Kuriousity | manga reviews and news

Archive for the Licensing Category

Kodansha Comics Announces Print Edition of A Silent Voice, Maria the Virgin Witch

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Continuing on the hey-this-Anime-Expo-was-actually-pretty-great-for-news train was Kodansha Comics, who announced two new manga licenses at their panel:

A Silent Voice – Yoshitoki Ōima
Maria the Virgin Witch – Masayuki Ishikawa

I am very excited to hear that A Silent Voice will be getting a print release. I marathon read the series via Crunchyroll and have eagerly kept up with the new chapters as they’ve been released. This series is really great, and I’m thrilled I’ll be able to add it to my bookshelves. Not to mention share it more easily with others. The series predominantly follows a young boy who viciously bullied a deaf girl after she transfer into his class. After she transfers out, the boy finds himself the victim of the bullying instead. Flash forward years and the two meet again, and the boy attempts to make amends for his past behaviour while navigating a minefield of bullies, friends, family, and society in general. The story makes no excuses for the often terrible behaviour of people who are hurt, misunderstood or just plain ‘ol ignorant buttholes, while also being a heartwarming story of friendship and coming to understand others different from yourself.

The first print edition of A Silent Voice will be released sometime in the Spring of 2015.

Maria the Virgin Witch is a new title to me, but comes with some enthusiastic fans as it’s created by Masayuki Ishikawa, creator of the manga series Moyashimon. This new title sounds pretty different from a tale of germs and microbes though. Taking place in a miscellaneous fantasy setting, Maria the Virgin Witch follows a woman named Maria who uses her magic abilities to defend her village. When she goes too far in using black magic, the archangel Michael forces her to swear an oath of chastity or lose her magic forever.

Volume one of Maria the Virgin Witch, a three volume total series, will be released in Spring of 2015 as well.

Src: AnimeNewsNetwork

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: A Silent Voice, Anime Expo, Kodansha Comics, Maria the Virgin Witch, Masayuki Ishikawa, Yoshitoki Oima

Viz Media Announces New Vampire Knight and Multiple Princes

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, August 5, 2014

No Comments »

I started a new job! I moved! And the manga world kept on spinning! Bear with me, reader,s as I play catch-up on the past month of manga mayhem and shiny madness over the next few days.

At July’s Anime Expo, Viz Media announced three new manga titles for their Shojo Beat imprint:

The Demon Prince of Momochi House – Aya Shouoto
Meteor Prince – Meca Tanaka
Vampire Knight: Life – Matsuri Hino

The Demon Prince of Momochi House is about a young woman who inherits a home that sits on the border between the human and spirit realm. Now tasked with maintaining that careful balance, she arrives at her new home only to discover that a young man is already there doing her job, and he refuses to leave. Throw in a sexy demon and the fact mr. stranger is eye-candy himself and I’ve no doubt mystery, fluff, flaunts and feelings await us.

This is Aya Shouoto’s third title to be licensed in English, the first being Yen Press’s He’s My Only Vampire, followed by Viz Media’s Kiss of the Rose Princess. I haven’t gotten to read any of her work yet, but I’m smitten by the artwork every time these licenses are announced. This newest one is thus automatically added to my must-try list as well. The first volume of The Demon Prince of Momochi House is scheduled for release in July 2015.

Meteor Prince is another title where I hope I can judge it by its cover, because it looks SO CUTE (pictured top left). The last time I read a book by Meca Tanaka, it was an old CMX title called Omukae Desu. I recall it being a cute story, but nothing especially memorable. It’s fun seeing how much her art has evolved over the years though, and I could never resist a shojo with that cover style. The story sounds as weird as I recall from her however. Meteor Prince is about a young woman whose string of misfortunes have earned her the nickname “The Queen of Bad Luck”. Just when she thinks she can’t get any unluckier, things take a turn when a naked, pretty-boy, alien prince falls out of the sky and proclaims her to be the one and only special someone he’s traveled to Earth to mate with. I suppose that could potentially be considered better fortune?

The first volume of Meteor Prince is scheduled for release in January 2015, and is currently available to pre-order on Amazon CAN|US.

Last but never least for Viz Media is a new short story for Vampire Knight. Vampire Knight: Life takes place directly after the series’ final book, but apparently isn’t something Matsuri Hino wanted included in the actual finale. Because of this the chapter won’t be printed in the last book scheduled for this October, but will be made available to buy digitally in December 2014 from VizManga.com. The bonus chapter further explores the relationship between Zero and Yuki.

