A common complaint levied towards the romance genre is the density of the main characters. Often times, a character’s obliviousness to other people’s emotions can lead to unnecessary melodrama and can kill a story’s momentum.

But not these series! These manga feature characters that aren’t emotional blackholes or gluttons for misunderstandings. In fact, you best avoid these if you are allergic to sanity and understanding one’s own emotions.

Tsuredure Children

Mangaka: Toshiya Wakabayashi

Status: Ongoing (190 chapters)

Genre: Comedy / Romance / Slice of Life

Quick Pitch: Tsuredure Children is an anthology depicting the various forms of young love between various couples. From being unable to confess their feeling to awkward dates, young love can be extremely cute!

Senryuu Shoujo

Mangaka: Masakuni Igarashi

Status: Ongoing (24 chapters)

Genre: Comedy / Romance / Slice of Life

Quick Pitch: Yukishiro Nanako has a peculiar trait – instead of speaking, she communicates through senryu poems. This strange habit leads to a budding bond with ex-delinquent Busujima Eiji, and the couple always has fun at their school’s Literature Club.

Fujiyama-san wa Shishunki

Mangaka: Makoto Ojiro

Status: Finished (67 chapters)

Genre: Comedy / Romance / Slice of Life

Quick Pitch: Makio Fujiyama is the ace of the school’s volleyball team thanks to her height. Yuuichi Kanba is a short boy whose known Fujiyama since preschool. One day, he peeks into the girl’s locker room and witnesses Fujiyama changing, which awakens strong feelings within him. After mustering up the courage, Kanba asks Fujiyama out, which begins their secretive relationship.

Horimiya

Mangaka: HERO (Writer) / Daisuke Hagiwara (Artist)

Chapters: Ongoing (86 chapters)

Genre: Comedy / Romance

Quick Pitch: Kyoko Hori is a sunny and popular high school girl, which contrasts with her gloomy classmate Izumi Miyamura. However, they two have different personas outside of class: Kyoko loves dressing down and taking care of her household while Izumi is covered in piercings and has a tattoo. They promise to keep each other’s true personalities a secret, which leads to a close bond between them.

Bonnouji

Mangaka: Aki Eda

Status: Finished (36)

Genre: Comedy / Romance / Slice of Life

Quick Pitch: Ozawa has just broken up with her boyfriend of five years and is rebuilding her life. One day, she meets Oyamada, who is a loner that lives a couple floors below her. Oyamada’s room is filled with random items his brother sends, which sparks an interest in Ozawa. Eventually, their friendship slowly grows into something more serious.

The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior (Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou)

Mangaka: Ruri Miyahara

Status: Finished (90 chapters)

Genre: Comedy / Romance / Slice of Life

Quick Pitch: High school freshman Kazunari begins living in a boarding home due to his parents’ job transfer. He is excited to be living at Kawai Complex because his crush lives there, but he is also surrounded by eccentrics.

Ojojojo

Mangaka: Shinja Cool-kyou

Status: Finished (64 chapters)

Genre: Comedy / Romance / Slice of Life

Quick pitch: Haru Jigokumeguri is the heiress of a powerful conglomerate, but her arrogant and aloof nature makes it hard for her to find friends. After transferring to yet another new school, she meets Tsurezure Kawayanagi. He is the class weirdo due to his old fashion sense and quiet demeanor, which leads to a socially awkward friendship with Haru.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard For an Otaku (Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii)

Mangaka: Fujita

Chapters: Ongoing (25 chapters)

Genre: Comedy / Romance

Quick Pitch: Narumi Momose is a hardcore fujoshi and Hirotaka Nifuji is a gamer. The pair hasn’t seen each other since middle school, but are shocked to learn that they are co-workers at the same company. A night of drinking leads to a revelation of their hobbies, and they decide to start dating. However, their tendencies lead to very awkward moments with their fellow otaku co-workers.

Blue Spring Ride (Ao Haru Ride)

Mangaka: Io Sakisaka

Status: Finished (53 chapters)

Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance / Slice of Life

Quick Pitch: Futaba used to attract a lot of attention from boys in middle school, but became ostracized by the girls. Now in high school, she is determined to avoid all unwanted attention from in an attempt to fit in with her girlfriends. Her plan becomes complicated when she is reunited with Kou, a boy who she fell deeply in love with in middle school but couldn’t admit her feelings for due to a misunderstanding.

Sui Ishida is preparing to write the final arc for Tokyo Ghoul:re.

A wrap-around jacket for volume 14 reads “The evolving dark fantasy is rushing towards its ultimate final arc!.” Ishida or Shueisha hasn’t said if this arc will lead to a third series or conclude Tokyo Ghoul.

