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What’s Happening at New York Comic Con 2016?

Posted on Oct 6, 2016Feb 20, 2026 | Events

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October 6 update: check out our new license announcements for 2017!

In New York October 6 through 9? Look for the Kodansha Comics and Vertical booths and events at New York Comic Con!

Kodansha Comics Booth #2109
NYCC will be the first place many will get a glimpse of the highly anticipated Attack on Titan Anthology. We'll be selling NYCC-exclusive items, like the Attack on Titan Anthology NYCC Exclusive Edition and Attack on Titan Anthology NYCC T-shirts:

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Paolo Rivera (Mythos, Daredevil) is the artist behind the cover of Attack in Titan Anthology standard and exclusive edition debuting at New York Comic Con 2016. Watch Creator Profile Video on Paolo Rivera talking about Attack on Titan Anthology on Kodansha Comic YouTube channel.

Vertical Booth #441
We'll be giving away Bakemonogatari posters free at the booth and will have advance copies for sale of Ninja Slayer Part 6, My Neighbor Seki volume 8, Immortal Hounds volume 2, and Ajin: Demi-Human volume 8.

Events Schedule

Thursday October 6

11:15-12:15
Kodansha Comics Manga Panel
Room 1A10
Special guest: Yasuyuki Mimura (editor, Inuyashiki, Devils’ Line)
New license announcements for 2017 and special presentation on the manga creative process by Kodansha Morning and Young Magazine editor Yasuyuki Mimura. Plus, you'll get the chance to walk away with free books and cool stuff from Japan.

4:15-5:15
Kodansha Comics Presents the Attack on Titan Anthology
Room 1A10
Special guests: Jeanine Schaefer, Paolo Rivera, Brenden Fletcher, Jorge Corona, Genevieve Valentine
See the long-awaited Attack on Titan Anthology for the first time and meet some of the creative team behind this ambitious collaboration between the biggest manga hit of the decade and an all-star roster of comics creators including Scott Snyder, Gail Simone, Faith Erin Hicks, Kevin Wada, Kate Leth, Babs Tarr and more! You may even get your hands on a New York Comic Con exclusive edition of the book!

Friday October 7

Note: To attend artist signings, come to the Kodansha Comics booth (#2109) get a ticket for the signing.

3:00-3:50
Attack on Titan Anthology Signing 1
Kodansha Booth #2109
Guests: Paolo Rivera, Ronald Wimberly, Jorge Corona

Saturday October 8

4:00-4:50
Attack on Titan Anthology Signing 2
Kodansha Booth #2109
Guests: Simon Spurrier, Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Rafael Albuquerque

Sunday October 9

2:00-2:50
Attack on Titan Anthology Signing 3
Kodansha Booth #2109
Guests: Cameron Stewart, Babs Tarr, Brenden Fletcher

NYCC 2016 Recap: New License Announcements

Posted on Oct 6, 2016Feb 19, 2026 | Events | Licensing Announcements

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Wanna know what Kodansha Comics has been announcing at New York Comic Con 2016?!? Here's the recap of our license announcements and summaries of our panels, in case you weren't there!

Thursday October 6 • Kodansha Comics Manga Panel

The editorial staff from Kodansha USA Publishing just announced a bevy of new licenses, to be published in 2017! Plus Yasuyuki Mimura, the Japanese editor of Inuyashiki and Devil's Line, shared his knowledge and experience making seinen manga in Japan.

New License Announcements: Coming Summer 2017!

Regarding My Reincarnation as a Slime (Tentative Title)
By Fuse, art by Taiki Kawakami
Genre: fantasy, action-adventure, comedy

A regular, 37-year old working man gets a chance to start life in a fantasy world after being killed. There’s just one catch: he’s been reincarnated as a blind slime with magical powers. This is “trapped in a video game world” done in an entirely new way. There’s plenty of fantasy action and nods to old-school rpg fans, but the comedy makes this title truly fresh!

