Of course, Anime NYC starts on Thursday, and I was there, covering the American Manga Awards! However, that is a story for another outlet. For Manga Bookshelf, the con began on Friday morning, with Kana. Self-described as a literary manga publisher, they were mostly pushing the just-released Billy Bat manga, by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki. It ran in Weekly Morning for almost eight years, and has been highly anticipated. Aidan Clarke, who is one of two people doing the lettering for the title, had a fascinating discussion of the various fonts needed to get across a similar impression that the Japanese reader has. Between the normal dialogue, the flashbacks, the narration, the Bat’s dialogue, the manga-within-the-manga dialogue, and the sound effects, there are a huge number of fonts that need to be broken out, and keeping track of what goes where is a challenge. they also used a font done by Ben Oda, who is seen as the inspiration of a lot of this work, and that was hand traced to give that non-digital feel to it. This was easily the highlight of the entire panel, and I really need to put Billy Bat higher in my reading queue.
But they also had plenty of announcements. Happy at Home (Ie ga Suki na Hito) is a one-shot from Comic Ruelle, about women in small spaces trying to find ways of being comfortable. Children of the Afterlife (Kakuriyo no Sennichi Hina) is a one-shot from Comic Jardin, about a demon who collects souls for the afterlife asked to help with a ghost. Soon the Fog Clears (Yagate Kiriiro wa Kumori Naku) is also from Comic Ruelle, described as a journey into the beyond-kind of book. It was mentioned that the artist is more of an illustrator. Good Morning Leon runs in Comic Polaris. Leon, a widower, is helped through life by his attentive cat Jack.
Why We Fall in Love (Watashi-tachi ga Koisuru Riyuu) is a josei title from Feel Young. An office worker falls for a guy at the office who’s just her type. Described as “for fans of Wotakoi”. Pumpkin Night is a horror manga from Web Comic Gamma. Years ago a girl had her face disfigured due to a bullying prank. Years later, she’s out to kill everyone involved. This is 10+ volumes, and looks quite scary. They also revealed the cover for Billy Bat 4, as well as the cover for Before Dawn and the End of the World, by Inio Asano, which made me laugh mostly as it has a gorgeous landscape and Asano’s usual super depressed guy face.
After this it was time for the Anime Herald panel, hosted by Samantha Ferreira and Katy Castillo. The Anime Herald website has been going since 2010, and now there’s a print magazine, designed to make the reader think of all the anime magazines of old, like Animerica, Protoculture Addicts, etc. The first issue sold well, over 800 copies, and the second has just come out, they’re hoping that will also do well. They concentrate on longer-form articles (by human beings, it is emphasized) That can be enhanced by art design. An example was shown of an article about the decline of the OVA that showed art of old-school VHS tapes with labels of famous OVAs like Megazone. They also had the big news that the third issue is coming out! More news on that as it develops. Folks could also get a print copy of the second issue at the panel, and it’s also available digitally.
The Seven Seas panel was packed to the gills, once they let people in – the doors opened at the panel start time, meaning it started 12 minutes late. This was unfortunate, as I had to leave early to get the next panel. They gave an overview of the company, plugged the Magic Repo Man and Magical Buffs anime coming out soon, and did some raffle giveaways. Then… new licenses! First came audio, as they have new books for A Tale of the Secret Saint ZERO, as well as two danmei titles: Dinghai Fusheng Records and There’s Something Wrong with the Chief. They also had that rare Chinese fantasy novel that’s het. Till the End of the Moon also has a live-action drama. A man goes insane with grief when his wife dies. Now she has to return from the dead to stop him turning evil.
Whispering Tiger: Jangsanbeom is a BL webtoon about a guy who gets possessed… only his oblivious boyfriend doesn’t even notice! I’m not sure if this is meant to be funny, sexy, or both, but it definitely sounds funny to me. The Ghost’s Nocturne has a prince of the underworld and a human, so may sound a bit familiar to BL fans. My Lips Are Being Targeted (Ore no Kuchibiru ga Nerawarete Imasu) runs in Trifle by Hana to Yume, which seems to be Hana to Yume but even gayer. At a school where people have superpowers, one man gives a powerup to anyone he kisses. He hates this power. Described as “My Hero Academia but they kiss.” Synchronicity Obsession is a one-shot BL title that’s in the “guideverse” genre, which is something I have no idea about. Seems to be cops but with special powers.
