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Elex Media Licenses Grimoire of Zero, Kyō no Hon Manga
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Indonesian publisher Elex Media Komputindo revealed on Thursday that it has licensed Takashi Iwasaki's Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho (Grimoire of Zero) and Motosuke Takaminato's Kyō no Hon (Book of Fear) manga. The company will begin releasing Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho on August 2, and Kyō no Hon on August 9.
The Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho adapts Kakeru Kobashiri's light novels of the same name, with art by Yoshinori Shizuma.
The original novels follow a witch named Zero who is ignorant of the world and a half-beast half-human mercenary who longs to be human. Witches who practice sorcery exist in the world, however, in this era no one knows about the art and study of witchcraft. Zero is going on a journey to search for a magical tome called "The Grimoire of Zero" that hides a power that can destroy the world. The mercenary travels with her as her guard.
Iwasaki launched the manga in Kadokawa's Dengeki Maoh magazine in 2014, and ended it on June 27. Kadokawa published the manga's sixth and final volume on the same day.
The novels also inspired the Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho nano! spinoff manga adaptation in Dengeki Maoh in October 2015. An anime adaptation of the light novels premiered in Japan on April 10 and ran for 12 episodes. The light novel series also has a smartphone game in the works.
Kyō no Hon is an omnibus collection of horror themed short stories, with every volume containing three stories. The first volume's first story centers around a boy who throws a camera off a building where many people have previously committed suicide. After seeing the disturbing footage, the boy begins to see ghosts jumping off of every building. The second story centers on a man who visits a run-down shop to have his official picture taken, only to find that the only thing inside is a photograph of a group that has a ghostly-looking woman. Since then, every time he has his picture taken, the woman is present in the frame, moving closer to him each time. The third story centers on a female college student hounded by a stalker. When she keeps ignoring him, he escalates his threats, sending her a package of undefined meat at her front door every morning.
Shonengahosha publishes Takaminato's Kyō no Hon omnibus books. The first book shipped in October 2014, and the 10th and latest book shipped on February 28.
