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Alex Shearer's Bootleg Novel Made into Manga, Anime
posted on by Egan Loo
The children's novel Bootleg by the British author Alex Shearer will be adapted for manga and anime under its Japanese name Chocolate Underground. The January issue (on sale December 12) of Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret shōjo manga magazine made the twin announcements.
The story centers on two 13-year-old boys in a country that has banned chocolate and mandated fruits and vegetables for daily consumption. The boys discover a stash of cocoa and sugar and decide to run a bootleg chocolate factory, in complete defiance of the government run by the oppressive Good for You Party. Their misadventures eventually spark a revolution in the country.
Aiji Yamakawa will launch the manga version of the story in the February issue (on sale January 12) of Bessatsu Margaret. She notes in an interview on the magazine's official website that she will be drawing drawing original characters not described in the novel version. The magazine also announced that there will be an animated version, but no further details have been announced. The novel was previously adapted into a 2002 English-language television mini-series by the CBBC and Burberry Productions.
Source: Moon Phase
