Tag: digital-first

Discover Tokyo Sale! + digital debut: Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live?

Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Noragami, Chihayafuru … Did you know all these manga are set  in real-life locations in Tokyo? Identifying and visiting places that appear in manga and anime is called seichi junrei, or “pilgrimage to the sacred places,” and it’s an unique way to enjoy tourism in Japan. This week for our Discover Tokyo Sale, we’ve picked 22 manga that takes place in Tokyo, and put them on sale at all of our digital retail partners: BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook.

Here’s the deal

To start out with, volumes 1’s of the selected manga on digital for only 99¢!
And if you like what you’re reading, keep going—because the all other volumes are up to 50% off!
Pretty sweet deal huh? But you gotta hurry, because the sale will end on July 30!

Where do I start?

A brand new josei manga debuts on digital today, called Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? by MAKIHIROCHI. It’s about two real estate agents, who are twins (also heavy metal fans), who put the “real” in the “real estate” game and school you about the under-the-radar neighborhoods in Tokyo. If you are looking for a good new read that takes place in Tokyo, THIS IS IT.  Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? volume 1 debuts at 50% off cover price at $5.99. 

~ Kodansha Comics Fantasy Manga Sale  ~
July 24~30
Click on the link to read Chapter 1 for FREE!
Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? 
Alive
Chihayafuru
City
Complex Age
COPPELION
Dragon Head
Fuuka
Genshiken
Inuyashiki
Liar x Liar
Moteki
Noragami: Stray God 
Princess Jellyfish
Real Girl
Suzuka
Tokyo Alice
Tokyo Mewmew Omnibus 
Tokyo Tarareba Girls
Welcome to the Ballroom
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
Your Lie in April
Yozakura Quartet

 

 

BECK and Seven Shakespeares: 2 x Harold Sakuishi debut July 5!

Creator Spotlight: Harold Sakuishi

It’s been a long time since he rock and rolled (in English), but Harold Sakuishi is back—and beyond!

Today, July 5, we debut not one but two new manga by the creator of the all-time rock ‘n’ roll manga BECK. And not only do we go beyond where that manga last left off in English, we bring you Sakuishi-sensei’s latest: Seven Shakespeares. And it all comes to you in one massive drop in one day of 18 volumes of manga courtesy of comiXology Originals! 

BECK returns with new, never-before-translated volumes and debuts today with the first 14 volumes available to read now. This release of BECK will see the series completed for the first time in English. Read all of Chapter 1—as a free preview—below!

Sakuishi’s latest ongoing series Seven Shakespeares launches for the first time ever in English with 4 volumes available today.  

Both Beck and Seven Shakespeares are being made availably by comiXology Originals and are available for now only on Kindle and comiXology.

BECK

BECK is back! Harold Sakuishi’s wildly addictive 34-volume rock ‘n’ roll epic that redefined for a generation what manga could be returns—at last complete in English. Fourteen-year-old Yukio Tanaka is one heck of a boring guy. He has no hobbies, weak taste in music, and only a small vestige of a personality. His shy and somewhat neurotic personality makes him his own worst enemy. Little does he know that his life will be forever changed when he meets rocker Ryusuke Minami, an unpredictable sixteen-year-old with a cool dog named Beck. Ryusuke has just returned to Japan from America, and when he inspires Yukio to get into music, the two begin a journey through the world of rock ‘n’ roll dreams! Lace up your Docs and head to the mosh pit—Harold Sakuishi’s manga series that spawned the hit anime is back!

Seven Shakespeares

Literary secrets come alive when Harold Sakuishi, creator of the all-time-classic rock ‘n’ roll manga BECK, tackles a different kind of legend: William Shakespeare. He’s said to be the greatest playwright and poet in history, the author of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth, but just who was Shakespeare? Harold Sakuishi unlocks the secrets behind the writer you only thought you knew! Volumes 1-3 come in special, 520-page 2-in-1 editions!