Src: Shojo Beat @ Tumblr

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Anime Expo, Aya Shouoto, Matsuri Hino, Meca Tanaka, Meteor Prince, Shojo Beat, The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vampire Knight, Viz Media

SuBLime Goes Manga-Meta with License of Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, July 5, 2014

1 Comment »

SuBLime Manga sent a corner of the internet screeching in collective joy this past June, announcing they’d licensed fan-favourite title, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi:

The World’s Greatest First Love – Shungiku Nakamura

The complete English title is The World’s Greatest First Love: The Case of Ritsu Onodera and included all eight volumes of the boys’ love series.

This is a title so well known in the boys’ love community that I did a double-take when I read the news. Hadn’t this been licensed already? Hadn’t I seen this already? Nope, but I had watched the anime adaptation on Crunchyroll and the originating series published by BLU Manga, Junjo Romantica (from which this series spins-off from). So, while this is the first time The World’s Greatest First Love has been licensed in English, it certainly had some big stepping stones leading it here! Hopefully that matched with its existing already-read-it fanbase will lead to some good sales.

“Tired of accusations that family connections got him his current position, Ritsu Onodera quits his job as an editor at his father’s company and transfers to Marukawa Publishing. Once there, he is assigned to the shojo manga editorial department—something he has no interest in and no experience with! Having sworn he’d never fall in love again, the last thing he wants to do is work on love stories. To make matters worse, it turns out that his overbearing boss, Masamune Takano, is actually his first love from high school!”

The first volume of The World’s Greatest First Love will be released in print February 2015, with future volumes coming out every two months after that.

SuBLime can count me in for an order of this title. I’m confident I’ll enjoy it based on the anime (even though the Junjo manga was not a winner for me), and I always love a manga about making manga, so this series hits a double-chord. Huzzah!

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Junjo Romantica, The World's Greatest First Love

Supernatural and Swimming – Seven Seas Licenses Four New Manga Series

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, June 24, 2014

No Comments »

Convention season may be upon us, but Twitter is more and more becoming the only publisher panel you need to be present for – and you certainly won’t hear me complaining about the convenience! Seven Seas took to the social media platform last week to announce four new manga licenses:

Clay Lord: Master of Golems – Jun Suzumoto
Dance in the Vampire Bund 2: Scarlet Order – Nozomu Tamaki
Evergreen – Yuyuko Takemiya & Akira Kasukabe
Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary – Shake O

Clay Lord is a fun looking fantasy adventure. It follows a young man named Clay, who with abilities to create, control and befriend magical golems, enters competitions and travels the globe to further his skills and connection with them. The first volume of Clay Lord is scheduled from Seven Seas in April 2015, and is currently available to pre-order via Amazon CAN | US.

Dance in the Vampire Bund 2: Scarlet Order is the sequel series to Dance in the Vampire Bund, which it seems safe to say is one of Seven Seas’ most popular titles including several spin-off series. Taking off after the events of the first, this sequel follows its lead Queen of vampires as she attends the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, only to find herself a target for terrorists and embroiled amidst a new threat against her kind.

The first volume of Dance in the Vampire Bund 2: Scarlet Order is scheduled for December 2014, with pre-orders now available via Amazon CAN | US.

Evergreen seems like a well-suited summer announcement, telling the tale of a manga club president and the ace of his school’s swim team who become friends during a swim test, and perhaps something more. Seven Seas describes it as a romantic comedy, with the first volume scheduled for May 2015. Yuyuko Takemiya, the author of Evergreen, was also the author of another Seven Seas’ title, Toradora!.

Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary adds another to Seven Seas’ growing collection of monster girl stories. The story is about a one-eyed nurse who treats an assortment of unique students who come through her school office door. The first volume of Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary is scheduled for February 2015, and can be pre-ordered now at Amazon CAN | US.

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Clay Lord, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Evergreen, Nurse Hitomi's Monster Infirmary, Seven Seas

Yen Press Beats the Bad Luck With Four New Manga Licenses

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, June 22, 2014

1 Comment »

This past Friday the 13th wasn’t unlucky for Yen Press, who made a post about some on-going title updates, and four new manga licenses:

Akame Ga Kill! – Takahiro & Tetsuya Tashiro
Kagerou Daze – Jin & Shidu
Secret – Yoshiki Tonogai
Sword Art Online: Progressive – Reki Kawahara & abec

Akame Ga Kill! is about a young man who leaves his village in order to earn money in his country’s Capital City. Though robbed halfway there, he finds himself taken in by a generous upperclasswoman. Things aren’t always what they seem however, when a band of assassins attack her mansion, yet don’t seem to be the bad-guys in the situation. The first volume of Akame Ga Kill! is scheduled for January 2015, and is available to pre-order on Amazon CAN | US.

