Seven Seas and Yen Press both announced multiple new manga licenses last week, including romance, comedy, cat manga, and a couple of high-profile titles.

The Seven Seas licenses include the shojo mystery series The Case Files of Jeweler Richard, by Mika Akatsuki, Nanako Tsujimura, and Utako Yukihiro. The lead character is a mysterious British jewelry appraiser, Richard Ranashinha de Vulpian, who recruits college student Seigi Nakata as his assistant. Together they investigate the background of specific jewels and learn the secrets of the people associated with them. The anime associated with this series currently runs on Crunchyroll; the first volume of the manga is scheduled for February 2022 and will have an MSRP of $12.99.

Another high-profile Seven Seas pickup is My Wandering Warrior Existence, by Nagata Kabi, the creator of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, a surprise best-seller and the winner of the Harvey Award for best manga in 2018 (see “Harvey Awards Go to ‘Monstress,’ ‘Black Panther’ Movie”). Kabi depicts her life, including her physical and mental illnesses, with humor and unflinching honesty, and My Wandering Warrior Existence continues that thread with an exploration of her longing for love and marriage. The story is complete in a single volume, and Seven Seas will publish it in March 2022 in a large-trim edition with an MSRP of $14.99.

Here’s a look at some other upcoming series; first-volume release dates and MSRPs are in parentheses.

Who doesn’t love a cat manga? Seven Seas has lined up three:

Cat Massage Therapy, by Harui Hisakawa, a story about a massage parlor where cats administer professional-quality massages to weary humans; this manga will be printed in full color. (December 2021, $14.99)

I Am a Cat Barista, by Hiro Majima, a series set in a special café where a cat barista brews a special cup of coffee for every customer. (November 2021, $13.99)

The Walking Cat: A Cat’s-Eye-View of the Zombie Apocalypse, by Tomo Kitaoka, is the story of a young man and the cat he rescued as they travel through the aftermath of a zombie attack searching for the man’s wife. Seven Seas will publish the three-volume series in a single omnibus volume. (October 2021, $24.99)

Three of the new licenses are odd-couple romances in the vein of Kousuke Oono’s The Way of the Househusband (published by Viz):

 In My Lovey-Dovey Wife is a Stone Cold Killer, by Donten Kosaka, a newlywed husband tries to ignore the fact that his wife is a professional contract killer. (November 2021, $12.99) 

Kiruru Kill Me by Yasuhiro Kano (creator of the Shonen Jump series Pretty Face) follows the misadventures of a businessman who falls in love with an assassin and orders a hit on himself so they can spend more time together. (October 2021, $12.99)

No Matter What You Say, Furi-san is Scary! by Seiichi Kinoue is a high-school rom-com about an ordinary teenage boy in love with a girl who looks like a delinquent, but is really very sweet. (November 2021, $12.99)

Then there are two more romantic comedies, one each from Yen and Seven Seas:

Namaiki Zakari, by Miyuki Mitsubachi, is a high school shojo romance about a girl who is the manager of the school basketball club and is in love with the captain, a situation that a younger student uses to tease her mercilessly when he finds out about it. (Yen Press, November 2021)

Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers, by Chorisuke Natsumi, is a good pick for fans of the Viz series Komi Can’t Communicate, as it has a similar premise: A high school girl with intimidating looks and severe social anxiety wants to make friends but is too shy to speak; a boy who is a year older decides to help her, and their friendship soon blossoms into something more. (Seven Seas, October 2021, $12.99)

Both publishers announced yaoi licenses. 

Yen’s title is I’ve Been an Omega Since Today, by Maiki Sachi, a story set in the omegaverse, where everyone is an alpha, a beta, or an omega. In this story, a Beta falls in love with an Alpha, which won’t work at all,  but then he goes into heat as an Omega, which changes everything. (November 2021)

  

Seven Seas announced three yaoi titles.

Restart After Coming Back Home and its sequel, Restart After Growing Hungry, both by cocomi, are two stories about a country boy who went to the city, comes back home in disgrace, and falls for someone who moved to his town while he was away. (November 2021, $14.99)

The Two Lions, by Nagisa Furuya, a one-shot opposites-attract story about two men who become friends and then lovers. (December 2021, $13.99)

Seaside Stranger: Harukaze no Étranger, by Kii Kanna, a story about two young men living on an island near Okinawa and dealing with family trauma; this is the sequel series to Seaside Stranger: Umibe no Étranger, which Seven Seas will publish in July and which has been made into a film. (February 2022, $13.99)

Seven Seas also has two new yuri licences: 

Semelparous, by Jun Ogino, is an action-romance tale about two best friends who are training to defend their walled city from kaiju; when one of them dies, the other is determined never to suffer such as loss again. (December 2021, $12.99)

The Girl I Want is So Handsome! by Yuama is a good old high school rom-com about a first-year student who falls for an older girl and even joins the basketball team to get closer to her, but senpai doesn’t seem to notice at all. Seven Seas will publish the entire story in a single omnibus edition. (December 2021, $18.99)

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