News

Seven Seas Licenses Penguindrum Novels, Sarazanmai: Reo and Mabu Manga

Seven Seas Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it has licensed Kunihiko Ikuhara and Kei Takahashi's Penguindrum novels, Ikuhara and Misaki Saitoh's Sarazanmai: Reo and Mabu manga, Yoru Sumino and Idumi Kirihara's I Had That Same Dream Again novel and manga, and Kumanano, 029, and Sergei's Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear light novel and manga series.. The company will release all of the works digitally and in print in North America.

Seven Seas will release the novel adaptation of the Penguindrum television anime in a single volume on May 19, 2020. The company describes the story:

Twins Kanba and Shoma live with their terminally ill little sister, Himari. One day, they visit the aquarium, a place full of warm memories for Himari, but she suddenly falls ill—and dies! At that very moment, a voice cries out, “Survival Tactic!” and Himari, wearing a penguin hat, comes back to life...?! After licensing the Penguindrum manga series earlier this year, Seven Seas is excited to bring the fans another iteration of this intriguing series.

The novels shipped in Japan in three volumes from July 2011 to February 2012. The original anime's character designer Lily Hoshino (Otome Yōkai Zakuro) provided the cover art.

The original 24-episode anime from director Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Yuri Kuma Arashi, several Sailor Moon television series) aired in 2011. Isuzu Shibata launched a manga adaptation in 2013 and ended it in 2017. Seven Seas will release the first volume of the manga on December 3.

Seven Seas will release Sarazanmai: Reo and Mabu, a spinoff manga of Ikuhara's original television anime Sarazanmai, on May 12, 2020. The company describes the story:

Reo and Mabu, supernatural cops and agents of a certain empire, are surprised to find a baby lying on a plate in the street! They take her in as they search for her parents, but their bizarre lives keep leading them in wild directions. Strangely, this baby--whom they name Sara--seems to have supernatural powers as well...and these two men are starting to love her as if she were their own.

The manga launched in Gentosha's Rutile magazine in May 2018. The series ran in both the magazine and on its sister web comic site Rutile Sweet until this past March.

The 11-episode anime premiered on April 11 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan. Ikuhara directed the series and, along with Teruko Utsumi, also oversaw the series scripts. Nobuyuki Takeuchi (Fireworks) served as chief director. The studios MAPPA (Yuri!!! on Ice, In This Corner of the World, Rage of Bahamut Genesis) and Lapin Track (Yuri Kuma Arashi) produced the series. The anime also inspired a separate manga adaptation, a two-volume novel adaptation, and a stage play that will debut in November.

Seven Seas will release will publish Sumino's I Had That Same Dream Again novel on May 26, and it will publish Kirihara's manga adaptation of the novel in a single omnibus volume on July 7. The company describes the story:

An unhappy girl who engages in self-harm, a high schooler ostracized by her classmates, and an old woman looking to live out her twilight years in peace--what could three such different people have in common? That's what grade schooler Nanoka Koyanagi is trying to find out. Assigned by her teacher to define what “happiness” means to her, Nanoka tries to find her place in the world by exploring her relationships with these three strangers, and through them, comes to know herself.

Futabasha published the novel in February 2016. Kirihara launched the manga adaptation of the novel in Monthly Action in September 2017, and ended it in August 2018. Futabasha published the manga's third and final volume in September 2018.

Sumino's I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (Kimi no Suizō o Tabetai) novel inspired a live-action film that premiered in Japan in July 2017. The novel inspired an anime film that opened in Japan in September 2018. Aniplex and Fathom Events screened the film in the United States in February with both English subtitles and an English dub.

Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the I Want to Eat Your Pancreas novel and manga. The novel debuted in English last November, while the first volume of the manga, also drawn by Kirihara, debuted in English on January 22. Seven Seas also licensed Sumino's At Night, I Become a Monster novel, which is slated for a spring or summer 2020 release.

Aurora Publishing, Inc. previously published three volumes of Kirihara's Hitohira manga. JManga also digitally published three volumes of the manga. The manga inspired a 2007 television anime series.

Seven Seas will publish the first volume of Kumanano and 029's Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear light novel series on June 9, and it will publish the first volume of Sergei's manga adaptation of the novels on May 12. The company describes the story:

Fifteen-year-old Yuna prefers staying home and obsessively playing her favorite VRMMO game to doing anything else, including going to school. When a strange new update gives her a one-of-a-kind bear outfit that comes with overpowered abilities, Yuna is torn: the outfit is unbearably cute, but too embarrassing to wear in-game. But then she suddenly finds herself transported into the world of the game, facing down monsters and magic for real, and the bear suit becomes the best weapon she has!

Kumanano began serializing the story in the Shōsetsuka ni Narō (Let's Become Novelists) website in 2014, and the story is still ongoing (Kumanano uploaded the latest chapter on Monday).Shufu to Seikatsu Sha began publishing the story in print with art by 029 in May 2015, and the company published the 13th volume on August 30.

Sergei launched the manga in Shufu to Seikatsu Sha's Comic PASH! manga website in 2014, and the company published the manga's third volume on August 30.

Source: Press releases, Seven Seas Entertainment's website