Kodansha USA held their NYCC panel today and made some pretty interesting announcement.
The company has picked up the rights to the I Am Space Dandy book, which is based off of the anime obviously. They’ve also got something neat planned with the 7th volume of Vinland Saga due out in December with an original four-panel manga from Faith Erin Hicks, which likely comes from her participation in next year’s Attack on Titan Anthology book. The potential for some original pieces by popular Western creators to drive interest toward manga, perhaps?
The company has also picked up the rights for the Spoof on Titan work.
On the ebook side, details will be coming at a later date, but they’ll be releasing:
Fort of Apocalypse: What can you do when you get mistaken for murder? Nothing. You go to prison. Lucky you, your inmates are some of the biggest cutthroats in the prison. Seriously you are lucky. Especially when zombies attack.
Space Brothers: One night in 2006, when they were young, the two brothers Mutta (born 1993) and Hibito (born 1996) saw what appeared to be a UFO heading for the moon. They decided that night to both become astronauts and travel out into space. In 2025, Hibito has become an astronaut, and he’s going to go to the moon. Mutta ended up following a more traditional career path with an auto development company; however, Mutta just ruined his career through a violent altercation with his boss. Now, not only has he lost his job, he appears to be blacklisted in the entire industry. Maybe this is a rare opportunity for Mutta to once again chase his childhood dream and become an astronaut like his little brother!
My Wife is Wagatsuma: Aoshima Hitoshi is a second year student in high school, who wishes he had a girlfriend. One day he wakes up for an unknown reason 10 years in the future, and he is married to the prettiest girl in school, Wagatsuma Ai! How has their relationship grown from mere acquaintances to husband and wife!?
As The Gods Will: The series starts at the same time as the original but follows the survival story of new characters, particularly the ones who didn’t go to school at the first day, who face different challenges than those in the first series.
Fuuka: Yuu Haruna just moved into town and loves to be on twitter. Out on his way to buy dinner he bumps into a mysterious girl, Fuuka Akitsuki, who breaks his phone thinking he was trying to take a picture of her panties. How will his new life change now?
More legal outlets available for the Space Brothers manga is always a good thing. It’s just one of those series that has such an endearing message about never giving up on your dreams. I personally think it’s a great read that anyone can get into.
Yeah yeah, more Attack on Titan manga off-shoots. What about School Rumble? You know, one of those used-to-be-popular series that would’ve been completed had Kodansha not taken over Del Rey? The series that was only six volumes away from completion (including the “School Rumble Z” one-shot)? Anyone at Kodansha USA willing to publish the remaining volumes? Print or e-book format? Anyone?
“You know, one of those used-to-be-popular series that would’ve been completed had Kodansha not taken over Del Rey?”
Del Rey themselves shut down their manga imprint, not Kodansha.
Read this:
http://kodanshacomics.tumblr.com/post/92215220236/what-exactly-happened-to-del-ray-they-went-under