Mai, the Psychic Girl
Media. Manga. "Mai, the Psychic Girl" is one of the first manga series to be fully published in English. It, along with "The Legend of Kamui" and "Area 88", were published in North America by Eclipse Comics and Viz Comics in a bi-weekly comic book format starting in May 1987. As it was one of the forerunners of manga popularity in the West, "Mai" was chosen for localization due to its middle-ground artwork: neither "too Japanese or too American." It was presented in the "flipped" format that was the norm with early localized manga . "Mai" proved popular enough that second printings were needed of the first two issues. In 1989, Viz publications released a four-volume collection of "Mai, the Psychic Girl". The collection featured a brief nude scene that had been edited out of the comic book edition. This was one of the first manga to be released in the "digest" format that serialized manga series are printed in, when they are collated into a collection. The series was later re-released in three volumes as "Mai, the Psychic Girl: Perfect Collection." Film. Beginning in the late 1980s, new wave rock band Sparks  attempted to make "Mai, the Psychic Girl" into a musical, with interest from Tim Burton and Carolco Pictures, who purchased the film rights in August 1991. Carolco hoped Burton would start production in 1992, but he chose to work on "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Ed Wood" for Disney. The option on the film rights eventually expired, and Burton dropped out. Francis Ford Coppola later developed the property in the 1990s. In June 2000, Sony Pictures Entertainment started on a new different project with Kirk Wong attached to direct. By February 2001, a script had been written by Lisa Addario  and Joey Syracuse for Sony's Columbia Pictures. The release of "The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman", a radio musical by Sparks, in August 2009, was informed by the six years the band spent trying to get their "Mai, the Psychic Girl" produced. The album generated new interest, and gained a "second wind", vocalist Russell Mael explained. "The music is all ready and we are hoping that this still might see the light of day". In 2010, Burton expressed renewed interest in adapting the property.