Another BL title is Scarlet Thirst, which I can find little about online. A guy with a dark secret needs to be rescued. Can his childhood friend pull it off? After that we got some yuri. I Wish It Had Just Been Love (Isso, Koi Dattara Yokatta noni) has a girl in love with her hot senpai. Then when she gets to college, she finds her senpai has given up on her dream… AND is dating a guy? That’s not gonna stand. Also on a lighter note, we see The Duke’s Daughter Must Seduce the Demon King… But the Demon King’s a Girl? (Koushaku Reijou no Rouraku Mission: Maou to no Seiryaku Kekkon ga Jinrui Saigo no Kirifuda desu!… tte, Maou ga Onnanoko no Baai wa Dou Sureba Ii no desu ka!?) is what the title says, I’m going to guess.
After this I had to leave, but for completeness’ sake I will mention they also licensed Enslaved By My Cats, one of the seemingly endless amounts of cat manga that SS has put out over the last few years; Goetia Shock is based on a light novel, also by Seven Seas, that tries to emphasize it’s a techno thriller but is a bit distracting due to the heroine’s boobs; and Witch and Mercenary, also based on a light novel that Seven Seas has, about a titular witch who hires a titular merc to protect her. And, there’s also a deluxe box set of the first six volumes of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, really, Really, REALLY Love You, with some extra content?
I did make it the the Manga Mavericks panel just in time, hosted by Varun Gupta, Michael Jokoh, Siddharth Gupta, and Erica Friedman. There was also a special guest, Victoria Esnard, the founder of Red String Manga. They gave the history of the company, which started as a podcast years ago, before moving into news in 2022 and publishing in 2025. They are one year old! They publish manga across all sorts of genres – it’s not just indie stuff. They’re also a member of the Independent Manga Alliance, along with Mahjong Pros… whose publisher, Harrison Doan divebombed the convention, here to give Mahjong Pros new announcements, with Erica good-naturedly heckling him a little.
What did Mahjong Pros announcce? Akayoroshi: Hanafuda Shadow Games (Akayoroshi: Yami Hanafuda Yugitan) is a hanafuda horror manga, presumably announced to show they’re not all about mahjong. Bird: Mahjong’s Deadliest vs. Master Illusionist is a title I can find little info on, but… mahjong! There’s also Riichi Mahjong 101, a how-to book, and Snap Call Kirinji, a mahjong manga about a loser dad whose hospitalized ex asks him to look after their kid. How to do that? Why not… mahjong!
Back to Manga Mavericks. They gave more details about Sword of Paros, their most deluxe edition yet. It will have all the bells and whistles. An oversized hardcover, it will also have most of the original color pages from the 1980s, which neither the ublisher nor the author had – they had to go back to the Monthly Asuka magazine! They also announced Midnight Robot (Yoru no Robot), the story of a girl whose dad puts a screw in her head so she can fight against evil. No, really. They’ve also got Arai-kun & Haruma-senpai, the story of a handsome guy in college and the shy chubby underclassman boy he falls for. This looks cute as hell.
The main topic was the manga Heron and the Closed Country. Unfortunately, while the author is at the con, she was sick so could not attend the panel. But there was still lots of discussion. Indeed, she and the MM team stayed in conversation over discord while the work was being created, VERY rare with Japanese creators, most of whom don’t even speak to the North American publisher folk at all. She started to publish on Comitia, a site that allows authors to have more direct interaction with fans, and from there has entered into getting her manga into print. Also discussed was the fact that both the main characters in the story are agender and non-binary. The author has included this sort of character in past works, and mentions being annoyed at old manga plotlines of tomboyish girls who end up getting girly later. It was a terrific discussion.
My final panel of the day was Kodansha, which DID start on time. It helped that the panel before it wasn’t able to be there, though that doesn’t mean they let everyone in the room early to sit. Most of Kodansha’s announcements were of titles in their Print on Demand series, which is to say mid-range digital stuff that has enough requests to give print a try. This includes How to Grill Our Love, Abe-kun’s Got Me Now!, I Want to Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die, Matcha Made in Heaven, and Changes of Heart. The publisher wewlcomes requests, but asks that you limit them to one title at a time, rather than inundate them with stuff.
They had two main announcements. The first is a horror title, Trapped on Tape (Torimatorimasu). This runs in good! Afternoon, and is by the creator of My Master Has No Tail. A girl and her goofy dog are bored in their new house… till they find a camera and some videos. Which seem to summon a ghost? The other, much bigger announcement (sorry, Trapped on Tape) is that Hajime no Ippo is finally getting a print release in North American. It’s subtitled Fighting Spirit, and coming out in 3-volume omnibuses. This legendary boxin manga has been running since 1989, has nearly 150 volumes, and has influenced so many people it’s not even funny. It should be amazing.
And that’s Day One! What wonders will Day Two bring?
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