manga

Manga Creator and Artist Jiro Kuwata Passes Away

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Akita Shoten has announced that manga artist Jiro Kuwata passed away on July 2, 2020. He was 85 years old at the time of his passing.

He was born in Osaka in 1935, and he debuted as a manga creator in 1948 when he was 13 years old.

Kuwata is most well known in the West for his Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga manga. The manga adaptation of DC Comics’ popular American superhero ran in Shonengahosha’s Weekly Shōnen King and Shōnen Gahō magazines from 1966 to 1967. DC Comics released the 53-chapter manga in its original right-to-left format digitally and in print in 2014.

He worked with story creator Kazumasa Hirai on the five-volume 8 Man manga, which ran from 1963 to 1965. Kuwata’s other manga include Maboroshi Tantei, Chōken Leap, Gekkō Kamen, Ultra Seven, and Elite.

Kuwata is credited as the original creator of the ongoing 8 Man vs Cyborg 009 manga, which launched on July 18, 2020. Author Kyoichi Nanatsuki and artist Masato Hayase are in charge of the manga.

Source: ANN

Seven Seas Entertainment Licenses the SUPER HXEROS Manga

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Seven Seas Entertainment has announced that it has licensed Ryoma Kitada’s SUPER HXEROS manga, known in Japan as Dokyuu Hentai HxEros. The first volume of the series is scheduled to be released in February 2021.

Seven Seas describes the manga as:

When the mantis-like aliens known as Kiseichuu descend on Earth, they have one goal: eradicate the human race. They do so by absorbing humans’ H-energy–the sexual passion that fuels so many people and keeps the species reproducing! The government has assembled an elite team of superheroes to fight the bugs, aided by technology that allows them to transfer their erotic energy into super powers.

High schooler Retto Enjo is recruited onto the team, partnering with four beautiful girls, one of whom is his childhood friend Kirara Hoshino. Though they were once close, they’ve grown apart in recent years, since Kirara turned distant and aloof after an encounter with the Kiseichuu in her youth. Can Retto save the world, keep his team together, and maybe even melt his childhood friend’s newly cold exterior?

Source: Crunchyroll

Garden of Words Novel Debuts From Yen Press

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Yen Press is set to release the novelization of anime director Makoto Shinkai’s award-winning 2013 film The Garden of Words, an emotional drama about two lonely souls who meet in the garden of Shinjuku during rainy season and help each other “learn to walk again” in life.

On rainy mornings, Takao can never bring himself to go to school-instead, he spends that time at the beautiful Shinjuku Gyoen gardens and finds a brief reprieve from everything else in his life among the trees and flowers. And on one of those mornings, he discovers a mysterious woman named Yukino in his haven, skipping work, and an unlikely friendship blooms between them. But though these two are the center of this story, they are far from the only ones trying to find their way in life. From director Makoto Shinkai comes a deeper look at his award winning 2013 film, The Garden of Words, full of additional scenes and perspectives to show a whole new side of the many characters who brought the film to life.

The Garden of Words novel will be published in print and digitally on August 25, 2020.

Manga Planet Announces Three New Licenses

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Manga Planet has announced that it has licensed three manga from Shonengahosha for release in August 2020:

  • Raise the Demon by Keito Yoshikawa [Release Date: August 7, 2020]
  • Enoshima Waikiki Cafe by Haruko Okai [Release Date: August 8, 2020]
  • Sound of the Sky by Hajime Yamamura [Release Date: August 8, 2020]

The first chapters of the three manga will be available for free in the Manga Planet Library. Subscribers will be able to read subsequent chapters.

Manga Planet launched in November 2019. The service costs US$6.99 per month and allows users unlimited access to English-translated manga.

Source: ANN

Kouta Hirano’s Drifters Manga Resumes After a Seven Month Hiatus

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The September 2020 issue of Shonengahosha’s Young King Ours magazine has published the first new chapter of Kouta Hirano’s Drifters manga in seven months. Before the current chapter, the previous chapter appeared in the magazine’s February 2020 issue in December 2019.

Hirano launched the manga in Young King Ours in 2009. Dark Horse Comics publishes the manga in North America.

Source: ANN

futekiya Boys-Love Manga Service Adds Seven Titles

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Fantasista, Inc.’s futekiya boys-love manga subscription service has announced that it has licensed seven new titles from publisher Shodensha. The company also revealed new volumes and releases for previously announced titles. The newly announced titles include:

  • Ryu no Otto – Bokoku no Kami by Ake Susaki
  • Ookami e no Yomeiri ~Ishu Konintan~ by Hana Inui
  • PERFECT FIT (Volumes 1-2) by Thanat
  • 3bansen no Campanella by Atsuki Kyoyama
  • My Little Inferno (Volumes 1-2) by Nemui Asada
  • Adana wo Kure by Niboshiko Arai
  • Shinsouban Illumination by Tomoko Yamashita

The new volumes and releases for previously announced titles include:

  • You’re My Sex Star Volume 2 by Tamekō
  • Zoku Pornographer Playback by Maki Marukido
  • Momo to Manji (Volumes 1-3) by Sakura Sawa
  • One Room Angel by Harada

The announcement noted that the English title translations for some of the manga may change.