Tokyo Ghoul:re is a sequel series to Tokyo Ghoul and it began serialization in October 2014. The series takes place two years after the Commission of Counter Ghoul (CCG) agency’s raid on Anteiku. The agency’s systematic eradication of ghouls has changed Tokyo’s atmosphere, but the Aogiri Tree terrorist group is planning to fight back. A half-ghoul, half-human named Haise Sasaki leads the elite Quix Squad for the CCG to combat the new Aogiri Tree threat.

Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul has been a huge hit ever since its 2011 debut in Weekly Young Jump. The series has a combined 34 million copies in print worldwide, has inspired two anime adaptations, a spin-off manga, four video games, and one live-action movie.

Studio Pierrot will adapt Tokyo Ghoul:re into an anime that will air this April. As a promotion, fans are being asked to read Tokyo Ghoul volumes 1 through 14, hinting that the Tokyo Ghoul √A anime maybe ignored.

Mangaka Yuki Hijiri revealed to fans that he is recovering from a major health scare which caused a sudden hiatus to his Choujin Locke (Locke the Superman) manga series.

１）YKアワーズ、コミックフラッパーでの「超人ロック」の休載、画集、単行本発売の延期と、皆様にたいへんご心配をおかけしています。お詫びを申し上げます。

— 聖悠紀@原画展開催中 (@Y_HIJIRI) February 4, 2018

Hijiri underwent surgery in December to clear up a chronic sinus infection, but things went south after he collapsed at the hospital and suffered a heart attack. He needed to be resuscitated, which signaled that he was at least unconscious and was possibly dead for a brief moment.

After being successfully resuscitated, Hijiri fell into a coma and then underwent heart surgery. He was hospitalized for two months and just recently left the hospital. Hijiri also told fans that he needs to undergo daily rehab to regain full motor control over his body, which will lead to an extended hiatus to Locke the Superman.

Hijiri apologized for worrying fans since he hasn’t been able to share the news until recently. He also apologized for the sudden hiatus to Locke the Superman and any delays to future art collections.

Hijiri has been working on Locke the Superman since 1967 as a doujin series. He was publishing two series at the time of his health scare – Choujin Locke Kagami no Ori (Locke the Superman: The Mirror Chamber) in the Young King Ours magazine and Choujin Locke Gaia no Kiba (Locke the Superman: The Fang of Gaia) in the Monthly Comic Flapper magazine.

The saga stars an immortal esper named Locke who struggles against various forms of evil as he observes humanity’s evolution during their cosmic era. He has no recollection of his past and will take on situations his heart can’t ignore.

Locke the Superman has inspired two anime movies and two OVA series, all of which are relatively obscure outside of Japan.

Darling in the Franxx has the feeling of a classic Gainax series.

You have teenagers piloting mechs fighting bizarre creatures while exploring their sexuality. In fact, the Gainax feel isn’t surprising since the key staff is made up of former Gainax employees.

One thing fans are noticing is the overt sexuality.

Sexuality and interpersonal relationships play a huge role in Darling in the Franxx. References to a flower’s reproductive system, dehumanized teens being forced into pairs, and a questionable piloting system have fans arguing if this some form of commentary on Japan’s view of love or pure fanservice.

While Darling in the Franxx can get ecchi, it can’t compete with its manga adaptation.

That’s right, Darling in the Franxx has a manga adaptation that is being published concurrently with the anime. It doesn’t have a huge following outside of Japan, but Shueisha is planning on shipping 150,000 copies of the first volume. That’s huge for a series debut! Darling in the Franxx is also filled with nudity…seriously, it’s really smutty!

The magic to the manga’s success is Kentaro Yabuki.

Yabuki is known for creating Black Cat and drawing artwork for To Love-Ru and Mayoi Neko Overrun!. His sensual art style has legions of fans and it’s suited well for an ecchi-laden story like Darling in the Franxx.

So far, the manga has been staying in line with the anime’s story, but it has cranked up the fanservice. Seriously, it can get to To Love-Ru levels of ecchi.

Oh, and new chapters are available for free.

The kicker is that you need to know Japanese, but Shueisha publishes new chapters for free on their Shonen Jump Plus website. Each chapter is free for a week before going back into the vault.

Time will tell if the Darling in the Franxx will follow the anime and end with the series’ finally or diverge into its own storyline like Neon Genesis Evangelion. Either way, it’s going to be an ecchi ride.

Today has been a little rough for manga fans because at least six different series have announced that they will be ending soon. This biggest announcement is ReLIFE, which will end this March!

