Square Enix announced seven new manga series, along with two manga-related books, at its Anime Expo panel. One of the announcements was Soul Eater NOT: The Perfect Edition. Yen Press had previously published the Soul Eater spinoff, as well as the original series in a regular edition. Like Square Enix’s perfect edition of Soul Eater,the new edition of Soul Eater NOT will be made up of hardcovers with a higher page count (about a volume and a half per perfect edition), color art from the Japanese releases, a new translation, and new cover art by the artist, Atsushi Ohkubo. The first volume will go on sale on July 23, 2024, with an MSRP of $22.99.
Also among the new announcements is a manga featuring a nonbinary protagonist. Actually, everyone in the world of Just Like Mona Lisa, by Tsumuji Yoshimura, starts out without a set gender, and they usually shift toward male or female when they are about 12. At 18, Hinase has never had a gender and has been perfectly happy until suddenly both a boy and a girl confess their love, possibly forcing Hinase to choose a new identity. The series is complete in 10 volumes and is rated for Older Teens; the first volume will be released on July 16, 2024, with an MSRP of $14.99. This series is currently available digitally in English on Square Enix’s Manga Up! app.
The other series are all scheduled for 2024 release and all will have an MSRP of $12.99.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, is an adaptation by Suzu Yuku and artist Wan Shibata of the light novel series by Saekisan and artist Hanekoto. The light novels are published in English by Yen On. The story is a cozy romance about a high school student, Amane, living on his own and pretty much neglecting things like cooking and cleaning, until his neighbor Mahiru steps in and take over. A beautiful girl who is known as the “angel” at school because of her looks, Mahiru also has a sharp tongue, but when she starts helping Amane out, romance blossoms. The first volume of the Teen-rated series will go on sale on February 6, 2024; this series is already available in English on Manga Up!
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, Jinushi, is a slice-of-life rom-com about a 45-year-old salaryman who likes to sneak a smoke behind a nearby supermarket with a friendly cashier and then with another woman who takes the cashier’s place when she doesn’t show up one day. The Older Teen-rated series will launch on February 20, 2024.
The Villainess’s Guide to (Not) Falling in Love, Shiori Shino and Ren Sakuma’s adaptation of Touya’s light novel series, centers on an unpopular woman who is reincarnated inside a dating-sim video game. She just wants to live a peaceful life, but because this is a dating-sim game, she is constantly being pestered by eligible suitors. The first volume of the Teen-rated series, which is already available in English on Manga Up!, is scheduled for release on March 12, 2024, with an MSRP of $12.99 for a longer-than-usual 256-page paperback.
Victoria’s Electric Coffin is a fantasy-manga spin on the Frankenstein story set in the 1920s. David, a street kid, is about to be executed when a 13-year-old medical doctor, Victor Frankenstein, offers him an alternative. With little left to live for, David takes the deal and embarks on a strange new adventure in the Electric Coffin. The Teen-rated series is complete in three volumes; the first will go on sale on April 2, 2024, with an MSRP of $12.99.
Mobsters in Love, by Chiyoko Origami, is a BL rom-com set in the world of the yakuza, Japanese organized crime, with the second-in-command trying to deal with his attraction to his boss. The series is rated Older Teen and is complete in three volumes; the first volume will go on sale on May 7, 2024.
Square Enix also announced A Man and His Cat Picture Book, based on the manga series A Man and His Cat, and the My Dress-Up Darling Official Anime Fanbook, a guide to one of Square Enix’s more popular series.
Source: ICV2
