Seven Seas announced a new license every day during February, ending with a big finish: Shotaro Ishinomori’s Kamen Rider, which they will release as a special 50th anniversary omnibus.  Kamen Rider: The Classic Manga Collection, an 800-page hardcover, is slated for December 2021 release with an MSRP of $32.99. 

Kamen Rider has grown from a single manga and television series into an enormous franchise. Ishinomori launched both the manga and the live-action television series in 1971 with a story about a mask-wearing motorcyclist named Hongo who is kidnapped by an evil organization. The actor who played Hongo was injured while filming the 10th episode of the show and was written out for a while, so the manga and TV series diverged at that point. The original show ran for five years and has spawned numerous sequels, both theatrical films and television series, as well as adaptations into manga and other media. The production company Toei is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the franchise this year by running the original shows with subtitles on its YouTube channel. 

Seven Seas announced in November that it had licensed Ishinomori’s Super Sentai: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger – The Classic Manga Collection (see “Seven Seas Licenses Shotaro Ishnomori’s ‘Super Sentai’ Manga, Others”).

Here’s a look at some of Seven Seas’ other newly announced licenses:

A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s an Alcoholic is Mariko Kikuchi’s memoir of her father’s alcoholism and its profound and long-lasting effect on her. This one-shot manga has a similar look and feel to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, which was a surprise hit for Seven Seas a few years ago. Both manga are casually drawn memoirs that began as webcomics that gained huge followings in Japan. The book will be released in November with a slightly larger than usual trim size and an MSRP of $14.99. 

JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World blends isekai manga with social commentary in a satirical story about a woman who winds up in a fantasy world with very limited career choices. Like most isekai stories, this one starts with JK being killed by a truck, but she isn’t swept away to become a hero. That is what happens to her male classmate, Chiba, who died trying to rescue her. While he is off on heroic missions using his special isekai skills, JK has to figure out how to get by with no superpowers in a profoundly misogynistic society. Determined to not just survive but thrive, she becomes a sex worker, which is pretty much her only option, and decides makes the best of it. This manga is based on a light novel that is published in English by J-Novel club. Seven Seas will publish it under its Ghost Shop mature-readers imprint starting in August, with an MSRP of $13.99.

Boy Meets Maria was the debut work by the manga-ka Peyo (not to be confused with the Smurfs creator of the same name), who died in 2020. Taigo, an aspiring actor, joins his high school drama club and promptly falls in love with the beautiful Maria. Despite all appearances, Taigo soon learns, Maria is a boy, and that opens up more questions and possibilities. The story is complete in a single volume, which Seven Seas will publish in October with a larger trim size and an MSRP of $13.99. 

Creepy Cat, by Cotton Valent, is the only one of Seven Seas’ new licenses that is not from Japan. It’s a full-color young adult graphic novel about a woman who finds a ghostly cat in her new house and soon finds more spooky surprises as well. The story originated in Valent’s webcomic Meawbin the Creepy Cat. The first volume will be published in October with a large trim size and an MSRP of $14.99.

Seven Seas also announced a number of romance, comedy, and fantasy licenses; check back later in Manga Week for more details on those.