Juuni Kokuki || The Twelve Kingdoms

[toofy88]

I should apologize first for any frustrating noobness that my lie ahead, this leech is in your dept.

I'd like to suggest a translation project for this series. First of all because it's epic, and now that tokyopop is out of the picture, this should be ok, right? I know that tokyopop published some volumes but they are out of print and purchasing one volume, granted I find one, would cost me a fortune that I'm willing to spend yet sadly I don't have.

Novel details:
Volumes: 11 (Finished)
Published: 1991 to 2001
Authors: Ono, Fuyumi (Story), Yamada, Akihiro (Art)

Synopsis
Except for her red hair, Yoko Nakajima is a typical, obedient Japanese high-school student. Her life is fairly ordinary—that is, until Keiki, a unicorn in the guise of a young blond-haired boy, tells her that she is his master and must return to their kingdom. When the boy mysteriously vanishes, Yoko is left alone, confused, and wandering through a foreign land with nothing to help protect her save a magic sword and a magic stone. When Keiki suddenly appears at Yoko’s school, little does she realize that her life is about to change. Lost in a strange land--without a map—and demons on her trail, Yoko begins her quest for both survival and self-discovery. (Source: Tokyopop)

[Mystes]

I believe that it's still licensed...ugh...it'd be dangerous to do it...

[Teh_ping]

It's licensed, and it's Tokyopop. Don't think we'll see an official release anytime soon. Of course, we can do it the Shana way...

[Aorii]

It's also mostly translated...

Stories 1-4 by Tokyopop IIRC. Not to mention covered by anime (and this is one of the few series where, imo, the anime did a BETTER job than even the original novels, thanks to the additional of one extra character [Asano-kun])
Story 5 (Kyou arc) not...
Stories 6-7 here: http://www.eugenewoodbury.com/ (as well as Story 1 & 4, unofficial TL)

[Haiyami]

Actually this needs to be corrected. Tokyopop took the first 8 volumes and condensed them into 4. Tokyopop is bankrupted and lost all rights. The company Tokyopop no longer exists. Any research that points to Tokyopop is false and is no longer valid.

Kodansha Japan now holds all the rights to the light novels. Big note is that Kodansha USA, the American office while they have has no publishing rights, hold the copyright rights, giving them to act to give out DMCAs for Kodansha Japan. Please note that Kodansha USA IS NOT TOKYOPOP under a new name.

Juuni Kokki is one of the novels Kodansha Japan has refused the English publishers or even their English Branch office to even publish the novels in the States, due Tokyopop's reputation and literal butchering of their works. So anything in the West, will never obtain an official English Translation of Juuni Kokki or for the matter of fact ANY THING THAT WAS previously licensed by Tokyopop.

I don't know how much this information warrents or allows Baka-tsuki to do translations of Juuni Kokki, but I wish they'd pick the novels up. It's one of the novels I want to read.