“I’m so happy to see BECK and Seven Shakespeares in English—now they can really be enjoyed by everyone. I also want to thank all the music, the musicians, and William Shakespeare, for the inspiration. Hope you will enjoy them too. Thank you!” —Harold Sakuishi

About Harold Sakuishi 
Harold Sakuishi was born in 1969 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. He started his career as a manga-ka in 1987, when he won the 17th annual Tetsuya Chiba Excellent Newcomers Award with his one-shot manga Souwaikan (That’s Not Going to Happen). The following year, he debuted his first serial, Gorillaman, which went on to win the Kodansha Manga Award in 1990. He has since serialized various manga in Kodansha’s Young Magazine, such as Bakaichi and Stopper Busujima. In 1999, he started what would become his signature work, BECK, which won him his second Kodansha Manga Award. Other notable manga include RiN and his current ongoing serial, Seven Shakespeares. 

Announcing: July digital-first debuts!

The campaign continues as we launch at least one new “digital-first”manga series every week, and in July we kick off 5 new manga series, with a shonen RPG actioner, different looks at romance in a trio of shojo/josei titles, and even a Tokyo cool neighborhood guide in manga form!

Kodansha Comics’s digital-first manga releases are part of an exciting new initiative begun last year to put a greater diversity of manga series into the market. This month’s series debuts will be available at all of Kodansha Comics’s partner digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, Kobo, and nook:


~ Click on the cover to read Chapter 1 for free ~

I’m Standing on a Million Lives (debuting July 3), Naoki Yamakawa and Akinari Nao’s visually stunning “RPG manga” about a high-school loner who gets transported along with two classmates to another world where they must work together to fight for their lives (Japanese title: 100-man no inochi no ueni orewa tatteiru);

Tokyo Alice (debuting July 10), Toriko Chiya’s slice-of-life romance manga about four “Alices” living in the big city in search of happiness … and shopping!;

Kakafukaka (debuting July 17), Takumi Ishida’s modern-world romance about a woman who moves into a sharehouse and re-encounters her first love—only to discover a major revelation;

Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? (debuting July 24), MAKIHIROCHI’s offbeat manga city guide, courtesy the Shigeta Twins, a couple of cool real estate agents here to show you around Tokyo’s secret best neighborhoods (Japanese title: Kichijoji dakega sumitai machi desuka?);

The Prince’s Romance Gambit (debuting July 31), Nikki Asada’s romantic manga about a prince who has a 500 IQ and just about everything, but gets his life thrown out of whack by one plain girl. Problem is, she’s not sure if she wants anything to do with him!  (Japanese title: Oujiga watashi wo akiramenai!) .

More information about Kodansha Comics’s “digital-first” initiative can be found here.

Media: Download the official press kit here

 

Kodansha Comics Summer Linewide Sale!—1600+ digital manga up to 50% off (ends 6/25)

Schools’ Out: Read Manga!

Summer’s here (basically) and that means we all have just that much more time to read manga, right? Any manga that you’ve been holding off of reading because you simply didn’t have the time? Well, this is the time to get on it, because Kodansha Comics and Vertical are putting (almost) every single digital book that we publish (that’s 1600+ volumes of manga!) up to 50% off at all of our digital-partner platforms: BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook. Not only that, this offer will last for 2 weeks (ends June 25)!

And don’t forget to check out our digital-first library! We’ve been building up this collection over the past several months and there’s quite a bit more available than there were this time last year. Some of them have been (or soon will be) turned into anime series, like Tsuredure Children—or better yet, later released in print editions due to popular demand, like Grand Blue Dreaming and Tokyo Tarareba Girls!

Check out the FULL LIST of manga on sale here!

Read beyond the latest volume on comiXology Unlimited! 18 series up to 50% off

Ever gotten through the latest volume of a great manga series and then wanted to read more? You can, you know, if you’re a subscriber to comiXology Unlimited! We’re encouraging the readers of 18 Kodansha Comics series to READ BEYOND as we put up chapters that go past the latest available volume on comiXology Unlimited and add new chapters along the way!