Kagerou Daze is a double-dip license, including both the manga and light novel versions of the story. The series follows a shut-in forced to leave his home after his computer crashes, only to walk right into a dangerous hostage situation. Volume one of both the manga and light novel will be released in early 2015, while the manga can already be pre-ordered via Amazon CAN | US.

Sword Art Online: Progressive is also two licenses, the manga and the light novel versions of the same name. The title is “a retelling and expansion on the events that took place during Sword Art Online: Aincrad“. Volume one of the manga version is scheduled for January 2015, and is currently available to order via Amazon CAN | US.

Secret is a new title from the creator of JUDGE and Doubt, bringing English readers more creepy imagery of people in bloody bunny headgear:

“These are the ominous words given to the six survivors of a tragic bus accident, followed by an ultimatum. Within one week, the three murderers must anguish over their crimes and find some way to answer for them, or the evidence of their sins will be given to the police. But when every person has a secret, who can you trust…?”

The first volume of Secret is scheduled for January 2015 and is also available to order via Amazon CAN | US.

Along with the four new titles, Yen Press also noted that new volumes of both Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts II are on the way. Since announcing their acquisition of the Kingdom Hearts series, Yen Press has released new editions of all previously published material by Tokyopop. This is first time the new content will be released in English, which we’re told will be late 2014.

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Akame Ga Kill, Kagerou Daze, Kingdom Hearts, Secret, Sword Art Online

Digital Manga Goes Dance and No Pants with Fanime Licenses

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, June 19, 2014

No Comments »

Delivering more shiny eyes and panties, Digital Manga announced two new titles at their Fanime panel back in late May:

Dance Blade of the Spirit Master – Issei Hyōju’s
No Pants, No Problem – Azure Konno

Both titles will be released under Digital Manga Inc’s main imprint, Digital Manga Publishing, including print and digital editions. DMP doesn’t yet have release dates for either title.

Dance Blade of the Spirit Master follows the exploits of a young man who inadvertently becomes his world’s first male spiritualist. He enters into a spirit contract while peeping on the female student who was originally intended to be the spirit’s partner.

No Pants, No Problem is a comedy series where a school dress code is altered to put a ban on underwear. … large amounts of awkward ensue?

Licenses like these are difficult to write up without sighing, after a recent CNN article sent angry ripples through the anime and manga community. Is all anime and manga pornographic? Of course not! Still, it certainly isn’t hard to see why some could be fooled into thinking so with a few surface glances.

To each their own of course. And when it comes to all forms of legal perversity, I’m not one to judge – after all, I’m excited for Digital Manga’s confirmation that Ayano Yamane’s Finder (Vol. 07) is on the horizon.

Other new volume confirmations included volumes four and five of Kazuma Kodaka’s Border and volume two of Kou Yoneda’s Twittering Birds Never Fly.

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Dance Blade of the Spirit Master, Digital Manga Publishing, No Pants No Problem

Viz Media Visits Jojo’s First Bizarre Adventures with Phantom Blood

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, June 15, 2014

No Comments »

Like many a viewer, I’ve recently been enjoying the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure anime on Crunchyroll. Dark, twisted, and never more funny than when it’s trying not to be! Viz Media has released a number of Jojo volumes in English, but has never published the initial arc that this anime is based upon. It was tidy timing then that they made their recent license announcement:

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures: Phantom Blood – Hirohiko Araki

AnimeNewsNetwork confirmed this acquisition after a listing for the title was found on Amazon. The listings have since been removed, but showed a price point of $22.99/CAN | $19.99/US, and scheduled for release in February 2015.

“The legendary Shonen Jump series, now available in English for the first time, in a deluxe edition featuring color pages and newly drawn cover art!”

The price is the same as Viz Media’s 3-in-1 editions of Neon Genesis Evangelion, suggesting that as a deluxe edition this will likely also be multi-volume in length and with a larger trim size.

The last print volume of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure was released back in 2010. Hirohiko Araki’s one-shot manga, Rohan at the Louvre, was released more recently in 2012. Viz Media said they’d have more information about the Jojo franchise at their upcoming panel at Anime Expo.

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Omnibus, Viz Media

Viz Media Licenses Pokemon Adventures X & Y For Perfect Square

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, June 11, 2014

No Comments »

Viz Media knows what the people want and they aim to license ’em all. The publisher announced via press release last week that they’d licensed the manga adaption of Nintendo’s newest Pokemon games:

Pokemon Adventures X & Y – Hidenori Kusaka & Satoshi Yamamoto

The series will be published under Viz Media’s fairly recently added imprint, Perfect Square. Previously Viz released their Pokemon titles under their VIZKids imprint, which Perfect Square replaces, but the shift has lead to only minor changes in the package design (though us fans of consistently still weep some, I know!).

