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New Shoujo Licenses Announced at Anime Expo 2015

This past weekend at Anime Expo many announcements were made for license acquisitions by North American publishers. Of course here at Heart of Manga we’re listening acutely for the shoujo titles, so here’s what was shared for shoujo fans at AX 2015.

Viz Media announced at their Shojo Beat panel that they will be printing Shuriken to Pleats by Matsuri Hino, a new story from the mangaka of Vampire Knight.

Shuriken to Pleats

Also acquired by Shojo Beat is Urakata!, translated to Behind the Scenes! by Bisco Hatori, a new story from the mangaka of Ouran High School Host Club.

Behind the Scenes

Vertical announced that they will be printing Kanata Konami’s new kitten manga – FukuFuku Kitten Tales. Konami’s beloved cat series Chi’s Sweet Home has been previously printed in North America by Vertical.

FukuNyan_cover1_jp_

Of course my favorite license announcement of the convention was the josei title acquired by Kodansha USA – Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura!!! We’ve kept our fingers crossed for this one coming out eventually and here it is!

Princess Jellyfish

So of all the announcements, which one are you most anticipating? Share with us in the comments!






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12 Comments

  • It’s such great news with Princess Jellyfish coming out! I love shoujo and josei and always preorder new titles, but it breaks my heart that one of my absolute favourites Love So Life still isn’t licensed. There have been posts on this site from 2011 wanting it, but I’m still hopeful when more and more great titles are released.

    • I hope that we can get some of the more prominent titles from Japan as well. I would love to see us get Yona of the Dawn or Snow White with the Red Hair. I really love Ao Haru Ride, and we haven’t gotten that one either.

      Love So Life has been one of my favorite shoujo manga I keep up with online because I love the twins and the relationships are so sweet. But it’s mostly scanlated, so I don’t know if Viz will be willing to go there. It’s also slice of life which is a tougher sell over here.

      I find it hard to be optimistic about Shueisha and Shogakukan titles because of Viz’s licensing patterns of late. (That includes titles from LaLa and Hana to Yume, like Love So Life and Yona.) But if it’s another publisher like Kodansha or Akita Shoten, then we have a good shot of getting it. That’s why we’re finally getting Princess Jellyfish. Because of Kodansha USA willing to take a risk on it. I hoping their licensing risks will pay off for them. Then we may keep getting good Kodansha titles from Dessert, Betsufure, Kiss, and Aria.

  • Uhmm,, im new here,, can i ask you somethings ? Do you know what is the newest update at sho-comi.com ?? I saw it there is new update at some mangas,, can you tell me the title of the update mangas ? Thanks ^^

  • OMG PRINCESS JELLYFISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD I love you Viz!!!

    • No, no, no. Don’t give Viz the credit. It’s Kodansha that’s bringing it to us finally. Yay for Kodansha ! They’re making great strides with shoujo and josei manga recently.

      But yeah, I’m with you – PRINCESS JELLYFISH!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • I look forward to 3 of the series above (except for Shuriken and Pleats, I may borrow from library first to check it out.) especially for Princess Jellyfish and Fukufuku 🙂
    From, Yen, Handa-kun in prints, Renaissance Eve, and Crimson Prince.
    I just read The Morose Mononokean on Crunchyroll last night, it’s a good fun read. I look forward to more volumes.

    • Renaissance Eve and Crimson Prince both look interesting! Black Detective piqued my interest also. They weren’t included because they are classified shounen.

      I’ve looked at Shuriken and I’m not interested. Behind the Scenes isn’t too bad, but the male lead is kind of weak. Those are just my impressions from reading the Japanese. 🙂

      • Thanks for pointing out Yen’s licenses are shounen. Black detective does look interesting.
        “I’ve looked at Shuriken and I’m not interested … from reading the Japanese.”
        I see. I’m hoping for “Aoi spring ride.” For now, I’m happy with Honey and others 🙂
        I wonder if there will be more licenses announced at SDCC this coming weekend.

        • Yes. I would be forever grateful if Shojo Beat would print Blue Spring Ride. I just bought the Japanese art book the other day and it is gorgeous!

          I’m asking Shojo Beat if there will be more license announcements on Twitter. I’ll let you know if they reply. 🙂

          Oh, hey, they did. There will be no more from Shojo Beat at SDCC. Not sure about the rest of the publishers.

          • Thanks for asking shojobeat about sdcc and let me know about the art book. That does look pretty. I’ll get one. At this rate, I’ll just cave and buy the French version of Blue Spring Ride! Volume 10 is just out over there.

2018 Shoujo and Josei License Announcements
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