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TokyoPop Returns To Publishing Original Manga With Ocean Of Secrets By Canadian Muslim Creator Sophie-Chan

Published Tue, 31 Jan 2017 19:00:10 -0600

Last updated Thu, 09 Feb 2017 10:45:23 -0600

Tokyopop is returning to publishing original manga with Ocean of Secrets, by Sophie-chan, a Muslim Canadian artist who was inspired by reading shojo manga published by Tokyopop a decade ago. Discovered through the mobile manga/comics social media publishing platform POP Comics, the first volume of the series will be out in April.

It has been a long time since Tokyopop has delved into these waters, an earlier iteration of the publisher saw creators lose rights, lose payment and lose hope as the company imploded. It is likely that many will still have major issues with the publisher.

As for Ocean of Secrets, it tells the story of ship-wrecked Lia, an orphan girl who joins the cold-hearted Captain Albert on a mission to escape powerful knights from Lyronaz. She engages with a magic power beyond her wildest dreams and discovers how the murder of Lyronaz's queen is related to Albert.

Sophie-chan was born in Iraq and became obsessed with shojo manga at the tender age of seven. She taught herself to draw, as she studied to become an engineer and in 2008 started a YouTube channel to show off her artwork, which has since amassed an audience of 370k subscribers, with fans of her original creations all around the world. She is quoted as saying "TOKYOPOP opened my eyes to the world of manga, and here I am 12 years later publishing my manga to the world through them."

Ocean of Secrets, Volume 1 ISBN: 978-1-4278-5714-9 eISBN: 978-1-4278-5715-6 SRP: $10.99 eSRP: $6.99 Pages: 160 Softcover color w/ B&W interiors Release date: April 2017

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