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Kodansha USA Announces 4 New Shōjo Manga Licenses, Release of Volumes 39-48 of Initial D Manga
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Kodansha Comics announced at its panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego on Saturday that it has released volumes 39 through 48 of Shuuichi Shigeno's Initial D manga digitally in English today. Kodansha is also hosting other Initial D-related events at the convention.
Comixology and Kodansha Comics released volumes 1-38 of the manga in April. The volumes are available for purchase through Comixology and Kindle, and Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and Comixology Unlimited subscribers can read the volumes at no additional cost.
Comixology describes the story:
Tak Fujiwara spends a lot of time behind the wheel. His tofu delivery job sends him racing down the treacherous roads of Mount Akina, and without even realizing it, Tak has mastered racing techniques that take most drivers a lifetime to learn. Of course, none of his friends realize this. They're all too busy watching the Akina Speed Stars, the local street racing team. When the legendary Red Suns show up to challenge the Speed Stars, it looks as if the Trueno Eight Six that has been seen racing through the mountain roads will take them on. The question remains … who's the driver of this phantom car?
Shigeno launched the manga in Kodansha's Young Magazine in 1995 and ended it in July 2013. The manga inspired several television anime series, a live-action film, several original video anime projects, and a successful game line. The manga recently inspired a trilogy of anime films, the third of which opened in 2016. Tokyopop previously released the manga's first 33 volumes in print in North America.
Kodansha Comics also announced it will release four more shōjo manga digitally starting in August:
Title: Vampire Dormitory
Author: Ema Toyama
Summary: The new manga from shojo hit-machine Ema Toyama, creator of Missions of Love and Aoba-kun's Confessions, about a poor girl whose encounter with a bishonen vampire leads her down a dark path ...
Debut Date: August 20
Toyama launched the manga in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine in November.
Title: Atsumori-kun's Bride-to-be (Atsumori-kun no Oyome-san [←Mitei])
Author: Taamo
Summary: A new country-girl/city-boy romance from Taamo, the hit creator of House of the sun. and I'm in Love and It's the End of the World!
Debut Date: August 27
Taamo launched the manga in Kodansha's Dessert magazine in May 2018.
Title: Smile Down the Runway (Runway de Waratte)
Author: Kotoba Inoya
Summary: A charming new comedy about a high-school girl chasing down the dream of becoming a high-fashion model. Her ambitions literally hit a ceiling, though, when she stops growing—and her only chance might be to team up with a talented-but-overlooked designer classmate!
Debut Date: September 3
The manga launched in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2017 as INOYA's debut work.
Title: Queen Bee (Seishun Otome Banchou!)
Author: Shizuru Seino
Summary: A new high-school romantic comedy about a potentially very mismatched odd couple—misunderstood and monstrous Hirata and popular Tōma-kun!
Debut Date: September 10
The manga ran in Kodansha's Bessatsu Friend magazine in 2013-2014 and has three volumes.
Source: Email correspondence