Fairy Tail: Rhodonite
By Kyouta Shibano, based on Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima

The second standalone story in the series published as Fairy Tail Gaiden in Japan follows the popular, tough, but lovable Gajeel Redfox! When Gajeel runs into an old friend, he is roped into the intrigue of a crime syndicate in his hometown. Fairy Tail fans won’t want to miss this chance to learn about the past of the Iron Dragon Slayer!

Kigurumi Defense Squad
By Hoshino Lily

From the creator of Otome Yokai Zakuro and character designer of acclaimed anime Mawaru Penguindrum comes another whimsical, modern fairy tale! 14-year-old Sasakura’s normal life is shaken up when she comes home to find a giant, mascot-like creature in her house. This kigurumi spirit, named Ginger, tasks her with protecting the world. If that’s not enough to take on, Ginger can also transform into a handsome young man. Fans of Hoshino Lily’s beautiful artwork and creative worldbuilding won’t be disappointed!

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight
By Mikimoto Rin

To most people, Hinana is a model high school student, but she secretly yearns for a fairy tale romance straight out of a shojo manga. She finally gets the chance to meet her prince when Ayase, a popular actorr, shows up at her high school. But this prince isn’t a charming knight at all… he’s actually a pervert! Fans of shojo romance will love this send up of tropes, and readers looking for a new take on a classic setup will find a lot to love.

Waiting for Spring
By Anashin

Mitsuki has been always been a loner, but high school offers the chance to break out of her shell and try to open up to people. The true friendship she seeks arrive in the unexpected form of four handsome guys from the basketball team! Mitsuki realizes there’s more than meets the eye to this boys, and together this unlikely group may be able to help her learn to really connect with others. Fans of strong heroines like Mei in Say I Love You and the quirky friendship dynamics of Kiss Him Not Me – don’t miss this one!

Love and Lies
By Tsumugi Musawo

In an alternate future Japan, marriage partners are assigned by the government when people are only 16 years old. Love and passion are strictly forbidden! In this environment, high schooler Yukari must deal with his secret love for a beautiful classmate. On top of that, his spirited marriage partner could prove to be an obstacle or a helpful hand in love. Anyone looking for a dystopian twist on schoo life romance won’t want to miss Love and Lies.

Ahogaru: Clueless Girl
By Hiroyuki

Yoshiko is a truly clueless high school girl whose spaciness reaches impressive heights. From getting all 0’s on a test to her single-minded obsession with bananas, it’s never a dull moment with her. Her childhood friend tasks himself with watching out for her at school, and is roped into her hijinks. This hilarious, 4-panel style manga is a perfect fit for fans of school life comedy like Nichijou and Azumanga Daioh.

New License Announcements: Coming Fall 2017!

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty
By Morino Mei

Satoshi, a 16-year-old high school student, gets a job as a caretaker of a beautiful mansion surrounded by roses. He is drawn to Shizu, the mysterious girl who lives there. Behind her blank stare lurks a supernatural secret, and Satoshi wants to help her. But can he overcome his fear of ghosts to get closer to this strange girl? Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty is a sweet and magical shojo that will hit the spot for any fan of supernatural romance!

Frau Faust
By Kore Yamazaki

From the creator of the fantasy hit The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Kore Yamazaki, comes a josei reinterpretation of the classic Faust legend. An unlikely partnership forms when traveling scholar Joanna Faust comes across a down-and-out boy in search of books. She offers to be his teacher in exchange for his help in her search for something important to her. Fans of cool female characters and intricate fantasy details will get lost in the world of Frau Faust.

Land of the Lustrous
By Ichikawa Haruko

In the distant future, a new immortal and genderless life form called Gems populate the Earth. The 28 Gems must fight against the Moon Dwellers, who attack them regularly to abduct them and to turn them into decorations.
Being only 300 years old, Phosphophyllite is the youngest of the Gems and has no assignment yet. He wants to help to fight the Moon Dwellers, but is too weak and brittle for battle. He finds his calling when the master of Gems assigns him the task of creating a natural history encyclopedia.

The unique premise and deep world of Land of the Lustrous has already captivated Japanese readers! It placed number 10 on the 2014 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Male Readers survey, and was nominated for the Manga Taisho awards in 2015.

