Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga

Friday, July 5th, 2019 12:14pm CDT

Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: ZeroWolf Views: 27,023

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Greetings Seibertronians! Thanks to fellow Seibertron users, ScottyP and Sabrblade, we've gotten wind of a release from Viz Media that many thought we'd never see...A release of the Japanese Transformers Manga!

The news was shared by Viz on their Twitter Feed, the message read as follows:

Viz Media wrote:Announcement: Transformers: The Manga Volume 1, rolls out this Winter. This collection of Generation 1 Transformers manga strips ran in Japan’s TV Magazine in the 1980’s and will be published in the United States for the first time!

Also, Sabrblade goes a little more in-depth about this release and explains it, as well as saying where, the image they give, came from.

Sabrblade wrote:It seems that Jim Sorenson's next book, Transformers: A Visual History, isn't the only new piece of Transformers print material coming from Viz Media. Viz has just Tweeted the announcement of Transformers: The Manga, Volume 1, a collection of the original Japanese manga from 1985, originally published by TV magazine, to be released in the United States later this Winter.

Note that the accompanying artwork included with the Tweet is actually a preexisting work. Originally, this artwork was the cover of a huge compendium released by Million Publishing back in 2002, which had compiled all of the 1985-1991 Transformers manga. Later, Million (under their new name Hero-X) rereleased this collection broken apart into seven individual volumes, split across each individual Japanese G1 series. The particular version of the art seen here in the Tweet is of Volume 1 of that split-apart series, which contained only the Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers manga and story pages.

It is presumed that Viz's releases will be an official English-translated release of Hero-X's seven volumes, but it is currently unknown what kind of English translation this will be (as in, how faithful it may be to the original Japanese version). After all, this is no ordinary Japanese manga series we're dealing with here. Rather, it is a Japanese manga of Japanese-original stories (and characters, in later installments) published as part of the Japanese release of an American property featuring (at first) American-original characters.

So, it remains to be seen if this will use such terminology as "Optimus Prime", "Autobot", "Decepticon", etc. or "Convoy", "Cybertron", "Destron", etc. Or if such Western Transformers phrases like "By the Allspark!", "Scrap!", "Stick it in neutral!" "Sweet Solus Prime!" etc. will be used over less specific phrases like "Oh no!", "Curses!", "Stop right there!", "Oh my goodness!" etc.

What do you think of this news? Are you looking forward to these releases? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

Credit(s): Sabrblade, ScottyP from Seibertron, Viz Media Twitter Account

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Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027511)
Posted by Skritz on July 5th, 2019 @ 3:08pm CDT

Well that's neat and I wouldn't mind if the terminology is changed to the more familiar (and now brand-wide) words we know such as 'Optimus Prime' or 'Autobots'. However personally I hope the text tries to be as faithful as possible and not subject to malicious rewrite by the translation team.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027512)
Posted by Sabrblade on July 5th, 2019 @ 3:24pm CDT

Skritz wrote:Well that's neat and I wouldn't mind if the terminology is changed to the more familiar (and now brand-wide) words we know such as 'Optimus Prime' or 'Autobots'. However personally I hope the text tries to be as faithful as possible and not subject to malicious rewrite by the translation team.

Indeed. We don't need things like "By the Allspark!" or "Sweet Solus Prime!" in Japanese G1 fiction from 1985 (especially since concepts like those didn't yet exist back then in any country or continuity).

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027515)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 5th, 2019 @ 5:09pm CDT

I'm okay with Convoy becoming Optimus Prime, but I hope they keep Ginrai and the Godmasters intact.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027519)
Posted by datguy86 on July 5th, 2019 @ 5:42pm CDT

I'd personally prefer the original terms explained with a preface and glossary purely from a historical standpoint. However, I think marketing will win out here and the changes to current terms will be made.

