Tokyo trip: A look at the Sailor Moon exhibit at Roppongi Hills

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A special Sailor Moon exhibit opened at Roppongi Hills in Tokyo on April 16, running through June 19. If you're luck enough to make it there in time, here's sneak peek of what's to come. And if perhaps understandably you can't make it, here's an exclusive glimpse of what's happening!

Sailor Moon—which first appeared in Nakayosi magazine from Kodansha in 1992—has been beloved by fans for over two decades. In the recent years, the new anime Sailor Moon Crystals reintroduced the property to both new and old fans alike. 

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At the main entrance, done up in the theme of the Moon Castle, awaits the full cast of Sailor Guardians. Azabu Jyuban, where Roppongi Hills is located, was also where the story of Sailor Moon took place. It's a perfect place for a photo op with your favorite characters and the Tokyo Tower in the background. At nighttime, you can see a special light show from here. 

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The illustrations and graphic novel artwork displayed were personally selected by Naoko Takeuchi herself, the creator of Sailor Moon.

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Plus, there are several brand-new works drawn by Takeuchi-sensei, just for this exhibit. 

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Very first Nakayosi magazine cover featuring Sailor Moon from 1992.

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Fully colorized Sailor Moon manga, Chapter 1.

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Timeline of Sailor Moon battles and storylines. 

In the museum section of the exhibit are 500+ rare toys and merchandise from 1990s and also reference materials that were used for the production of the animated series. 

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This Sailor Moon-themed bicycle is super clean!

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Storyboard sheets and animation cells are from the actual production of the Sailor Moon anime. 

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Special edition figurines manufactured for the 20th anniversary of Sailor Moon. 

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Costume of Prince Endymion used in the Sailor Moon musical.

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Statues of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion.

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And don't forget to check out the gift shop for the Sailor Moon Exhibit for original merchandise!

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Ready to visit Japan? Let's go to Roppongi Hills and check out the Sailor Moon exhibit!


Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Exhibition
4/16/2016~6/19/2016
Hours: 10:00AM~10:00PM (Last Entry at 9:30PM)
Sky Gallery at Roppongi Hills Observation Deck: Tokyo City View 
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower 52F
Address: 6-10-1 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN 


General Admission: 1800 yen
High school and College students: 1200 yen
Age 4 to Jr. High School students: 600 yen
Over age 65: 1500 yen

*Ticket includes admission to the observation deck and Mori Art Museum.

Sailor Moon Exhibit Official Website: http://roppongihills.com/tcv/jp/sailormoon/
Sailor Moon 20th Anniversaty Official Website: http://sailormoon-official.com/

 

 

Simulpub chapters for 17 series now on comiXology, Kindle

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ComiXology and Amazon announced today the launch of new chapters from Kodansha Comics' best-selling manga series to be available in English the same day they are published in Japan (“simulpubs”), on both the comiXology platform as well as Amazon’s Kindle Store. 

Brand-new chapters of Attack on Titan Chapter 80 and The Heroic Legend of Arslan Chapter 34 go on sale today (April 8) on comiXology and Kindle, the same day they appear in Bessatsu Shonen magazine in Japan. All previous chapters from both series are also available. 

There are a total of 17 Kodansha Comics series debuting with simultaneous publication. Today also sees the launch of over 1, 900 chapters, creating a vast library for fans that want to dive in for the first time or get caught up before new chapters digitally debut in English.

“English readers can now buy chapters of their favorite manga series the same day Japanese fans are picking up new issues in convenience stores,” said Alvin Lu, General Manager at Kodansha Advanced Media. “A simulpub initiative has never been done like this before—it’s effectively a new format and it’s made possible by digital publishing. Doing this through comiXology and Amazon connects the global readership for this broad range of series at a level we’ve never seen.”

“We’re so excited to completely cut the wait time for English-speaking manga fans to no wait at all to read same day as Japan releases of their favorite Kodansha titles” said comiXology’s Senior Director of Communication, Chip Mosher. “Immediate access to new popular Kodansha manga is something we know both comiXology and Kindle fans love and we’re thrilled to be able to provide that access to manga fans everywhere on the same day all around the world.”

