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KochiKame's Osamu Akimoto Launches Black Tiger Post-Civil War Manga
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Kochikame manga creator Osamu Akimoto launched his Black Tiger manga series in the second 2017 issue of Shueisha's Grand Jump magazine on Wednesday. The manga features on the issue's cover, and the 53-page first chapter includes color pages.
The "intense gun action" story is set in the United States in the aftermath of the American Civil War. In the chaotic atmosphere of the postwar period, the northern government issues "Licenses to Kill" to bounty hunters in order for them to take out the South's remaining soldiers and outlaws. One of those bounty hunters, a female gunslinger known as "Black Tiger," faces off against dark enemies who carry fiendish weapons.
The manga is part of the "Akimoto Osamu 4 New Manga Project!!," and the magazine's official website published a full interview with Akimoto to outline the project and his four new manga series.
The all-new Finder -Kyoto Jogakuin Monogatari- (Finder: Kyoto Girls Academy Story) manga will launch in the 10th 2017 issue of Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine on February 2. The story centers on a group of four girls in the Kyoto suburb of Kameoka at the all-female Kyoto Girls Academy High School. Takako, Tsubame, Chidori, and Suzume are amazed by their passionate principal who is also the hot-blooded president of a Kyoto women's photography club. These normal girls just want a bit of casual excitement in their daily lives. Their story revolves around pictures as their season of youth develops.
In the interview's discussion of the series, Akimoto noted that he wrote unpublished shōjo manga before Kochikame. He said that because there are no men in the current era writing shōjo manga, he wanted to write a story without boys or romance about female high school students who challenge themselves. Akimoto also said he likes the anime studio Kyoto Animation — in particular its recent work Sound! Euphonium — and that impacted his choice to set the story in Kyoto. He also mentioned K-ON! as an influence for writing a manga about high school girls. The creator said he wants to write a story that highlights the four seasons of Kyoto and depicts girls who are attracted to big cities but also appreciate their local area. He has planned to write the story for about two years.
The new Mr. Clice manga will debut in the March 2017 issue of Shueisha's Jump Square magazine on February 4. The series is a revival of Akimoto's similarly titled manga, which ended in 2007 in Monthly Shonen Jump. The adult, "thrilling action" story centers on the Japanese secret agent Jin Kurisu (Jim Clice), who gets injured and dies in the midst of a fight. His brain is transplanted into the body of a female tennis player who dies around the same time. Mr. Clice wants to return to a male body through surgery, but due to the professional advantages of a female body in spy work, the higher-ups won't let him return to a man's body. He makes the best of his new identity and takes on missions around the world.
The Ii Yu da ne! manga will premiere in the April 2017 issue of Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine on March 18. The story is set in the Kuma no Yu bathhouse in Tokyo's low-lying Shitamachi area. The bathhouse's owner, Gorō Kuma, is a gold prospector who travels around the world looking for mines, and his son stays behind with his grandfather to look after the bathhouse in his absence. One day, Gorō's Brazillian wife Maria arrives at the bathhouse. The son and grandfather are deeply moved by Maria's earnestness, and her beauty and brightness save the bathhouse from having to close.