Here are the other manga that had their end dates announced:

ReLIFE

Mangaka Yayoiso announced that she will end ReLIFE with its 222nd chapter, which will be published on March 16. Last year, Yayoiso told fans she was planning on ending ReLIFE sometime in March 2018.

ReLIFE follows Arata Kaizaki, a single and unemployed 27-year old man who has just been financially cut off from his parents. After a night of drinking, Arata meets a mysterious man who offers Arata pills that will temporarily turn him into a 17-year old. Arata agrees to participate in the de-aging experiment and enrolls in a high school to relive his youth.

The popular seinen web manga received a 13 episode adaptation from TMS Entertainment in 2016. A 4 episode OVA adapting the manga’s final arc will ship on March 21.

Chaos;Child

Kadokawa announced that relucy’s adaptation of Chaos;Child will end on March 24 with the shipping of volumes three and four. Relucy began working on the adaptation in December 2015.

Chaos;Child is the fourth entry to the popular Science Adventure series of light novels, which includes Steins;Gate and Robotics;Note. The story takes place six years after Chaos;Head and centers around a series of mysterious deaths plaguing Shibuya. Takuru Miyashiro discovers that the dates of the murders match those of the New Generation Madness incidents, which prompts him to delve deeper into the mysterious with his school’s newspaper club.

The visual novel was adapted into a 13 episode anime by Silver Link in 2017.

Gyanprin

Futabasha’s Action Magazine revealed that Rensuke Oshikiri’s Gyanprin series will end on February 20. The gambling manga launched in August 2016 and inspired a smartphone game that launched in May 2017.

Gyanprin follows the daily lives of four women who love gambling and maintaining a self-indulgent lifestyle.

YU-NO

Kadokawa revealed that Sawji Ishida’s manga adaptation of Kono Yo no Hate de Koi o Utau Shoujo YU-NO (YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World) will end on March 15 with its second volume.

YU-NO is an adult visual novel from 1996 centers around Takuya as he travels between various parallel worlds to search for his parents. A two-cour anime adaptation is planned to air later this year.

Zero Angel ~The Clear Blue Fallen Angel~

Shonengahosha revealed that Kia Asamiya’s Zero Angel series will end on April 28 with its fourth manga volume.

Asamiya launched Zero Angel in March 2016 and is based on their earlier Aika ga Hashiru! Bijo-ning Car Drive!! web series. This newer series centers around Aika Misaki, a high schooler who is undefeated in street racing. Aika’s car of choice is the Subaru WRX STi.

The Witch’s House – The Diary of Ellen

Kadokawa revealed that  Yuna Kagesaki’s The Witch’s House manga will end after only nine chapters, which will be published tomorrow. Kagesaki is known for creating Chibi Vampire and Aion.

The Witch’s House – The Diary of Ellen is based on the Majo no Ie – Ellen no Nikki novel, which serves as a prequel to the Majo no Ie puzzle game. The story details Ellen’s past and how she became a witch.

Are any of your favorites ending soon?

Akira Hiramoto is internationally known for creating Prison School. The sexual comedy won fans for Hiramoto’s detailed art, absurd humor, and a willingness to cross the line.

Prison School brought Hiramoto fame, but fans should check out Me and the Devil Blues (Ore to Akuma no Blues) if they want to appreciate his full talents!

Hiramoto’s has an interest in the blues.

We joke about Hiramoto being a “man of culture” for portraying a variety of ecchi scenes in Prison School, but the mangaka has a real interest in the blues.

The blues is a music genre that originated in South of the United States, but there is a dedicated subculture in Japan that spun-off from their adoption of jazz music. It’s a niche topic and one that Hiramoto appears knowledgeable in seeing as how the series’ protagonist is shrouded in myth.

Robert Johnson is an intriguing historical icon.

Me and the Devil Blues follows Robert Johnson, who was a real-life blues musician from 1929 to 1938.

Hiramoto takes a lot of creative liberties because not much is known about Johnson’s life – he only recorded 29 songs before his mysterious death and there are just three verified photos of him in existence. Third party accounts are also difficult historians to verify since Johnson never traveled with a band and used at least eight aliases when staying in different towns. Despite little personal information, Johnson was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Johnson’s mystique and talent gave rise to popular legends, with the most famous saying he sold his soul to the devil for mastery of the guitar. This legend serves as the basis for Me and the Devil Blues, but don’t mistake the manga for a fantasy tale.

Hiramoto painstakingly researched pre-Civil Rights America.

