THE WAR ON TERROR TAKES A FRIGHTENING TURN IN THE NEW SCI-FI NOVEL GENOCIDAL ORGAN

FROM VIZ MEDIA’S HAIKASORU IMPRINT

Story By Celebrated Science Fiction Author Project Itoh Takes Readers On A Dystopian Journey To Find The True Heart Of Darkness

San Francisco, CA, August 20, 2012 – VIZ Media’s Haikasoru literary imprint has announced the forthcoming release of celebrated Japanese author Project Itoh’s geopolitical action thriller, GENOCIDAL ORGAN, on August 21^st. The new novel will carry an MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $17.99 CAN. An eBook edition will also be available for the Amazon Kindle, Apple’s iBooks Store, the Barnes & Noble’s Nook Books Store, and the Sony Reader™ Store.

Haikasoru publishes some of the most compelling contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy stories for English-speaking audiences, and is the first imprint based in the U.S. dedicated to Japanese science fiction and fantasy in translation.

Who can win in a war of all against all? The war on terror exploded, literally, the day Sarajevo was destroyed by a homemade nuclear device. The leading democracies have transformed into total surveillance states, and the developing world has drowned under a wave of genocides. The mysterious American John Paul seems to be behind the collapse of the world system, and it’s up to intelligence agent Clavis Shepherd to track John Paul across the wreckage of civilizations, and to find the true heart of darkness – a genocidal organ.

“GENOCIDAL ORGAN was Project Itoh’s first novel and it helped to establish him as a major force in Japanese science fiction,” says Nick Mamatas, Haikasoru’s editor. “The novel, which takes place in the same setting depicted in Itoh’s acclaimed book, HARMONY, presents a stark dystopian future that integrates several literary themes relevant to our times such as the war on terror and the power of the media and propaganda. GENOCIDAL ORGAN was widely praised and won First Prize in the ‘Best SF of 2007’ in Japan’s notable SF Magazine. Though Itoh’s life was cut short by cancer and he only wrote three novels, his work continues to be a celebrated part of modern Japanese science fiction. We invite readers to dive into this visceral new release from Haikasoru.”

Keikaku (Project) Itoh was born in Tokyo in 1974 and graduated from Musashino Art University. In 2007, he debuted with GENOCIDAL ORGAN and took first prize in the “Best SF of 2007″ in Japan’s SF Magazine. Itoh is also the author of METAL GEAR SOLID: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS (published in the U.S. by Haikasoru), a sci-fi action novel inspired by the popular video game series. After a long battle with cancer, Itoh passed away in March 2009. He wrote his final novel, HARMONY (also published by Haikasoru), while in the hospital receiving treatment for the disease.

For more information on GENOCIDAL ORGAN and the Haikasoru imprint, please visit the dedicated website at www.haikasoru.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.  Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular monthly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP magazine and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages.  VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products.  Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.