Readers will be able to read the first chapters of these titles for free, and subscribers to the futekiya service will be able to access full volumes.

Source: ANN

Captain Tsubasa Manga to Get a Complete Digital Bilingual Version in Japanese and English

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

This year’s 35th issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine has announced that Yōichi Takahashi’s Captain Tsubasa manga is getting a complete bilingual edition digitally in Japanese and English as part of the manga’s 40th anniversary. The release will mark the first time the manga is getting an English release.

The bilingual complete edition will include 37 volumes and will retail for 17,189 yen (about US$162). The deadline to pre-order the edition is on August 26, 2020, and the complete set will release on September 25, 2020.

The release is for Progress Technologies’ “eOneBook” reader device.

Source: ANN

Anime and Manga Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (July 31, 2020)

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Unfortunately, I really don’t have anything to say for a lead-in for this week’s list, so let’s just move ahead to the main attraction.

Here are the anime and manga blog posts that grabbed my attention this week:

Square Enix Manga & Books Licenses the Otherside Picnic and I Think Our Son Is Gay Manga

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Square Enix Manga & Books, Square Enix’s North American publishing division, has announced that it has licensed the Otherside Picnic and I Think Our Son Is Gay manga.

The publisher will release Eita Mizuno’s manga adaptation of Iori Miyazawa’s Urasekai Picnic (Otherside Picnic) novel physically and digitally on May 25, 2021. Mizuno launched the manga in February 2018 in Square Enix’s Shonen Gangan magazine.

Square Enix Manga & Books will release Okura’s Uchi no Musuko wa Tabun Gay (I Think Our Son Is Gay) manga physically and digitally on May 11, 2021. Okura launched the manga on the Gangan pixiv service in August 2019.

Source: ANN

futekiya Boys-Love Manga Service Announces New Licenses

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The futekiya boys-love manga news website has announced five new manga licenses for release in August 2020:

I Love You so Do as I Say by Konoko Kino [Debut date: August 3, 2020]

In a cursed forest rumored to be the lair of a demon lord and the witch who summoned him, different creatures find sanctuary within it and lived peacefully. One of them is a lonely werewolf who just wanted to be friends with other creatures of the forest but to no avail due to his scary appearance despite his kind nature. One night, the werewolf smells an odd scent in the forest, which led him to a vampire with a great bloodlust. Did the wolf finally find a friend, or is something else?

I Want You So Much That I’ll Let Him Violate Me by FUNA [Debut date: August 4, 2020]

Ever since Kimichika was young, he’s had a great fascination and infatuation with his grandfather’s beautiful android, Dill. When his cousin Taneatsu, inherits everything, including Dill, after their grandfather’s death, he makes a deal with Taneatsu to attain Dill’s ownership. The condition: he has to satisfy Taneatsu in every way possible. And thus starts a complicated relationship between the three of them.

Mirage by Shuma [Debut date: August 5, 2020]

Itsuki’s little brother books a rental boyfriend for fun, whom he ditches and ropes Itsuki into taking his place. Itsuki doesn’t quite know if he’s gay or not yet, but what he does know is that he can’t help but want to be around handsome, considerate rental boyfriend Taisei more and more. Does their relationship have any chance of being more than a rental transaction?

Touch of a Brush by Shuma [Debut date: August 6, 2020]

Calligrapher Suizan Kataoka doesn’t want to be the center of attention. But after a chance meeting with kimono shop owner Tsumugi Yuki, he gets swept into a kimono photoshoot that catapults him into sudden stardom. Suizan doesn’t think he’s worth all this attention, but will Tsumugi’s aggressive pursuit of him win him over?

The Time a Gangster was Reincarnated as Ranmaru Mori ~Darn it, Nobunaga! So, You Plan on Making Me Your Page!?~ by Sato Fuyumi [Debut date: August 7, 2020]

Hajime gets the tables turned on him when his subordinates rise against his rule, and when he wakes up… he’s in another body?! Stuck in what seems to be some super-detailed period drama set, the first thing Hajime should do is leave, but good luck on that when some guy pushes him down, takes him home, has his way with him, and makes him his page – the guy happens to be Nobunaga Oda.

The first chapters of the manga will be available for free on the service. Subscribers will be able to read subsequent chapters.

The futekiya service launched in July 2019, and it allows access to its entire library of manga for a monthly fee of US$6.99. The service is also offering licensed dōjinshi and manga by independent artists.

Source: ANN