Thursday October 6 • Attack on Titan Anthology Panel

Jeanine Schaefer (editor of Attack on Titan Anthology) Brenden Fletcher (Batirl, Gotham Academy, Black Canary), Jorge Corona (We Are Robin, Goners, Feathers), Genevieve Valentine (A Tale of the Tresaulti, Catwoman) joined the panel to talk about the behind-the-scenes of the Attack on Titan Anthology project.

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Attack on Titan Anthology NYCC edition and exclusive T-shirts were for sale at the Kodansha Booth (#2109).

After several years of hard work by comics super talents, the special edition of Attack on Titan Anthology debuted at New York Comic Con this year before it's actual street date on October 18.

(Left to right) exclusive variant-cover editions by Paolo Rivera, Faith Erin Hicks, Phil Jimenez, and Paul Pope.

Series debuts 9/27: Welcome to the Ballroom, Happiness, The Prince in His Dark Days

Posted on Sep 27, 2016Feb 20, 2026 | New Release

It's a special new-release Tuesday, as we've got 3 new series that break the mold making their debuts today (September 27)!

Read the entire first chapter of these new series at the links.

Welcome to the Ballroom by Tomo Takeuchi

Feckless high school student Tatara Fujita wants to be good at something—anything. Unfortunately, he’s about as average as a slouchy teen can be. The local bullies know this and make it a habit to hit him up for cash, but all that changes when the debonair Kaname Sengoku sends them packing. Sengoku’s not the neighborhood watch, though. He’s a professional ballroom dancer. And once Tatara Fujita gets pulled into the world of the ballroom, his life will never be the same

Happiness by Shuzo Oshimi

Shuzo Oshimi's (The Flowers of Evil) latest descent into the darkest corridors of teenage dread—with vampires. Nothing interesting in happening in Makoto Ozaki’s first year of high school. HIs life is a series of quiet humiliations: low-grade bullies, unreliable friends, and the constant frustration of his adolescent lust. But one night, a pale, thin girl knocks him to the ground in an alley and offers him a choice. Now everything is different. Daylight is searingly bright. Food tastes awful. And worse than anything is the terrible, consuming thirst. The tiny shames of his old life have been replaced by two towering horrors: the truth of what will slake his awful craving and high school itself.

The Prince in His Dark Days by Hiko Yamanaka

A heartrending modern love story. A drunkard for a father, a household of poverty … For 17-year-old Atsuko, misfortune is all she knows and believes in. Until one day, a chance encounter with Itaru—the wealthy heir of a huge corporation—changes everything. The two look identical, uncannily so. When Itaru curiously goes missing, Atsuko is roped into being his stand-in. There, in his shoes, Atsuko must parade like a prince in a palace. She encounters many new experiences, but at what cost … ?

All digital-only volume 1s now 99 cents—ends September 20!

Posted on Sep 19, 2016Feb 20, 2026 | Sales

Welcome back to School Rumble … we mean it! We're putting 17 digital volume 1s—not just School Rumble—on sale for 99 cents each!

Get into any of our digital-only series, including the exciting “Kodansha Resurrection” titles we're bring back from out of print. Visit our digital retail partners—at comiXology, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook—through September 20 (11pm Eastern Time) to get started.

Here's the complete list of our digital-only Volume 1s, which are now on sale (full Chapter 1s at the links):

ALIVE
As the Gods Will: The Second Series
COPPELION
Fort of Apocalypse
Fuuka
Gakuen Prince
My Wife Is Wagatsuma-san
Nodame Cantabile
NOiSE
Princess Resurrection
Pumpkin Scissors
Sayonara, Football
School Rumble
Space Brothers
Unlimited Fafnir
Yagyu Ninja Scrolls
Yozakura Quartet

BLAME! by Tsutomu Nihei print & digital on sale now

Posted on Sep 12, 2016Feb 19, 2026 | Sales

The manga science-fiction classic BLAME! by Tsutomu Nihei is back.

Originally published by Tokyopop, then long out of print, Tsutomu Nihei's (Knights of Sidonia) cyberpunk gamechanger BLAME! is now back in digital and in a luxurious new premium print edition courtesy of Vertical Comics. Read all of the scintillating Chapter 1 here.