Hiramoto spent a lot of time researching life in 1930s America and captured the racial tensions of the era. The racial discrimination depicted in the manga isn’t caricatured or glanced over, which can make some readers feel uncomfortable.

Non-history will buffs will love the horror aspects.

You have to be a fan of the blues or appreciate historical accuracy to enjoy Me and the Devil Blues. The story is filled with psychological-horror elements involving Johnson and the Devil, which can border on the surreal. In fact, the reader is constantly unsure if what Johson is experiencing and seeing is real or only in his mind.

‘Me and the Devil Blues’ is the rare manga to have been uncancelled.

Kodansha published the manga’s “final” in February 2008, with many people believing that low sales led to the story’s premature cancelation. Hiramoto would go on a three hiatus before working on Prison School, which became a financial success.

The height of Prison School‘s popularity caused fans to explore Hiramoto’s catalog of work. Fans became reacquainted with the 32 volume Ago Nashi Gen to Ore Monogatari gag manga, but it was Me and the Devil Blues that earned interest. Me and the Devil Blues would win the Best Reprint Publication at the 2009 Glyph Comics Awards and Hiramoto was allowed to continue the manga’s story in 2015.

New chapters have been published on an irregular schedule, but there is hope that Hiramoto will dedicate more time to Me and the Devil Blues now that Prison School is over.

Junya Inoue’s Btooom! manga is getting a unique gimmick for its final volume – there will be two different endings!

Two versions of volume 26 will ship this July: a “light” ending culminating in the Friendship Arc and a “dark” ending culminating in the Truth Arc. The light end is currently being serialized in Monthly Comic @Bunch and the dark ending will begin serialization in June in B Bunch.

It’s uncommon for a manga series to receive two unique endings and the decision seems to stem from Inoue’s background as a video game director. Having two different endings gives readers some sort of choice in experiencing a “canon” ending based on their preferences.

Btooom! is Inoue’s third manga series, as well as his most popular. The story centers around a NEET named Sakamoto, a young man who is the top-ranking player in the online game Btooom!. One day, he wakes up on an island with a satchel of bombs modeled after the ones in the game. After an initial shock, Sakamoto realizes he is participating in a death game modeled after Btooom!.

Madhouse produced a 12 episode adaptation that aired in the fall 2012 season. A smartphone game inspired by the manga was launched in February 2017.

Are you excited to read the two endings of Btooom!?

Physical manga sales fell 12% in Japan last year, with publishers pointing fingers at an increase in piracy. However, mangaka Takashi Yoshida feels the blame game is causing more harm as publishers ignore why fans pirate.

Yoshida spoke to Huffington Post Japan and said, “I think they shouldn’t crush pirated versions, but as businesses, they should compete to win. Taking legal measures and shutting them down is completely meaningless and counterproductive.”

Yoshida feels that the endless cycle of publishers shutting down pirate sites and those sites eventual revival has caused publishers to ignore a major factor – manga fans want convenience. He comments, “Piracy sites are illegal, but I think publishers’ and the publishing industry members’ current reactions are the worst.”

According to industry data, physical manga sales have been in a steady decline since 2005, which has caused Yoshida to doubt that piracy is a primary problem. Instead, Yoshida believes the outdated sales methods publishers stubbornly use are responsible for the declining sales. While popular 20 years ago, the current methods have led to a disconnect between fans and publishers. Yoshida argues that the two largest concerns publishers need to address is pricing and availability.

Going even further, Yoshida believes that most pirates are manga fans and that publishers should be trying to win them over. Yoshida thinks one way to that is to offer legal websites that host a variety of manga for a subscription fee. He says that current experiments are too limited in the number of titles being offered. Yoshida also argues that digital manga copies are too expensive. One last possible solution is to remove plastic covers from manga so people can read them in stores. This simple action could help bring people back into stores and they’ll buy the manga that they like.

However, he is skeptical that publishers will listen to his ideas. Yoshida said, “There’s nothing new about what I’m saying, and various people have said it in the past. Nevertheless, it didn’t change.”

Yoshida also points out that he’s not part of the mainstream industry: he’s a rare mangaka that owns all the copyrights for his Yareta kamo Iinkai (The Almost Got Laid Committee) series. Due to being outside of the norm, Yoshida feels his comments will not be taken seriously be publishers.

It’s no secret that a large chunk of anime and manga fans visit pirate sites to consume content. Fans will give you a variety of reasons for their actions, with lacking disposable income, no official releases in their county, and wanting to consume as much as possible being the leading explanations.

