VIZ MEDIA’S HAIKASORU IMPRINT DELIVERS AN ADRENALINE-FUELED RIDE THROUGH THE GRITTY TOKYO UNDERGROUND IN ASURA GIRL

Award Winning Japanese Author Otaro Maijo’s Novel About The Violent And Risqué Life Of A Girl Living On The Edge Released In English For The First Time

San Francisco, CA, October 28, 2014 – VIZ Media’s Haikasoru literary imprint publishes a gripping and strange thriller with the release of Otaro Maijo’s ASURA GIRL on November 18^th.

The tense urban drama about the violent and sexually charged life of a Japanese teenage girl in Tokyo is offered in English for the very first time with a translation by Stephen Snyder, a professor of Japanese Studies at Middlebury College in Vermont and a noted translator of numerous works of Japanese fiction.

ASURA GIRL will be available in print from Haikasoru for $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN. An eBook edition also will debut on November 18^th for $8.99 (U.S. / CAN) for the Amazon Kindle, Apple’s iBooks Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Book Store, the Kobo eBooks Store, and the Google Play store.

Seventeen-year-old Aiko lives a life of casual sex and casual violence, though at heart she remains a schoolgirl with an unrequited crush on her old classmate Yoji Kaneda. Life is about to get harder for Aiko, as a recent fling, Sano, has been kidnapped, and the serial killer Round-and-Round Devil has begun slaughtering children. The youth are rioting in the streets, egged on by the underground Internet bulletin board known as the Voice from Heaven. Expecting that Yoji will come and save her from the madness, Aiko posts a demand for her own murder on Voice of Heaven but will she be left waiting...or worse?

“ASURA GIRL starts with a teen girl living on the edge, and then pushes her off the cliff into a surreal underground on conspiracy, serial murder, apocalyptic fervor, and even love,” says Nick Mamatas, Haikasoru’s tradebooks Editor. “Otaro Maijo combines well-observed depictions of desperate characters with the darkest humor and suspense. ASURA GIRL, largely set in the western suburbs of Tokyo, completely immerses the reader in the surreal and often deadly world Aiko and her friends inhabit. Check out this exhilarating new release from Haikasoru!”

Otaro Maijo is a novelist from Fukui, where most of his stories take place. He debuted with his mystery novel, Kemuri ka tsuchi ka kuimono (Smoke, Soil, or Food), with which he won the Mephisto Prize. He started writing pure literature with Kuma no basho (Place of the Bear), which was nominated for the Mishima Yukio Prize. Then in 2003, he won the Mishima Yukio Prize for Asura Girl.

For more information ASURA GIRL 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 digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP 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.

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Copyright © Otaro Maijo, 2003

English translation Copyright © Stephen B. Snyder 2014