The launch of this unprecedented program on comiXology and Kindle worldwide, makes same-day manga chapters more widely available to English-language readers than ever before. (These English translations will not be available in Japan.)

Included in today’s launch are the following series, to be released in English on comiXology and Kindle on a weekly as well as bi-weekly, monthly, and semi-regular basis:

Weekly
As the Gods Will: The Second Series
Fairy Tail
Fuuka
GTO Paradise Lost
The Seven Deadly Sins
UQ Holder
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches

Bi-Weekly
Inuyashiki
Space Brothers

Monthly
Ajin: Demi-Human
Attack on Titan
Kiss Him, Not Me
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
Magatsuki
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth Side: P4
Sweetness and Lightning

Semi-regularly
Princess Jellyfish

 

Your Lie in April’s Naoshi Arakawa to attend Anime Expo 2016

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Yes, it's true: Naoshi Arakawa, creator of the critically acclaimed manga about the struggles of a teen piano prodigy, Your Lie in April, will be attending this year’s Anime Expo in Los Angeles on July 1-4 as an official Guest of Honor.

This marks the first time Arakawa, who lives in Japan, will be making a Stateside appearance in person. With more details to follow, Arakawa’s activities at Anime Expo so far are to include a Q&A panel, media interviews, and fan autograph sessions. A schedule will be announced shortly.

Arakawa’s visit comes on the strength of the growing popularity in North America of Your Lie in April, which recently made the list of “2016 Great Graphic Novels for Teens” announced by the Young Adult Library Services Association (a division of the American Library Association). In Japan, Your Lie in April won the Shonen Category of the 37th Kodansha Manga Awards and was singled out by global bestselling artist Eiichiro Oda (creator of One Piece) as “the manga I’m most jealous of.” Your Lie in April has been adapted into a hit anime series (available from Aniplex of America) that was voted 1st place for the SUGOI Japan Award 2016 by Japanese fans. A live-action film is forthcoming in Japan later this year.

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The announcement from the April 6 issue of Monthly Shonen Magazine (click to enlarge image)

Arakawa’s appearance at Anime Expo was first announced in Japanese, in the print issue of Monthly Shonen Magazine released on April 6 (above). In that issue, it was also announced that Arakawa would be debuting a brand-new series, titled Sayonara Watashi no Cramer (see preview image, below), in the June issue of Monthly Shonen Magazine, on May 6.

 
Image from Naoshi Arakawa's forthcoming new series, Sayonara Watashi no Cramer (click to enlarge image)

About Naoshi Arakawa 
Naoshi Arakawa made his debut as a manga artist in 2007 with
Tsumetai Kousha no Toki wa Tomaru (The Time Stops on a Frozen Campus), a manga adaptation of the mystery novel by Mizuki Tsujimura. After his original soccer series, Sayonara Football, he started his most renowned work, Your Lie in April in 2011. The series about the lives of young and talented classical musicians won the Kodansha Manga Award in 2013. It was adapted into an anime series in 2014 and will be a live-action movie in 2016. He is currently preparing to launch a brand new series in Monthly Shonen Magazine.

Media Contact:
Misaki Kido
[email protected]
For a PDF of the press release, click here

Attack on Titan 18 + Special Edition with DVD on sale now

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Yes, Attack on Titan Volume 18 is in stores now—both print and digital editions.

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And fans of collector editions and the Attack on Titan anime will want to check out the Volume 18 Special Edition that comes with an exclusive brand-new anime episode on DVD: “Attack on Titan: No Regrets”—the backstory of Captain Levi. This Special Edition also includes a special variant dust jacket by comics artist Cameron Stewart (artist of Batgirl and Catwoman)!

 

Get started—this week digital Volume 1s are more than 50% off

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We know there's that manga series you've been meaning to get into. Well, for one weekly only, we're putting 23 digital volume 1s on sale—some priced as low as 3 bucks and up to 57% off.

Visit any of our digital retail partners—at comiXology, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook—from March 29 through April 4 to get started!

