TOKYOPOP Talks Six New Manga Series

Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2004

TOKYOPOP INC. WILL CURE THE SUMMERTIME BLUES WITH SIX SIZZLING MANGA DEBUTS!



August's Premiere Lineup Includes Tramps Like Us, Abenobashi: Magical Shopping

Arcade, Warriors of Tao, Et Cetera, Dream Saga and Instant Teen: Just Add Nuts



Los Angeles, CA (February 10, 2004)--TOKYOPOP Inc. will offer cool relief from the

dog days of summer when it unveils a half-dozen dazzling manga! Turning up the heat

is the award-winning Tramps Like Us, which took home the trophy at the 27th Kodansha

Manga competition. This marvelous manga keeps good company with Abenobashi: Magical

Shopping Arcade, Warriors of Tao, Et Cetera, Dream Saga and Instant Teen: Just Add

Nuts, first-rate titles sure to appeal to fans of all genres. From laugh-out-loud

parody to mind-blowing fantasy, TOKYOPOP's seminal ensemble will be the perfect SPF

protection against all manga imposters!



TRAMPS LIKE US (Comedy/Romance/Drama, Volume 1 Release: 8/10/04)

Inspiration for a successful Tokyo Broadcasting System live-action series, this

romantic comedy by Yayoi Ogawa follows the life of Sumire Iwaya, a woman with a

cheating boyfriend and an unfulfilled work life. Things seem bleak until she meets

Momo, a homeless man with a colorful past whose presence puts a bounce in her step

and a shake in her hips. It takes two to tango, but when Sumire's first love

reappears in her life, will this be the last waltz?



ABENOBASHI: MAGICAL SHOPPING ARCADE (Sci-Fi/Comedy, Volume 1 Release: 8/10/04)

From Gainax (FLCL, Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Akahori Satoru (Saber Marionette J)

comes a unique parody manga with hilarious hijinks and parallel universes! Sasshi

and Arumi are down in the dumps when their neighborhood undergoes change in the name

of urban renewal...but they never would have guessed that the demolition would

unlock a portal to parallel universes! The two friends embark on an entertaining,

side-splitting adventure somewhere over the rainbow filled with satires of

well-known anime, fantasy movies and Japanese pop culture.



WARRIORS OF TAO (Sci-Fi/Action/Adventure, Volume 1 Release: 8/10/04)

Warriors of Tao--Shinya Kuwahara's gory tale of gladiators in an interplanetary


competition--is Darwinism at its most merciless. A young man named Toma is chosen as

the Earth's representative fighter in a tournament in which the loser is dead

meat--literally! The beings of the winning planet gain the right to feed on the

flesh and blood of the defeated world. Can Toma keep Earth off of the menu?



ET CETERA (Action/Adventure, Volume 1 Release: 8/10/04)

Up-and-coming manga-ka Tow Nakazaki (Let's Kick, Who Is Fuou?!) delivers

action-comedy by the wagon-load in this wacky take on how the West was won. The

story unfolds when Mingchao, a wannabe starlet with sights on Hollywood, inherits

the Eto gun, a weapon with mystical powers. Mingchao puts her Tinseltown dreams on

hold when she learns about her gun's twin--and the underground organization that

will do anything to lock and load on both guns' secrets. Featured in Kodansha's #1

manga magazine, Gekkan Shonen, Et Cetera is one off-the-wall adventure fans of the

American West won't want to miss!



DREAM SAGA (Fantasy/Romance, Volume 1 Release: 8/10/04)

Winner of Nakayoshi magazine's "New Face" Manga award, shojo creator Megumi

Tachikawa (Mink, Saint Tail, Hot Typhoon) delivers fans Dream Saga, which follows

the adventures of Yuuki Wakasa, a good student and dutiful daughter who uses manga

to escape the monotony of everyday life. Little does she know that her life is about

to become a manga-worthy adventure when a red magic stone mysteriously falls from

the sky. Yuuki becomes the "chosen one" who must enter the dream world to save the

Sun God and her own planet from total annihilation!



INSTANT TEEN: JUST ADD NUTS (Comedy/Romance, Volume 1 Release: 8/10/04)

Fans of Fruits Basket and Tokyo Mew Mew are sure to delight in this hilarious manga

from award-winning creator Haruka Fukushima. Natsumi is a homely fifth grader with a

craving for curves of her own. One day, after eating a packet of mysterious pink

nuts, her wish comes true and she is transformed into a beautiful, sexy woman! Now

endowed with a mind for recess and a body for supermodel glitz and glamour, will

Natsumi's newfound adulthood and sudden fawning admirers lead to happiness or

heartbreak?





ABOUT TOKYOPOP Inc.

TOKYOPOP Inc. is the leading North American publisher of manga, the fastest growing

segment within the publishing industry. With exclusive rights to hundreds of

licensed and original book, video and music properties, the company has rapidly

become a media convergence leader. TOKYOPOP has millions of books in print and

publishes many hit manga series, including Love Hina, Chobits, Rave Master, Initial

D, GTO, Battle Royale and Cowboy Bebop. The company pioneered Cine-Manga(tm),

releasing such titles as Finding Nemo, SpongeBob SquarePants, Lizzie McGuire, Astro

Boy and Transformers Armada. TOKYOPOP television properties include Rave Master, GTO

and Reign: The Conqueror. The company has also expanded its presence as a licensor,

representing merchandising rights for Rave Master, Initial D, Stray Sheep and

others. Visit www.TOKYOPOP.com for additional information.