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Libre Ends Publishing Agreement With Digital Manga, Inc.
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Digital Manga Inc. (DMI) announced via press release on Friday that Libre Publishing has ended its publishing agreement with DMI, and the agreement will end at the end of this month.
DMI added that the separation will affect Ayano Yamane's Finder series and Kazuma Kodaka's Kizuna series. DMI originally licensed both manga in 2010. DMI published the seventh volume of Finder (pictured at right) in November 2014, and will not publish the eighth volume. DMI published all of the Kizuna series in six omnibus volumes in 2010-2012.
Libre Publishing granted rights to DMI for almost 70 manga titles, including: Hinako Takanaga's The Devil's Secret, Naduki Koujima's Our Kingdom, and volumes of Makoto Tateno's Yellow series.
"We are stunned and saddened that Libre has chosen to end our publishing agreement and included ongoing titles like Finder," DMI president Hikaru Sasahara said in the press release. "We believe this is especially unfair to English reader fans since we know it will mean they will not be able to support the artists or publishers and may have to resort to scanlations." DMI's press release additionally calls Libre's termination of the agreement "unjust."
Libre Publishing's overseas licensing website currently lists Viz Media's SuBLime imprint as the only licensee for its titles in the United States.
Viz Media told ANN it has no comment at this time.
ANN reached out to Libre Publishing for comment, and the company's full statement can be read here.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history