It’s a great way to jump ahead on your favorite series—at no extra cost beyond the $5.99/month subscription fee. In fact, based on our math, all the chapters that are already up on Unlimited are alone worth more than the price of admission!

Which brings us to … more savings! To help get you up to speed, for this week only, we’re putting all graphic novels volumes of those 18 series for sale up to 50% off exclusively on comiXology and Kindle. It’s a great chance to catch up and then read beyond on comiXology Unlimited. Alas, this sale ends, as all sales must, on June 11.

~ READ BEYOND! ComiXology Unlimited Sale ~
June 5~11
Click on the banner to read Chapter 1 for FREE!

Fuuka 
All graphics novels up to the latest volume 17 (chapters 156-165) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 166-194
New chapters every week! 

GTO Paradise Lost
All graphics novels up to the latest volume 8 (chapters 62-70) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 71-97
New chapters every week!

The Seven Deadly Sins
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 26 (chapters 207-213) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 214-263
New chapters every week!

Space Brothers
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 31 (chapters 287-295) 50% 0ff
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 296-315
New chapters every week!

To Your Eternity
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 4 (chapters 25-34) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 35-64
New chapters every week!

UQ Holder!
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 13 (chapters 129-132) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 133-147
New chapters every week! 

Ajin: Demi-Human
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 11 (chapters 49-53) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 54-57
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

APOSIMZ
Chapters available on comiXology Unlimited 1-14
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Attack on Titan
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 24 (chapters 95-98) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 99-104
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Devils’ Line
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 10 (chapters 48-52) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 53-59
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Drifting Dragons
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 3 (chapters 12-17) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 18-23
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Farewell, My Dear Cramer
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 1-23
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Grand Blue Dreaming
All graphic novels up to the latest volume latest volume 9 (chapters 34-37) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 38-43
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

The Heroic Legend of Arslan
All graphic novels up to the  latest volume 8 (chapters 47-52) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 53-58
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Our Precious Conversations
All graphic novels up to the latest volume Latest volume 2 (chapters 7-11) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 12-19
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Sweetness and Lighting
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 10 (chapters 45-49) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 50-53
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

TOPPU GP
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 2 (chapters 8-14) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 15-25
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Wave, Listen to Me!
All graphic novels up to the latest volume 3 (chapters 17-24) 50% off
Chapters now on comiXology Unlimited 25-39
All chapters as single issues 50% off
New chapter every month!

Announcing: June digital-first debuts!

Continuing to launch at least one new “digital-first”manga series every week—we kick off 4 new manga series in June, with a diverse offering for the month, including a new girls’ fantasy series by best-selling shojo mangaka Ema Toyama (Missions of Love, Aoba-kun’s Confessions), a sophisticated timeslip romance, an earnest boys’ junior high-school karate manga, and an outrageous “private tutor” comedy.

Kodansha Comics’s digital-first manga releases are part of an exciting new initiative begun last year to put a greater diversity of manga series into the market. Starting with Chika’s Those Summer Days on June 5, this month’s series debuts will be available at all of Kodansha Comics’s partner digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, Kobo, MyAnimeList, and nook:


~ Click on the cover to read Chapter 1 for free ~

Those Summer Days (debuting June 5), Chika’s timeslip romance about a legal secretary and a businessman who get a second chance when they travel back in time to that fateful summer day in high school (Japanese title: Ano natsu);

Kamikamikaeshi (debuting June 12), new fantasy manga by shojo hit-machine Ema Toyama (Missions of Love, Aoba-kun’s Confessions), about Shinto gods living in one young girl’s … hair!?

