Yen Press kicked off July with two rounds of announcements, leading into and at the online convention Anime Expo Lite, of new manga, light novel, and art book licenses.
Manga

Wolf & Parchment is the manga adaptation of a light novel spinoff of the Spice & Wolf manga/novel/anime franchise.  In Spice & Wolf, a trader and a goddess wheel and deal their way across a land that resembles late medieval Europe.  Wolf & Parchment is set in the same world but 10 years later and focuses on the couple’s daughter and their former traveling companion.  Yen Press has been publishing the light novels under their Yen On imprint since 2017.  The first volume of the manga will be available in December 2020 with an MSRP of $13.00.

Sword Art Online Project Alicization continues the sprawling Sword Art Online saga, which now embraces manga, light novels, games, and anime, all in service of a story about a young man named Kirito living in a series of different virtual worlds based on immersive games.  This manga ties in to the most recent anime series, and the first volume is scheduled for November 2020 with an MSRP of $13.00.

The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap puts a shojo spin on the isekai genre, in which a character is transported to a fantasy world.  In this case, Ruri, a college student, is dragged into the world of magic by a childhood friend, but Ruri ends up taking the form of a cat while her friend is a shrine maiden.  The manga is adapted from an online novel that was published digitally by J-Novel Club earlier this year.  Yen Press will publish the first volume of the manga in November with an MSRP of $13.00.

A Witch’s Love at the End of the World is a yuri romance set in a school for witches.  This isn’t one of those carefree magic-school stories for kids, though:  It’s a josei manga (created for adult women), and the witches are training to wreak revenge on their human oppressors.  The lead couple are a witch with unusual powers and a human who has none.  The first volume is scheduled for December 2020 with an MSRP of $13.00.

Strawberry Fields Once Again is a much sweeter yuri manga, starring a teenage girl, Akira, who has given up on real-life relationships and taken refuge in games and novels instead.  Her determination to stick to fictional relationships is shaken, though, when another girl introduces herself as Akira’s future girlfriend.  The series will launch in December 2020 with an MSRP of $13.00 for the first volume.

The Vampire & His Pleasant Companions is a light-hearted boys-love story about an American vampire named Al Irving who is originally from Nebraska but somehow ends up being frozen in his bat form and shipped to Japan.  There he meets a strange man who smells of blood, and a strange attraction ensues.  The first volume is due out in December 2020 with an MSRP of $13.00.

Slasher Maidens takes place in a world where stress transforms people into violent monsters, which are known as Kaijin.  The hero, Asuma Sudo, gets himself transferred into an all-girls school so he can follow his crush, but once he arrives, he learns that the school is a training academy for anti-Kaijin fighters.  Both story and art are by Tetsuya Tashiro, the artist for Akame ga Kill.  The first volume is scheduled for December 2020.

Eniale & Dewiela stars an angel (Eniale) and a devil (Dewiela) whose adventures tend to involve a lot of collateral damage to major cities, including New York, Tokyo, and Paris.  The manga has a bit of a Panty and Stocking vibe, but it’s actually an early work by Kamome Shirahama, creator of Witch Hat Atelier.  The first volume is scheduled for December 2020 and will have an MSRP of $13.00.

Mieruko-chan, which started as a webcomic on the Pixiv art-sharing community, is the story of a girl who has an unfortunate gift: She can see horrific creatures that are invisible to everyone else.  This series has an unusual mix of comedy, horror, and cuteness.  The first volume is scheduled for December 2020 and will have an MSRP of $13.00.



Art Books
Keito Koume Illustrations: Spice & Wolf – The Tenth Year Calvados collects the color artwork from the manga adaptation of the light novel series.  The 128-page paperback is scheduled for November 2020 and will have an MSRP of $35.00.

Overlord: The Complete Anime Artbook is a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the anime, including character designs, concept art, and commentary from the production staff.  The 240-page hardcover is scheduled for December 2020 with an MSRP of $40.00.




Light Novels
A Certain Magical Index SS is a collection of side stories set in the world of the manga, light novel, and anime series A Certain Magical Index.  This book is scheduled for November 2020 with an MSRP of $15.00.

Goblin Slayer Side Story II: Dai Katana is a prequel to the original Goblin Slayer series and follows the journey of Sword Maiden and her companions to slay the Demon King.

The World’s Finest Assassin, Reincarnated in a Different World as an Aristocrat is pretty much what the title describes: A skilled assassin wakes up in a new world, with his memories and skills intact plus bonus magical powers, and is of course immediately assigned to do what he does best: Assassinate someone.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days is a novelization of Makoto Shinkai’s first feature-length film, which is set in an alternate Japan that is occupied by the Soviet Union.  Two friends who have been apart for years reunite and set out to find a third friend who has been missing for many years, and perhaps to save the world as well.  The hardcover novel will be published in December 2020 with an MSRP of $20.

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten is a slow-burn high-school romance about the relationship between an ordinary boy and the most beautiful girl in his school.

Unnamed Memory is a fantasy story about a prince who makes a contract with a powerful witch to break the curse that has been placed upon him.  The first volume is scheduled for December 2020 with an MSRP of $15.00.

King of the Labyrinth reverses the usual dungeon-adventure story by telling it from the point of view of the monster.  The first volume is scheduled for December 2020 and will be published as a hardcover with an MSRP of $20.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades takes place at a magic academy where the hero encounters numerous monsters and demi-humans and must bond with a katana-wielding girl in order to survive the series of battles before him.





Click Gallery below for full-size cover art!