Here's a heckuva lot of Volume 1s now on sale:

Ajin: Demi Human
Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan: Before the Fall
Chi's Sweet Home
Die Wergelder
The Drops of God
Fairy Tail
The Flowers of Evil
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
Inuyashiki
Knights of Sidonia
Love Hina Omnibus
Missions of Love
My Little Monster
Negima! Omnibus
Noragami: Stray God
Parasyte
The Seven Deadly Sins
A Silent Voice
UQ Holder
Vinland Saga
Witchcraft Works
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches

Attack on Titan Anthology Reveals at Emerald City Comicon April 7-10!

Missed us at WonderCon? Spring is here and that means the Kodansha Comics Roadshow continues this week … at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle! Make sure to come see us at the Kodansha Comics booth (#409, maps and info below)—we've also got exciting creator events lined up around our forthcoming Attack on Titan Anthology (announced at last year's New York Comic Con). 

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Kevin Wada Signing!

Kodansha Booth (#409)
Saturday April 9
3:30 to 4:00 p.m.

Kevin Wada will be signing his beautiful illustration of Mikasa (above) at the Kodansha Comics booth. Signing tickets will be given away at the Kodansha Comics panel on Friday, April 8 (below), with some tickets to be held and given away at the Kodansha Comics booth starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday (until we run out).

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Attack on Titan Anthology Trading Cards and More Giveaways! 

Booth #409
April 7 through 10

We will be selling books at our booth (#409, map below). With purchase at the booth, you will receive your choice of 1 of 4 Attack on Titan Anthology trading cards (above, plus the Mikasa card) while supplies last. Take our reader survey at the booth, and you’ll receive a complete set of trading cards, along with a chance to win a free iPad Mini 2!

Absolutely free at the booth, we’ll also have limited supplies of posters and art cards from Noragami: Stray God, The Seven Deadly Sins, Attack on Titan, Inuyashiki, and Ninja Slayer Kills, so be sure to stop by early and often!

Booth location

Attack on Titan Anthology Panel with Faith Erin Hicks, Kate Leth, Simon “Si” Spurrier, and Kevin Wada!

Room T303
Friday April 8
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Meet some of the creative team behind the Attack on Titan Anthology, the ambitious collaboration between the biggest manga hit of the decade and an all-star roster of comics creators! New art from the anthology will be revealed, along with a look at new manga from Kodansha Comics—and lots of free books and exclusive promo items.

Hosts: Editors Ben Applegate & Jeanine Schaefer
Special Guests:

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Faith Erin Hicks is a Canadian writer and artist. She worked in the animation industry for several years before transitioning into writing and drawing comics full time in 2008. She started making comics “for fun” and putting them on the web when she was in college. Her first published work was Zombies Calling (SLG Publishing) in 2007. Since then, she has published a number of other graphic novels, including The War at Ellsmere (SLG), Brain Camp (with Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan, First Second Books), Friends with Boys (First Second Books), Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong (with Prudence Shen, First Second Books), The Adventures of Superhero Girl (Dark Horse Comics), The Last of Us: American Dreams (with Neil Druckmann, Dark Horse Comics), and the Bigfoot Boy series (with J. Torres, Kids Can Press). She won an Eisner Award in 2014 for The Adventures of Superhero Girl. Faith currently lives in Vancouver, BC with her partner, Tim, and their helpful cat. Her current project is The Nameless City, a three-book series with First Second Books. The first Nameless City book will be out in April 2016. Faith is writing and drawing a story for the Attack on Titan Anthology.

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Kate Leth is a comic writer and artist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is the series writer of the Bravest Warriors comic, as well as the NYT Bestselling Adventure Time: Seeing Red and Adventure Time: Bitter Sweets. She wrote a Fraggle Rock miniseries and is currently writing Edward Scissorhands. She collaborates with the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. She runs a group online for girls who work in comic shops and does a biweekly podcast called Less Than Live with Kate or Die. Jeremy Lambert is a writer of Syfy’s Haven: Origins and of comics. He is collaborating with Kate Leth on their story for the Attack on Titan Anthology. 