Regardless, I look forward to this.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027530)
Posted by Skritz on July 5th, 2019 @ 7:26pm CDT

Sabrblade wrote:
Skritz wrote:Well that's neat and I wouldn't mind if the terminology is changed to the more familiar (and now brand-wide) words we know such as 'Optimus Prime' or 'Autobots'. However personally I hope the text tries to be as faithful as possible and not subject to malicious rewrite by the translation team.
Indeed. We don't need things like "By the Allspark!" or "Sweet Solus Prime!" in Japanese G1 fiction from 1985 (especially since concepts like those didn't yet exist back then in any country or continuity).

Normally I'd be a sticker for accurate-as-possible translations. However, Transformers is an odd case: this isn't like an '80 or '90 manga/anime translation job which scrubbed away the original Japanese names to the point the international fanbase tend to prefer using those they grew up with. In the case of Transformers, the initial fiction was American before being Japanese (even if the toys came first, Diaclone had little to no fiction). As such, the names like 'Convoy' and 'Destron' are themselves product of international dub change, in this case the Japanese adaptating the American fiction.

But this also goes both way: once you leave the confines of G1 season 1 to 3, I do think the Japanese names should have precedence. Thus the likes of Gilmer should not be renamed 'Submarauder' or Cab being renamed 'Hosehead'.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027547)
Posted by Sabrblade on July 5th, 2019 @ 10:56pm CDT

datguy86 wrote:I'd personally prefer the original terms explained with a preface and glossary purely from a historical standpoint.

Most English manga volumes have a Translation Notes section in the back of each volume that explains certain terms or phrases used in the translation to help readers to better understand them.

Skritz wrote:Normally I'd be a sticker for accurate-as-possible translations. However, Transformers is an odd case: this isn't like an '80 or '90 manga/anime translation job which scrubbed away the original Japanese names to the point the international fanbase tend to prefer using those they grew up with. In the case of Transformers, the initial fiction was American before being Japanese (even if the toys came first, Diaclone had little to no fiction). As such, the names like 'Convoy' and 'Destron' are themselves product of international dub change, in this case the Japanese adaptating the American fiction.

But this also goes both way: once you leave the confines of G1 season 1 to 3, I do think the Japanese names should have precedence. Thus the likes of Gilmer should not be renamed 'Submarauder' or Cab being renamed 'Hosehead'.

Great minds and all that jazz.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027645)
Posted by Sabrblade on July 7th, 2019 @ 5:28pm CDT

Preorder is up on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1974710564/

Judging by the page count and the mention of "The Great Transformer War" (which was a manga series for Transformers 2010), this could be a volume containing the contents of both the first and second volumes that Hero-X released.

Originally serialized in Japan’s TV Magazine, these classic stories from the Generation 1 era of Transformers are now available in English for the first time!

The Autobots and Decepticons have been locked in a brutal civil war for eons, and now their battle has come to Earth! The Autobots seek peace and coexistence, while the Decepticons seek power and control. Earth and its populace are caught between the two as these mighty factions go head-to-head. Transformers took the world by storm shortly after their debut, and these previously uncollected stories were a vital part of that takeover!

The Autobots and their young friend Kenji stand tall against the Decepticons in an interplanetary conflict! Packed with thrilling Transformers tales, this hardcover collector’s volume contains classic stories such as “The Great Transformer War” and “Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers.”

Series: Transformers: The Manga
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC (February 11, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1974710564
ISBN-13: 978-1974710560

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027646)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 7th, 2019 @ 5:53pm CDT

Greetings Seibertronians! Following on from this news here about the forthcoming Transformers: The Manga adaption from Viz Media (originally published in Japan in TV Magazine then collected by Million Publishing, who renamed themselves Hero-X later), fellow user, Sabrblade, has found an amazon listing for the first part of the collection!

Note that this image is from the Hero-X release of the first collected volume and may not be indicative of what the Viz Media version will look like.

Here is the information from Amazon:

Originally serialized in Japan’s TV Magazine, these classic stories from the Generation 1 era of Transformers are now available in English for the first time!

The Autobots and Decepticons have been locked in a brutal civil war for eons, and now their battle has come to Earth! The Autobots seek peace and coexistence, while the Decepticons seek power and control. Earth and its populace are caught between the two as these mighty factions go head-to-head. Transformers took the world by storm shortly after their debut, and these previously uncollected stories were a vital part of that takeover!

