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Titan Manga, Newtype to Release Five Star Stories Manga in English Starting in March 2026
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Nagano launched his science fantasy manga series in Kadokawa's Newtype magazine in 1986, although the series has been running intermittently since then. To mark the 25th anniversary of the manga in 2011, Kadokawa reissued the existing manga volumes in a "Repeat" edition with previously unpublished art.
The manga went on hiatus in 2006 and relaunched in the magazine's May 2013 issue. It went back on hiatus in spring 2014 as Nagano prepared the 13th volume for print. The manga resumed from its hiatus in February 2016. The 13th volume shipped in August 2016 after several delays. The 12th volume had shipped in 2006.
Kadokawa released the 18th and most recent volume on March 10.
The manga's story takes place thousands of years in the future, where in the Joker Galaxy of five star systems, a long war has been fought, as the god of light Amaterasu is trying to unite the galaxy under his rule. Pilots called Headdliners fight in giant mechs called Mortar Headds, and are trained since birth to fight. The Headdliners are accompanied by female humanlike computers called Fatimas.
Nagano's own Toyspress, Inc. published most of the manga in English. ADV Films released the 1989 anime film adaptation in North America.
In 2006, Nagano worked on Hana no Utame Gothicmade, the film that he wrote, designed, storyboarded, and directed himself. The film opened in Japan in 2012.
Source: Newtype panel at Anime Expo (Lynzee Loveridge)
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
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