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Gempak Starz Licenses Kotenbu Novel Series, Hyōka Manga
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Malaysian publisher Gempak Starz announced on Monday that it has licensed Honobu Yonezawa's Kotenbu (Classic Literature Club) novel series, and Task Ohna's Hyōka manga adaptation. Gempak Starz will release the novels and manga in both English and Malaysian, with the English versions slated to debut in June, and the Malaysia versions slated to debut in July.
The story follows a boy named Hōtarō who is not assertive about getting involved, but was ordered by his older sister to join the classic literature club. In the club, he gets close to the truth about an incident, involving a female member's uncle, which happened 33 years ago. The "energy-saving" boy is joined by Chitanda, an inquisitive girl in this adolescent mystery.
Yonezawa released Hyōka, the first book in the series in 2001. It was followed by Gusha no Endroll in 2002, Kudryavka no Junban in 2005, Toomawari Suru Hiyoko in 2007, Futari no Kyori no Gaisan in 2010, and Imasara Tsubasa o Iwaretemo last November.
Kyoto Animation adapted some of the stories in the series into a 22-episode television anime series in 2012. The anime's character designs by Futoshi Nishiya served as the basis for the character designs in Task Ohna's manga, which launched in Kadokawa's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine in January 2011. Kadokawa published the manga's 10th compiled book volume last July.
A live-action film adaptation starring Kento Yamazaki and Alice Hirose will open in Japan this year.
Update: Corrected the languages offered. Thanks NightSide!
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