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New U.S. Publisher Hanashi Media Licenses The Evolution Fruit, Another World Survival Light Novel Series
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Hanashi Media, a new U.S.-based manga and light novel publisher, announced on February 21 that it has licensed Miku and illustrator U35's The Evolution Fruit: Before I Knew it, My Life Had It Made! (Shinka no Mi ~Shiranai Uchi ni Kachigumi Jinsei~) light novel series and Tsukasa Yokotsuka and illustrator Manyako's Another World Survival: Min-maxing my Support and Summoning Magic! (Boku wa Isekai de Fuyo Mahō to Shōkan Mahō wo Tenbin ni Kakeru) light novel series. ANN confirmed these new licenses with Japanese publisher Futabasha.
Hanashi Media plans to release both light novel series in English and Spanish. The company will reveal more details about the releases at a later date.
The "animal fantasy" story of The Evolution Fruit: Before I Knew it, My Life Had It Made! centers on Seiichi Hiiragi. Though at the bottom of his school's social pecking order, he and his entire school are upended when everyone in the school is transported into another world. Seiichi finds himself alone and approached by a gorilla, who instead of attacking him, proposes to him. At the moment that Seiichi thinks that "I guess a gorilla is fine too," they find the Fruit of Evolution, and when they eat it, their lives are suddenly changed once again.
Miku began serializing the story on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" (Let's Become Novelists) website in January 2014, where it is still ongoing. Futabasha's Monster Bunko light novel label began publishing the novel in print in September 2014, with illustrations by U35 (Lapis Re:LiGHTs, Aquatrope of White Sand character designs).
Sorano launched a manga adaptation of the novels on Futabasha's Web Comic Action manga website in September 2017.
The novels inspired a television anime series that premiered on October 4 and had 12 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.
Yokotsuka began the Another World Survival: Min-maxing my Support and Summoning Magic! novel series on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" website in 2014 and ended the series in 2016, with two epilogues in 2019 and 2021. Futabasha's Monster Bunko imprint published the novel series in nine print volumes with illustrations by Manyako.
The novels center on Kazuhisa Kaya, who attends a private boarding school. One day the entire school is transported to another world. Kazuhisa decides to take revenge in this new world against the person who bullied him in his old life, and he digs a hole to trap and kill the bully. However, the trap instead kills a monster, and at that moment Kazuhisa evolves to become a rare existence in this world. He then saves third-year middle school student Arisu Shimozono from an orc who is attacking her.
Kadokawa will publish the first volume of Shūji Shikamori's manga adaptation on March 10.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history