Comic Planet has announced this Saturday that it will start publishing in Catalan in 2023 some of its most popular titles such as ‘One Piece’, ‘Ranma1/2’ and ‘Haikyu’.
The editorial has explained it within the framework of Manga Barcelona, which is held at the Grande Vía Fair until Sunday. Speaking to ACN, David Hernando, editorial director of Planeta Cómic, stressed that the editorial already has 103 volumes of ‘One Piece’ in Spanish and that from April next year they will simultaneously publish a new edition of the saga in Catalan and Spanish, which will include three original volumes in a single volume.
Comic Planet has been publishing manga in Catalan since 1992 with the popular saga ‘Dragon Ball’. Later other names such as ‘Naruto’ and ‘Detective Coenano’ were added and last year they announced the Catalan editions of ‘My hero academy’ and ‘Doctor Slump’, works that “have been very well received”, Hernando observed. This has also encouraged them to now translate three important titles into Catalan such as ‘One Piece’, ‘Ranma1/2’ and ‘Haikyu’.
Hernando explains that libraries and readers tell them that they would like unique volumes that are self-contained, that is, they begin and end in the same book. A very long series of many volumes becomes more difficult to follow, he admits. Therefore, in the case of ‘One Piece’ they will include three volumes in one. The idea is that the first issue of the saga reaches bookstores from Sant Jordi and the other two titles, ‘Ranma1/2’ and ‘Haikyu’, do so during the year.
Comic Planet will also continue to publish the volumes of ‘One Piece’ in Spanish, of which they already have 103 in bookstores.
manga in catalan
Asked about the current state of the manga in Catalan, Hernando highlights the role that TV3 played in the 90s in promoting Japanese animation. “He made this type of content very massive for the youth audience; today, however, the same thing is happening with streaming anime and the new Super3.” Hernando trusts that this will encourage many more readers who are not used to reading Japanese comics.