Kodansha Announces New Titles For Spring 2022
There’s early, and then there’s Kodansha. The manga localizer put out a press release this morning detailing the properties and book volumes they just licensed to debut in the spring of 2022 — almost a whole year from now.
What do they have in mind? Quite a few intriguing items, like the next Seven Deadly Sins series, omnibus reprintings of classics by Osamu Tezuka, and a new Akira artbook. Plus a few wild originals like “Island in a Puddle.” The description starts out average, but just wait for the hook…
Island in a Puddle
Story by Kei Sanbe
The tiny apartment where Minato lives may as well be an isolated island in the middle of the ocean. Despite still being in elementary school, it falls on his shoulders to care for his little sister Nagisa, who never stops asking when their mother will make one of her infrequent visits home. On one of those visits, their mother takes them to an amusement park, only to give Minato some cash and leave them on a Ferris wheel… but as the wheel reaches the top, lightning strikes, and, instead of his sister, Minato sees the corpse of a woman… and, reflected in the glass looking back at him, an unfamiliar and menacing face!
Blackguard
By Ryo Hanada
The world is suddenly overrun by monsters called “shojo” and anyone who is bit by one is infected with a mysterious virus, which turns them into the same being. To defeat the shojo, humans live in “aerial cities” and formed units called “guards”. Nanao Minami, also known as the Blackguard, fights but without regard for his own life. What is his motivation and why does he want to die so readily?
The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse
By Nakaba Suzuki
The newest manga from Nakaba Suzuki, which continues the adventures in the world of The Seven Deadly Sins! This series can be read on its own or as part of The Seven Deadly Sins‘ experience!
Tezuka New Omnibus Editions – Apollo’s Song, Princess Knight, Ode to Kirihito
By Osamu Tezuka
• Classic Osamu Tezuka titles are back in print in an all new format
• Each title will now be one volume, complete omnibus editions for the first time ever!
• New covers created by renowned designer Peter Mendulsund
AKIRA: Art of Wall
By Katsuhiro Otomo
A UNIQUE ARTIFACT: Reproduction of an art project inspired by AKIRA and carried out with the involvement of the original creator.
RARE COLLECTIBLE: AKIRA is one of the most important and popular manga ever published, and official merchandise based on this property is vanishingly rare.
HUGE FRANCHISE: The complete, $200 box set published by Kodansha in 2017 is the #1 best selling ISBN ever published by the imprint by net dollars.
Look for these and other titles in the spring of 2022, courtesy of Kodansha.