When it comes to some of the longer running series, it certainly makes sense as they get further on to release omnibus editions so those that want to get in on it years after the initial release can do so at a decent price – and to find the volumes as many go out of print. As is the norm for most series, they level off at some point and it gets harder and harder to find volumes, new and old. Viz Media has added to of their series to omnibus form this week with the release of the first collections for Skip Beat! and Hana-Kimi. Skip Beat has twenty-eight individual volumes out at $9 a pop while the new omnibus combines the first three volumes for just $14.99, making it quite the savings. Hana-Kimi is pretty close to the same as it has twenty-three volumes out there and is doing the three combined volumes deal for $14.99 instead of the individual volume price of $9.99. Of course, these series began years ago in their US release with Skip Beat first hitting in 2006 and Hana-Kimi in 2004, so they’re getting a bit long in the tooth and hard to find.
HANA-KIMI 3-in-1 Edition Volume 1 • Rated “T+” for Older Teens •
MSRP: $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN • Available March 6th
Mizuki Ashiya has such a crush on a track star named Izumi Sano that she moves from the U.S. to Japan to enroll in the all-male high school he attends! Pretending to be a boy, Mizuki eventually becomes Sano’s roommate… but how can she keep such a big secret when she’s so close to the guy she likes?
Creator Hisaya Nakajo’s manga series, HANA-KIMI, has been a hit since it first appeared in 1997 in the shojo manga magazine Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams). In Japan, a HANA-KIMI art book (also available from VIZ Media) and several drama CDs also have been released. Her other notable manga series include Missing Piece and Yumemiru Happa (The Dreaming Leaf).
SKIP•BEAT! 3-in-1 Edition Volume 1 • Rated “T” for Teens •
MSRP: $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN • Available March 6th
Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he’s casting her out now that he’s famous enough! Kyoko won’t suffer in silence – she’s going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz!
Manga creator Yoshiki Nakamura started drawing manga in elementary school, which eventually led to her 1993 debut with Yume de Au yori Suteki (Better Than Seeing in a Dream) in Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams) magazine. Her other works include the basketball series Saint Love, as well as Can’t Give Up MVP, Blue Wars, and Tokyo Crazy Paradise, a series about a female bodyguard set in 2020 Tokyo.
