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K Franchise Gets New Manga Based on Drama CD

The February issue of Kodansha's Shonen Magazine Edge revealed on Wednesday that Yasuyuki Torikai (Shinyaku Märchen) will launch a new spinoff manga based on GoRA and GoHands' K franchise in the magazine's next issue in February. The manga is titled K Hajimari to Owari to (K The Beginning and the End). The story will be based on a similarly titled drama CD that was given as a bonus to those who purchased the fifth to seventh volumes of the K: Return of Kings anime's Blu-ray Disc and DVD at Animate stores. The manga will be an irregular serialization.

Torikai previously drew a similar one-shot based on a previous Animate-exclusive drama CD titled "K Koen nite" (K in the park) in Shonen Magazine Edge last August.

The original 13-episode K television anime series aired in Japan starting in October 2012. The anime inspired the K: Missing Kings sequel film in July 2014, and then the 13-episode K: Return of Kings television anime series premiered in October 2015.

Viz Media licensed the original K anime series, K: Missing Kings, and K: Return of Kings. Hulu and Neon Alley streamed the first K anime series and the K: Return of Kings sequel series.

The anime is getting an upcoming theatrical anime project titled K: Seven Stories. The theatrical project features six episodes that will open once a month from July through December. The installments are based on manga, novels, and other spinoffs for the franchise.

The franchise has also inspired a series of stage plays. The K: Missing Kings film inspired the franchise's fourth stage play adaptation that debuted in October. The first stage play, titled Butai K, ran in Tokyo from August through October 2014. The second play, titled K Dai-ni-Shō: Arousal of King, ran in Tokyo and Osaka in August 2015. The third play, K―Lost Small World―, ran in Tokyo in July 2016.