark Horse's Harlequin gambit

Well, it's not really fresh news anymore - the press release (accessible in various places, e.g. Anime News Network) is dated June 1. Still, it's interesting enough to throw in a couple of comments of my own.

A 6 book deal starting the new line, 3 for younger readers (Harlequin Ginger Blossom: pink), 3 for older (Harlequin Ginger Blossom: violet). The first 2 books to be published in December. Those first titles have already been announced: A Girl in a Million written by Betty Neels with art by Kako Itoh (or Itou, as alternative transscription), Response written by Penny Jordan with art by Takako Hashimoto.

Harlequin has had a publishing deal with Ohzora Publishing Company for publishing manga adaptations of Harlequin novels in Japan (under the label Emerald Comics) for quite a while. The press release cites over 250 Harlequin manga published to date. As reported from various sources, samples of some of those manga may be seen at CuppaCafe.

What the press release didn't state was if those announced titles would be taken from their library of exisiting manga adaptations or if they would just use their resources (artists, etc.) and create something new for the US market. I did some digging, and I found two published manga from the japanese Harlequin manga line adapting the indicated novels and illustrated by the indicated manga-ka, so I suppose they'll just re-import those.

A Girl in a Million was published in March 2002 as Itsuka hanayume ni (something like Someday to be a bride... I think... my Japanese isn't that good). The ISBN is 4-87287-630-X and the book is listed at amazon and yahoo books.

Response came out in April 1999, titled Kakuu no rakuen (probably Fanciful Paradise or Fanciful Pleasure Garden). The ISBN is 4-87287-290-8 and the book is listed at amazon and yahoo books.

If you look closely at the covers at yahoo books, you can even see the original english titles of the novels. Both of them seem to be out-of-print now, by the way... at least amazon.co.jp doesn't sell them directly anymore.