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Noir Caesar Has Option to Develop Me and the Devil Blues Manga in Live-Action
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
ANN's coverage of Anime Expo 2023 sponsored by Yen Press!
Del Rey previouisly released the manga's first four volumes in two-in-one omnibus volumes in 2008. Del Rey described the story:
Legend has it that if you take your guitar and stand at a crossroads at the witching hour, the devil will appear. He'll grab your instrument, play a song, and hand it back to you. You'll walk away an expert bluesman, but you'll have to pay the price: your immortal soul.The year is 1929. Deep in the Mississippi Delta, a young man named R J dreams of becoming a bluesman. R J is a simple farmer who can barely play guitar, but when he takes a midnight stroll, his life is forever changed.
A phantasmagoric reimagining of the life of legendary blues great Robert Johnson, Me and the Devil Blues follows the journey of a man who really did sell his soul to the devil. Why not come along for the ride?
The manga's title is taken from famous blues musician Robert Johnson's song of the same name, with the story's protagonist heavily implied to be Johnson himself.
The manga ran in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine from 2003 to 2008, after which it went into a hiatus before returning in Kodansha's Young Magazine the 3rd in 2014. The manga is published irregularly, though Hiramoto drew the most recent chapter in 2017. Kodansha has released five compiled book volumes for the manga.
Hiramoto launched Prison School in Kodansha's Young Magazine in February 2011 and ended it in December 2017. The manga inspired a television anime and a live-action series, and Funimation released both adaptations in North America via streaming and home video.
Hiramoto most recently launched the Super Ball Girls with Muneyuki Kaneshiro in Shogakukan's Big Comic Superior magazine in October 2022.
Update: Noir Caesar clarified with ANN that Tokyopop is Noir Caesar's publisher, and is not involved as a producer on the company's projects.
Source: Noir Caesar AX 2023 panel (Deb Aoki)
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history