BookWalker to Relaunch, Death Note Team Start New Series

Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba, the creators of Death Note and Bakuman, have a new series in the works, Platinum End, which they describe as the story of “a human and an angel,” with a central character who “does not seek out hope in order to live.” No word yet on any licenses, but it’s hard to believe Viz wouldn’t pick this up.

Some big digital news: Kadokawa is going to relaunch its BookWalker e-book service next week with a broader line of manga and light novels, including works from other publishers. No word on any changes to their ComicWalker app, which offers first and most recent chapters of a lot of different manga for free.

Dark Horse has licensed Kengo Hanazawa’s zombie series I Am a Hero.

Manga journalist par excellence Deb Aoki posted three major stories recently: She talks to editors of Kodansha Comics and Alvin Lu of the new digital publisher Kodansha Advanced Media about the success of Attack on Titan and Kodansha’s digital publishing plans; she interviews Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy about his return to publishing, with both new books and a new app; and she has a lively interview with Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi, creators of the latest Ultraman manga.

At Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, Justin talks to three manga editors about their jobs—breaking in, what they do, and what the challenges are.

Erica Friedman has some updates on yuri manga in Japan in the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their picks of the week, including the long-awaited new volume of Vinland Saga.

News from Japan: The city of Kushiro, in Hokkaido, is bankrolling the creation of a shoujo manga set there in hopes of attracting tourists. 9: Kimi Ga Iru Machi De Koi O Shita (9: I Fell in Love in the Town Where You Live) will include many local sites of interest in its story. Kizuku Watanabe and Jō Aoto have created an Assassination Classroom spinoff, Koro-sensei Q!, which will launch in Friday’s issue of Saikyō Jump. And Ema Toyama has a new series in the works.

Reviews: Ash Brown sums up a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith dive into a big pile of recent releases in the Bookshelf Briefs column at Manga Bookshelf.

Naru on Emma (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sakura Eries on vol. 6 of Kiss of the Rose Princess (The Fandom Post)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Komomo Confiserie (ICv2)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of RoseGunsDays Season 1 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kanta Ishida on Terra Formars (The Japan News)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 1 of Tokyo ESP (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vols. 6-9 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Manga Xanadu)
Ken H. on vol. 3 of Yamada-Kun and the Seven Witches (Sequential Ink)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Your Lie in April (ANN)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Yuri Kuma Arashi (Okazu)