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Kevin Wada is a prolific artist whose work includes fashion illustrations and comics covers. Born in the Los Angeles area and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, he attended the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Since then, he has broken into comics, creating dozens of covers for series as diverse as She-Hulk and Adventure Time. He contributed pencils along with covers to The Wicked + The Divine. A fan of Japanese comics, he often posts manga-influenced art online. He is contributing a pinup illustration to the Attack on Titan Anthology.

Simon “Si” Spurrier writes novels and comics. His work in the latter field stretches from award-winning creator-owned books such as Numbercruncher, Six-Gun Gorilla, and The Spire to projects in the U.S. mainstream like X-Men, Silver Surfer, and Crossed. It all began with a series of twist-in-the-tail stories for the UK’s beloved 2000AD, which ignited an enduring love for genre fiction. His latest book, Cry Havoc, is being published by Image Comics at present. His prose works range from the beatnik neurosis-noir of Contract to the occult whodunnit A Serpent Uncoiled via various franchise and genre-transgressing titles. In 2016 he took a foray into experimental fiction with the e-novella Unusual Concentrations: a tale of coffee, crime and overhead conversations. 
 

We may have more special guests to announce, so watch this space!

March 22 New Manga: Princess Jellyfish, Magatsuki, Real Account +more

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Big manga week! Let's take a look at what's new to both brick+mortar and digital bookshelves …

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First up to bat is the debut of heavily anticipated fan favorite Princess Jellyfish, from acclaimed creator Akiko Higashimura. This long-awaited release will be published in deluxe, large-format 2-in-1 editions. With 400 pages in each volume, color pages, and bonus special features, this will be the edition to own for newcomers and collectors alike. Read all of Chapter 1 here!

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Next we have Volume 1 of Magatsuki, from creator Hoshino Taguchi, which follows 15-year-old Yasuke Arahabaki, who accidentally breaks a sacred mirror in his house's shrine … leading to a supernatural comedy of errors involving a goddess of misfortune and a curse that forces them to stay close together … or die! Read all of Chapter 1 here!

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Our third series debut this week is Real Account,  with story by Okushou and art by Shizumu Watanabe. This tense thriller has a simple premise: on the social networking site Real Account, if you lose the game, you die for real—and you take all your followers with you. Read all of Chapter 1 here!

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In the ongoing series department, we have 2 new volumes from a couple of recent breakout-hit series, both with a supernatural+comedy bent, Noragami: Stray God and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches.

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Plus, new volumes from series based on hit videogames from ATLUS—the latest volume of Devil Survivor and the debut volume from Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth Side: P4.

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Finally, our rapid-release digital-only series, the astronaut-drama Space Brothers and post-apocalyptic actioner COPPELION, forge on, with newly arrived volumes on digital shelves this week. Read Chapter 1s at the links.

Happy reading! 

Fall ’16 License Announcement Roundup

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Hey, what new manga has Kodansha Comics got lined up for the Fall season?

Well, we've got a slew of new titles coming out. Here's the record of 12 new print titles that we announced hourly on March 22 and 24, going in reverse chronological order:

Thursday, March 24

10pm (Eastern Time): Neo Parasyte f

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With the anime coming to Bluray/DVD this year from Sentai, Parasyte is more popular than ever—yet there hasn’t been any new Parasyte manga in over 20 years! That changes now.

Neo Parasyte f is a collection of short stories set in the world of Parasyte, by a delicious mix of superstar and up-and-coming shojo artists. Yes, you read that right—this is a Parasyte shojo horror anthology.

A parasite keeps a house of mysteries that is full of twisted exhibits. Another kills an entire family, only to get stuck infecting a teenage daughter obsessed with fairy tale romance manga. These and 13 more stories, from some of the greatest shojo manga artists alive today, make up a chilling, funny, and entertaining tribute to an all-time classic series!

Authors include star artists such as Kaori Yuki (Godchild, Angel Sanctuary), Ema Toyama (I Am Here!), and Asumiko Nakamura (Utsubora).

