[Please use image Eiji Otsuka.tif here]
There are a lot of people to thank for the good experience we had at Anime Expo in Los Angeles this 4th of July weekend, but I think we should begin with Eiji Otsuka, writer of MPD Psycho and The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, pictured above signing autographs for fans at the Dark Horse booth! And so, while we have a lot to report from AX 2014, we’ll dedicate this first part of our coverage to him.
For obvious reasons, comics fans have a much better chance than manga fans to meet their favorite creators at the average North American convention. But even at Japanese-centered shows like Anime Expo, manga creators tend to be less common guests than, say, anime creators. It’s not because of a prejudice against manga; it’s just that the logistics are particularly tough. An anime might have a dozen or more different staff who made key creative contributions; if the director can’t come to the con, you might be able to meet instead one of the anime’s lead voice actors, scriptwriters, designers, etc. But manga typically have only one key creator—so they’re kind of hard to spare in the middle of a project! Even a situation that’s common with major American comic publishers, where the writer is a separate person from the artist, is much less common in manga. But of course, Eiji Otsuka (like Kazuo Koike) is such a writer, and if it helped us have him present in Los Angeles, then we can only say that’s fortunate!
Mr. Otsuka delivered a special guest lecture at Anime Expo as part of their academic programming track, and spoke at some workshops besides, but he certainly made time for the fans who lined up at our booth Friday afternoon. Not only did he sign as many items as people wanted, he also brought giveaways for the occasion all the way from Japan. If you look under that copy of Kurosagi Otsuka-sensei is signing, he’s got a stack of posters by MPD Psycho artist Sho-U Tajima, and then further down the table, you might spot some sheets of stickers by the water bottle—those are stickers of Bunpei Yorifuji’s design elements from the Kurosagi covers! Yes, he gave these items away to a number of lucky fans—while they lasted!
[please insert image Kurosagi Vol. 14.jpg here]
Speaking of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, people of course want to know when vol. 14 is coming out, and we were happy to reveal at Anime Expo that the answer is June 2015. The series has lost none of its humorous weirdness, as you’ll see in vol. 14 when the Kurosagi gang encounter an evil version of themselves (no, not the Shirosagi outfit—this is a different evil version), plus an American cartoon version of themselves (!), a headless corpse that can only “speak” binary, and even an iron maiden—excellent! 
We had more Kurosagi news at Anime Expo as well. As you may know, last month Dark Horse switched the distribution of its graphic novels (including our manga) to the industry giant Penguin Random House, a move that we expect will help us reach more bookstores and readers than ever before. One of the ways in which we hope to make the most of this opportunity is by re-introducing worthy series such as Kurosagi in a new format. And thus in August of 2015, we’ll release the first omnibus collection of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, containing volumes 1-3. The omnibus, by the way, will feature the return of the “cardboard box” style cover stock the regular series used up until vol. 12. 
[please insert image MPD Psycho 11.jpg]
But you don’t have to wait any longer than next week to get your serrated jab of Otsuka, as another long-awaited volume, MPD Psycho Vol. 11, hits stores July 23! Editor Philip Simon comments on the peculiar symbolism of this volume: its number is one-one, and indeed it flashes back for the first time (note it is the first cover in the series not to have a pitch-black background) to illuminate events that occurred before vol. 1, and before our protagonist first exhibited the symptoms of his multiple personality disorder. Longtime readers of MPD Psycho will find some questions answered about the mysterious organization Gakuso, while for newcomers it makes an intriguing jumping-on point. 
That’s all for our Anime Expo report this week, but as mentioned above, we’ve got lots more to say in the near future! Once again, a big thank you to Eiji Otsuka, as well as to Stephanie Simpson-White of the Japan Society who was kind enough to act as interpreter, Mr. Otsuka’s publisher, Kadokawa, and all the arrangements made by our own Michael Gombos, Kari Yadro, and Katie Bednark. See you here next Monday! 
—Carl Horn
Manga Editor

There are a lot of people to thank for the good experience we had at Anime Expo in Los Angeles this 4th of July weekend, but I think we should begin with Eiji Otsuka, writer of MPD Psycho and The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, pictured above signing autographs for fans at the Dark Horse booth! And so, while we have a lot to report from AX 2014, we’ll dedicate this first part of our coverage to him.

For obvious reasons, comics fans have a much better chance than manga fans to meet their favorite creators at the average North American convention. But even at Japanese-centered shows like Anime Expo, manga creators tend to be less common guests than, say, anime creators. It’s not because of a prejudice against manga; it’s just that the logistics are particularly tough. An anime might have a dozen or more different staff who made key creative contributions; if the director can’t come to the con, you might be able to meet instead one of the anime’s lead voice actors, scriptwriters, designers, etc. But manga typically have only one key creator—so they’re kind of hard to spare in the middle of a project! Even a situation that’s common with major American comic publishers, where the writer is a separate person from the artist, is much less common in manga. But of course, Eiji Otsuka (like Kazuo Koike) is such a writer, and if it helped us have him present in Los Angeles, then we can only say that’s fortunate!

Mr. Otsuka delivered a special guest lecture at Anime Expo as part of their academic programming track, and spoke at some workshops besides, but he certainly made time for the fans who lined up at our booth Friday afternoon. Not only did he sign as many items as people wanted, he also brought giveaways for the occasion all the way from Japan. If you look under that copy of Kurosagi Otsuka-sensei is signing, he’s got a stack of posters by MPD Psycho artist Sho-U Tajima, and then further down the table, you might spot some sheets of stickers by the water bottle—those are stickers of Bunpei Yorifuji’s design elements from the Kurosagi covers! Yes, he gave these items away to a number of lucky fans—while they lasted!


Speaking of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, people of course want to know when vol. 14 is coming out, and we were happy to reveal at Anime Expo that the answer is June 2015. The series has lost none of its humorous weirdness, as you’ll see in vol. 14 when the Kurosagi gang encounter an evil version of themselves (no, not the Shirosagi outfit—this is a different evil version), plus an American cartoon version of themselves (!), a headless corpse that can only “speak” binary, and even an iron maiden—excellent! 

We had more Kurosagi news at Anime Expo as well. As you may know, last month Dark Horse switched the distribution of its graphic novels (including our manga) to the industry giant Penguin Random House, a move that we expect will help us reach more bookstores and readers than ever before. One of the ways in which we hope to make the most of this opportunity is by re-introducing worthy series such as Kurosagi in a new format. And thus in August of 2015, we’ll release the first omnibus collection of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, containing volumes 1-3. The omnibus, by the way, will feature the return of the “cardboard box” style cover stock the regular series used up until vol. 12. 


But you don’t have to wait any longer than next week to get your serrated jab of Otsuka, as another long-awaited volume, MPD Psycho Vol. 11, hits stores July 23! Editor Philip Simon comments on the peculiar symbolism of this volume: its number is one-one, and indeed it flashes back for the first time (note it is the first cover in the series not to have a pitch-black background) to illuminate events that occurred before vol. 1, and before our protagonist first exhibited the symptoms of his multiple personality disorder. Longtime readers of MPD Psycho will find some questions answered about the mysterious organization Gakuso, while for newcomers it makes an intriguing jumping-on point. 

That’s all for our Anime Expo report this week, but as mentioned above, we’ve got lots more to say in the near future! Once again, a big thank you to Eiji Otsuka, as well as to Stephanie Simpson-White of the Japan Society who was kind enough to act as interpreter, Mr. Otsuka’s publisher, Kadokawa, and all the arrangements made by our own Michael Gombos, Kari Yadro, and Katie Bednark. See you here next Monday! 

—Carl Horn
Manga Editor