Karate Heat (debuting June 19), Eiichi Kitano’s fun-filled saga of friendship and competition in the Kawasaki Ukishima Junior High School Karate Club! (Japanese title: Tenohira no netsu wo);

The Quintessential Quintuplets (debuting June 26), Negi Haruba’s screwball comedy about Futaro, a private tutor who gets stuck with five gorgeous, troublemaking quintuplets for students (Japanese title: Gotoubun no hanayome) ;

More information about Kodansha Comics’s “digital-first” initiative can be found here.

Media: Download the official press kit here

 

New Hiro Mashima manga Eden’s Zero debuts worldwide June 26!

There will only be one first time!

Eleven months after the finale of Fairy Tail, the new work from Hiro Mashima begins at last!

A new chapter, a great adventure beyond imagination … 

The worldwide-anticipated release starting from Chapter 1 will be available simultaneously in five languages:

Chinese, English, French, Korean, Thai

—

Eden’s Zero* by Hiro Mashima

Debuts June 26

—

English simulpubs will be available on Crunchyroll Manga, comiXology, and Kindle (other outlets to be announced) 

*Title Eden’s Zero is not yet final

And here’s a special message from Hiro Mashima to his overseas fans!

—

I’m bringing you my next series pretty soon!

I can assure you it’s going to be full of surprises and excitement.

Please look forward to it on June 26!

—

If you missed our previous announcement, with special sketches revealed, click here!

Announcing: May digital-first debuts!

We continue to launch at least one new “digital-first”manga series every week—and for May we kick off 5 new manga series in a diverse offering of different genres!

Our digital-first manga releases are part of an exciting new initiative begun last year to put a greater diversity of manga series into the market. Starting with Yuji Onda’s mean step-sibling drama Beware the Kamiki Brothers! on May 1, this month’s series debuts will be available at all of Kodansha Comics’s partner digital platforms:

Beware the Kamiki Brothers! (debuting May 1), Yuji Onda’s romantic-comedy manga about a high-school girl who finds herself living with some scary new stepbrothers (Japanese title: Kamiki kyoudai okotowari);

Heaven’s Design Team (debuting May 8), an imaginative new manga series about Heaven’s Animal Design Department, where designers create a variety of new animals while contending with the unreasonable requests of their client (Japanese title: Tenchi souzou design-bu) ;

The Wizard and His Fairy (debuting May 15), Chisato Nesumi’s pretty fantasy manga about an eccentric wizard and the beautiful and strong-willed fairy he takes in (Japanese title: Kirikagohime to mahoutsukai);

Can You Just Die, My Darling? (debuting May 22), the hit dark manga thriller of murder, love, and delusion by Majuro Kaname and Sousou Sakakibara (Japanese title: Konya wa tsuki ga kirei desuga, toriaezu shine) ;

A Kiss, For Real (debuting May 29),  Fumie Akuta’s sweet, but sadistic, high-school romance manga about a mask-wearing girl and a free-spirited boy (Japanese title: Sekirara ni Kiss) ;

More information about Kodansha Comics’s “digital-first” initiative can be found here.

Media: Download the official press kit here

 

Announcing: April digital-first debuts!

Kodansha Comics’s digital-first manga releases are part of an exciting new initiative we started last year to put a greater diversity of manga series into the market. Continuing our aggressive release schedule of debuting at least one new digital manga series every week, we’ve got 5 new manga series kicking off in April, with a decided bent toward high-school-set shoujo manga!