Check out our other long-out-of-print “Resurrected” Kodansha re-releases—now on sale through September 20.

And if you missed the BLAME! anime trailer debut at this year's San Diego Comic Con—introduced by manga's preeminent science-fiction master himself—check it out here.

Report from Anime Expo: An exclusive interview with Naoshi Arakawa

Posted on Aug 9, 2016Feb 19, 2026 | Creator Spotlight | Events

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Interview by Misaki C. Kido

Naoshi Arakawa was the Guest of Honor at Anime Expo 2016 in Los Angeles. And while Arakawa’s best known work Your Lie in April has gained recognition from the popularity of his manga and its anime adaptation, there’s not much public information about the man himself. But during a rare Stateside appearance, Arakawa spoke candidly about himself in front of a large audience there for his highlight panel, hosted by Kodansha Comics.

Your Lie in April volumes 1-9 are available in print and digital editions from Kodansha Comics.

Kodansha Comics (KC): How did you come up with the story of Your Lie in April?
Naoshi Arakawa (NA): It was actually one of the scrapped story ideas I had after debuting as a mangaka. When I got a spot in a monthly magazine to start my own series, I brought up one of my old ideas. I think I just saw a girl a playing violin on TV or something. I thought it was cool, so I wanted to do that. Originally, I was going to make it a story about a boy and a girl violinist. But it’s hard to keep drawing scenes with two violinists. So I decided to make the girl a violinist and the boy a pianist.

KC: Why did you pick the subject of classical music for your manga?
NA: At the time there was already a really popular rock manga called BECK. So no one dared make a manga about music that went head-to-head against that manga. There was also a manga about classical music called Nodame Cantabile. But it was focused on the orchestra and not so much on playing a single instrument, like violin. So if I were to draw a manga about music, I definitely wanted to focus on the violin. I wanted to make sure my own music manga didn’t seem second string.

KC: Did you play any instruments when you were growing up?
NA: Actually no, I didn’t play any instruments.

KC: What? Then how can you draw scenes like this one?
NA: People often ask me that and are surprised to know I’ve never played an instrument myself. But I did other things like kendo when I was growing up. So I’m familiar with the tension in the air at competitions. I drew these scenes based on those experiences. My editor was the one with the experience of playing music, actually, particularly violin. So I often asked any questions about classical music to him. I also went and did research myself.

KC: Beside the music, romance is another big theme in Your Lie in April. Why is that?
NA: When I first became a mangaka, I worked with a storywriter to make a slice-of-life manga about teenagers. My next manga was about soccer, but it was also in a slice-of-life style. When I got a chance to make my own series, the editors told me to do the same thing, but I’d already started to get bored of that, since I’d drawn so many of those in a row. So I started to think,“What if I did a shonen manga with some romance, like in a shojo manga?” Eventually, though, I even got bored of that, so I decided to make the musical performance scenes more like in a shonen manga, so I could blow off some steam.

KC: Why did you decide to become a mangaka?
NA: I think I wanted to be a storyteller. I have an older brother who was into reading Shonen Jump and Shonen Magazine. So I remember being surrounded by manga all the time. I also joined a manga club in college because my friends wanted to. But I never told anyone I wanted to become a mangaka. I grew up in the countryside where people are bit conservative. So if I told anyone I want to be a mangaka, they’d definitely look at me funny or tell me to “get a decent job with the government.” I was a rare breed. I was super-shy, so I didn’t want to get involved with people and just wanted to get into making stories. Only later I found out you need a certain level of communication skills and to involve yourself with other people to make manga.

KC: Do you have any hobbies?
NA: Hobbies? Hm … I collect figurines, like Iron Man. I actually like three-dimensional objects more than just pictures. I like statues over poseable figurines. I don’t know if you would call it a hobby, but I definitely have a collector tendency.

KC: What’s your zodiac sign?
NA: I’m an Aquarius.

New chapters of Farewell, My Dear Cramer is available from comiXology and Kindle.

