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Masahiro Totsuka Launches New Material Puzzle Manga After 9 Years

posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Totsuka's original fantasy manga ran in 2002-2008, spawned prequel manga

The June issue of Kodansha's Morning two magazine revealed on Saturday that Masahiro Totsuka will launch a new serialized manga for his Material Puzzle fantasy manga in the magazine in May. The new manga will be the first serialization for the series in nine years.

The original manga's story begins when Mikaze, a boy who lives in a village in the frontier, undertakes a quest to travel to find three great wizards and ask that they save his village from a certain threat. However, when Mikaze finds their home, the only one of the wizards left is the girl Aqua. She agrees to travel with him back to his village. However, on their travels, Aqua perishes, but is revived again with a different personality. Mikaze finds out that the souls of the three wizards Aqua, Tito, and Prisela all reside in a single body, and they switch out and revive the body whenever it dies.

The manga ran in Square Enix's Shonen Gangan magazine from 2002 to 2008, and spawned 20 volumes. Totsuka launched a short manga titled Material Puzzle: Saikō Shōnen in Shonen Gangan when the original manga ended, and also ended it in the same year. Kimitake Yoshioka launched a prequel manga titled Material Puzzle: Zero Kreuz in Shonen Gangan in 2008, and ended it on the Gangan Online website in 2012 with nine volumes. Kodansha recently began republishing the original manga as eBooks (first volume seen right) in January, and Totsuka also drew a one-shot for the series titled "Material Puzzle - Gaiden" in Morning two on January 23.

Totsuka and artist Aguri Igarashi's Bamboo Blade manga inspired a television anime in 2007-2008. Yen Press published the manga in North America and Funimation released the anime.

Totsuka and Saki Azumi's Wagahai no Kare wa Baka de Aru (My Boyfriend is an Idiot) manga inspired the Kare Baka: Wagahai no Kare wa Baka de R web anime in 2015. Totsuka's Mannaka no Rikkun (Rikkun in the Middle) manga will get a television anime in 2019.


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