For years, Japanese consumers seemed reluctant to visit pirate sites, but their numbers have been steadily increasing over the past year. The Japan Cartoonists Association (JCA), issued a statement condemning the practice, saying, “The fact is their [creators] position is being taken by pirate sites that have no connection to the effort that goes into creating those works and covet monetary gain.”

The JCA argues that pirate sites are severing the connections between creators and fans, which is not only limited to manga. Creators can’t get reliable feedback from fans to write stories they want to read and publishers are forced to make cuts since they are losing money. The JCA believes, “If the current situation continues, it will grind down the resilience of various aspects of Japanese culture, and ultimately they will perish.”

Ashita no Joe creator Tetsuya Chiba, who heads the JCA, spoke to NHK News in a separate report about piracy. He believes young creators are “steadily dying” due to piracy, which makes it difficult for new talent to cultivate a fanbase. Chiba says, “Even if they have good ideas, good characters, and produce interesting stories, it’s actually happening that manga creators can’t continue.”

In both separate statements, Chiba and the JCA emphasize that they are thankful that digital content reaches fans, but there needs to be due diligence to avoid pirate sites and to support creators.

It’s a contrast from mangaka Takashi Yoshida’s earlier comments. Yoshida believes that publishers could learn new business practices by observing pirate sites and attempt to convert pirate readers into paying fans.

Mahiro Kisaragi is a light novel author fighting a unique enemy – Twitter!

Kisaragi paid to promote a tweet for volume 2 of Yamato Isoko no Ketsudan (The Decision of Isoko Yamato), which is a military-themed harem featuring art by Cafe Neko. After receiving payment, Kisaragi was shocked that the tweet was banned for “advertising adult content or services,” despite the series having an all-ages rating and a non-ecchi cover.

Kisaragi essentially paid Twitter 45,266 yen ($426) for a faulty ad campaign and tried to get the issue resolved through a series messages. Frustrated with Twitter’s lack of response, they made a visit to Twitter Japan’s headquarters.

東京スクエアガーデン。
此処にTwitterJAPAN本社が。入ります。 pic.twitter.com/2L0QIfhqUZ

— 如月真弘＠「山本五十子の決断2」2/20発売！ (@mahirokisaragi) February 13, 2018

“Outside the Twitter Japan headquarters in Tokyo.”

However, Kisaragi couldn’t find any solutions at the headquarters! They had to file an opposition letter to be forwarded to Twitter’s corporate headquarters in the United States – the other option was to file a lawsuit.

Fans don’t have to feel too bad for Kisaragi; despite the terrible experience, volumes 1 and 2 of Yamato Isoko no Ketsudan broke into Amazon’s top 10 light novel best-seller’s list thanks to their high profile fight!

山本五十子の決断、買って下さってありがとうございます。
皆さんの応援やご感想に私は救われてきました。
頭が痛む朝、胸が苦しい午後、不安に蝕まれる夜、いつだって救ってくれた誰かがいて。誰か一人でもいなければ、私は今ここにいません。https://t.co/GuAY6nxTXm
2月20日発売です。ありがとう。 pic.twitter.com/TU60sHWDsI

— 如月真弘＠「山本五十子の決断2」2/20発売！ (@mahirokisaragi) February 14, 2018

We’ll have to wait and see if Kisaragi’s battle has won their fairly new series any long-time fans.

Jun Mayuzuki’s age-gap romance After the Rain (Koi wa Ameagari no youni) manga is ending in two chapters. The manga’s ending will be published in issue 14 of Big Comic Spirits.

After the Rain has been a hit for Miayuzuki since its debut in Monthly Big Comic Spirits in 2014 – there are 1.75 million copies in print. The story focuses on 17-year-old Akira Tachibana, who is reserved girl who quits the track club after a serious injury. Akira harbors crush on Masami Kondo, the 45-year-old manager of the restaurant she works at. Despite being a divorcee with a young son, Akira feels attracted to Masami’s personality, but she is unsure about revealing her emotions to him.

Recently, After the Rain won the Best General Manga award at the 63rd Shogakukan Manga Awards and was ranked fourth in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2016 guidebook.

Wit Studio is currently producing a 12-episode anime adaptation of After the Rain.

One-hit wonders get a bad rap and it’s not only limited to music. It’s fairly common for a mangaka to become a one-hit wonder due to the strenuous nature of the industry and the length of their hit works. However, we fans are a ravenous bunch and expect hits to be cranked out!

You don’t need to be a hit maker to earn a dedicated following, sometimes you just need one signature story! For simplicity sake, a mangaka has to attempt to create two franchises to be considered a one-hit wonder. Mangaka like Youichi Takahashi (Captain Tsubasa) and Kakifly (K-On!) don’t qualify since they didn’t try after their big hit.

