Broken Frontier

VIZ Media, LLC. (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive manga and animation licensing and publishing companies, announced today the release of NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER, an award-winning, critically acclaimed, new 18-volume manga series.

Filled with suspense, political intrigue and the emotional rollercoaster a talented doctor must undergo when faced with a tragic past that unfolds when he makes a moral choice that changes his life forever, NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER makes it’s highly anticipated debut in the United States after sales breaking records in Japan. NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER, rated “T+” for Older Teens, will be in stores February 21, 2006 and will retail for $9.99.

NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER first appeared in the pages of Shogakukan’s Big Comic Original manga anthology and weaves the riveting story of brilliant Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a famous surgeon with a promising career at a leading hospital. Tenma risks his reputation and promising career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. Unbeknownst to him, this child is destined for a terrible fate.  A string of strange and mysterious murders begin to occur soon afterward, ones that professionally benefit Dr. Tenma, and he emerges as the primary suspect. Conspiracies, serial murders, and a scathing depiction of the underbelly of hospital politics are all masterfully woven together in this compelling manga thriller.

Naoki Urasawa has been a highly recognized and successful manga artist for more than twenty years. His popular series, 20TH CENTURY BOYS and YAWARA, have sold more than 25 million copies in Japan and the artist/author has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the first Japanese Media Art Festival Manga Award of Excellence, the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award in 1999, and the 46th Shogakukan Manga Award.

“This is a powerful story that is riveting in the way it unfolds into a personal tragedy from a choice that is made by a doctor, a political thriller, a government cover-up and is already recognized in the mystery writers community.” says Liza Coppola, vice president of sales and marketing for VIZ Media. “NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER is an engrossing new manga that weaves together the dramas of murder, ambition and deceit amidst. Part The Fugitive and The Bourne Identity, part serial murder mystery, we look forward to NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER taking the manga genre to a captivating new level for readers in North America.”

NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER has inspired the release of anime series, music and trade book spin-offs. Volume 2 of the manga will be released in April 2006.