Anime Expo 2014

Kodansha

Kodansha Comics announced two new titles at their panel Saturday morning, starting with Yoshitoki Ōima's A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi). The series tells the story of a young deaf girl who becomes the target of bullying shortly after tranferring into a new school. Eventually, the bully apologizes to her, marking the start of a tumultuous story.

Kodansha will release the first volume in Spring 2015, with new volumes to follow every two months.

Originally conceived as a one-shot in 2011, the story was turned into a full series last August. Crunchyroll is releasing the series digitally alongside the Japanese manga release.

The next acquisition is Maria the Virgin Witch (Junketsu no Maria - Sorcière de gré, pucelle de force), which is written and drawn by Moyasimon's Masayuki Ishikawa. The story follows a witch who is forced to take a vow of chastity after her misuse of the dark arts gets her in trouble. If she breaks her vow, she'll lose her powers forever.

The series will be released in three volumes, with the first volume to be released by Kodansha in early 2015. The series was originally published in Japan in Kodansha's Good! Afternoon magazine.

Fans of Attack on Titan may appreciate the Attack on Titan Guidebook: INSIDE & OUTSIDE, which will be released in September 2014. The 344-page book will include interviews with mangaka Hajime Isayama, his editor, and series director Tetsuro Araki, as well as original art, concept art, an early draft of Chapter 1, as well as titan papercraft.

In addition to the Attack on Titan manga, Kodansha is also publishing Hikaru Suruga and Gan Sunaaku's Attack on Titan: No Regrets, which focuses on Levi's past. Other spinoffs available from the publisher include Saki Nakagawa's Attack on Titan: Junior High, and Satoshi Shiki and Ryō Suzukaze's Attack on Titan: Before the Fall.

Other titles available from Kodansha Comics include Ema Toyama's Manga Dogs (GDGD-DOGS), Hiromu Arakawa's The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and Adachitoka's Noragami: Stray God.