KC: After you’ve completed Your Lie in April, you’ve started to a new manga, Farewell, My Dear Cramer. Could you tell me a little bit about your work?
NA: Personally, I’ve been calling it “a manga that supports women’s soccer.” The world of women’s soccer is pretty rough, because they don’t get much funding. Even the American team, which is the best team in the world, they’re treated so differently compared to the men’s team. So there’s a talk about them boycotting from the Olympics. Japanese team seems to be the same way. Most of them are in business group team, so all the players have to work regular hours, then go to practice. I just wish that by making this manga, there will be more awareness about women’s soccer.

KC: The characters in this manga is not really typical girly-girls.
NA: I’m not interested in drawing girls who are just cute or “moe.” I want to draw girls who are cool and awesome. Of course later down the line, I would like to introduce more unique characters. But for most of the part, I want to focus on the three main characters. It’s a story about them working together. One of them was actually a lead character from my old work, Sayonara Football. So if you read Sayonara Football first, you’ll understand Farewell, My Dear Cramer even more deeply.

KC: Could you show us your work process?
NA: Here’s a rough sketch storyboard. We call it the “name” stage.

NA: And here’s the same page after linework. I do most of inking with G-pen. All the human characters are hand-drawn by me. After this stage, the assistant draws in the backgrounds and effects like speedlines.

NA: This is the same page, but fully inked. Sometimes I do this process myself, but I like to leave it up to the assistant. After it’s fully inked by hands, I scan it and make minor adjustment on the computer.

KC: Could we watch you actually draw?

KC: Thank you!

Here's a highlight video of Kodansha Comics at Anime Expo 2016:

Click here for more recaps of Kodansha Comics' announcements from Anime Expo 2016.

Kodansha Resurrection: out-of-print series now back—in digital

Posted on Aug 2, 2016Feb 20, 2026 | General

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Updated on 8/2: … and to our digital “resurrections” we've just added the first two volumes of Ryotaro Iwanaga's military alt-history saga Pumpkin Scissors and Volume 1 of Suzuhito Yasuda's monster-bash cult-fave Yozakura Quartet!

Originally posted July 27:

They're back. Once upon a time, many legendary manga series in English went into limbo when their publishers ceased operations. Some of those—if they were published by Kodansha in Japan—continued to be released by yours truly, but several went out-of-print and/or were never completed.

Well, they're back now—in digital—and we're looking to finish them. Keep your eyes peeled for much more to come, but to kick off our Resurrection the first two volumes of each of these series go on sale today at all of our digital retail partners (comiXology, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook):

• alien-invasion thriller ALIVE, perhaps now best known as the breakthrough work of Noragami: Stray God mangaka Adachitoka
• absolute shojo cult-fave Nodame Cantabile, by Tomoko Ninomiya, about the ongoing relationship between two very different classical musicians
• monster-killer-comedy-turned-late-night-anime-classic Princess Resurrection, by Yasunori Mitsunaga
• Jin Kobayashi's epic of high-school hijinx, School Rumble

On top of that, enjoy these two back-in-print classics from Tsutomu Nihei that we've also just recently added to our digital lineup:

The “Resurrection” promises to be one of the most ambitious ongoing projects by our digital publishing team. Look for new volumes to come out every week—and more announcements in the weeks and months to come.

Yeah, it’s back! Yozakura Quartet now in digital!

Posted on Aug 2, 2016Feb 20, 2026 | General

Get the news on Yozakura Quartet and our other digital “resurrections” right here!

Comic-Con reveals: BLAME! trailer world premiere, Attack on Titan Anthology cover, Ghost in the Shell deluxe

Posted on Jul 24, 2016Feb 20, 2026 | Events | New Release | Partners

Whew! Here’s what from Kodansha Comics made its way into the world for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend!

BLAME! anime trailer WORLD PREMIERE

Tsutomu Nihei drawing a sketch for a fan at the comiXology booth at San Diego Comic-Con.

