Kodansha Comics announced a raft of new licenses at an event at Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York on Wednesday, including a number of tie-ins to successful series.

Kodansha has acquired rights to Appleseed Alpha, a new prequel to Masamune (Ghost in the Shell) Shirow’s Appleseed.  The art is by Kuroda Iou (Sexy Voice and Robo).  The story is about Duenan and Briareos and their adventures in 22nd-century New York City, a post-war place ruled by cyborgs and warlords.  The CG anime is available from Sony.

Two new titles for Kodansha flagship Attack on Titan were announced.  The second Attack on Titan Colossal Edition, collecting volumes 6-10, will street in September at $49.99.  And a tie-in book, The Science of Attack on Titan by Rikao Yanagita, will be released in June.  It will answer questions about the hottest property in manga, such as "Do Titans use photosynthesis?  And who would win in a fight, Ultraman or Titans?"

Kodansha has acquired Fairy Girls!, a spinoff of Hiro Mashima’s hit Fairy Tail series (#4 on our last Top Manga chart, see "Top 25 Manga Franchises").  These new adventures, with art by BOKU, will be released this fall.  Kodansha has another Fairy Tail spin-off, Fairy Tail Blue Mistral (see "New 'Fairy Tail'"), also due out this fall.

Kodansha announced that it has acquired Maria the Virgin Witch Exhibition, a one-volume sequel to the three-volume Maria the Virgin Witch series by Masayuki Ishikawa, and will release it in August.  The Maria the Virgin Witch volumes are planned for release in February, April, and June.  FUNimation is streaming the anime.


Die Wergelder is a seinen action series by Hiroaki Samura, the creator of Blade of the Immortal.  The main characters are three tough women fighting for what they’re owed.  "Weregeld" is a German word for compensation paid by a killer or thief to the victim’s family.  The first volume will be released this fall.

Livingstone is a fantasy adventure series with art by Jinsei Kataoka, the artist of Deadman Wonderland, and story by Tomohiro Maekawa.  The "livingstone" is the receptacle of the lost soul of those who die before their lives are fated to end.  The two lead characters are on a quest to prevent those deaths, or to recover the livingstone.

Kiss Him, Not Me, by Junko, is a shojo comedy planned for launch this fall.  The lead character is a secret fujoshi (BL fan) who fantasizes about her male classmates involved with each other, but ends up the object of their affections.