News
Tokyopop Confirms License of 7 New Manga
posted on by Adriana Hazra
Tokyopop confirmed with ANN on Monday that it has licensed the following manga and will release them in the coming months in print. The titles will also release digitally, with some digitally versions already available.
Title: Alice in Bishounen-Land
Creators: Yushi Kawata (story), Yukito (art)
Release Date: February 8 (released digitally on October 20)
Synopsis: Alice Kagami is an ordinary high school girl who doesn't really get her friend Tamami's obsession with idol games. There's more to life than handsome digital boys, dating sims, and mini-games, right? But then, Tamami is "chosen" as one of the top idol fangirls in the country and gets drawn into the game — and hapless Alice gets pulled in too!
Between dealing with the mismatched members of her idol group to intense pressure to spend real money on gachas, how is a total idol game newbie supposed to take them to the top?
Title: I'm Looking for Serious Love!
Creator: Shoko Rakuta
Release Date: February 15 (released digitally on October 13)
Synopsis: Innocent country boy Miyazawa Kyouhei has just moved to the big city of Tokyo for college. Imagine his shock when a chance meeting with his next-door neighbor, cocky playboy Takara Tomohiro, confirms every one of his fears about wild and debauched city slickers! Kyouhei's self-consciousness is only made worse by Takara's playful, provocative attitude, and the two of them clash right from the start.
Despite that, Takara seems to be going out of his way to look after Kyouhei as he begins to navigate his new life in Tokyo, and Kyouhei finds himself drawn more and more into his orbit. Will the thread of mutual attraction between them prevail over Takara's careless playboy ways? After all, Kyouhei's not looking for a one night stand — he's looking for serious love!
Title: Dekoboko Bittersweet Days
Creator: Atsuko Yusen
Release Date: March 22 (digitally and in print)
Synopsis: Tiny and adorable when they first met, Rui – still just as adorable – now looms over his boyfriend, Yuujirou. Though they were little more than best friends at first, the confusion over their true feelings for one another smoldered until they confessed. Now every day passes with such overwhelming sweetness it's all they can do not to ask themselves, “am I allowed to be this happy?”
The final high school judo contest, the last summer of their high school careers, and beyond… the thought of his future with Rui makes Yuujirou's heart flutter.
A slow-burn love story between a diminutive, athletic teen and his towering, kind-hearted best friend as they journey the slightly bitter road to adulthood towards sweeter days.
Title: Alice in Kyoto Forest
Creators: Mai Mochizuki (story), Haruki Niwa (art)
Release Date: April 19 (released digitally on December 22)
Synopsis: Orphaned at a young age, Alice has lived with her aunt for most of her childhood. But her uncle is abusive and resentful, and at 15 Alice decides to return home to Kyoto and train as a maiko, eventually hoping to become a geisha.
But when she arrives back to her birth place, she finds that Kyoto has changed quite a bit in the eight years since she left it. Almost as if it's a completely different world...
Title: Yagi the Bookshop Goat
Creator: Fumi Furukawa
Release Date: April 26 (released digitally on December 8)
Synopsis: Yagi is a rare sort of goat — one who loves reading books just as much as eating them! With his special talent to taste feelings contained upon paper, he's always dreamed of becoming a bookseller. Unfortunately, paper-munching goats aren't exactly welcome in bookstores, even in a world where all different animals live in peaceful coexistence.
Eventually, Yagi is able to persuade Ookami, the strict wolf manager, into giving him a job at his bookshop... but can a goat surrounded by books resist his natural instincts? And what about the instincts of a wolf, who's been charmed by a sweet and tender goat?
Title: Tomorrow, Make Me Yours
Creator: Koruko Miyama
Release Date: May 24 (will release digitally on January 19)
Synopsis: Yuki is a quiet, average boy who falls head over heels for the confident and cool Hayato in his new high school class. The two hit it off with an easygoing friendship, but when Yuki realizes that a female classmate has a crush on his friend, he tries to put some distance between them. As his feelings come to a head, he finally confesses to Hayato... who confesses right back!
Title: Yuri Espoir
Creator: Mai Naoi
Release Date: July 26 (will release digitally on March 23)
Synopsis: After finding out she is to be forced into an marriage of convenience as soon as she graduates high school, Kokoro sees her life ending before her eyes at her father's wishes. And so in her final year of high school, she decides to indulge in her love of other women, and create an incredible sketchbook of lesbian romance to leave behind as her legacy. As she observes the young women of her town, she learns more about their desires, their struggles, and the unpredictable whims of love.
The manga launched in 2019 on Tokuma Shoten's Comic Ryu website. The third compiled volume of the manga shipped on July 13.
Sources: Email correspondence, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Tokyopop via @TheOASG, Okazu