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Viz to Ship Anniversary Shonen Jump, Naruto Kids' Novels (Updated)

posted on by Egan Loo
Also: more complete series boxes; hardcover Bleach, Naruto, Death Note, more

The North American publisher Viz Media announced at BookExpo America in Los Angeles this week that it will release a Fifth Anniversary Collector's Edition book, Naruto Chapter Book novelettes for young children, complete series boxes for four manga titles, and hardcover collector's editions for five titles. The Shonen Jump Fifth Anniversary Collector's Edition will contain all the manga installments from the premiere English issue of Shonen Jump, as well as the first installment of Naruto. (Naruto began in the second issue of the magazine.) It will also contain selected articles from the magazine, essays by the American and Japanese editors, a Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card, interviews with Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto), Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball), Tite Kubo (Bleach), and Eiichiro Oda (One Piece). The book will ship on August 5.

The publisher also announced that it will ship Naruto Chapter Books: 80-page novelettes recommended for children aged 7 to 10 years old. Pokémon Chapter Books author Tracey West is adapting the original Naruto manga story into text novel format, with Masashi Kishimoto's illustrations incorporated into the left-to-right pages. The books also include a small glossary of terms such as Hokage and Bunshin. The first two volumes will ship on October 7 as part of the publisher's new Vizkids imprint, but Viz provided proof copies (pictured at right) at BookExpo.

Viz is also re-releasing the complete runs of three manga titles (and most of one ongoing title) in box sets. August's Naruto box set will have the same first 27 volumes of the Naurto manga that was in last year's Shadow Box Set, but without the wooden box. The 21 volumes of Bleach will follow in September, and then the 13 volumes of Death Note (12 regular volumes plus the How To Read endcap volume) in October, and finally the Dragon Ball manga in two box sets in November. The Dragon Ball manga will be split between the first 16-volume box and the 26-volume Dragon Ball Z box.

In addition to the box sets, Viz is releasing hardcover collector's editions of its most popular Shonen Jump titles with better paper and new cover illustrations. The first Bleach volume will ship in August, and then Death Note, Naruto, and Yu-Gi-Oh! in September, and finally Dragon Ball and the Dragon Ball Z arc in October.

Viz also formally announced several titles that have already appeared on retailers' listings, including the Pokémon: The Rise of the Darkrai movie companion, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, Cat Eyed Boy, Real, Solanin, Slam Dunk, and Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom. Viz did not comment on the "Bleach 40th Anniversary" and "Naruto 40th Anniversary" volumes in the "Sweepstakes Edition" paperback format that have also recently appeared on retailers' listings. Shueisha is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Shonen Jump in Japan this year.

Update: Corrected link at the end of the article. Thanks, saiyajedi.


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