Otakon New Series Announcements!
At their panel at Otakon this weekend, Kodansha Comics announced they will publish the classic Queen Emeraldas, from the legendary creator Leiji Matsumoto, as well as the cosplay manga Complex Age and the romantic shonen manga Forget Me Not.
Beginning in July 2016, Kodansha will publish the 1978 space opera Queen Emeraldas in its first-ever English release. Artist Leiji Matsumoto, possibly best known for his involvement with Space Battleship Yamato, which aired in North America as Star Blazers, is a superstar in Japan and Europe (he directed a feature-length music video for Daft Punk in 2003) but has long been absent from the American manga market. One of his most beloved creations, Queen Emeraldas follows young man Hiroshi Umino after he sneaks aboard a spaceship in order to leave Earth. Queen Emeraldas is coming in July 2016 and will be published in two large-format, hardcover volumes of over 400 pages each
Kodansha also announced Complex Age, from creator Yui Sakuma, which offers an in-depth look at the life of cosplayer Nagisa Kataura as she gets older and tries to keep her beloved hobby a secret. The series is a thoughtful story sure to resonate with American cosplayers, tackling issues like work-hobby balance, jealous cosplay rivals, and dealing with harassment. Kodansha will start publishing the series is special large-format paperbacks starting in June 2016.
Known in Japan as Soredemo boku wa kimi ga suki, Forget Me Not is a manga by Nao Emoto based on the popular novel by Taiwanese author Mag Hsu. Serizawa was walking home from work one day when he was struck by a truck. Woozy and injured, he remembers a woman taking him to safety. It was someone he recognized… but who? It’s a romance manga with a dose of mystery! The first volume of Forget Me Not will be released in March 2016.