Tsutomu Nihei, creator of science-fiction megamanga Knights of Sidonia, BLAME!, and NOiSE, made a big splash in San Diego, greeting his fans and executing signings all around the con.
At his spotlight Vertical Comics panel, he announced the forthcoming BLAME! anime film, coming in 2017 as a Netflix Original. For the press release of the announcement of the anime, click here. Then he kicked off the world premiere of the trailer for the animated feature. You can see it right here:

Big thanks to our SDCC partners at Vertical Comics, 1000toys, BAIT, Bluefin, and comiXology!

Attack on Titan Anthology cover revealed!

Paul Pope’s transformative cover to the Attack on Titan Anthology—first seen at SDCC.

Meanwhile, at the Kodansha Comics panel on Saturday, more details around the hotly anticipated Attack on Titan Anthology were divulged, including insights to its creation and the revelation of variant covers for exclusive editions available from Diamond, Books-A-Million!, Barnes & Noble, and at New York Comic Con. But maybe the biggest news was the world premiere of the official cover by none other than transformative comics savant Paul Pope (@PULPH0PE).

Left: Paolo Rivera’s Books-A-Million! exclusive variant cover art. Right: Some wild pages from the Attack on Titan Anthology story by SDCC panelist Ronald Wimberly.

Announcing: The Ghost in the Shell deluxe edition

• Deluxe re-release of the original The Ghost in the Shell series: volumes 1, 1.5, and 2.
• Definitive edition under supervision of creator Shirow Masamune
• In time for the major film adaptation from Paramount Pictures!
• In the original right-to-left Japanese reading format with unaltered Japanese sound effects for the first time
• Coming 2017

The Akira 35th Anniversary Box Set

• A deluxe box set of Akira volumes 1-6, plus the Akira Club art book, in large hardcover format
• With the art uncut and unaltered, in the original right-to-left reading format with the original Japanese sound effects
• MSRP $199.99
• Coming 2017

Q: What’s happening at San Diego Comic-Con? (A: Tsutomu Nihei and lots more)

Posted on Jul 20, 2016Feb 20, 2026 | Creator Spotlight | Events

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Going to San Diego Comic-Con this year? We are too!

Be sure to catch Vertical Comics and Kodansha Comics' special guest artist at San Diego this year: Tsutomu Nihei, creator of science-fiction megahits Knights of Sidonia, BLAME!, and NOiSE. Here’s a schedule of Nihei-sensei's-related panels and signing sessions at SDCC:

Tsutomu Nihei Panel
Saturday, July 23
3-4
Room 4
Rare chance to see 'n' hear Tsutomu Nihei live in person. Plus—a major new anime project reveal

Tsutomu Nihei signing sessions

Thursday, July 21
1-2
comiXology — booth 2547
Get your hands on the exclusive Nihei comiXology creator trading card

Thursday, July 21
3-4
BAIT
920 Fifth Avenue, San Diego (@Broadway)
This location is a ~15-minute walk from the convention center.

Saturday, July 23
5:30-6:30
Room AA20

The Tsutom Nihei Quest

July 21-23 (Thursday through Saturday)
convention hours until around 5 p.m.
check in at Vertical Comics — booth 1631
For the first 3 days of SDCC, we’ll be hosting a scavenger hunt-style quest in and around the convention center, with texts and announcements direct from Nihei-sensei. Quest completers will get a free SDCC-exclusive Nihei-designed T-shirt while supplies last.

Plus don't miss:

Kodansha Comics/Attack on Titan Anthology Panel

Saturday, July 23
11:30-12:30
Room 8
Meet Brenden Fletcher (Batgirl, Gotham Academy, Motor Crush), Ronald Wimberly (Prince of Cats), Kate Leth (Kate or Die!, Vampirella), Jeremy Lambert (Haven: Origins), and Jody Houser (Orphan Black), the talent 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, including Scott Snyder, Gail Simone, Phil Jimenez, Michael Avon Oeming, Faith Erin Hicks, and others. New art from the anthology will be revealed, along with a look at new comics from one of America's biggest manga publishers. Plus lots of free books and exclusive promo items.

Vertical Comics — booth 1631
July 20-24 (Wednesday through Sunday)
during convention hours
Come visit us at the Vertical Comics booth, where we'll have special giveaways, including free comiXology download codes for the not-yet-on-sale BLAME! Volume 1. The print edition of this Master Edition re-release of Nihei's manga classic will also be on sale at the booth, months before it hits stores. An SDCC exclusive signing board (shikishi) comes free with purchase.