Naoko Takeuchi – Sailor Moon

Naoko Takeuchi is shoujo royalty due to the massive success of Sailor Moon. Takeuchi worked has worked on various one-shot stories during and after the development of Sailor Moon, but she did attempt a longer series with PQ Angels. It only lasted four chapters because Kodansha lost seven pages to the manuscript.

Despite “only” having one successful series, Takeuchi can rest easy knowing that Sailor Moon is one of the most loved series around the world.

Mizuki Kawashita – Strawberry 100%

Weekly Shonen Jump is home to tons of one-hit wonders, but Mizuki Kawashita might be the most notable of the group.

After grinding away at minor works during the late ’90s, she found sudden success with Strawberry 100%. The harem series found fans thanks to a semi-realistic art style, compelling characters, and addicting drama. Kawashita was poised to become the next big name in the school drama genre, but she has since faded away. Even the East Side Story sequel flopped after only running for three months.

However, fortune could be turning for Kawashita! Her Gunjou ni Siren baseball manga is considered a minor hit for Monthly You and currently has 6 volumes, which the longest since Strawberry 100%.

Nobuhiro Watsuki – Rurouni Kenshin

Nobuhiro Watsuki was king during the ’90s for creating Rurouni Kenshin. The manga has over 70 million copies in print, making it one of the most read stories of all-time! Watsuki also mentored Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Hiroyuki Takei (Shamen King), and Shinya Suzuki (Mr. Fullswing) during this time.

However, the turn of the millennium was not kind to Watsuki. Gun Blaze West was his first follow-up to Rurouni Kenshin and it was canceled after 28 chapters. Buso Renkin did last for 83 chapters, but it was criticized for coasting on Watsuki’s name.

Watsuki did show signs of making a comeback with Embalming -The Another Tale of Frankenstein- and a pair of Rurouni Kenshin sequels. Despite a growing readership, his career is all but dead after being charged with possessing child pornography.

Yudetamago – Kinnikuman

Yudetamago is a duo consisting of writer Takashi Shimada and artist Yoshinori Nakai. They exploded onto the scene with Kinnikuman, and the wrestling manga has sold nearly 75 million copies and won the 30th Shogakukan Manga Award.

The duo has attempted to work on manga within different genres and martial sports, but none have managed to gain a solid readership. After a string of failures, Yudetamago decided to work on a Kinnikuman sequel, which has been published since 1998.

Yoko Kamio – Boys Over Flowers

Yoko Kamio is one of the most famous shoujo mangaka, second only to Naoko Takeuchi. Boys Over Flowers brand of “working-class girl meets wealthy boy” drama was fresh at the time and has spawned countless imitators.

By now, we know that follow-up works tend to fail to meet expectations, which is what happened to Cat Street. The drama series only ran for 36 chapters, which Kamio’s second-longest series. Kamio has decided to work on Boys Over Flowers Season 2 after a crushing string of flops.

Takeshi Konomi – The Prince of Tennis

Don’t feel bad for Takeshi Konomi, he’s one of the most financially successful creators in the industry thanks to The Prince of Tennis! The manga is so iconic that people think it’s his only work – that’s how popular The Prince of Tennis is!

Konomi has attempted to create three different action manga in the past: Cool: Rental Body Guard, Lady Cool, and Moon Walker LTD. Series. None of them made an impact, but he always has The Prince of Tennis to fall back on.

Natsuki Takaya – Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket is one of the most loved shoujo works for showing how human compassion can triumph over personal ills. The work has touched millions of fans, but Natsuki Takaya hasn’t been able to create a suitable follow-up.

She has made attempts in the past and came close with Twinkle Stars. However, Takaya has decided to work on the Fruits Basket Another sequel.

Saburouta – Citrus

Saburouta is relatively new to the scene, but they’ve worked on a few titles before launching Citrus. The salacious yuri manga is a best-selling hit and it’s doubtful that Saburouta will be able to find gold a second time. Before working on Citrus, they stuck out numerous times writing various shoujo and erotic titles.

Who are your favorite one-hit wonders?

The newest big name in manga can come from the most unlikely places. Manga app Comico announced that’ll debut a series of high school mangaka Kishiwo, who won the 2016 National Student Championship manga contest.

Their debut work is Namae no Nai Kyouri (Distance Without a Name), which is a romantic-drama between an emotionally scarred woman in her 30s and a teenage boy. The manga’s premise served as the basis of their 2016 winning submission.

Namae no Nai Kyouri will debut in March and the Comico editors are excited to show off Kishiwo’s art style, which looks really detailed for a high schooler. Will check the series out when it debuts?

