Kodansha Announces Young Magazine Special for the United States

Kodansha's Young Magazine is celebrating its 45th anniversary by announcing a special U.S. edition of the publication. The special edition magazine will feature 19 new manga series "geared towards American manga fans." The concept behind the magazine is "[UN-filtered MANGA]," featuring sci-fi, dark horror, and cyberpunk elements for older audiences.

This special, premium issue of Young Magazine, containing over 1,044 pages of high-quality content, will be distributed for free to attendees of Anime NYC, and it will also be available at participating Kinokuniya locations for a limited time.

Hidemi Shiraki, Editor in Chief of Young Magazine, stated that the magazine did an open call and received submissions from over 100 manga creators. "Ultimately, 19 titles were carefully selected for your enjoyment. We hope to introduce the potential of seinen manga—which explores themes and ideas beyond the scope of shonen—to more readers in North America, the largest manga audience outside of Japan."

The U.S. edition of Young Magazine will unveil new titles from creators such as Shuzo Oshimi (author of The Flowers of Evil and Blood on the Tracks), Masaaki Nakayama (author of Fuan no Tane and PTSD Radio), and Shuichi Shigeno (known for Initial D), and showcase UNDER NINJA, currently serialized in Japan. The titles are:

• ME AND BOB DYLAN (AND MY FATHER) by Shuzo Oshimi
• The Silent Forest by Masaaki Nakayama
• Subaru and Subaru by Shuichi Shigeno
• UNDER NINJA by Kengo Hanazawa

Voting Event for New K MANGA Title

The magazine will feature a fan voting event where readers will be able to select their favorites among 16 eligible titles. The winning title will be serialized on Kodansha’s K MANGA app. The vote will be held on the official website and official X/Twitter account, with the results available in real time on the official website. The official X account will feature special videos showing off the 16 titles and host a campaign where fans will be able to win prizes by posting about who they voted for.

The 16 titles competing in the Young Magazine contest are:

1. BOYS RUN THE RIOT - IN TRANSITION by Keito Gaku
2. Fasciation by OUGA
3. Godmother by Rin Shimokawa
4. GOUMA The Blade that Slaughters Gods by Hiroki Ishizawa
5. Into the Dark by Anri Morikuma
6. Is My Love Strange? by Hikari Azuma
7. KIKIKAIKAI by Kyuri Yamada
8. Pregnant by Denchi Matsumoto (Story) and Keita Nishijima (Art)
9. PROJECT METALLIA by Yukito Iwai
10. Protocol Ryugu by Daisaku Tsuru
11. Still You by Kami Nishio
12. The Graveyard Shift by Yoshimi Sato
13. The Journey of a Dark Elf with Fading Powers by Daisuke Itabashi
14. The Knight of Blasphemy by Ray Kindo
15. THE LAST TERRAN by Hiroshi Takashige (Story) and Tatsumi Hitomoji (Art)
16. To Dusk and Twilight by Robico

Source: Press Release
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