VIZ Media Releases Celebrated Japanese Light Novel JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR

Posted by Justin D Williams

VIZ Media delivers the English release of the popular Japanese light novel JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR on October 10th. The novel was written by the prolific multi-genre author, NISIOISIN, and features illustrations by Hikaru Nakamura. JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR’s release also coincides with the launch of an anime series based on the novel in Japan in early October. JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR will be released in a handsome hardcover edition with an MSRP of $18.99 U.S. / $25.99 CAN. An eBook edition also will debut on October 10th on the Amazon Kindle, Apple’s iBooks Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Book Store, the Kobo eBooks Store, and the Google Play Store.

Rampage. Weep. Kill. Every twelve years, the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac take the form of warriors and engage in the ultimate battle royal. They face one another in battles to the death, using all the powers of their star signs, and the sole survivor is granted the ultimate prize – a wish. Any wish.

“The Zodiac signs come to life with distinct personalities in a gripping war of cosmic gladiatorial combat called Juni Taisen,” says VIZ Media Editor Nick Mamatas. “It’s a battle to the death and only one warrior will be left standing in this tense new release. We look forward to readers discovering it this fall.”

Illustrator Hikaru Nakamura made her debut in 2001 with her manga, Kairi no Sue, in the Monthly Gangan Wing magazine. Her other works include Arakawa Under the Bridge, also published in Young Gangan, and the 2009 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize-winning Saint Young Men, which was published in Monthly Morning Two. She previously collaborated with NISIOISIN for his Ōgiri series with “The One Wish I Really Want to Come True, and the Ninety-Nine Others I Don’t So Much.”

In 2002, NISIOISIN’s novel, The Beheading Cycle, won the 23rd Mephisto Prize and became his debut publication. His other notable works include the Zaregoto series, the Monogatari series, the Densetsu series, and the Bōkyaku Tantei series. NISIOISIN also wrote the manga tie-in novel Death Note: Another Note. As a manga writer, he has appeared in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine with his series Medaka Box – also collected in a 22-volume set – and his Ōgiri series of one-shot manga stories have been featured in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump, Jump Square, Weekly Young Jump, and Bessatsu Margaret.