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Kodansha and Vertical's Big Plans for Late 2019

Published Thu, 14 Mar 2019 09:53:56 -0500

Kodansha Comics and their sub-brands Vertical Comics, and Vertical, Inc., three leading imprints for Japanese novels and comics in translation, announced their upcoming slate of titles for 2019, something old, something new, something borrowed and something… well, you know what to expect.

Vertical Comics announced the manga adaptation of NISIOISIN's blockbuster Bakemonogatari series by Oh! Great (Air Gear). The series will begin October 2019.

There's a new novel by the Monogatari franchise creator, Hanging High School, the third book in the Zaregoto series, in September.

Vertical revealed new cover art by VOFAN, the star illustrator of the Monogatari Series, for Makoto Shinkai's Voices of a Distant Star (novel), to release in July, and for VOFAN's own full-color artbook previously only published in Taiwan, Colorful Dreams, to release in October.

Vertical also added Seraph: Guren Ichinose Resurrection at Nineteen, the prequel novels of the manga series for their light novel lineup in December 2019.

The publishers unveiled three new box sets.

The Monogatari series will see a "Season 2" box set later this year from Vertical, Inc.

To coincide with the work's 25th anniversary, Kodansha Comics will re-release CLAMP's Magic Knight Rayearth in two three-volume hardcover box sets. The first is due Fall 2019, and on top of the three volumes of manga, each will include one full-color art book of rare pieces by the creators and an additional bonus item to be revealed.

Also coming to the box set format is the fantasy epic Fairy Tail, which will see its first 11-volume box set released this fall, with two per year to follow.

Kodansha also announced Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, the sequel to Fairy Tail, which this summer will continue the adventures of Natsu, Lucy, Erza, and the entire magical guild, with layouts and story by creator Hiro Mashima.

In another addition to Cells at Work! CODE BLACK will be released this summer. Where the original series followed a Red Blood Cell and a White Blood Cell through a (relatively) healthy body, this spinoff is set in one that's falling apart, with smoking, drinking, fatty liver, gout, and more intimate ailments to deal with. The book will carry a "surgeon-general's warning" for ages 18 and up.

Joining Yuri Is My Job!, Kodansha's premier yuri (girl-girl romance) manga title that debuted this January, Kodansha will publish If I Could Reach You, a serious yuri title about a teenage girl coming to terms with her own sexuality through her crush on her brother's wife. Vol. 1 is coming this fall.

Kodansha will publish the manga adaptation of the online game Granblue Fantasy, which featured design work and music by key creative figures from the Final Fantasy series. The manga, by cocho and Makoto Fuugetsu, will begin this fall.

Finally, Kodansha will bring to print the digital-first title Drifting Dragons, about a "whaling ship" that floats through the air and hunts dragons. Vol. 1 is coming this holiday season.