Neo Parasyte f is coming in a single volume, this Fall.

9pm (Eastern Time): Fairy Tail: Twin Dragons of Sabertooth

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Our fourth new print license of the day is a new single-volume Fairy Tail spinoff following the adventures of Fairy Tail’s most popular dragon slayer duo, Sting and Rogue of the Sabertooth guild, from Kyouta Shibano and Hiro Mashima.

An argument over one of their companions splits the Twin Dragons up! But when Sting tries to take on the golems of Obstone Village on his own, he’s left crushed, with his magic stolen. Could this job actually be a sinister trap set for Sting? And will Rogue forgive him and arrive in time to save his life?

Fairy Tail: Twin Dragons of Sabertooth is coming this Fall. (English title tentative.)

8pm (Eastern Time): Interviews with Monster Girls

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Attention, fans of cute comedy and monster girls! Our third new print license of the day is the adorable Interviews with Monster Girls, by Petos.

Monsters of legend walk among us, going by the name “demi-humans.” Ever since he’s discovered the “demis,” one young man has become obsessed with them. So when he gets a job as a teacher at a high school for demi-girls, it’s a dream come true! But these demis, who include a rambunctious vampire, a bashful headless girl, and a succubus, have all the problems normal teenagers have, on top of their supernatural conditions. How to handle a classroom full of them?!

Volume 1 of Interviews with Monster Girls is coming this Fall. (English title tentative.)

7pm (Eastern Time): Black Museum: The Ghost and the Lady

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Our second new manga license of the day is a supernatural seinen manga with a twisting and twisted mystery plot. It’s Black Museum: The Ghost and the Lady, by manga legend Kazuhiro Fujita, creator of Ushio and Tora. Oh, did we mention the “lady” of the title is real-life social reformer Florence Nightingale?

Deep in Scotland Yard in London sits an evidence room, where artifacts of the greatest mysteries in London history are kept. In this “Black Museum” sits two bullets, fused together after a head-on collision. This was the key piece of evidence in a case that brought together a supernatural Man in Gray and the famous nurse and activist Florence Nightingale—the only person who can see him. Surrounded by war and suffering, the lady enters into a desperate pact with this ghostlike man …

Volume 1 of this two-volume series is coming this Fall.

6pm (Eastern Time): Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai

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Our first new print license of the day is Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai. This is a stylized action manga from Hiroyuki Takei, creator of the smash hit manga and anime Shaman King.

In medieval Japan, a bell hanging on the collar is a sign that a cat has a master. Norachiyo's bell hangs from his katana sheath, but he is nonetheless a stray—a ronin. This one-eyed cat samurai travels across a dishonest world, cutting through pretense and deception with his blade.

The unique visual style of Nekogahara blends traditional Japanese ink painting with modern street art, perfectly suited for badass cat samurai action. Volume 1 is coming this Fall. (English title tentative.)

 

.. and here's what was announced on Tuesday, March 22:

6pm (Eastern Time) LAST ONE!: Attack on Titan: Lost Girls

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Our final manga announcement of the day is the new Attack on Titan spinoff, Attack on Titan: Lost Girls the Manga!

With a story by Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama himself, this is the backstory of Annie Leonhart and Mikasa Ackerman, the series’ two most beloved female characters. The novel is due out this June from Vertical!

Attack on Titan: Lost Girls the Manga is coming to print this summer.

5pm (Eastern Time): Cells at Work!

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Our sixth new print manga of the day is Cells at Work! by Akane Shimizu, known in Japan as Hataraku Saibo. This is an action shonen manga set inside a human body!

The average human body contains about 60 trillion cells, and each of them has work to do! But when you get injured, viruses or bacteria invade, or when an allergic reaction flares up, everyone from the silent but deadly white blood cells to the brainy neurons has to work together to get through the crisis!

The first volume of Cells at Work! is coming out in print in Fall 2016. (English title tentative.)

4pm (Eastern Time): The Prince in His Dark Days

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Our fifth new announcement is the emotional, rags-to-riches four-volume romantic drama The Prince in His Dark Days by Hiko Yamanaka.