Tsutomu Nihei’s classic NOiSE is BACK in digital—read Chapter 1 here

Posted on Jul 12, 2016Feb 20, 2026 | Creator Spotlight

Originally published by Tokyopop, then long out of print, Tsutomu Nihei's (Knights of Sidonia) dark cyberpunk prequel to BLAME! is now back—in digital. (Available now from Kindle, comiXology, iBooks, nook, and Kobo.)

Read the complete Chapter 1 of NOiSE here.

We also recently announced at Anime Expo other long out-of-print Kodansha licenses “resurrected” in digital—with more to come.

And be sure to catch Nihei-sensei's rare Stateside appearance at San Diego Comic Con 2016. Or if you can't make it to SDCC … stay tuned to this channel for a major announcement from manga's preeminent science-fiction master.

Here's a special video message from Nihei-sensei about his anticipation to visit SDCC2016.

Nihei-portrait

About Tsutomu Nihei

Born in 1971 in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture, Tsutomu Nihei has been drawing comics professionally since the mid 1990s. In 1995 he was awarded the Jiro Taniguchi Special Prize in that year's Afternoon Magazine Four Seasons Awards for his submission called Blame. After working as an assistant to veteran comic artist Tsutomu Takahashi, Nihei went on to launch his debut series Blame! in Afternoon Magazine in 1998. Following the success of Blame! he next penned BioMega (Viz Media) and Wolverine SNIKT (Marvel). In 2009 Nihei returned to Afternoonto launch his latest series, Knights of Sidonia. In 2015 he won the Kodansha Manga Award in the General Comics category for his work on Knights of Sidonia.

Anime Expo Recap: our announcements live from Los Angeles!

Posted on Jul 3, 2016Feb 19, 2026 | Events | Licensing Announcements

July 3 Update: Click here for the announcement on the Attack on Titan Season 2 anime!

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Here’s our running recap of what Kodansha Comics is announcing throughout the July 4th holiday weekend from Anime Expo 2016 in Los Angeles!

AoT_Variant Cover_Diamond

At Friday's Attack on Titan Anthology Panel, we not only met some of the creative minds behind this unprecedented collaboration between Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama and an all-star list of the best Western comics artists and writers, we revealed never-before-seen art from the book and gave away exclusive trading cards and other goodies.

AoT Adventure Book

We also announced the forthcoming release of Attack on Titan Adventure, a unique Attack on Titan interactive novel in the tradition of “Choose Your Own Adventure.” You'll work your way through branching storylines, puzzles, and more! Coming February 2017!

ENEN

At Saturday's Kodansha Comics panel, we announced Fire Force, the new manga about fighters against spontaneous combustion by Soul Eater creator Atsushi Okubo. Coming November 2016.

Ichiefu

We then announced Ichi F, the landmark nonfiction manga memoir of worker in the Fukushima nuclear power plant that melted down in the wake of the March 2011 tsunami disaster. We'll be publishing this as a 600-page single volume in March 2017.

We also announced the print graphic-novel release of our newest digital simulpub series, Kosuke Fujishima's motorcross dream, Toppu GP, coming in 2017. Also look out for the manga release of Clockwork Planet in 2017, the post-apocalyptic steampunk saga based on the popular light novel series.

Finally, on the digital side of things, we announced the beginning of digital re-releases of long out-of-print Kodansha series that had previously been released in English. More details to come, but look for:

Knights of Sidonia creator Tsutomu Nihei's single-volume prequel to BLAME!, NOiSE
ALIVE by Tadashi Kawashima and Noragami creator Adachitoka
The hit romance about two classical musicians Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninomiya
Horror comedy Princess Resurrection by Yasunori Mitsunaga
High school love triangle comedy School Rumble by Jin Kobayashi

Look for these digital releases by the end of this month—with more announcements about digital re-rereleases from our archives coming at San Diego Comic Con!

Kodansha

Author: administrator