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NYCC 2013: Kodansha Comics Announces UQ Holder and Seven Deadly Sins

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, November 16, 2013

You thought we were done with NYCC didn’t you?! Even weeks late, licensing news is great news indeed. Call us refreshers for all your manga convention news! Along with their Attack on Titan titles, Kodansha Comics also had a few other series under their sleeves to reveal that weekend:

Seven Deadly Sins – Nakaba Suzuki
UQ Holder – Ken Akamatsu

Kodansha Comics is touting Seven Deadly Sins as the “next Dragonball Z“. Those are some pretty big boots to fill! In this fantasy story, the manga’s lead Princess Elizabeth is searching for the seven deadly sins instead of the seven magic dragon balls. The sins are all legendary warriors and she hopes to use them to defeat the murderous Holy Knights, putting a twist on the usual who’s good, who’s bad stereotypes.

UQ Holder is a new series from Ken Akamatsu, best known to most as the creator of Negima!. Good thing too, since UQ Holder takes place in the same magical world many years later. The story begins in a small village where a group of boys dream of one day leaving and seeing the big city, and its’ giant constructed spire that leads into space. But, before they’re allowed to leave, they have to defeat their beautiful, and conveniently immortal, teacher.

Volume one of Seven Deadly Sins is scheduled for March 2014 (Amazon CAN/US), with UQ Holder (Vol. 01) right on its tail (Amazon CAN/US).

For those who’re curious and would like to read the series now, you currently can! Both these series are available via Crunchyroll’s new digital manga program. You can expect more on that news here at Kuriousity as soon as I make my way through the series they’re currently offering.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Conventions, Ken Akamatsu, Kodansha Comics, Manga, NYCC, Seven Deadly Sins, UQ Holder

Project-H Treats With A Foursome of Autumn Hentai Licenses

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, November 14, 2013

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Kuriousity just got a new face-lift, so now it’s time for some new content! In the on-going journey to catch up on a lucrative season of manga-news, we look to Project-H who recently announced four new hentai licenses:

Aqua Bless – Yamatogawa
Nametate Apple Pie – Ashita Morimi
Princess Lucia – Kouji Seo
Witchcraft – Yamatogawa

They start with a collection of short stories in Aqua Bless, ones which “…reveal the adventures of telepathic beauties, frustrated couples escaping to paradise, skimpy cow girls, twins falling for the same man, scandalous happenings at a ski resort, and more.” This one-shot assortment is scheduled for Fall 2014 as both print and digital editions. Those plots all sound good to me~

Ashita Morimi’s Nametate Apple Pie is a one-shot comedy scheduled for January 2015. Project-H smashed our hopes by saying “…it looks like a yuri manga .. but it’s not.” Alas! The story actually stars a man who uses his professional tongue-skills as an acupuncture-like replacement. Who needs needles? His skills are highly sought after but things get complicated when he reunites with an old crush. Dun, dun, dun…

Princess Lucia is a romantic comedy with I’m guessing an extra-pervy side if its in Project-H. It tells us the tale of a demoness who’s determined to have a child with a young man born on the devil’s hour, believing they’ll create powerful offspring. Opposing her are two equally attractive and interested angels. Princess Lucia is scheduled for release in both print and digital starting in Summer 2015. Project-H has announced they own the license for the first three books of this on-going series.

And last up, a second title by Yamatogawa – Witchcraft. The story follows a hapless young man and his run-in with “curvy and curious fortuneteller” who’s eager to test the limits of her hypnosis skills. Project-H has said that the series may be released with censorship, depending on what the original publisher provides for files. Whether it does or doesn’t, Witchcraft will be published in Winter 2014. I’m always up for some supernatural manga so I can’t complain to a genre crossover with my pornier purchases.

For those looking for some hentai now, Project-H has also been adding lots of their recent titles to their eManga platform. Remember, adults only!

