Big comiXology Originals Sale! Save up to 70% on Drops of God, Initial D, BECK, MARS + more! Ends 12/5

It’s been all fun—and profit!—with our pals at comiXology Originals, as we continue to drop one digital manga hit after another—in most cases putting out an entire series run at once so you can binge-read ’em! All of the illustrious titles below are available for purchase only on Kindle and comiXology and streaming on Amazon Prime ReadingKindle Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited.

But now, you know what? Now we’re putting them all on sale—a lot! Check out these deep deals. You can buy individual digital volumes for as little as $4.99 (that 55% off the regular price) and/or do it in style with even bigger savings with bundles! 

This is an incredible catalog of manga at the best prices you’ll see in a long time—sale ends December 5, though!

Here’s the Murderer’s Row of Manga now on sale:

Full Q&A with The Drops of God creators + info on their appearance in Napa/L.A. Oct 20-21

Drops of God Wine Salon

Meet the creators of The Drops of God in Napa or L.A. + read the full exclusive Q&A below!

Connosseiurs of fine wine and fine manga have all heard about the big announcement this week of our co-publication of The Drops of God with comiXology Originals.

Now attendees of the Drops of God Wine Salon events can meet the writers of the world’s most famous wine manga—”Tadashi Agi,” the pen-name taken by siblings Shin and Yuko Kibayashi. The Drops of God Wine Salon is a “full-service online wine salon” inspired by none other than the Kibayashis, in partnership with vintner Peter Chiang.

The rare pair of personal appearances take place in two California locations: Napa Valley (where else?) and Beverly Hills. These are fine wine and dining affairs where guests will be able to taste through 30 different wines from 9 different producers personally chosen by them, and which will be paired with the cuisine of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Yountville in Napa Valley on October 20th and the legendary tapas of The Bazaar by Jose Andres in Beverly Hills on October 21st. To learn more about these events and The Drops of God Wine Salon, please visit http://dropsofgodwinesalon.com.

You can read the thoughtful, often poetic, replies by the Kibayashis in this exclusive full Q&A below. Portions of this interview first appeared in the Drops of God publication announcement that ran in Wine Spectator‘s Unfiltered column. Thank you to Ben O’Donnell.

What was the inspiration for the original story, and how did you come up with different storylines during the decade of publication?

We got hooked on wine long before we began serializing The Drops of God. We were at a DRC [Domaine de la Romanée-Conti] event and happened to taste the ’85 Echezeaux.

When we tasted it, it was in its peak state, the perfect time to open the bottle. Tasting it changed our view of alcoholic drinks and later changed our lives. We experienced this as if we were struck by lightning; a picture scroll of the history, people, and culture behind that one bottle of wine revealed itself before us. We remember that shocking moment even today.

This was what got us into the world of wine, and as we drank wine every day, we started talking about the story behind each wine and what we imagined it to be. This process came naturally to us, probably because of our profession as manga writers.

“This wine is a woman.” “Yes, this must be a glamorous woman with long, dark hair … ” We discussed how we imagined the wines we drank like that, without conflicting opinions.

Wine is actually a beverage that has its own worldview, and we felt as if we were taking a peek into that view by drinking it. That’s probably why a lot of images from around the world came to our minds. We decided to visualize these images through dramatic sequences, in the form of a manga. And that’s how the story of The Drops of God gradually started.

How did you choose the wines in the story? (And the food pairings in the “Marriage” series?) How did your wine knowledge evolve during the years you wrote the series?

Every single wine introduced in the manga was tasted by us, and they had to pass a certain standard.

We tasted various kinds of wine at all price ranges and from different parts of the world, even ones that don’t appear in the manga. We screened out wines we thought readers would be disappointed in, regardless of price. We didn’t want to introduce wines we personally found unattractive. At the same time, we didn’t want to say anything negative or blasphemous about wines that would appear in the manga.

Regarding food, as it’s depicted in our Marriage—The Drops of God Final Arc, it can’t be separated from wine. There are combinations that complement each other and that work against each other. To find an exquisite food pairing, rather than focusing in on certain ingredients, we instead spent our time in our kitchen and at restaurants just trying out different ingredients from Japanese, Chinese, and Western cuisines in order to find out what pairs best with them, more like trial-and-error experimentation.

