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Gempak Starz Licenses Isteriku & Kedai Buku Manga by Saikano's Shin Takahashi

Malaysian publisher Gempak Starz announced last Thursday that it has licensed Shin Takahashi's Isteriku & Kedai Buku (Ano Shōtengai no, Honya no, Chiisana Oku-san no O-Hanashi or The Story of a Shopkeeper, at a Bookstore, in That Shopping District) manga.

The story of the manga centers on a widow, the sole proprietor of the only bookstore in a Tokyo suburb some time during the mid-Showa era. Her husband and the bookstore's original owner passed away soon after they married, leaving her to take care of the store alone. Her story intertwines with that of the people in the town, as they interact with her and her bookstore.

Takahashi published the two-chapter manga in Hakusensha's Melody magazine in February 2013. Hakusensha published the one compiled book volume in December of that year. Takahashi launched a sequel story in the same magazine in December 2014 titled Ano Shōtengai no, Honya no, Chiisana Oku-san no O-Hanashi - Hatsukoi Honya. (The Story of a Shopkeeper, at a Bookstore, in That Shopping District - First Love Bookstore), and Hakusensha later published a compiled book volume for the sequel in November 2015. The new series is set several years after the first story, and follows a boy named Genji who is a regular customer at the bookstore.

Takahashi's Saikano science-fiction manga inspired a 2002 television anime series, a 2005 original video anime project, and a 2006 live-action film.