Below the cut, the latest from Viz on the coming onslaught of Naruto, including descriptions of the three volumes being released in September. I thought they would at least stagger them, but the release date is actually Sept. 4 for all three. Also behind the cut are details on various bonuses with the manga and anime.
And it already is beginning: vol. 18 debuted at number 116 on the USA Today bestseller list, vol. 17 is at 123, and vol. 16 is at 131. Also, vol. 17 of Fruits Basket has slipped from 34 to 76. That puts four manga in the top 150, no doubt a record, and I’m quite sure that three volumes from a single series have never been on the list at the same time.
it truly IS – NARUTO NATION –
the accelerated publishing begins next week with NARUTO manga vol. 16, 17 and 18 ALL releasing on Sept 4th ($7.95 each)
AND –
every third vol of each month will get a sheet of 4 NARUTO stickers (while supplies last) (i.e. in Vol 18, 21, 24 and 27)
NARUTO Anime Profiles (episodes 38-80) releases on Sept 20th ($17.99)
AND
The long awaited release of ….
NARUTO THE MOVIE: NINJA CLASH IN THE LAND OF SNOW – releases on
September 4th ($24.98)
AND here’s all the Exclusive offers: for NARUTO THE MOVIE: NINJA CLASH
IN THE LAND OF SNOW
BEST BUY – comes with a mouse pad ($24.98)
BGI (Borders and Waldenbooks) – Lenticular cover ($24.98)
TransWorld (FYE and Suncoast) – exclusive NARUTO lunch Box ($29.98)
NARUTO storyline
The general storyline of both the NARUTO manga and animated series depict the adventures of a young boy named Uzumaki Naruto who trains to become a ninja. Naruto, cursed with the spirit of the nine-tailed fox demon sealed within his body, is forced to live a bullied life discriminated against by his fellow villagers. But Naruto is resilient and undaunted and his determination often inspires those around him. Through the adventures, the young ninja learns the importance of friendship, teamwork, loyalty, hard work, creativity, ingenuity, and right vs. wrong.
Descriptions for manga Volumes –
NARUTO Vol. 15 –
Twelve years ago, a giant fox demon with nine tails attacked the ninjya village of Konohagakure. Defeated by the Hokage, the village champion, the mighty demon’s soul was sealed into the body of an innocent orphan child, Naruto Uzumaki. Now Naruto is a 12-year-old ninjya in-training, struggling to be the best with his classmates Sasuke and Sakura.
NARUTO Vol. 16
Death in the village! When the dust settles from Orochimaru’s attack, the shinobi find that not everyone has survived. While the ninja mourn, an unlikely candidate is chosen for greatness, a long-lost ninja returns with a dangerous entourage, and Naruto finds his life in more turmoil than ever before.
NARUTO Vol. 17
Who is Itachi Uchiha and what does he want with Naruto and Sasuke? As Jiraiya attempts to train Naruto to push beyond his limits, secrets of the past are revealed, and a mysterious shinobi who could change everything begins to take center stage.
wow, I misread USA Today as Uso Da at first…
I guess it’s because that’s hefirst thing that came to mind when reading this.
All three volumes at once?!! I really think that they should try to space them out a little better than that. My local comics store is going to be pissed when they try to stuff those and the other manga that I ordered into my pull file. I don’t have the money to buy them all at once. On top of that, I’m the only regular customer that buys manga at that particular direct market store (I doubt that they’d even bother with a manga section if I didn’t shop there). There gong to need a special box just to hold all of the manga I’ve ordered. Come on Viz, help me out a little.
When the Fullmetal Alchemist anime began in Japan, people there started picking up the book like crazy. One week there were 7 volumes of FMA in the major top 10 manga sales lists.
(I know this is only a vague parallel, but…)
It will be interesting if these 3 volumes are still charting when the next 3 come out…
The Naruto volumes have actually been available for two full weeks; while the 4th is the ‘official’ release date, Viz (or Simon & Schuster, their distribution partner) have been particularly adept at beating the schedule and getting volumes out early.
This has caused numerous headaches for me, as I try to be as accurate as possible on the release lists each week. (when I post on time. :p)
Sales of Naruto registered almost immediately after they became available, and I’ve noticed some increased activity on the backlist as well this week. I have no idea if the momentum will carry through to January, but it seems the Naruto fan base will buy anything — for the nonce.
Matt, I often see manga in bookstores long before their offiical release dates, so this doesn’t surprise me. It’s not just Viz, either; it seems to be a built-in part of the system. But I don’t understand why the comics stores stand for it.