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Aqua Bless, Hentai, Nametate Apple Pie, Princess Lucia, Project-H, Witchcraft

NYCC 2013: Yen Press Team-Ups and Dishes Out New Manga Licenses

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, October 27, 2013

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It’s time for the Yen Press edition of New York Comic Con! The manga publisher revealed a new relationship with the Japanese manga-mecha publisher, Kodansha, by announcing a handful of their titles a midst their mix of new licenses:

Ani-Imo – Haruko Kurumatani
Demon from a Foreign Land – Kaori Yuki
He’s My Only Vampire – Aya Shouoto
High School DxD – Ichiei Ishibumi & Hiroji Mishima
Void’s Enigmatic Mansion – JiEun Ha & HeeEun Kim

Ani-Imo is the kind of series I avoid due to the incest fetishism and underage characters. Not my thing! But it definitely floats people’s proverbial boat and is the first of Yen Press’s books from Kodansha. The series is about a pair of twins who switch bodies after a car accident and the caretaker brother loses his body to his once docile sister.

Demon From a Foreign Land is more up my alley. I’ll buy anything by Kaori Yuki! Yen Press seems to be counting on that fan sentiment as it’s releasing this title in special hardcover editions. After an earthquake leaves a young man homeless, he’s taken in by a rich baron, and though he finds friendship with the baron’s heir and his fiance, it doesn’t prepare him for the conspiracies and supernatural mystery that surround the home.

Then like Viz Media, Yen Press has its own new vampiric romance to throw into the still hungry market. He’s My Only Vampire is about a young woman’s relationship with her childhood friend, who happens to be a vampire. One would call that a complication.

High School DxD is a series English readers may already be familiar with thanks to its anime adaptation. The original story was a light novel, while this license being the franchise’s manga version. When a perverted teen is murdered by his first date, he’s resurrected as demonic servant to the prettiest girl at his school. Loss-to-win situation?

And last up is a new manhwa series. I’m really glad to see Yen Press hasn’t dropped their manhwa licenses since the majority of their leftover ICE Kunion series’ ended. The artist, HeeEun Kim, had a work previously published in English by Infinity Studios. Void’s Enigmatic Mansion is also a unique case in that they’ll be releasing it digitally with a simultaneous release with Korea. The plot sounds episodic in nature and is just kind of series I find myself adoring. It focuses on those living in a strange house that grants their wishes, with unexpected twists to their requests.

Yen Press also announced Alice in the Country of Diamonds ~Wonderful Wonder World~ Official Visual Fan Book. As the very long name suggests, this will be a fanbook of artwork and bonus content for the Alice in the Country of… series, a franchise consisting of many manga adaptations based on the original sim games. Seven Seas and Yen Press have been sharing the market in English for a couple years with no sign of slowing.

There haven’t been any specific dates given for the release of these new licenses, but Yen Press says 2014 is the plan for all.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Ani-Imo, Demon From A Foreign Land, He's My Only Vampire, High School DxD, Manga, Manhwa, NYCC, Void's Enigmatic Mansion, Yen Press

NYCC 2013: Viz Media Announces Shoujo, Seinen and Shorts

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, October 22, 2013

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The NYCC manga licenses – they just keep going, and going, and going… I love it! I can’t recall the last convention that had so many manga licenses in one place. Today I take a look at new licenses from Viz Media:

Battle Royale: Angels’ Border – Koushun Takami, Mioko Ohnishi & Youhei Oguma
Black Rose Alice – Setona Mizushiro
My Love Story!! – Kazune Kawahara & Aruko
Terra Formars – Yū Sasuga & Kenichi Tachibana
Time Killers: Kazue Kato Short Story Collection – Kazue Kato

Nearly every title on this list stands out to me in one good way or another. Starting from the top, there’s Battle Royale: Angels’ Border. This is a manga side-story sequel to Battle Royale, written by the author of the original books. I haven’t read those (yet) but I did read the manga adaptation Tokyopop released and have watched the movie several times, so I’m looking forward to a need to refresh and revisit. The story is split into two parts – episode 01 and episode 02 – with each drawn by a different artist. They’re both released together in this collected edition.

Black Rose Alice is a title I’ve heard praised a lot in passing but never much more than that, but I can’t deny the draw of a title by Setona Mizushiro no matter what I have or haven’t heard. I love her work, which in English includes GoComi’s Afterschool Nightmare and Tokyopop’s X-Day. She renders such heart-wrenching characters and has done some really interesting things with gender roles and the evolution of relationships. I have a couple of her other series in French, and hoped for the day we would get more in English. May this be the first of many!

