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Kodansha House, Anime Expo Host Blue Lock, Witch Hat Atelier Manga Creators

Kodansha USA Publishing announced on Monday that it will host manga creators Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yūsuke Nomura (Blue Lock) and Kamome Shirahama (Witch Hat Atelier, pictured right) at its Kodansha House pop-up event making its West Coast debut in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood on July 2-12. The three will also be guests at this year's Anime Expo event, which takes place from July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where they will have panels and sign autographs.

Kaneshiro and Nomura launched the Blue Lock soccer manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in August 2018.

The original manga inspired a television anime series that premiered in Japan in October 2022 on TV Asahi and its affiliates in the NUMAnimation programming block. The anime ran for 24 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired, and is also streaming an English dub. BLUE LOCK vs. U-20 JAPAN, the second television anime season, debuted in October 2024, and aired for 14 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired. The anime is getting a third season, adapting the "Shin Eiyū Taisen" (New Hero Wars) story.

Shirahama launched the Witch Hat Atelier manga in Kodansha's Morning two magazine in July 2016. Kodansha USA Publishing began releasing the series in English in April 2019. The manga is inspiring a television anime that premiered on April 6.

In addition to creating Witch Hat Atelier, Shirahama has drawn cover illustrations for comics, including Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Star Wars: The last Jedi, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, and Wonder Woman.

Kodansha House previously hosted Shirahama in in October 2024.

Last October, Kodansha House hosted Atsushi Ohkubo (Fire Force, Soul Eater), Fujita (Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku), and Suu Morishita (A Sign of Affection).

Source: Press release