LOS ANGELES, CA —TOKYOPOP®, a POP Media Holdings company and global manga leader, announced a new list of manga releases for late 2020 and early 2021.
“We created LOVE x LOVE to celebrate romances across the spectrum of gender and sexuality,” said Kae Winters, Marketing Associate. “Whether it’s shoujo, josei, boys love or girls love, we want to increase the diversity of romance manga in the North American manga market.”
First to be released is The God and the Flightless Messenger by hagi, due to hit shelves in December 2020. A one-off BL title, it follows the story of a young messenger to the gods who struggles to fit in due to his tiny wings, but forms a bond with his unusual assignment.
“My lord, were you the one who stayed by my side?”
Shin is a messenger to the gods, but he’s always been alone because of his tiny wings. And when he’s finally assigned a god to serve, it turns out to be… a huge ball of fluff?! Stranger still, he feels an odd, nostalgic connection with the funny-looking god.
This is not the story of how a shape-shifting god and an earnest messenger with a short temper meet, but of how they find each other again.
A Boys Love adjacent title, BL Fans LOVE My Brother?! by Mimu Oyamada is about a woman whose shut-in brother is famous in fan communities for his Boys Love artwork and comics. A heartfelt comedy about overcoming anxieties and supporting family in their hobbies, this title is a love letter to BL fans.
Four years ago, Kirika Amano’s older brother became a shut-in. Since then, he’s barely even left his own room, constantly working on something at his desk. When Kirika finally finds out what he’s been doing all that time, she’s shocked — her brother creates boys love comics! Not only that, but it turns out that he’s actually quite good at it, and he’s got a dedicated fanbase.
Even though Kirika doesn’t understand her brother’s hobbies or the fandom that surrounds him, he’s still family. Maybe if she helps him sell his comics, she can convince him to step outside into the world again and greet his fans in person.
Following the success of Dekoboko Sugar Days, Atsuko Yusen’s This Wonderful Season With You is another BL one-shot about an unlikely highschool couple and a friendship that develops into something deeper.
Enoki is practically the poster-boy for what a typical nerd looks like: short and slight, complete with big round glasses and social awkwardness. His main hobby is playing video games, and he’s used to not having many friends at school. Then, he meets Shirataki, a former member of the baseball club and his exact opposite; tall, muscular and sporty. Despite their many differences, the spark of friendship between the two boys begins to grow into something more…
Alter Ego is a new addition to both International Women of Manga and LOVE x LOVE imprints. The Girls Love title from Spanish creator Ana C. Sánchez deals with unrequited love and the difficulties of confessing a gay crush to a friend who appears to be straight.
Noel has always been in love with her best friend Elena, but she’s never been able to find the courage to confess her feelings. Then, when her friend starts dating a boy, Noel’s world collapses as she sees her chance at love slipping away.
One night, in a moment of desperation, Noel ends up confessing her feelings for Elena to a complete stranger. But as fate would have it, this stranger turns out to be a girl named June, Elena’s other best friend… and Noel’s rival in love! Worst of all, now June knows Noel’s secret. With everything suddenly going wrong, how can Noel ever win the girl of her dreams?
A catboy themed BL by Dento Hayane, The Cat Proposed follows an exhausted salaryman who accidentally catches the eye of a mischievous bakeneko, or shapeshifting cat, who promptly decides they are meant for one another.
Matoi Souta is an overworked office worker tired of his life. Then, on his way home from a long day of work one day, he decides to watch a traditional Japanese play. But something strange happens. He could have sworn he saw one of the actors has cat ears.
It turns out that the man is actually a bakeneko — a shapeshifting cat from Japanese folklore. And then, the cat speaks: “From now on, you will be my spouse.”
Azumi Kyohei’s Katakoi Lamp rounds up the list with this sweet BL romance story about a café owner who develops a crush on one of his customers and struggles with how to confess his feelings.
Kazuto Muronoi runs a cute little coffee shop, where many people enjoy doing some work or writing papers for school. Among his coffee shop’s regulars is a college student named Jun, who often studies there. It was love at first sight for Kazuto! Will Kazuto be able to find the courage to confess his crush before Jun graduates college and stops frequenting the shop? And to make matters even more complicated… it seems Jun has his sights set on another worker at the café!
RELEASE DETAILS:
Title: The God and the Flightless Messenger
Story/Art: hagi
ISBN: 978-1-4278-6677-6
Rating: Teen
SRP: $14.99
eSRP: $9.99
Pages: 288
Release date: 12/8/2020
Title: BL Fans LOVE My Brother?!
Story/Art: Mimu Oyamada
ISBN: 978-1-4278-6741-4
Rating: Teen
SRP: $12.99
eSRP: $7.99
Pages: 192
Release date: 1/12/2021
Title: This Wonderful Season With You
Story/Art: Atsuko Yusen
ISBN: 978-1-4278-6749-0
Rating: Mature
SRP: $14.99
eSRP: $9.99
Pages: 272
Release date: 2/2/2021
Title: Alter Ego
Story/Art: Ana C. Sánchez
ISBN: 978-1-4278-6756-8
Rating: Teen
SRP: $12.99
eSRP: $7.99
Pages: 192
Release date: 2/9/2021
Title: The Cat Proposed
Story/Art: Dento Hayane
ISBN: 978-1-4278-6748-3
Rating: Older teen
SRP: $14.99
eSRP: $9.99
Pages: 256
Release date: 2/16/2021
Title: Katakoi Lamp
Story/Art: Azumi Kyohei
ISBN: 978-1-4278-6754-4
Rating: Older teen
SRP: $12.99
eSRP: $7.99
Pages: 194
Release date: 3/2/2021
About Yen Press, LLC
About POP Media Holdings
Founded in 1997 by media entrepreneur Stu Levy, POP Media Holdings brings Asian Pop Culture to Hollywood and beyond. Its publishing company TOKYOPOP® established the market for manga in North America, introducing the term to the English language in the process. Over its history, POP has published thousands of books, distributed anime and Asian films on home video and television, licensed merchandise to consumer goods companies, created graphic novels of major brands and led the way digitally in social media, e-commerce and user-generated content, including the mobile publishing platform POP Comics®. POP expanded internationally with offices in Europe and Japan and a network of over 160 partners in more than 50 countries and 30 languages. Its production arm has produced live-action and animated film and television content based on its extensive intellectual property library, including Priest, America’s Greatest Otaku, Van Von Hunter, and a slate of projects currently in development. Visit POP at TOKYOPOP.com, TOKYOPOP.de, POPcomics.com, and subscribe to TOKYOPOP TV for original web series and shows.
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