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Viz Adds Dawn of the Arcana, Pokemon B&W Manga

The North American manga distributor Viz Media has announced the acquisitions that it intends to release in the latter half of 2011. Among these is a new manga license, Dawn of the Arcana (Reimei no Arcana) by Rei Tōma. The fantasy series follows a princess who must leave home to marry a prince in order to seal the peace between their countries. Along with her half-beast servant, she must survive the intrigue-laden court and the whims of her new husband. Viz will release the first volume in December with a suggested retail price of US$9.99. The series has appeared four times on Japan's top-selling manga list — first for its first volume in 2009, then for volumes four, five, and six.

Additionally, Viz announced that it will sell the first two volumes of the Pokémon: Black & White manga, based on the upcoming videogame series, in July for US$4.99 per volume. A Pokémon Travel Activity Kit with an activity pad, stickers, and crayons is also on the schedule for May for US$11.99.

Also announced in Viz's press release is a compilation of early short stories by Natsume Ono (House of Five Leaves, Ristorante Paradiso) titled Tesoro and an ongoing 3-in-1 omnibus release for CLAMP's manga X. Viz will release X volume 1 in October for US$19.99 and Tesoro in November for US$12.99.

The press release contains the release date for the first volumes of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (July, US$9.99) and Psyren (October, US$9.99) , which Viz confirmed the acquisition of last November.

Finally, the press release confirmed that Viz will release Mameshiba: On the Loose! and Meet Mameshiba (originally reported as Mameshiba Character Guide) in July 2011 for US$7.99 each.

Update: Viz Media corrected the US$9.99 price of Dawn of the Arcana in its press release.