As for this current announcement, Black Rose Alice enters our still vampire-hungry market with a story about a young singer who survives an accident only to find his body has never felt right since. A string of suicides by those close to him act as catalysts for a new life of romance, drama and potentially tasty looking necks.

With My Love Story!! I’m smitten with the Japanese covers. I love a title with characters that actually look like people. Too pretty can easily be too much sometimes. My Love Story!! is written by the creator of High School Debut, which I thought was a fun read, so that’s another point in its favour. The downside of My Love Story!! is it’s promoted as a love triangle story, which I’m not a big fan of. Sure almost all romances use this at some point or another but, like a cast of characters that’re too pretty to be believed, reading story after story that tends to end in watching the more likable and loyal person get left on the curb is more than a little tiring. How will I feel about” the unattractive Takeo Gouda, his cool and attractive childhood friend Sunagawa, and the pure Yamato, whose specialty is making candy*”? We shall see!

Terra Formars is the only title on the list that’s entirely new to me. It looks pretty cool though, even though the plot makes me laugh. It takes place years in the future when a team of colonists go to Mars only to discover that the mold and cockroaches they sent ahead to help prepare the land for living have since mutated into super strong humanoid cockroaches. Oops! The manga series – currently six volumes long – then follows a group of soldiers sent to get rid of them.

And last but not least, there’s Time Killers: Kazue Kato Short Story Collection. This one really excites me. As the title explains, Time Killers is a collection of short stories by Kazue Kato, creator of Blue Exorcist. I love reading creators’ short stories. The boundaries of a short story can bring out a person’s best work or at least some of their most creative as they can explore ideas that might not see success in lengthier formats. Admittedly, I got tired of Blue Exorcist and dropped it at volume six, but I did love the earlier volumes so I’m hoping to re-experience some of that same adoration in these shorts.

We don’t have dates yet for these releases, but my thanks goes to ANN for the existing details*. Looking forward to them, Viz!

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Battle Royale, Black Rose Alice, Blue Excorcist, Manga, My Love Story!!, NYCC, Shoujo Beat, Terra Formars, Viz Media

NYCC 2013: Vertical Inc Deals in Fat and Falls With Manga and Light Novel Licenses

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, October 17, 2013

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Next up on Lissa-takes-a-while-to-post-manga-news-these-days, it’s more new licenses from this past week’s New York Comic Con, today courtesy of Vertical Inc:

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (Light Novel) – Ryō Suzukaze & Thores Shibamoto
In The Clothes Named Fat – Moyoco Anno

Kodansha Comics may’ve granted some wishes I thought were only a matter of time, but Vertical Inc did what I thought was impossible. The Attack on Titan prequel novel? Awesome! Before the Fall is a story that takes place seventy years prior to the events of Attack on Titan. The series is three volumes long and features the invention of the 3D maneuver gear.

Vertical Inc has the first volume scheduled to be released next summer, a couple months after Kodansha Comics will begin releasing the new manga version of the same story. I really hope this does well for Vertical, both out of adoration for the company itself and the want for more similar licenses in the future. Support the prose! I’ll be buying both versions but hope that one doesn’t negatively affect the other in regards to sales.

Next was manga time as Vertical pleased many a josei fan with their announcement of Moyoco Anno’s In The Clothes Named Fat. Vertical previously released her one-short, Sakuran (which was fantastic, by the way), and announced her romantic-autobiographical series, Insufficient Direction this past summer.

In The Clothes Named Fat is another one-shot, but set in modern day. It revolves around an office worker who is self-conscious and bullied about her weight. When her boyfriend breaks up with her, she becomes determined to lose weight no matter what.

Vertical Inc plans to release this title next summer as well. I’m really looking forward to reading it. After Sakuran, I gained a new respect for her works. A well-structured one-shot worked so much better for me than her previously released multi-book series, such as Happy Mania or Sugar Sugar Rune.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Attack on Titan, Conventions, In The Clothes Named Fat, Light Novels, Manga, Moyoco Anno, NYCC, Vertical Inc

NYCC 2013: Kodansha Comics Maneveurs Multiple Attack on Titan Spin-Offs

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, October 16, 2013

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It’s been a few years since New York Anime Fest was completely absorbed by New York Comic Con, and posts from those in attendance this year painted an even more under-the-rug picture of the anime/manga content. It was a shame, but not a big surprise. That said, manga publishers didn’t shy away from the spotlight even if it was a little restricted, and you know what that means – new licenses!