Atsuko's father is a drunk, and she's shunned by her classmates as “the poor kid.” Walking the streets in a dark fog of despair, Atsuko cons perverts out of their money to survive. Then, one day, she meets Itaru, the heir to a wealthy family, who happens to look exactly like her. Itaru hatches a plan: Atsuko will live his tedious public life for him, and she will get a taste of the luxuries enjoyed by the 1%. Everybody's (finally) happy. Right?

Volume 1 of The Prince in His Dark Days is coming this Fall. (English title tentative.)

3pm (Eastern Time): Welcome to the Ballroom

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Our fourth announcement of the day is Welcome to the Ballroom by Tomo Takeuchi, an action-packed, beautifully-drawn shonen battle manga … except with ballroom dancing!

Fujita has drifted through middle school aimlessly, unable to find friends or anything that can hold his attention. Then, one day, he’s attacked by a gang and saved by a mysterious man. But this isn’t a karate master; it’s a ballroom dance instructor! Reluctantly, Fujita takes a few beginner’s classes, only to find his inspiration … an entrancing, teenage dance prodigy named Shizuku. It’s Fujita’s first step into the high-octane world of competitive dance!

Volume 1 of Welcome to the Ballroom is coming to print this Fall.

2pm (Eastern Time): That Wolf-Boy Is Mine!

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Our third new license of the day is That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! by Yoko Nogiri, known as Watashi no Ookami-kun in Japan. This is an adorable romantic comedy full of shapeshifting boys, in the vein of Fruits Basket!

Komugi’s not sure what to expect when her family moves to remote Hokkaido and she starts at a new high school. But she certainly didn’t expect a boy to come up to her and say,“Gee … you smell good!” That boy is Yu Ogami, and Komugi finds herself strangely drawn to him. But when she sees him in an unguarded moment, she discovers he’s half wolf! Now she has a choice to make: to keep his secret, or to ask for help and risk angering a wolf-boy? 

“I’ll gobble you right up!” Volume 1 of That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! is coming to print this Fall. (English title is tentative.)

1pm (Eastern Time): In/Spectre

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Our second print license is In/Spectre, known in Japan as Kyokou Suiri, with art by Chasiba Katase and story by the renowned mystery author Kyo Shirodaira, creator of Spiral, Record of a Fallen Vampire, and Blast of Tempest.

When she was still just a girl, Kotoko was kidnapped by yokai. These spirits made her into a powerful intermediary between the spirit and human worlds, but this power came at a price: an eye and a leg. Now, years later, she watches out for dangerous yokai while developing feelings for a young man named Kuro, who is also special: an incident with a yokai has given him healing powers. He’s surprised when Kotoko asks him to team up to handle renegade yokai, preserving the thin line between reality and the supernatural.

Volume 1 of In/Spectre is coming to print this Fall. (English title is tentative.)

12pm (Eastern Time): Sweetness and Lightning coming to print!

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Kodansha Comics is proud to announce that Sweetness and Lightning by Gido Amagakure (already available on Crunchyroll and in ebook formats) is coming to print, with Volume 1 releasing July 2016—just in time for the premiere of the anime adaptation.

Teacher Kouhei is a single father who is terrible at cooking. His adorable little daughter Tsumugi barely remembers the cooking of her mother, who’s passed away. But, then, the pair comes across a teenage girl eating rice balls and crying (in joy?) at the park. She takes Kouhei and Tsumugi to her mother’s restaurant, where they taste their first home-cooked meal in ages. A tribute to the power of food to bind people together!

March 15 New Releases: Paradise Residence, Forget Me Not, Livingstone + more

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New manga this week—including a couple of brand-new series kick-offs! Let's take a look at what's new to both brick+mortar and digital bookshelves …

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Paradise Residence is a new manga from the creator of Oh My Goddess! and You’re Under Arrest, Kosuke Fujishima. It follows Hatsune Takanashi—a clumsy schoolgirl who attends the Kitsuka Boarding School—and her trials living in the all-girls dormitory. This new series is published in an oversized format, with over 300 pages in its first volume. Read all of Chapter 1 here!

