The manga train keeps rolling, as both Tokyopop and Yen Press have announced new licenses this month. Yen Press announced one manhwa and several manga licenses at its panel at New York Comic Con but not give details of on-sale dates.
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? by Myeong Mi Kim and Gyeong Yun Jeong, is a workplace rom-com manhwa about a high-level executive and his secretary who are the stars of their company. When Secretary Kim leaves to get married, her co-worker offers to marry her himselfin order to keep her by his side, but she’s not tempted.
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop is an adaptation by Imo Oono of an anime film directed by Kyohei Ishiguro about a self-conscious girl and a shy, haiku-loving boy. Yen Press has licensed both the light novel and the manga.
Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon is the manga adaptation, by Kunieda and HagureYuuki, of a three-volume light novel series by Hirukuma that is also licensed by Yen. The hero of this isekai fantasy dies when he is crushed by a vending machine and, as the title indicates, is reincarnated as the very thing that killed him. He can only speak in vending machine phrases, and he can’t move on his own, but fortunately for him a super-strong young woman comes along and decides to carry him around on his back. The three-volume light novel series has been adapted into an anime that will stream on Crunchyroll.
Yen’s announcements also included Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle Episode Freya, another extension of the fantasy manga and novel franchise.
Tokyopop’s October announcements included a manga about idol culture and two one-volume memoirs by LGBTQ+ creators.
{IMAGE_4}If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, by Auri Hirao, is an ongoing girls love series aboutan idol fan whose crush is the least popular member of her group. It has been adapted into anime, which is available in English.The first volume, rated 13+, will be available in June 2023, with an MSRP of $14.99.
Why I Adopted My Husband, by Yagi Yuta, is a one-volume manga about a gay couple, Yuta and Kyota, who, unable to marry under Japanese law, find a new way to legally become a family. The nonfictionstory depicts the couple’s life together, their discussions with their parents, and their concerns for the future. It will be released in June 2023 with a 13+ age rating and an MSRP of $12.99.
At 30, I Realized I Had No Gender, by Shou Arai, is the author’s memoir of coming to terms with life as a genderless person in a culture that is very segregated by gender. Arai uses a light tone in depictions of everyday life as well as wider discussions of Japanese attitudes around gender and gender minorities. The one-shotmanga is rated 13+ and will be released in June 2023 with an MSRP of $13.99.
Tokyopop also announced a round of new manga licenses at Anime Expo in July, including My Coworker Has a Secret!, by Mushiro, an otaku workplace romance that brings to mind the super-popular Wotakoi (see “Anime Expo Wrapup”).
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Source: ICv2