Regarding our knowledge about wine, the biggest change that The Drop of God serialization brought us was the fact that we started drinking wine “globally.” Before The Drops of God we drank wine mostly from France, and occasionally from the U.S., and sometimes from Italy, and that was about it. However, we started encountering wines from around the world, from Spain, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Moldova, China … Just like what the main characters did to find the Drops of God and the Twelve Apostles. Wine mirrors a country’s food culture and lifestyle. It’s very fascinating. We wouldn’t have realized this if it wasn’t for The Drops of God.

Why do you think The Drops of God has been such a huge success that has resonated with so many people, especially young people? How do you think it has influenced wine culture?

A lot of young people haven’t experienced wine or know much about wine. For them, wine is a beverage that presents hurdles.  

But in The Drops of God, the main character has no knowledge of wine. He starts tasting wine one by one and starts out with expressions like, “This is a very good wine. It’s like the song by Queen.” Wouldn’t you be tempted to taste the exact same wine and experience that? If you could taste and feel it coming to you like music, that should be enough to enjoy it, shouldn’t it? “It isn’t so difficult for us to enjoy wine” is probably what young people realized by following the main character.

The influence of The Drops of God on wine has spread around the world in a way that we, the story writers of the manga, never thought would happen.  

Soon after the serialization started, The Drops of God became something of a cultural phenomenon in South Korea. This was around 2005, right when the Korean won was getting stronger and the economy was improving. Wine has links to social well-being, and maybe for that reason, we heard of situations where elite companies bought all the wines introduced in The Drops of God as a way to “educate” their employees.

Back then, most of the wines sold in South Korea were Chilean, due to lower import taxes, but now people can enjoy wines from countries like the U.S., Spain, and France, and the culture of wine has penetrated into that country.

The most surprising phenomenon happened in France. We assumed that The Drops of God wouldn’t be accepted in France, but the result was the complete opposite. French readers were able to rediscover their wine culture by reading The Drops of God, and that strange phenomenon helped maintain young people’s interest in wine. The French government acknowledged that contribution, and we were presented with two awards, Ordre du Mérite agricole in 2011, and L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2018.

In Japan, the wines that were introduced as “as seen in The Drops of God!” sold out immediately. The top-selling merchandise on Rakuten [the major online shopping site in Japan] we’ve heard is wine, and we’re sure that The Drops of God has something to do with it.  

What is your hope for introducing The Drops of God to an English-speaking audience?

Of course we’re very happy! English is the largest spoken language in the world, and there are many wine-producing and wine-loving countries that have English as their primary language, such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and, obviously, the U.S.

We’ve been receiving inquiries from fans from those countries about when the English edition will come out. British people are connoisseurs of French wine, of course, and they must have been waiting for an English edition to come out, too.

What is your idea behind the Drops of God Wine Salon and WineGame app?

Wine is a luxury item, and it’s something that should be introduced based on one’s preferences in taste, but consultation is the most difficult part of wine selection. That may be the reason why general audiences get easily discouraged from exploring further.

Through this Wine Salon and game, we wanted to learn more about an individual’s taste, to customize and introduce wine to people in a more enjoyable way. We also wish to find new needs of wine with the data that will be collected through this game. 

Manga Harvest Sale! 11+ digital series up to 50% off! Ends 10/21

This year’s seasonal harvest is in, and we’ve got some tasty treats for your reading pleasure! Whether you like cute cooking time, mouthwatering masterpieces or … wait is that human flesh???

For this week’s digital sale, we’re featuring 11 of our most savory hits, including Sweetness and Lightning and Crocodile Baron. The whole harvest of digital series are now up to 50% off at our digital retail partners: Apple Books, BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, Kindle, Kobo MyAnimeList, and nook. Sale ends October 21st!

~ Manga Harvest Sale ~
October 15-21

Click on the cover or links to read Chapter 1s for FREE!

Aho-Girl
Alicia’s Diet Quest
Are You Lost?
Blissful Land
Crocodile Baron
Drifting Dragons
Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live?
Kitchen Princess
Starving Anonymous
Sweetness and Lightning
Yuri Is My Job!

You may want a bit of wine to go with all that food … ah, perfect timing! Starting this week, we and our pals at ComiXology Originals are completing the internationally renowned wine manga The Drops of God in English for the very first time! Click here for more information about this exciting announcement!

Drops of God Wine Salon

Oh for those of you interested in fine dining and wine IRL, this weekend connosseiurs of fine wine and fine manga will be celebrating the opening of the Drops of God Wine Salon in Napa with the creator Tadashi Agi!  Come join the party at Ad Hoc at Yountville in Napa Valley on October 20th and The Bazaar by Jose Andres in Beverly Hills on October 21st.