One question has ragged on since the beginning of time: anime or the source manga?

Both sides have dedicated fans with convincing arguments. Anime fans argue that moving pictures and voice acting can enhance an experience while manga fans feel that the source material is the intended story and any changes are blasphemous. You could be boring and like both, but who does that?

However, Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama has made a convincing argument that both mediums go hand-in-hand.

An interview clip was released to hype up the Attack on Titan Season 2 home release and he talked about how the anime helped that manga’s development.

Isayama has gone on record saying that the anime has helped him develop the cast.

Isayama feels that Yuuki Kaji’s performance as Eren Yaeger helped him develop the character during the manga’s later chapters. He said, “With Kaji’s voice acting, there seemed like there was more bluster to him. Like, he said big things, but there was also a weakness to him.”

Isayama credits the anime’s nuances in aiding the manga’s development.

Isayama feels that the anime’s voice actors helped him understand the series’ cast better than what he originally had in mind. Not only that, but Isayama says that his involvement in the anime has allowed him to refine Attack on Titan and suggest story changes in the anime that he would do differently in the manga.

From the interview clip, it seems like Isayama views the Attack on Titan anime as the definitive way to enjoy the story and the manga is a type of rough-cut. Do you agree with his view?

Zoids is a making a comeback with an all-new Zoids Wild multimedia project. It’s the franchise’s newest line since 2005’s Zoids Genesis.

The mecha-beast series is based on Takara Tomy’s line of model kits. Zoids Wild will consist of a summer 2017 TV anime series, a manga that will launch in April, a new model kit line that will debut in June, and a Nintendo Switch video game.

Story details haven’t been revealed, but Norihiko Sudo (Pokémon: Black and White / ToHeart2) will direct the series at OLM, Inc (Pokémon franchise / Inazuma Eleven franchise) and Mitsutaka Hirota (Sweetness & Lightning / Anime-Gataris) will write the scripts.

Takara Tomy launched the Zoids line of models in 1983 and it inspired a 14 volume manga series written by Michiro Ueyama in 1999. The manga was adapted into the ZOIDS: Chaotic Century anime in 1999. Zoids/ZERO (2001), Zoids: Fuzors (2003), and Zoids Genesis (2005) would serve as sequel series.

ZOIDS: Chaotic Century followed Van, a teenage boy who stumbles across a mysterious girl named Fine and an Organoid named Sieg while hiding in ruins. Sieg can merge with a Zoid to increase its fighting power, which comes in handy when a new war breaks out across the Helic Republic.

Are you excited about Zoids Wild?

Asumiko Nakamura is continuing her hit Doukyusei -Classmates- series with an all-new sequel.

Blanc is the latest entry in the yaoi series that follows the lives of Rihito Sajo and Hikaru Kusakabe. The sequel follows Kusakabe working to achieve his musical ambitions while Sajo is studying in university. Despite their close bond, the two live their lives separately.

Nakamura published the original Doukyusei -Classmates- manga in 2006 and it became a surprise hit. The love story of a high school rocker and his bookworm classmate bucked yaoi trends and would get a movie adaptation by A-1 Pictures to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2016.

Nakamura would write the spinoff Sora to Hara in 2016, and sequels Sotsugyousei (Graduates) and O.B. (Occupation to Beloved) in 2008 and 2012 respectively.

Kodansha has been having fun teasing Monogatari fans the past two weeks. They’ve been hosting a social media campaign asking fans to guess the mangaka who’ll be adapting NisiOisin’s Bakemonogatari into a manga. Here are the illustrations fans have been teased with!

After two agonizing weeks of failed guesses, Kodansha has revealed that Oh! great (Ito Ogure) is the manga’s artist.

西尾維新『 #化物語 』コミカライズ決定 #マガジン 15号(3/14発売)から新連載スタート!!
漫画家は…大暮維人先生でした!! 正解したかな⁈#漫画化化物語漫画家https://t.co/s5AFWWfgSj

みんなに教えてね！ pic.twitter.com/JNZmzdxQJg

— 週刊少年マガジン公式 (@shonenmagazine1) March 1, 2018

Oh! great is best known for creating Air Gear and Tenjho Tenge, both of which have anime adaptations. He’s also designed alternative costumes for video games, like in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Soul Calibur IV. While Oh! great isn’t the greatest story writer in the industry, he has always won praise for his stylish, dynamic and fashionable art, which would fit perfectly in the Monogatari universe.

