Retro Hours: The Series that Made Us Dream

There are certain series that fade away with memory, and others—despite being so long out of print or, worse, never translated—that just captured our imagination and became the “classics” for a generation of readers.

At Yen Press, we have quite a number of those series, some that I like to call “the unforgettables”: Fruits Basket, Soul Eater, and more recently, Delicious in Dungeon.

But let’s say you are old school, and for you, those series are the ones that have been published no later than 2010. Well, you are in luck, because we are soon releasing two series and one very important collection that scream nostalgia with a capital N.

Let’s take a closer look at some of our latest and upcoming releases that will really make you think, Darn, I am getting old.

D.N.Angel New Edition

By Yukiru Sugisaki

Descending from the depths of night, dorky Daisuke and devilishly dashing Dark return in a new special edition! They’re bigger and better than ever with full-color chapter illustrations in this updated omnibus collection! Today was the day. Daisuke Niwa was determined to tell the girl of his dreams how he feels about her and maybe (hopefully) become her boyfriend. Except, uhhh…she flat-out rejected him, and now he’s stuck with his alter ego, the legendary phantom thief Dark. That means both the police and his classmate Satoshi Hiwatari (the prodigious son of the police commissioner—who knew?) are after him. And what’s worse, the only way to stop the body swap is to woo the object of his affections as his usual klutzy self…

For those like me who grew up reading Soul Eater and Black Butler, D.N.Angel was part of the previous hit wave and was not included in my usual bookshelf rotation. However, this doesn’t mean that this beloved series of the early 2010s should not be on your own shelf! Now that we are bringing back the phantomatic Daisuke/Dark duo, it’s the perfect time to really enjoy what makes 2010s manga great: fantastic leads, plenty of action, and surprisingly, a pure and realistic take on the woes of growing up. Daisuke is truly a charming boy, one who comes across as extremely relatable (sans the weird DNA thing happening), so I believe this is going to be a hit with older and younger readers alike. Volume 1 is available now, so make sure to grab your copy—just in time for the holidays!

CLAMP Official Artbook: COLOR KURO

By CLAMP

A must-have for every CLAMP fan! Packed full of gorgeous illustrations spanning over 30 years, CLAMP Official Artbook: COLOR KURO is the first half of a two-part series showcasing more than 200 artworks by the talented all-female artist group. Readers can feast their eyes on elaborate, full-color pieces from all their favorite series, from CLAMP’s commercial debut, RG Veda, to Tokyo Babylon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and many more beyond. Can’t get enough of CLAMP? Be sure to pick up the second installment, COLOR SHIRO, to complete your collection!

For my artsy readers and collectors, we have peculiar release. If you have been following us for a while, you know that we have published some of the most iconic CLAMP series like Kobato. and Tokyo Babylon. And now, in a joint project with our friends at Kodansha, we’re bringing you two artbooks that are must-haves for every CLAMP fan worth their salt: CLAMP Official Artbook: COLOR KURO and SHIRO. These artbooks were originally published in 2024 for the “COLOR” CLAMP exhibition held at the National Art Center in Japan and feature a lot of such incredibly detailed panels that I often had to stop and admire their intricacies for a few seconds. For example, there are a couple of illustrations featuring X and xxxHolic that I just want to print out and affix on my kitchen walls because they ate.

Battle Royale Deluxe Edition

Art By Masayuki Taguchi, Original Story by Koushun Takami

The hyper-violent classic is back in a new edition! Forty-two middle school students are forced to fight to the death until only one survivor!

Our description is keeping things short and sweet, but neither should ever be associated with this series. So reader beware, before you stan a series that defined its own genre and inspired thousands, if not millions, of works. If you love series like The Hunger Games, Squid Game, or BTOOOM! (which we first published way back in 2013), then you need to check out the blueprint for the survival game genre. Battle Royale truly needs no introduction, but if you are on the fence about getting this release, then let me remind you that aside from gruesome violence, this series has to offer a scathing and oh-so-contemporary commentary of class imbalance and what the masses have to go through when decisions are made by a small and select group of very powerful people. This deluxe edition comes out in early 2026, so you’ll have to wait just a bit longer before sinking your teeth into this release.

With these soon-to-be new additions to the Yen Press lineup, we want to celebrate the old and the new. These are just a few of the upcoming releases we have planned for the coming months, but keep an eye out for our announcements! And for those who thought that a particular release was never going to get picked up, we want to say: Never lose hope—maybe your favorite series will also get a first or second chance!