Kodansha USA has announced the license of six new print and digital manga series during its industry panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. The new titles will be released in August 2024 and Spring 2025.
Here are the details on the newly licensed series:
August 2024 Digital License
That Beauty Is a Tramp
Story and Art: Hal Osaka
Release Date: August 13, 2024
From the author of Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata manga series.
Synopsis:
Cool and tomboyish Nagi wants a boyfriend, but has one big problem—ever since an incident in college, her body reflexively rejects the touch of any man. That is, until she encounters the beautiful male model Aran, who uses his androgynous look to effortlessly model both masculine and feminine styles. She’s shocked to discover that she can touch him without having a reaction, and when he asks her to join him in an upcoming photo shoot with a famous photographer, she agrees, on one condition—be her practice boyfriend for one month, and help her conquer her aversion once and for all.
Spring 2025 Print Licenses
GAEA-TIMA the Gigantis
Story and Art: KENT
Release Date: Spring 2025
Synopsis:
A gigantic monster devastates a small, seaside town. Ten years later, the resilient community has emerged as a tourist destination, when the monster, known as GAEA-TIMA, returns. Miyako, a local hero and survivor of the first attack, pushes to find a scientific solution to the problem of the giant creatures known as “gigantis.” But is humanity capable of responding to violence with anything except more violence?
Tune in to Midnight Heart
Story and Art: Masakuni Igarashi
Release Date: Spring 2025
Synopsis:
At the end of a difficult day, the haughty but purehearted rich kid Arisu found his only solace in the voice of another girl his age, who hosted a livestream under the pseudonym “Apollo.” Then, one day, the broadcasts stopped. Arisu has dedicated the years since then to finding Apollo’s true identity, and he’s narrowed it down to one particular high school. He transfers in as a student and figures it’ll be a cinch—but then discovers it could be any of the girls in the broadcasting club! And the real Apollo isn’t talking for reasons of her own!
These four girls have no use for Arisu’s personality, but they each harbor dreams of using their voices to build a career, and they sure could use his money… Can the blunt and blustering Arisu buy his way into the club’s good graces, and find the real girl attached to his dream voice?
Shout Loud, My Heart
Story and Art: Rayri Youga
Release Date: Spring 2025
Synopsis:
College student Gen, a guitarist for the rock band Eve, meets a man named Mike while playing at one of his gigs. Mike’s the kind of person who has no trouble saying what’s on his mind, and Gen soon finds himself captivated by the smooth talker’s voice. The next day, the two meet again when they realize they go to the same college. Be it on stage or just during casual conversation, Gen finds himself more and more captivated by Mike’s voice, and the more time the two spend together, the more Gen realizes it’s more than just Mike’s voice he’s attracted to…
Roar: A Star in the Abyss
Story and Art: Ai Okaue
Release Date: Spring 2025
Synopsis:
Misato had a perfect childhood, with parents who loved her and a home on an idyllic island in Japan’s inland sea. But then a TV show starts shooting in town. Misato’s cast as an extra, and in an instant, her life is turned on its head. A woman appears claiming to be her real mother, and before she knows it Misato is living in a lavish mansion surrounded by greedy schemers of all stripes. The curtain rises on the story of a rising star who plunges into an abyss—where the only sustenance is vengeance!
Issak
Story: Shinji Makari
Art: DOUBLE-S
Release Date: Spring 2025
The manga was first released digitally in English by Kodansha USA in 2023 and has been nominated as an entry at the upcoming American Manga Awards. It will be coming to print in 2-in-1 omnibus editions.
Synopsis:
The year is A.D. 1620. Europe is riven with the conflagrations that will grow into the Thirty Years War. Catholic and Protestant forces clash across battlefields ruled by sword and gunpowder alike, and mercenaries of every stripe ply their trade. Among them is Issak, a lone Japanese warrior wielding a matchlock gun of strange design, on a sworn mission to find and kill the man who murdered his master and fled Japan for the other side of the world.
Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection Manga Box Set 1
Story and Art: Naoko Takeuchi
Release Date: 2024
The box set includes:
- • Volumes 1–6 of the Naoko Takeuchi Collection edition of the Sailor Moon manga
- • An exclusive set of 16 art cards
- • A beautiful holographic box featuring a premium magnetic enclosure
Source: Kodansha USA SDCC 2024 Panel, press release
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