As the new Champion of the Pokémon Battle Junior Tournament in the Kalos region, X is hailed as a child prodigy. But when all the media attention proves to be too much for him, he holes up in his room to hide from everyone, including his best friends. What will it take to get him to come out?! How about an attack on his hometown of Vaniville Town by the two new Legendary Pokémon, Xerneas and Yveltal, and a mysterious organization named Team Flare…?

Volume one of Pokemon X & Y is scheduled for December at $12.99/CAN, $9.99/US. The series is still on-going in Japan so future volumes will be released twice a year. This also means we’ll get thicker initial volumes than the ‘minis’ that Viz released for Pokemon B/W.

Pokemon Adventures X & Y (Vol. 01) is available to pre-order via Amazon.ca | Amazon.com

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: Perfect Square, Pokemon, Viz Media

Digital Manga Launches New Kickstarter for Tezuka’s Captain Ken

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, June 4, 2014

1 Comment »

I’m not sure what surprises me more these days – how many different Osamu Tezuka titles I’ve never heard of, or how many of them Digital Manga takes to Kickstarter. Really, neither facts should shock me. Osamu Tezuka created over 700 volumes worth of manga (according to Wikipedia), and Digital Manga’s previous Kickstarters, which covered five Tezuka titles, were all successful.

Earlier this week, Digital Manga announced their newest Kickstarter, this time for a print edition of Osamu Tezuka’s Captain Ken. Last year DMP announced that they’d acquired the rights to Tezuka’s entire available library.

Yen Press Launches Light Novel Imprint – Yen On

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, May 4, 2014

No Comments »

Yen Press’s new manga titles weren’t the only treat they had in store for Sakura Con 2014. The publisher also announced a brand new imprint – Yen On – dedicated to the publication of Japanese light novels. As the name directly implies, light novels are novels only… light, meaning not as dense or lengthy as most novels we’re accustomed to. They also have accompanying artwork inside.

A publisher for light novels is something I’ve seen plenty of interest for, but of course seeing interest from inside the anime/manga fandom isn’t necessarily indicative of an actual support base. Though many light novels are original properties – with the most popular receiving manga and anime adaptations after the fact – they’re still mostly seen as simply counterparts to their other more popular connected mediums in North America. Cute anime girls on covers also aren’t a big selling point for the average reader like they are in Japan, as evident by Yen Press’s decisions to sell the original volumes of Spice & Wolf with new photo-realistic cover art. I can’t say if those had any positive or negative affect on sales but it was certainly a thing that happened.

So how about Yen On then? If any publisher was going to do this, I don’t think anyone’s surprised it’s Yen Press. The manga publisher has already released several light novels including The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Sword Art Online, and the aforementioned Spice & Wolf. I’m curious to see if they’ll keep promotion focus on the existing anime & manga fan base, or if they’ll continue trying to push light novels to the wider young adult reading audience as well. Where will I see these books shelved in Chapters & Indigo stores in 2015?

Yen On is launching with three series to start:

Another – Yukito Ayatsuji
A Certain Magical Index – Kazuma Kamachi & Kiyotaka Haimura
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? – Fujino Omori & Fujino Omori

Another is a title I know from Yen Press’s omnibus release of the manga last year, a creepy horror story that had me almost leaving the lights on when I went to sleep. It’s about a class of students haunted by a vengeful spirit, one who appears among them as an extra classmate and brings about gruesome deaths.

Yen Press previously released the Another novel back in 2013 but in digital format only. This October they’ll be launching their new imprint with a hardcover print edition of Another that includes both volumes combined into one.

A Certain Magical Index is also a title I’m familiar with, but by reputation only. This light novel series has spawned multiple manga series and an anime. The story is set in a world where people have supernatural abilities, but political and societal struggles erupt between different factions of these individuals depending on how they gained their powers, plus what they are. The main setting for the stories is a technologically advanced academy where students with these abilities reside.

Yen On’s first volume of A Certain Magical Index is scheduled to be released this winter.

Last but not the least bit short in name is Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?. I’ve seen the joke about long light novel names plenty of times, so Yen On launching with a title like this seems a perfect fit. As for the story itself, the series is set in a fantasy world where a floundering adventurer teams up with a failed goddess.

The author of IIWTTTPUGIAD is new to North American publication but the artist, Suzuhito Yasuda, is known for their manga series, Yozakura Quartet, which was published by Del Rey. The first volume of IIWTTTPUGIAD is due sometime this winter as well.

Share on Tumblr

Categories: Licensing
Tags: A Certain Magical Index, Another, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Light Novels, Yen On, Yen Press