Last fall at New York Anime Festival, I was one of a handful of bloggers who cornered Bandai Entertainment’s Marketing Director, Robert Napton, in the press room for an impromptu press conference. It was an inspiring conversation–something I didn’t expect coming from a company that exclusively licenses manga as an accessory to their anime releases–thanks entirely to Napton’s fervent interest in his manga line.
I haven’t had a lot to say about their manga releases so far. Volume one of Lucky Star, one of the titles that most interested me, was a disappointment (though a change in translators makes the prospect of newer volumes more palatable) and I (shamefully) haven’t yet dug into the other titles I have on hand. Still, this press release I received today gave me renewed hope in Bandai’s dedication to its small manga catalogue. …