Crossing Over

February 24, 2009

I really enjoy Matsuri Akino’s manga.  Pet Shop of Horrors is what hooked me.  Then I checked out the other titles by her available from Tokyopop, and I got a wonderful surprise when I read Genju no Seiza.  In volume 4, Count D from Petshop of Horrors made a cameo appearance!  I loved the cross over.  It worked perfectly with Count D being friends with Sohki, the mythical Kirin.  I really enjoy stories with shared/extended universes, as long as I can read ALL of the stories.

So now, I’m reading Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo, and I get to volume 3.  The last story in the volume, Dalsegno, features a cat named Femto who comes to stay at Count D’s Pet Shop for a few days.  While there, he meets another cat, a Sphynx named Amon.  Count D explains to Amon who Femto is, and in that frame is the charactiture of Akino, a kappa, holding a sign saying “Please read the details in the Reisha manga series.”  AHHH!  There’s another Akino series in the PSoH universe?!

The full title of the series is Reikan Shouhou Kabushikigaisha, or Psychic Business Corporation.  It’s about Kanenari Tokiwa, a man that deals with the spirit world.  He exorcises spirits, convincing them to move on to the next world.  Femto is Tokiwa’s cat.

It sounds like a great series, and I can only hope that will be licensed eventually.  Perhaps when Genju no Seiza is complete, and if Tokyopopo is still around, we might see it.

6 Comments

  • Heather Ward February 25, 2009 at 3:14 am

    This is so wonderful to hear, I love when the mangaka do these little crossovers. PsoH has been a big favorite and now to hear about this other series. I do hope Tokyopop can pick up the series.

  • Brian Henderson February 25, 2009 at 10:41 am

    That’s something that Akira Toriyama and Rumiko Takahashi always did as well, just as a treat for readers. It’s almost always best when it’s not done for self-promotion, where it’s just characters in the background, sort of as a sly wink to the in-crowd who spot it.

  • Lissa February 25, 2009 at 10:57 am

    That would be wonderful if Reikan Shouhou Kabushikigaisha ever got licensed. Hard imagining Tokyopop taking the chance on a 15-volume series right now though 🙁 My fingers are just permenantly crossed that we see the end of Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo and Genju no Seiza! I adore Matsuri Akino’s work ^^ The Count-cameo in Genju no Seiza admittedly had me tickled pink 🙂 Loved it!

  • Heather Ward February 25, 2009 at 2:09 pm

    Wow, Reikan is 15 vols, that would be a surprise for TP to pick up in the current market. I have not had a chance to check out how Akino’s titles sold over 2009, but I can say finding my 3 vols of PsoH: Tokyo was a pain and I only have 2 vols of Genju.

    Outlanders’ Johji Manabe is another mangaka, probably the first that I found that made little cameos in their manga. CLAMP is another one, before their crossover fest Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles.

  • Lori Henderson February 25, 2009 at 6:43 pm

    No, I don’t expect Reikan to be licensed (if at all) until Genjo no Seiza was finished. PsoH:T wasn’t announced until Kamen Tantei was done, so if Tokyopop lasts and finished Genjo, maybe we can hope for Reisha!

    Lissa: I’m hoping for some more crossovers with PsoH:T and Genju. Anything to get more Count D! 🙂

  • Brian Henderson February 26, 2009 at 10:24 am

    Seriously, for titles which may have limited appeal, I wish they’d just release them in one or two big volumes. Marvel used to put out their Essential line, where they’d reprint all, or a large part, of a comic line in black and white in a big paperback compilation for $15-20. It sounds like a win-win situation for limited appeal manga if they’d do something similar. Readers would know that they would be getting the entire story and not have to worry about it getting cancelled in the middle, which would probably lead to more people giving the title a shot. Producers wouldn’t have to worry about sales numbers forcing them to kill a license mid-stream and they’d probably be more likely to sell more copies that way. True, they wouldn’t make as much in the long term, I doubt they could sell a 2-3 volume set for the $150 that they’d make selling them as 15 volumes, but they very well may make it back in volume. Even if they did manage to finish the entire 15-volume series, how many people are going to look at that and decide to buy the whole thing in one shot, where they very well may buy 2-3 volumes at $30-50.

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