One of the more critically received titles coming out of Vertical in the last couple of years has been Kou Yaginuma’s Twin Spica, but it hasn’t caught on with the fans. The company has taken the 16 volumes Japanese manga series and has finished releasing it completely in the US in 11 compiled volumes, but it hasn’t moved good numbers and anecdotal evidence from Vertical themselves about conventions indicates that they rarely sell any there either. “[I] was lucky to sell one copy over the entire 12 volume series. Which is shocking given how almost everything else, even titles that sell at a lower rate than Twin Spica, sell out regularly over con weekends.”
Because of this, the series will become the first Vertical title to go out of print.
“The reason for that is due to a complete lack of interest from readers… There was no word of mouth, despite it receiving some of the best reviews and accolades for manga in the last two years.”
Series concept: In a Tokyo in the not too distant future, a young girl studies deligently with ambitions of soon attending space academy. And yet, everytime she looks up to the stars with tremendous hope for the future, there is a sense of melancholy in her heart. A sadness surrounds Asumi, as the very concept of space exploration has profoundly changed her life for as long as she can remember.
But she is not alone. A young man wearing a lion’s mask is always beside her. He speaks of the constellations and galaxies as if he they were home. He knows what it is like to love the stars. Now in spirit he will forever be with Asumi guiding her on her path to space where she hopes to be reunited with the spirits of not only her space traveler friend, but the mother she lost more than ten years ago.
[Source: ICv2]
