News
One Peace Books Adds Ichiya Sazanami's Black Bard, Shohei Manabe's Smuggler Manga
posted on by Karen Ressler
One Peace Books confirmed with ANN on Monday that it has licensed Ichiya Sazanami's Black Bard and Shohei Manabe's Smuggler manga. The company will release both titles in their entirety this year.
One Peace Books will publish all three volumes of Ichiya Sazanami's Black Bard manga in one omnibus volume. The story is about a wandering minstrel with a mysterious past who travels to a fantasy world, fighting enemies and saving people along the way.
The series, known in Japan as Ginyuu Gikyoku Black Bard, ran in Monthly Comic Gene, and the final volume shipped in Japan last December. One Peace Books' omnibus release will feature a new exclusive cover image by the artist that will be exclusive to the United States. Black Bard will ship on October 15 for US$18.95.
Smuggler follows aspiring actor Kinuta who falls into debt with the mob. A loan shark offers him the opportunity to pay off his debt by helping the yakuza transport and hide bodies of mafia hits, but the situation escalates when a killer gets lose and Kinuta and his team find themselves accepting jobs from two sides of a mob war.
Kodansha originally released the one-volume series in Japan in 2000. One Peace Books' release will include a new chapter that was recently included in a Japanese re-release, as well as a chapter from one of Manabe's other series, Aozora no Hate no Hate. The volume will ship on December 15 for US$14.95. Tokyopop previously released Smuggler in English in 2006, and the series inspired live-action film by Katsuhito Ishii, as well as a mobile drama spinoff in 2011.
One Peace Books also confirmed with ANN that it will be releasing the fourth volume of Yoshito Usui's Crayon Shinchan manga. The company released three omnibus volumes for Crayon Shinchan, and the fourth volume will continue this format, consisting of Japanese volumes 10, 11, and 12. One Peace Books' release will mark the first time volume 12 is published in English. The 360-page volume will ship on November 15 for US$12.95.
Thanks to Rachel S. for the news tip.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history