SAN DIEGO, CA – July 28, 2007 – Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today the English-language rights acquisition of FAIRY TAIL, a shonen manga from Japanese trade publisher Kodansha that has hit the top of the bestseller charts in Japan. This adventure series, full of magic, fantastic characters, action, and humor, is the most highly-anticipated release in Del Rey Manga’s Spring 2008 manga lineup.

Created by manga-ka Hiro Mashima of Rave Master fame, and done in the style of bestselling manga One Piece, FAIRY TAIL takes place in a unique magical world. Seventeen-year-old Lucy, an attractive mage-in-training, seeks to join a magician’s guild and become a full-fledged magician. Her dream lies in the most famous guild in the world—Fairy Tale.

One day Lucy encounters Natsu, a boy raised by a Dragon who mysteriously abandoned him when he was young. Natsu has devoted his life to finding his Dragon father. When he helps Lucy out of a tricky situation, she discovers that he is a member of the Fairy Tail magician’s guild, and our heroes’ adventure together begins.

Originally serialized in Kodansha’s Shonen Magazine, FAIRY TAIL is up to five published volumes in Japan. Del Rey Manga will release the first volume of FAIRY TAIL in April 2008.

Del Rey Manga associate publisher Dallas Middaugh says, “Fairy Tail is one of our biggest launches since we established Del Rey Manga. As a fan of Hiro Mashima’s work, I’m personally very excited both to be publishing this amazing manga, and to have the opportunity to read it in English. This series is shaping up to be action-packed!”

ABOUT KODANSHA, LTD.
Kodansha is the largest trade book and magazine publisher in Japan. Founded in 1909, the company by virtue of its long history, the quality of its publishing, and its established network of sales and marketing is regarded as the trade book market leader in the publishing business in Japan. Moreover, Kodansha has been recognized as the leading publisher with a mission to introduce Japan through its publishing business.

ABOUT DEL REY MANGA:
Del Rey Books (http://www.delreybooks.com) was founded in 1977 as an imprint of Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, Lester del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history. Ballantine Books is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, which is a publishing group of Random House, Inc, the U.S. publishing company of Random House, the trade book publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's leading international media companies. In 2004 it expanded by launching Del Rey Manga (www.delreymanga.com), which has grown to be a major force in the U.S. graphic-novel field. Bestselling titles include Tsubasa, Negima, xxxHolic, and The Wallflower.