The manga publisher Seven Seas Entertainment had a stocking full of new license announcements over the last week, including the return of a manga classic: Lupin III, by the late Monkey Punch (Kazuhiko Kato).  The title character is a super-criminal, the grandson of the legendary (fictional) French thief Arsène Lupin.  The series was first published in the late 1960s, and Monkey Punch added some new chapters in 1971.  Tokyopop published the entire 14-volume series in the early 2000s (see "Tokyopop Announces Lupin III Manga"), and the story has been adapted into numerous anime, feature films, and games.  Seven Seas will publish a single-volume collection, titled Lupin III (Lupin the 3rd): Greatest Heists – The Classic Manga Collection, a selection of stories that was first published in Japan as a tribute to Monkey Punch after his death in 2019.  The large-trim hardcover will be published in November 2021 with an MSRP of $23.99.

Seven Seas also announced a number of other new licenses last week, including some in their Ghost Ship (mature-rated manga) and Airship (light novel) imprints.

Kageki Shojo!! is set at a school for music and drama, where Watanabe Sarasa, the heroine, is working toward her goal of playing Oscar (the cross-dressing heroine of Rose of Versailles) in an all-female production.  She’s ambitious and speaks her mind, which occasionally gets in her way, even as she becomes friends with the other girls at the school.  An anime is in the works, and Seven Seas has just published the first part of the story as Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises, a two-in-one omnibus.  The first volume of Kageki Shojo!! is scheduled for July 2021 and will have an MSRP of $12.99.

Great Pretender is the manga adaptation of the anime, which currently runs on Netflix.  It’s the story of two con men, one Japanese and one French, who travel to Los Angeles in hopes of a big score.  As they run their game on a movie producer/drug dealer, the question is not just will it work, but can the two swindlers trust one another?  This manga will be published in July 2021 with an MSRP of $12.99.

Mars Red is a vampire manga set in the early 20th century.  While investigating a string of murders, a newspaper reporter stumbles onto a secret team of vampires who work with the military to stop the rise of vampiric forces that threaten society.  As if that wasn’t strange enough, one of the vampires is a friend of hers whom she thought had died. An anime is slated to debut in April 2021.  The first volume of this supernatural thriller will be published in July 2021 with an MSRP of $12.99.

Pompo: The Cinéphile is a manga about filmmaking. Gene Fini is a production assistant working on -movies produced by the preternaturally young-looking producer Joelle Davidovich Pomponette, a.k.a. Pompo.  When Gene praises one of her scripts, he ends up directing the film himself, and the manga chronicles the ups and downs of his experience.  This series began on the social-media site Pixiv and is being made into a theatrical anime that will premiere in March 2021 in Japan.  Seven Seas will publish the first volume of the manga in July 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99.

Bloom Into You Anthology is a collection of short manga stories by a variety of creators based on the yuri manga series Bloom Into You, which is also published by Seven Seas.  The original series follows the high-school romance between two high school girls, one cool and standoffish, one dreamy and romantic. Bloom Into You has also been made into light novels and anime.  The anthology series offers alternate takes by different creators; the first volume will be published in September 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99.

Hello World is a high school romance with a time-travel twist, adapted from an anime film that doesn’t seem to be available in North America yet.  A quiet teenager is visited by his future self and told that his classmate, who will soon be his girlfriend, will die in an accident.  He must act to stop that from happening, but changing the future is complicated, even more so when it turns out that the world he’s living in isn’t entirely what it appears to be.  Seven Seas will publish the light novel version of this story under its Airship imprint and the manga as part of its flagship line, both as one-volume omnibus editions.  The light novel will be published in July 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99, and the manga will follow in August 2021 with an MSRP of $18.99.

The Dangers in My Heart is a series about a quiet teenage boy who thinks he is more evil than he really is.  Ichikawa Kyotaro spends his days dreaming up ways to disrupt his junior high school, when he’s not nursing a crush on the beautiful Anna Yamada.  As they begin to pursue an odd romance, their true selves become clear when they are together.  This series was nominated for a Manga Taisho award.  Volume 1 is scheduled for July 2021 and will have an MSRP of $12.99.

My Wife Has No Emotion is the manga that at last asks the question: Can a lonely salaryman find love with a robot?  Takuma is single and hard-working, so he gets a robot to cook and clean for him.  Impressed with the robot’s housekeeping skills, he jokingly says he should marry her, and she takes him at his word. Soon they are spending more time together, and Takuma starts developing feelings for her, leading to a bittersweet romance.  The first volume will be published in August 2021 with an MSRP of $12.99.

Seaside Stranger, a.k.a. Umibe no Étranger, is a boys love story about the relationship between an openly gay author and a high-schooler who has just lost both his parents.  Just as their romance is beginning to heat up, the teenager announces he is leaving Okinawa, where they both live, for the mainland.  But three years later he returns, ready for love.  The manga, which has been adapted into an anime film, will be published in July 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99.

Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World is an isekai manga about an ordinary guy who is reincarnated as a nobleman in a fantasy world and is given an extra bounty of magical powers as a blessing from the gods.  This allows him great freedom but he also has to keep his powers on the down low so he doesn’t attract unwanted attention.  The first volume is scheduled for August 2021 with an MSRP of $12.99.

Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling is, as the title says, the story of a man who is reincarnated as a dragon, starting when he’s still in the egg.  He can’t do much in that state, but fortunately he has a voice guiding him through what he has to do to level up.  The premise of this manga is similar to the Yen Press series So I’m A Spider, So What?, but with dragons instead of spiders.  Seven Seas has licensed both the light novel and the manga versions of this story.  The first volume of the light novels, published under the Airship imprint, will go on sale in July 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99, and the manga will launch in September 2021 with an MSRP of $12.99.

Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs is adapted from the light novel series of the same name (also published by Seven Seas).  An ordinary guy is reincarnated into an otome game, where women are in charge and men are judged solely on their looks.  Fortunately for him, our lead character has already played this game in his previous life, so he knows how to subvert it. Hilarity ensues!  The first volume is slated for July 2021 release with an MSRP of $12.99.

The Invincible Shovel stars an immortal, superpowered miner who can level a mountain with one swing of his mighty shovel.  So naturally when a runaway princess asks him to help her find some cursed jewels and save her kingdom, he’s ready for it.  This comedy/fantasy manga, which is adapted from the light novels of the same name (also published by Seven Seas) has a strong RPG vibe.  The first volume will be released in July 2021 with an MSRP of $12.99.

The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary is a swords-and-sorcery-style fantasy manga about a mercenary who loses his entire company in a battle and must start over from nothing.  He’s at rock bottom when a stranger comes to his rescue: A mysterious priestess who volunteers to be his partner.  Of course, she has an angle, and our mercenary doesn’t figure this out until he’s too far in to back out.  Seven Seas has licensed both the manga and the light novels; the first volume of the light novel will be published under the Airship imprint in July 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99, and Volume 1 of the manga will be published in August 2021 with an MSRP of $12.99.

Seven Seas announced five new adult titles to be published under its Ghost Ship imprint.

Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star goes behind the scenes of the adult film industry, but in a hilarious way.  With his job gone thanks to his company’s bankruptcy, and his wife on the way out the door as well, our everyman hero decides to combine pleasure and a paycheck by working in the porn industry, but it turns out not to be as easy as he had anticipated.  The first volume will be published in September 2021 with an MSRP of $14.99.

Devilish Darlings Portal Fantasy takes us beyond the everyday world to another realm. Keitaro, our hero, literally walks into a new world one morning, one that is filled with dangerous creatures. He’s rescued by a benevolent half-demon who immediately sets out to seduce him, because she can only have children with a human male.  The rules are different in this world, of course, and she has never been with a human before, so a lot of learning goes on in this romantic comedy.  This manga is complete in one volume and will be published in July 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99.

Shiori’s Diary is the story of a woman who, on learning that her husband has taken a mistress, decides to have a fling of her own.  She starts by rekindling an old flame at a class reunion, then moves on to a series of passionate hookups with other men.  The first volume of Shiori’s Diary will be released in August 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99.

Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! mixes sex and martial arts with the story of a young karate expert who moves to Tokyo to become a famous singer and winds up in the adult entertainment industry instead.  Her only recourse involves defeating 100 lust-filled men in a martial arts tournament.  This manga, originally titled Hagure Idol Jigokuhen, is by Devilman Grimoire artist Rui Takato and will be published in 2-in-1 omnibus volumes.  The first is scheduled to go on sale in July 2021 with an MSRP of $19.99.

Call Girl in Another World puts it right out there in the title: Yuzuki has been trapped in a magical realm, and she can only get out, according to her grimoire, is to pleasure a series of otherworldly creatures.  As a professional, though, she’s ready to do what she has to do, and to enjoy it, too.  The first volume of this comedy fantasy manga will be published in July 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99.

In addition to these manga series, Seven Seas announced four light novel licenses to be published as part of their Airship imprint.

Monster Musume – Monster Girls on the Job is a spinoff of Monster Musume, one of Seven Seas’ best-selling series.  The monster girls embark on a job-training program in this series, which opens up a whole array of sexy possibilities. The first volume will be published in August 2021 with an MSRP of $14.99.

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter is the light novel series that was the basis for the manga of the same name, which Seven Seas already publishes.  It’s a shoujo/isekai story about a woman who, just as she is about to be rejected by her fiancé and arrested, is suddenly transported into an otome game, where she will be a villainess.  The first volume is set for July 2021 release with an MSRP of $13.99.

Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Spaceship mashes up isekai and sci-fi in the story of an office worker who wakes up on a spaceship, a spaceship that’s uncannily like the one in his favorite video game.  Not only is he a skilled pilot, but the ship comes with a bodacious crew, so he’s ready to head out and see the stars.  The first volume will be published in July 2021 with an MSRP of $13.99.

The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe is set in a bookstore that lies between the realms of the ordinary and the spirit world.  Kaori, a mortal girl, lives there with her adopted father, a spirit.  Each novel is a complete story; in the first, Kaori finds an injured man who turns out to be an exorcist who hates all spirits, and she decides to win him over with kindness.  The first volume is titled The Spirit Daughter and the Exorcist Son, and it will be published in October 2021 with an MSRP of $14.99.