Though I was sad that another year of NYCC has passed without my presence, I was thrilled to see all the news that came from it. For me, the biggest news came from Kodansha Comics who answered some of my very recent prayers with this first batch of titles:

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall – Satoshi Shiki & Ryō Suzukaze
Attack on Titan: Junior High – Saki Nakagawa
Attack on Titan: No Regrets – Hikaru Suruga & Gan Sunaaku

The Attack on Titan anime has just recently ended. I’d been following the series via Crunchyroll and loved every moment of it. Because the anime series ended prematurely of the story, I’ve been collecting the manga as Kodansha puts it out. Their license of these three spin-off series – all of which range from newish to brand new in Japan – come as no surprise. It’s perfectly timed to when thousands of fans, like myself, are clamouring for whatever Attack on Titan they can get their hands on.

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall is a manga adaptation of a series of light novels. They serve as a prequel to the main story and follow a member of the Survey Corps who develops the 3D maneuver gear that would later become the signature method of fighting, and escaping, the Titans. At this point in the world, no human has been known to kill a Titan so the discovery of a new form of attack will offer humanity both a sliver of hope and important pieces of information about Titans. Kodansha Comics’ target for release is spring 2014.

Attack on Titan: No Regrets is also a prequel but stars familiar faces from the cast. The story will feature Survey Corps’ star member, Levi, and his Commander, Erwin. Readers will get to see how the two met and how Levi was convinced to become one of the strongest forces fighting for humanity. No Regrets is coming from the pages of a shoujo magazine so I’m looking forward to some beautifully drawn drama. The first colour promotional piece is already worth an oogle, as you can see from the preview in this post to your left. We should be getting the first release in summer 2014.

The third title, Attack on Titan: Junior High, is the one I know the least about. It’s also the only one that isn’t part of the chronological timeline. This multi-volume series is a comedy adaptation where the characters are re-imagined as junior high students and faculty. I don’t know who came up with this weird idea but it exists and we’ll soon be reading it. I’m not usually a fan of gag stories but when it’s a comic using the dark events of Attack on Titan as a base, I’m too intrigued not to check it out. Kodansha Comics plans the first volume for spring 2014.

On top of these three titles, Kodansha Comics also announced The Attack on Titan Guidebook: Inside & Outside. This book will contain colour artwork, character bios, concept sketches and series information. The current date for this release in English is summer 2014.

And that, fellow fans, is a lot of Titan stuff. And it wasn’t even the end of the Attack on Titan news from New York Comic Con this year. Thanks goes to Anime News Network for the news details.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Attack on Titan, Kodansha Comics, Manga, NYCC

Vertical Inc Plays With Fire With Tetsuya Tsutui’s Prophecy

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, October 12, 2013

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It’s New York Comic Con this weekend and that has already equated to a lot of amazing manga licensing news – and it’s only Saturday! But first, we’re a little behind here at Kuriousity as work-that-pays deadlines loom, so time for a little catch-up with a license that Vertical Inc. announced during Anime Weekend Atlanta a couple weeks ago:

Prophecy– Tetsuya Tsutui

The story follows a specialized police task force as it tries to find the culprit, or culprits, behind a number of serious crimes including arson and rape. Complicating things is the fact that the crimes are posted about online before they happen, leading to more questions as to who’s behind them and the rallying support behind their apparent prophet.

I’m not familiar with Tetsuya Tsutui’s work but I have a lot of faith in Vertical Inc’s taste in material. Plus, those t-shirts worn in the image above are pretty darn cool. An additional interesting fact about the title is that the artist contacted them directly about the license. I thought that was really neat (and potentially promising) to hear!

