Is another example of the Cartoon Network Effect in the making? ICv2 announces that Cartoon Network has added Blood+ to its line-up, most likely during the Adult Swim programming block. ICv2 thinks the Blood: The Last Vampire franchise has legs:
“It has the kind of highly detailed backstory (stretching back to the early 19th Century) that fans love, and it has spawned three different manga series and two novels, which, if the anime proves popular, should find their way to the North American market.”
But does the Effect apply to prose? Dark Horse has Blood: The Last Vampire: Night of the Beasts, a novel by Mamoru Oshii, though I could swear I just saw it relisted in a Previews catalog. Viz has published one of the manga versions, though I can’t seem to find it in their on-line shop. It is in stock at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
I can’t seem to find much information on the other two manga series. Anyone know if they’re different adaptations of the same story, or are they sequels or “set in the same universe” deals? Could there be another Train Man scenario coming, with different publishers vying for different Blood manga?
In other news, ADV has picked up the rights to the anime version of Chevalier D’Eon. The manga version will be released by Del Rey.