To learn more about these events and the Drops of God Wine Salon, please visit http://dropsofgodwinesalon.com.

Fine wine, fine manga: The Drops of God Volumes 1-11 now out from comiXology Originals!

The word’s greatest wine manga continues!

Kodansha Comics and ComiXology Originals are pleased to announce they’re completing the internationally renowned wine manga The Drops of God in English for the very first time.

Volumes 1-11 debut October 14 and can be read digitally as part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive content—available for purchase only on Kindle and comiXology and streaming on Amazon Prime Reading, Kindle Unlimited and comiXology Unlimited. Thirty-four of the 44-volume series have never been translated in English. Today’s release sees the previously published volumes 1-8 re-edited with new cover art and volumes 9-11 appearing today in English for the first time ever. More volumes to be added at a later date. 

Created and written by Tadashi Agi, a pseudonym for siblings Shin and Yuko Kibayashi, with artwork by Shu Okimoto, The Drops of God has had an unprecedented impact on the international wine market and the various wines featured throughout the series. How many manga see their debuts announced exclusively in Wine Spectator?

When world-renowned wine critic Kanzaki Yutaka passes away, his will reveals that his fortune of a wine collection isn’t automatically bequeathed to his only son Kanzaki Shizuku, a junior employee at a Japanese beverage company whose main focus is selling beer. In order to take ownership of his legacy and the inheritance, he must correctly identify and describe thirteen wines, the first twelve heaven-sent wines known as the “Twelve Apostles” and the thirteenth known as the “Drops of God,” while competing against the stellar young wine critic, Toomine Issei.  With determination, a strong sense of taste and smell, and an uncanny ability to describe his experiences, Shizuku submerges himself in the world of wine to try to solve its mysteries and defeat Issei. 

The creators, the brother-sister duo Shin and Yuko Kibayashi (a.k.a. “Tadashi Agi”), will be appearing Stateside October 20-21 in a pair of exclusive appearances in Napa Valley (where else?) and Beverly Hills! More info including an exclusive Q&A with the Kibayashis here.

The Drops of God is a fun and educational page-turner for wine connoisseurs and beginners alike. It has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list, the 2011 New York Times Holiday Gift Guide and About.com’s Best New Manga list of 2011 and has received enormous praise: 

“My favorite wine book of 2011 … Pick up this first volume at your sleep’s peril. It’s a one-nighter, a wine tale that is equal parts coming-of-age, love and detective stories. Along its nervy way, it nonetheless plainly explains various wines, wine talk and the how-to of wine tasting. As a graphic novel, it gets across a lot more emotion and imagery than mere prose … You’ll be drunk with anticipation.”  Chicago Tribune

“An almost psychedelically beautiful work… It’s like Speed Racer crossed with Wine Spectator.” The Daily Dish (LA Times)

“Absolute page-turner … It’s the sweeping two-page illustrations of taste-transporting moments (a shirt-tearing jam by rock band Queen, a maiden fleeing through strawberry fields) that better capture wine’s great allure than a thousand dry scribblings on history and weather conditions.” Time Out New York

“It presents wines rapturously and in creative ways … I’m a vodka man, but Drops of God left me with a new appreciation for the grape, new vocabulary words like terroir (the flavors and aromas that soil and geography impart to a wine) and a fascination with decanting, which the book depicts as an art form.” —The New York Times

 

Vertical x Kodansha Comics digital manga sale—up to 50% off thru May 15

This would be a good time to good time to check out what's flying over at Vertical Comics, our sister manga company with a distinctively styled lineup of manga titles from the very fresh Flying Witch and Devils' Line to immaculately presented classics like BLAME!  and Chi's Sweet Home

As the digital distributor of many of Vertical's titles, we here at Kodansha Comics thought we'd give you a special push to go Vertical. For this week only, all Vertical Comics digital titles are marked up to 50% off at our digital retail partners—BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook! You can read free entire Chapter 1 previews of all titles at the cover links.

