News

Elex Media Licenses Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka, En En no Shōbōtai Manga

Indonesian publisher Elex Media Komputindo announced last Friday that it has licensed Shiki Kawabata's Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka, Atsushi Ohkubo's En En no Shōbōtai, and Kamome Shirahama's Tongari Bōshi no Atelier (Atelier of Witch Hat) manga.

Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka centers on Ayumi Kohinata, a first-year high school student who has a cute and shy personality. She's excited that she just started dating her first boyfriend, but on the day of their first date, she gets a mysterious call from her classmate Zenko Umine. Zenko says she's going to die, and Ayumi witnesses Zenko jumping from a building. The next thing she knows, Ayumi wakes up in a hospital, but in Zenko's body.

Kawabata launched the manga in Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret magazine in 2014, and ended it in November 2015. Shueisha published the third and final volume in December 2015.

The manga is inspiring a six-episode live-action series starring Daiki Shigeoka, Tomohiro Kamiyama, Miu Tomita, and Kaya Kiyohara that will stream on Netflix this year.

Kodansha Comics releases En En no Shōbōtai in North America with the title Fire Force, and it describes the story:

Terror has paralyzed the clockwork metropolis of Tokyo! Possessed by demons, people have begun to burst into flame, leading to the establishment of a special firefighting team: the Fire Force, ready to roll on a moment's notice to fight spontaneous combustion anywhere it might break out. The team is about to get a very unique addition: Shinra, a boy who possesses the unique power to run at the speed of a rocket, leaving behind the famous "devil's footprints" (and destroying his shoes in the process). Can the Fire Force discover the source of this strange phenomenon and put a stop to it? Or will the city burn to ashes first?

Ohkubo launched the series in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2015. Kodansha published the manga's 12th compiled book volume on January 17, and will ship the 13th volume on April 17. As of January, the manga has 1.8 million copies in print.

Ohkubo launched his Soul Eater manga in Square Enix's Shonen Gangan magazine in 2004, and ended it in 2013. Square Enix published 25 compiled book volumes for the manga, and Elex Media released all 25 volumes in Indonesia.

The manga inspired a 51-episode television anime series in 2008. Ohkubo also launched his Soul Eater Not! manga spinoff in 2011, and ended it in November 2014. The manga received five volumes, and Elex Media also published all five volumes in Indonesia. The spinoff also inspired a television anime, which premiered in April 2014.

Tongari Bōshi no Atelier centers on Koko, a girl who lives in a little village, and who has always dreamed of becoming a wizard. But being born without magical aptitude meant that she could never become a wizard, and could never hope to witness magic's spark. She gave up on her dream. But one day, a traveling wizard named Kiefley came to her village, and she happened to see him performing magic.

The manga launched in Kodansha's Morning Two magazine in July 2016. Kodansha published the manga's third compiled book volume on February 23. The manga was nominated for this year's 11th Manga Taisho awards.