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Viz Media Adds Fire Punch & Kenka Bancho Otome: Girl Beats Boys Manga, Sisyphean Novel

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Viz Media announced at its industry panel at Anime Expo on Saturday that it has licensed Tatsuki Fujimoto's Fire Punch manga and Chie Shimada's Kenka Banchō Otome: Girl Beats Boys (Kenka Banchō Otome: Koi no Battle Royale) manga. The company also announced a new hardcover "Fullmetal Edition" of Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga, Dempow Torishina's Sisyphean novel, and the Neko Atsume Kitty Collector: Where am I Meow and Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku: Seasons of the Kitty books.

Fujimoto launched Fire Punch on Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ website and app in April 2016. Shueisha published the manga's fifth compiled volume in Japan on June 2, and will publish the sixth volume on August 4. Viz Media will begin releasing the series in January 2018, and it describes the series:

In the not-too- distant past, the Ice Witch blanketed the world in snow, starvation and madness, leading the inhabitants to seek their salvation in fire. With that, an unusual destiny unfolds for two young orphans, Agni and Luna, blessed with the ability to regenerate. But will this ability prove to be more of a curse than a blessing?

The manga was nominated for the 10th Manga Taisho Awards earlier this year. The 2017 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook listed the manga at #3 on its list of manga for male readers. Additionally, the Honya Club listed the manga at #15 in February for its "Zenkoku Shotenin ga Eranda Osusume Comic 2017" (Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2017) poll.

Shimada is credited with the story and art for Kenka Banchō Otome: Girl Beats Boys, Spike Chunsoft is credited with the original concept, and Red Entertainment is credited for planning. Viz Media will release the manga beginning next year. The manga adapts Spike Chunsoft's Kenka Banchō Otome PlayStation Vita game. Spike Chunsoft released the original game on the PS Vita in May 2016.

The story centers on Hinako, who has grown up not knowing her parents and thinking she has no relatives. One day, a boy named Hikaru appears before her, and says he's her older twin brother. Hikaru asks Hinako to take his place at attending a famous private all-boys academy for delinquents.

Shimada began the manga adaptation with a one-shot in Hana to Yume on July 4, 2015, and began the series in The Hana to Yume on July 25, 2015. The manga ended on February 1. The second and final compiled volume shipped in Japan on April 20.

An anime adaptation of the original game titled Kenka Banchō Otome: Girl Beats Boys premiered on April 12, and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan. Funimation streamed an English dub for the anime.

Dempow Torishina won the Sogen SF Short Story Award in 2011 for Sisyphean (Kaikin no To), his debut work. He later wrote a series of stories in the same far-future world of "Sisyphean." SF Magazine chose the collection as "as the best SF of 2013." The collection also won the Japan SF Award in 2013, and was nominated for the Seiun Award in 2014.

Viz Media will release the novel in January 2018, and it describes the story:

In this award-winning novel by Dempow Torishina, even after the world and humanity itself have been rendered nearly unrecognizable by genetic engineering, a day in the office can feel…Sisyphean. The company stands atop a tiny deck supported by huge iron columns a hundred meters high. The boss there is its president – a large creature of unstable, shifting form once called “human.” The world of his dedicated worker contains only the deck and the sea of mud surrounding it, and the worker's daily routine is anything but peaceful. A mosaic novel of extreme science and high weirdness, Sisyphean will change the way you see existence itself. Sisyphean was a winner of the prestigious Japan SF Award and also nominated for a Seiun Award.

Viz Media's Haikasoru imprint previously published the original short story in the Phantasm Japan book in September 2014.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition is a fully remastered version of the manga with an updated translation and new lettering. The version will also include all the original color pages, and will feature large-trim archival-quality paper, new character sketches, and new color art from Arakawa. The books will be hardcover. Viz Media will begin releasing the new version in May 2018.

Neko Atsume Kitty Collector: Where am I Meow is an all-ages full-color activities book. Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku: Seasons of the Kitty tells "an irreverent journey through the seasons as told in haiku" featuring characters from the Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector mobile game. Both books will ship in February 2018.