The Autobots and their young friend Kenji stand tall against the Decepticons in an interplanetary conflict! Packed with thrilling Transformers tales, this hardcover collector’s volume contains classic stories such as “The Great Transformer War” and “Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers.”

Series: Transformers: The Manga
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC (February 11, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1974710564
ISBN-13: 978-1974710560

Sabrblade also mentioned the possibility that, judging by the description and page count, that this collection would include the first two volumes of the Hero-X collection.

Will you be checking this out? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027647)
Posted by triKlops on July 7th, 2019 @ 6:35pm CDT

PreOrdered as soon as i saw the link!

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2027840)
Posted by Coptur on July 9th, 2019 @ 10:34am CDT

With the IDW stuff being very below standard (except the Ghostbuster crossover) i'm happy to see this being release.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2031497)
Posted by serre prime on July 25th, 2019 @ 8:43am CDT

Take my money

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2043358)
Posted by Sabrblade on October 30th, 2019 @ 2:02pm CDT

Amazon preorder for Volume 2 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1974711773/

At 344 pages, this would be a complete collection of all the TV magazine manga chapters for The Headmasters and Super-God Masterforce.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2043371)
Posted by Seibertron on October 30th, 2019 @ 5:59pm CDT

Sabrblade wrote:Amazon preorder for Volume 2 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1974711773/

At 344 pages, this would be a complete collection of The Headmasters and Super-God Masterforce.

When did part 1 come out?

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2043372)
Posted by Sabrblade on October 30th, 2019 @ 6:01pm CDT

Seibertron wrote:When did part 1 come out?

It hasn't yet. It's set for release in February.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2043485)
Posted by Emerje on October 31st, 2019 @ 8:40pm CDT

After the exciting announcement back in July that Viz Media would be releasing a collection titled Transformers: The Manga from Japan in English we now have news of Transformers: The Manga, Vol. 2 listed on Amazon! Thanks to a tip from Sabrblade we now know we can expect the next collection from TV Magazine to come in May with a massive 344 page count (compared to the first volume's 288). He speculates that this volume will contain stories covering Headmasters and Super God Masterforce.

The listing contains the follow descriptions:

Originally serialized in Japan’s TV Magazine, these classic stories from the Generation 1 era of Transformers are now available in English for the first time!

The Autobots and the Decepticons have been locked in a brutal civil war for eons, and now their battle has come to Earth! The Autobots seek peace and coexistence, while the Decepticons seek power and control. Earth and its populace are caught in the middle as these mighty factions go head-to-head. Transformers took the world by storm shortly after their debut, and these previously uncollected stories were a vital part of that takeover!

The interstellar conflict between the Autobots and the Decepticons has taken over Earth! The Autobots and their allies are desperate to protect their newfound home from the predations of the Decepticons, but will the bravery of the Autobots be enough to stem the tide?

Volume 1 will be out in February 2020, both volumes have hardcovers and an MSRP of $24.99.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2043647)
Posted by Ryrynz on November 3rd, 2019 @ 12:33am CDT

Megatron with teeth.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2051658)
Posted by BW Megatron on February 8th, 2020 @ 10:55am CST

I just remembered this was coming out. Just pre-ordered the first volume, now due out in a month.

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2051984)
Posted by Sabrblade on February 10th, 2020 @ 7:40pm CST

Two new updates.

First, Volume 2's listing now has cover art - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1974711773/

Second, there is now a new listing for Volume 3 that is said to contain the Victory manga, the single manga chapter of Zone, and the single manga chapter of The Battlestars. It is due for release on October 13, 2020 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1974711781

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2052093)
Posted by triKlops on February 12th, 2020 @ 9:09am CST

Just preordered Vol. 3; thanks for the link!

Re: Viz Media Set To Release Transformers: The Manga (2052993)
Posted by Pepsimus Prime on February 20th, 2020 @ 10:36am CST

I Can't here about Transformers manga without thinking of Kiss Players.

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