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Yuri Kuma Arashi Project by Utena/Penguindrum's Ikuhara Gets Manga

The March issue of Gentosha Comics' Monthly Comic Birz magazine is announcing on Thursday that artist Akiko Morishima will draw a manga of the Yuri Kuma Arashi anime project by director Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Penguindrum, several Sailor Moon television series). Morishima will debut the manga in the April issue on February 28.

The "intellectual fantasy" follows Kureha, a "transparent" high school girl who is plain and is barely noticed by others. Seemingly every night, she has a "dream about a bear and a transparent storm." In this dream, her mysterious classmate Ginko Yurishiro appears in the form of a bear.

The manga's preview unveils the project's character designs for the first time since the anime's two limited preview screenings last March. The manga's original story is credited to "Makinako Ikunigo."

Morishima penned the yuri series Hanjuku-Joshi in Ichijinsha's Comic Yuri Hime magazine, and Ichijinsha published two volumes in 2008 and 2009, respectively. JManga released the series on its digital platform before ending service last year.

Last March, Ikuhara presented brief footage from his new anime project featuring a bear transforming into a girl. A website for the "Kunihiko Ikuhara/Penguinbear Project" launched in 2012 with the tagline "Find out, without getting caught in that clear storm."

Ikuhara previously collaborated with Isuzu Shibata on the Penguindrum manga adaptation (also in Monthly Comic Birz) and with Chiho Saitō on the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga adaptation. Sentai Filmworks released the Penguindrum anime, and Nozomi released the Revolutionary Girl Utena DVD box sets in North America.