I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really like Wild Adapter. 

Vol. 1 comes out in February, so I just finished my first copyedit on it, and it's hard to express how much I adore this series. The structure is great, the art is amazing, and the translator/rewriter team I've got on it are some of my favorite people to work with. With pretty boys, the joys of convenience-store snacks, angst, boatloads of unresolved sexual tension (I loooooooove unresolved sexual tension!), and the yakuza, what more could you ask for?

One of the things that I find most impressive is that each volume is self-contained, and themed (the Engrish on the original covers kind of explains the theme for each book--I find it to be very Zen. :) ).  Vol. 1 is basically a prologue of sorts, and the two main characters don't even really meet until the end of the book, and then vol. 2 starts exactly a year later. Each subsequent book gives you a little bit of info about the mysterious drug, Wild Adapter, and its connection to Tokito, one of our two main characters ("heroes" is a bit of a stretch for these two), but we don't find out what happened during that missing year until vol. 5 (I got a nice note from the Japanese WA editor when they sent us a preview copy of volume 5 saying that this marks the end of the first arc of the series--I'm thrilled to know that they've got  more on the way!). You'd think that this would make the story seem fragmented, and yet this works so well! Minekura-sensei can speak volumes in a single glance, and the connection between all the characters in this series, even the minor ones, is incredibly intense. I just love it.


In other news, speaking of Minekura-sensei, she recently posted on her blog, talking about foreign editions of her series, and includes photos of her collection (the post is called "Sorta Global")!  It's in Japanese, but the gist of it is talking about how she likes looking at foreign editions of her work (the differences in design kind of makes them feel like different works, she says), and that other Asian publishers do interesting things with the cover materials (one of them uses a metalic paper, one of the Saiyuki Reload books has a laminate dust jacket, etc.) that are different from the Japanese editions. But there, lined up on her shelf, are all the volumes of Saiyuki that I've worked on (and the recently released Bus Gamer! Tim edited that book, though).  Look at all those Robofish lined up there!   http://nitroblog.exblog.jp/3743133/

It makes me really happy to know that an artist who I admire so much has books with my name in them on her shelf.  :)  I'll do my best to live up to the high standards set by the other foreign editions! Ganbarimasu, Minekura-sensei!!  *sniff*