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Known in Japan as Soredemo boku wa kimi ga suki, Forget Me Not is a manga by Nao Emoto based on the popular novel by Taiwanese author Mag Hsu. Serizawa was walking home from work one day when he was struck by a truck. Woozy and injured, he remembers a woman taking him to safety. It was someone he recognized… but who? It’s a romance manga with a dose of mystery! Read all of Chapter 1 here!

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From Tomohiro Maekawa and Jinsei Kataoka (the artist of the smash hit Deadman Wonderland) comes Livingstone, the story about two men, Sakurai and Amano, on a quest to prevent the early deaths of those not yet fated to meet their end, or, at least, to recover the receptacle of the lost soul—the livingstone. Volume 2 of this fantasy adventure series is now here! Read all of Chapter 1 here!

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Finally, our rapid-release digital-only series, the astronaut-drama Space Brothers and post-apocalyptic actioner COPPELION, forge on, with newly arrived volumes on digital shelves this week. Read Chapter 1s at the links.

Happy reading! 

New Digital Editions from Vertical Comics in March

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As announced in December, we're now working with the estimable gang at Vertical Comics to release new Digital Editions of their books, starting with Ajin: Demi-Human, Chi's Sweet Home, The Drops of God, The Flowers of Evil, Knights of Sidonia, and Witchcraft Works.

Now, starting March 9, we're making 3 more titles from Vertical's list available as Digital Editions—now on sale at retail partners comiXology, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook.

First up, a must-have for fans of anime director Makoto Shinkai—much discussed as “the next Miyazaki”—with single-volume manga adaptations of two of Shinkai's acclaimed films, 5 Centimeters per Second and The Garden of Words. Full Chapter 1s can be read at the links:

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Next, we have From the New World, the lushly illustrated manga adapation of award-winning author Yusuke Kishi's science-fiction novel:

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For more info, visit Vertical Comics!

Creator Spotlight: Chuya Koyama (Space Brothers)

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Manga doesn't only take place in worlds of fantasy. Instead, manga can take you to worlds that seem rather familiar to us, or worlds we know exist in real life but rarely get a chance to experience ourselves. Have you ever wanted to go to space one day? Or was that a dream you had and forgot long ago? Space Brothers will take you to outer space, and prove anything is possible in the world of manga. 

How exactly does that work? We asked plenty of questions about it to Chuya Koyama, the creator of Space Brothers in our exclusive interview.

Creator Interview: Chuya Koyama on Space Brothers

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About Chuya Koyama
Born in Kyoto, Japan in 1978. Debut short story, GGG, won Seizou Watase Award for 14th Annual Manga Open. Following year, his next piece Gekidan Jets won the Grand Prize for the same award. In 2006, he started his first manga series about ski jumping, Harujan, in Morning magazine. Then he also turned his debut piece, GGG, into a series in the same magazine. In 2007 he started his first weekly series, Space Brothers, which was adapted into an anime series and live-action movie in 2012.

・The Martian x Space Brothers: Watch Chuya Koyama Draw His Version of the Movie Poster

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There's plenty of science fiction about outer space out there in other media than manga, like film. Remember the recent Ridley Scott movie The Martian, starring Matt Damon? In collaboration with the movie, Koyama-sensei worked on a special poster art starring Mutta from Space Brothers for the Japanese theaters. Read More…

• And yes, we've also got a footage of Koyama-sensei drawing Mutta and Apo from Space Brothers for Kodansha Comics' YouTube series, These Hands Make Manga. 

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• And we're giving away the sketch that you saw in the video, autographed and personalized by Koyama-sensei. 

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All you have to do is take a quick survey. 
But hurry—this sweepstakes ends on March 30, 2016. Click here to find out the contest rules.

Space Brothers volumes 1 through 19 are available from Kodansha Comics.

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You can also read the latest chapter of Space Brothers streaming on Crunchyroll.

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For more creator spots like this, check out KodanshaComics.com