Prophecy is complete at three volumes, and Vertical has confirmed they’ll be releasing it as singles. The first book is currently scheduled for September 2014.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Manga, Prophecy, Vertical Inc

Pretty in Pleats – Project H Licenses New Crossdresser Hentai

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, October 3, 2013

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It was Tateno on Twitter last week, but hentai went to another social media outlet as Digital Manga announced their newest license via Facebook:

Will You Be My Cute Crossdresser? – Mitohi Matsumoto

Digital Manga will be releasing this new title through their Project-H imprint. It will be available in both print and digital editions, with the latter for $17.95/US, $19.99/CAN in October 2014. Digital Manga previously released Mitohi Matsumoto’s My Cute Crossdresser, and though I’m not 100% sure if it’s a direct sequel or not, Digital Manga does say it’s connected.

When My Cute Crossdresser was first announced, I was eager to read it. Cute crossdressing boys in sexy situations? Yes, please! Unfortunately, it wasn’t very interesting. But… not bad. I liked it enough that I’ll be buying Will You Be My Cute Crossdresser, but I’ll be going into it with more accurate expectations. It’s got a little perviness, and a sprinkle of boys’ love written from a male-gaze perspective , and not the more raunchy material I was assuming from its Project-H imprint. It’s an odd little concoction of genres but entertaining all the same.

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, DMP, Manga, Mitohi Matsumoto, Project-H

One Peace Expands Genres with License of Yuri Series, Whispered Words

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, October 2, 2013

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One Peace Book is one of those surprise publishers who pops out of the woodwork with some great titles in tow. The last time I wrote about their manga licenses was for Black Bard and Smuggler, two titles I’m really looking forward and that are scheduled for this Winter.

This week ANN confirmed another new title that recently popped up from One Peace on Amazon.com/Amazon.ca:

Whispered Words – Takashi Ikeda

“Whispered Words is the story of two high school girls, Sumika and Ushio. One is in love with the other, but unable to confess. Both of them prefer girls, but Ushio likes cute and petite types while Sumika prefers the athletic outgoing girls. To complicate things, a cross dressing boy, Masaki, is in love with Sumika. What ever will happen to this mixed-up bizarre love triangle mess?”

Whispered Words is complete at nine volumes and had an anime adaptation that aired back in 2009. One Peace will be releasing the first volume in May 2014 for $16.95/US. Based on their previous titles this should equal about $17.95/CAN, but no price has been posted to the Canadian listing yet.

Whispered Words sounds amazing. The very concept of a yuri story where both the leads are attracted to women in advance of falling for each other, plus the addition of the cross dressing love-interest, earn this story two thumbs up from me in advance. The art also looks great – I love how simplistic but solid it is, and it makes for a nice change of pace from the super shiny, fluffy, shoujo style (no offence, Milk Morinaga, I still love you!) of other yuris we’ve gotten in English.

Oh, and the book is 472 pages long. A resounding yay for omnibus books! So, is it May yet?

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Manga, One Peace Books, Takashi Ikeda, Whispered Words, Yuri

Digital Manga Tweets Tateno with Two New Boys’ Love Titles

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, September 29, 2013

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It’s not the title I recently wrote my hopes for, but Digital Manga shows we’re still on the path of potential when they announced licenses for two new manga series:

A Murmur of the Heart – Makoto Tateno
A Waltz In The Clinic – Makoto Tateno

Both titles are boys’ love one-shots, and are scheduled for release as print and digital editions. When? Still a mystery. Digital Manga announced both licenses via their Twitter account earlier in the month.

Not only do these titles have the creator in common – who has had many of her works released in English over the years – but they both also cater to readers looking for some physical physicians. Of course it helps they share the same characters and locale. A Waltz in the Clinic follows a hospital resident who falls for a patient he meets while avoiding the advances of a physician in his department. In A Murmur of the Heart, that same physician is inspired to explore his feelings for a surgeon when he sees the resident he was chasing fall into a relationship of his own.

Amazon.jp has some preview pages up for A Murmur of the Heart, while we’ve reviewed a number of Makoto Tateno’s titles here on Kuriousity. Her titles are always lukewarm for me – I never think they’re all that great, but I’ve rarely found them bad. They sure are books I read! I’d be lying if I said the hospital theme didn’t pique my interest a little more than usual though.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, DMP, June, Makoto Tateno, Manga