Bakemonogatari is the first book in NisiOisen’s long-running urban fantasy series. The book stars Koyomi Araragi, a loner with a supernatural secret. One day, he finds classmate Hitagi Senjougahara falling into his arms and learns that she is weightless. Hitagi reluctantly tells Koyomi her problem, who revolves to solve it.

Bakemonogatari‘s manga adaptation will begin serialization on March 14 in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine.

Ayano Takeda revealed that she will release a novel in her hit Sound! Euphonium series. Sound! Euphonium ~True Stories~ (Hibike! Euphonium ~Honto no Hanashi~), which will be released on April 5, will be a short story collection about alumni and freshmen.

新刊についてのお知らせです。ユーフォシリーズ最新作「響け！ユーフォニアム 〜ホントの話」が4月5日に発売されます。あすか達の卒業後の進路や第二楽章後の夏紀達、アンサンブルコンテスト等が収録された短編集です。各部員についてより深く掘り下げた内容となっています、よろしくお願いします！

— 武田綾乃 (@ayanotakeda) March 3, 2018

Takeda did give more in-depth teases about what each short story will contain:

“The Ensemble Contest” will highlight the Kitauji High School’s concert band club’s parting performance to club president Yuuko Yoshikawa.

“You Leap, and I Look Upon Your Back” (“Tobitatsu Kimi no Se o Miageru”) will showcase the graduations of Yuuko Yoshikawa, Natsuki Nakagawa, Nozomi Kasaki, and Mizore Yoroizuka. This story will be set after the “Turbulent Second Movement” books and the new anime movies.

“A Nostalgic Dream” (“Kyoushuu no Yume”) will return to band director Noboru Taki and Satomi Niiyama’s trip to the conservatory.

“Cotton Handkerchief” (“Momen no Handkerchief”) will feature Takuya Goto traveling to Tokyo.

The collection will also have stories about Kitauji High School alumni Asuka Tanaka, Kaori Nakaseko, Haruka Ogasawara, and Aoi Saitou. There will also be a story about Ririka Kenzaki and the new freshmen during their vacation.

Takeda released the first book in 2013 and has written eight other volumes. Kyoto Animation has produced a two-season anime, two compilation films, and are currently producing two new theatrical films.

Star Wars has a huge and dedicated following in Japan – eagle-eyed viewers can also see the influence Akira Kurosawa had on George Lucas during the original trilogy’s production. That fandom is about to get a manga adaptation of Claudia Gray’s Leia, Princess of Alderaan young-adult novel. Haruichi is in charge of drawing the manga.

LINE begins free serialization of the adaptation on May 4th, which is known as “Star Wars Day.” The story explores Leia’s youth living with the Alderaan royal family, who adopted her at the end of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It highlights Leia’s journey in becoming a princess and a former lieutenant. LINE also teases a romantic subplot with an original character named Kier Domandi, who was in Gray’s novel.

This isn’t the first time LINE has published a Star Wars manga. Last year, an adaptation of Gray’s Star Wars: Lost Wars was drawn by Yusaku Komiyama (Ixion Saga).

LINE will release the serialization on their messager app for free and a print version will follow later this year.

Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up revealed that mangaka Ganjii is adapting the Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple anime movie into a manga. Serialization will begin on the Young Ace Up website on March 9th.

【新連載告知！】３月以降の新連載をご紹介します！ 「文豪ストレイドッグス DEAD APPLE」「フェイト／育ステラ」「祖母の髪を切った日」「ヘテロゲニアリンギスティコ ～異種族言語学入門～」「異世界落語」「高貴に戦え！？ せんじゅーし」の６本です٩( 'ω' )و https://t.co/BsBQ276EbO pic.twitter.com/nUjOu1sDll

— ヤングエースUP公式 (@youngace_up) February 28, 2018

Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple is an original story written by Yoji Enokido in collaboration with mangaka Kafka Asagiri. The story revolves around power users around the world committing suicide after a mysterious fog appears at each death scene. The Armed Detective Agency heads out to investigate Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, a power user who claims to be a collector.

Writer Asagiri and artist Sango Harukawa launched the Bungo Stray Dogs manga in 2012. The series revolves around literary figures possessing supernatural powers based on their most famous works. Atsushi Nakajima, who can turn into a white tiger, serves as the story’s main protagonist. After running away from an orphanage, he stumbles upon Osamu Dazai floating down a river and foolishly saves. Dazai returns Nakajima’s kindness by introducing him to The Armed Detective Agency, which is tasked with solving crimes that the police struggle with.

Studio Bones produced a 24-episode season that aired in 2016 and the later Dead Apple movie. The anime’s production staff and voice talent returned for the movie, which opened last Saturday.