Starting with Azusa Mase’s high-school drama You Got Me, Sempai! on April 3, April’s series debuts will be available at all of Kodansha Comics’s partner digital platforms: BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook. Here’s the rundown:

You Got Me, Sempai! (debuting April 3), a breezy, beautifully rendered high-school romance about a freshman and her frosty (or is he just awkward?) sempai (Japanese title: Mairimashita, Sempai);

A.I.C.O. Incarnation (debuting April 10), the manga adaptation of the new biotech science-fiction anime produced by Studio BONES and currently streaming on Netflix;

Boarding School Juliet (also debuting April 10), another high-school romance, set against a background of a fierce dormitory rivalry—yep, it’s Romeo and Juliet set in modern-day Japanese high school (Japanese title: Kisyuku gakkou no Juliet);

Peach Mermaid (debuting April 17), a goofy, and somewhat off-color, comedy about a mermaid who makes the decision to walk amongst us in the human world—which goes perfectly well … if she didn’t have one little problem … (Japanese title: Momoiro ningyo);

Defying Kurosaki-kun (also debuting April 24), the last of this month’s high-school shoujo romances, involving one girl and the two guys she must choose between—including the mean, domineering Kurosaki-kun (Japanese title: Kurosaki-kun no iinari ninante naranai);

In addition to those 5 digital-first debuts, we’re also debuting Volume 1 of Fujita’s awkward otaku romantic comedy, Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku—which has recently been adapted into a new television anime series. Wotakoi debuts in both print and digital on April 17. There’s a lot of new manga coming from Kodansha Comics in April!

More information about Kodansha Comics’s “digital-first” initiative can be found here.

Media: Download a PDF of the official press release here.

Dragon Head is BACK + new digital manga series every week in March

Remember (or not) back in the days when manga was fairly new to all of us outside of Japan and we had no idea what to expect? We here at Kodansha Comics like to think we’re bringing back some those days of giddy manga discovery with our digital-first releases!

And to really turn back the clock, we’re happy to announce today the release of all of Minetaro Mochizuki’s 90s cult classic Dragon Head as a digital release, with with the entire tightly wound ten-volume run dropping February 27 at all of our partner digital book platforms. In addition—for one week only—Volume 1 of Dragon Head will be available for 99-cents on  BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook.

Dragon Head by Minetaro Mochizuki
The Complete Series (Volumes 1-10) available now on digital!

The end of everyone was just the beginning … Returning home by train after a class trip, Teru Aoki takes a most frightening ride inside a mountain tunnel. When the train derails, nearly everyone aboard is killed. Amidst the bloody carnage, Teru discovers two survivors—but salvation is far from their grasp. As they try to dig out from the wreck in order to come up with a plan to stay alive, the lack of light and food, combined with the stench of death and decay, will lead one member of the group down a dark and demented path. And with sudden, violent earthquakes shaking the tunnel, escaping to the outside world may lead them to an even greater danger …

Originally released in English by TokyoPop, Dragon Head shocked readers used to lighter fare from the manga boom of 2000s and went on to become an underground classic. Publishers Weekly in a Starred Review called it “an emotionally and psychologically compelling drama that promises to be an unforgettable journey into darkness.” A relentless tour de force of disaster and psychedelia, it’s been long out of print, until now. Chapter 1 can be read for free here.

Are you ready? A digital debut every week!

There’s more. Dragon Head’s release kicks off a renewed barrage of digital-first manga releases from Kodansha Comics. Starting March 13, Kodansha Comics will be debuting one new digital manga series every week for the forseeable future. Great news for you readers with an undying thirst and curiosity for new manga!  Here’s 3 new series starting up in March: 

Starving Anonymous (debuting March 13) an intense dystopian horror thriller in the apocalyptic vein of Dragon Head and Attack on Titan, from the team that brought you zombie actioner Fort of Apocalypse.

Perfect World (debuting March 20) Rie Aruga’s touching drama about the romance that develops between an abled interior designer and her first love, whom she reencounters one day only to find he is wheelchair-bound.

Liar x Liar (debuting March 27) Renjuro Kindaichi’s devious romantic comedy about an off-kilter affair that’s kicked off by a high-school uniform and a case of mistaken identity!

More information about Kodansha Comics’s “digital-first” manga can be found here.

Be the first to know about new releases, digital manga sales, and other exciting announcements by signing up for the Kodansha Comics newsletter! 

Media: download a full press kit here