The Vertical x Kodansha Comics Digital Sale — May 9-15

5 Centimeters per Second
Ajin: Demi Human
BLAME! Academy and So On
BLAME!
Chi's Sweet Home
Devils' Line
Drops of God
Drops of God New World
Flying Witch
From the New World
Knights of Sidonia
Mysterious Girlfriend X
The Flowers of Evil
the gods lie.
To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts
Witchcraft Works

— Discover more new manga and deals, stay tuned to kodanshacomics.com —

Vote Vertical: digital editions on sale up to 25% through 11/22

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click on the above image to go to comiXology's sale page

We're making a host of Vertical Comics titles available for first time digitally: the list (below, with Chapter 1 previews at the links) includes Ryo Hanada's best-selling vampires-among-us epic Devils' LineMAYBE's Civil War-monster-fantasy To the Abandoned Sacred Beastsand Riichi Ueshiba's drool-inducing romantic comedy Mysterious Girlfriend X

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The best part? We decided to put 'em all up for sale, including the rest of our Vertical digital editions. Volumes are marked up to 25% off at all digital bookstorescomiXology, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook. Sale runs November 8-22! (Read Chapter 1s at the links.)

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Vertical Comics Digital Editions on Sale until Feb 5

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As we announced last December, we're thrilled now to be working with the wild bunch at Vertical Comics, releasing new Digital Editions from the Vertical catalog. Now we invite you to get into some of these mind-blowing series with a special sale on digital-edition Volume 1s starting from 99-cents. It's going on at every one of our digital retail partners: comiXology, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook

What’s on Sale Now (January 22-February 5):

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Knights of Sidonia Volume 1 for only 99¢

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Ajin: Demi-Human Volume 1 for only 99¢

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The Flowers of Evil Volume 1 for only 99¢

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Witchcraft Works Volume 1 for only 99¢

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Chi’s Sweet Home Volume 1 for only 99¢

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The Drops of God Volume 1 (double-size at 424 pages) for only $1.99

Sale ends February 5. This concludes this winter's "Manga Vacation" promotions, where we offer select digital volumes for sale starting from 99-cents. Check back soon for future "Vacations" though!

New Digital Editions: Vertical Comics library, Parasyte, COPPELION

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Look for a surge of darker-edged manga coming to digital bookstores early this month.

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At last, as announced last week, Digital Editions of the surreal alien-invasion classic (and now anime on Adult SwimParasyte by Hitoshi Iwaaki and the apocalyptic schoolgirls-in-radioactive-Tokyo saga COPPELION by Tomonori Inoue go on sale today. Previously Parasyte was only available in print and COPPELION was only available as a simultaneous streaming title on Crunchyroll Manga. New volumes will be released weekly. Check out full Chapter 1 previews at the cover links above.

We're also very, very happy to announce we're now working with the estimable gang at Vertical Comics to release new Digital Editions, starting with Ajin: Demi-Human, The Flowers of Evil, and Witchcraft Works. Every available volume from these 3 series goes on sale next week, December 8th—that's 24 volumes of manga previously unavailable on digital on sale in one day. Like Parasyte and COPPELION, these series will be available at digital retail partners comiXology, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook.

Finally look for every volume of another trio of Vertical hits, Chi’s Sweet Home, Knights of Sidonia, and The Drops of God, to be available for the first time on comiXology, also on December 8.

For media inquiries, contact pr@kamsf.com or info@vertical-inc.com. Click here for a PDF of the joint Kodansha-Vertical press release.

Click on the cover-links for release info and full Chapter 1 previews:

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Ajin: Demi-Human volumes 1-6. By Gamon Sakurai. The dark supernatural cult hit about a high school boy who attains immortality—and all the problems that go along with it. To be released as a Netflix anime series in 2016.

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The Flowers of Evil volumes 1-11. By Shuzo Oshimi. The acclaimed, and oddly moving, manga series about a bizarre love triangle among perfectly normal (?) high school kids seeking decadence in a small town.

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Witchcraft Works volume 1-7. By Ryu Mizunagi. The manga comedy about supernatural wars in an unusual Japanese high school and the poor guy caught in the middle, adapted into the anime series, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

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Chi’s Sweet Home volumes 1-12. By Konami Kanata. The award-winning, bestselling all-ages manga about the adventures of a mischievous, and painfully cute, stray kitten adopted by a human family.

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The Drops of God volumes 1-4 (plus “New World” volume). By Tadashi Agi and Shu Okimoto. The acclaimed wine manga that changed the way people drink wine and perceive manga around the world.

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Knights of Sidonia volumes 1-14. by Tsutomu Nihei. The manga that became a hit anime on Netflix, by manga science-fiction legend Tsutomu Nihei, set in the coldest reaches of outer space.