News

Digital Manga Service Azuki Adds Manga from Glacier Bay Books, Star Fruit Books

KiraKira Media Inc.'s digital manga service Azuki announced on Thursday that it will add manga from Glacier Bay Books and Star Fruit Books.

The manga from Glacier Bay Books include:

Title: Children of Mu-Town
Creator: Masumura Jūshichi
Release Date: September 23
Summary: Stylistically intermingling themes of gentrification and rebirth within the setting of a classic yakuza crime drama, Children of Mu-Town follows the course charted by youths of an aging residential housing complex who are struggling for their lives: burdened by financial issues, peer pressure, and uncertain futures, ensnared in the clutches of organized crime, they are searching for a way to survive. When a municipal renovation project seems to offer a future of stability for their dilapidated town, the mysterious and far-reaching consequences that their actions set into motion may leave Juichi and his friends with no option but annihilation… A stunning modern “tenement masterpiece” manga, Mu-Town is a story of small town gang intimidation, escalating immigration tensions, political intrigue, and the yearning desperation of youth.

Title: Tsukiko and the Satellite and other stories
Creator: MISSISSIPPI
Release Date: September 23
Summary: This is the first English-language collection from the Kyoto-based Japanese painter and comic creator “MISSISSIPPI”. Five dreamy sci~fi short stories that bring to life small, everyday moments: a long wandering father returns home; an unusual guest joins a woman on her evening “alone”; a bike repair job that's more than meets the eye; a summer laborer becomes acquainted with a mysterious girl; a contemplative rumination after cleaning the aquarium. This collection includes works produced from 2014 to 2019: Tsukiko and the Satellite, Audrey Hepburn 2049, Supermoon, David, Down the Uji River, and was published through careful collaboration with the author. Note: The first chapter of this series is read right-to-left, like most manga. The rest of the chapters are left-to-right, like most English-language comics.

Title: Ripples
Creator: Rei Hagiwara
Release Date: September 30
Summary: “Someday, I wish I could stumble across the memories of certain people that exist in the abyss by gazing at their pain, their sorrow, and the movements of their souls…” This dream-like work dwells on memory and family, and follows ambiguous figures that stride through the snowy lands adjacent to the realm of the dead. Hagiwara Rei explores the processing of grief, and how cyclical mechanisms of human emotion map out a geography of memory inextricably intertwined with the natural world from which we spring. Prepare to be absorbed in a work unlike any other coming out now.

The manga from Star Fruit Books include:

Title: Pop-Life
Creator: Minami Q-ta
Release Date: September 23
Summary: Sakura and Akemi are two single mothers in their forties who decided to start living together in order to help each other raise their children. Take a deep dive into their everyday lives and find out what it's like to live a humble, yet peaceful life as a single parent in Japan.

Title: Ikyoudo
Creator: Kakio Tsurukawa
Release Date: September 23
Summary: Rokunosuke, the child of a poor farmer, lives a quiet albeit impoverished Edo-era life...which crumbles when his family is ordered to pay cruelly high taxes. Rokunosuke swears revenge, but a hooded woman named Oyuki appears and warns him: “only demons murder people.” Rokunosuke vows to live in peace once more, but… Ikyoudo, a sci-fi period piece about a man trying to avenge his father who was killed at the hands of a governor, got over 100,000 likes when first posted on twitter. This complete edition also includes the highly anticipated sequel, Ikyoudo II!

Title: "The Blood Red Boy" one-shot
Creator: Minami Q-ta
Release Date: October 21
Summary: An unconventional story of self-identity and the complexity of interpersonal relationships. Minami Q-ta explores the search for (self) love in this short 16-page oneshot.

Title: Monthly Shoujo Sunday
Creator: Momoto Makiru
Release Date: September 30
Summary: Monthly Shoujo Sunday is a collection of twelve oneshots by the wonderful Momoto Makiru. Known for their alternative and sometimes experimental art, Makiru brings us unique stories that are both weird and enlightening.

Title: "Sawanabe Zombie" one-shot
Creator: Kakio Tsurukawa
Release Date: October 7
Summary: After six months of surviving the zombie apocalypse, college student Sawanabe finally gets bit. However, the transformation comes with the unexpected surprise that the young man is still able to think like a human. Having to fight for survival, Sawanabe must balance his morality with his craving for human flesh.

Chapters of Pop-Life, Children of Mu-Town, Tsukiko and the Satellite and other stories, and Ikyoudo are available on the service. The other manga will launch in the next few weeks.

Azuki launched on June 28 on iOS, Android, and web browser in English worldwide except Japan. The service offers simulpub manga chapters shortly after they launch in Japan in addition to a library of other titles. Azuki's first partnership was with Kodansha USA, and the service offered titles from the publisher's catalog at launch.

Free users are able to access select chapters with advertisements. There is also a subscription available to customers for US$4.99 that allows subscribers to read manga without ads. Comment threads are available on each chapter for registered user discussion.

Source: Press release