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Sexy Tanaka-san Manga Gets 8th Volume in October

Warning: this article contains statements about a suicide. If you or anyone you know is suicidal or having suicidal thoughts, please reach out to a suicide prevention organization in your country. In the United States, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available by calling 988. In Japan, the TELL LifeLine service is available at 03-5774-0992, and an English counseling service is available at 03-4550-1146. In Canada, Crisis Services Canada is available at 1-833-456-4566.

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Shogakukan announced on Friday that it will release an eighth volume of the late Hinako Ashihara's Sexy Tanaka-san manga on October 10. The publisher stated that out of "respect of Ashihara's wishes," and "out of respect for a story that was meant to continue," it will not be labeling the manga as the final volume.

The new volume will feature the manga's 15th chapter (originally published in January), a separate one-shot titled "winter fool" Ashihara published in the November 2016 issue of Flowers, and a four-page color gallery.

Ashihara died in an apparent suicide in January. Two days before she was reported missing, Ashihara had made a blog post regarding the live-action adaptation of Sexy Tanaka-san. In the blog post, she stated she made it a condition that the live-action adaptation would be faithful to the manga, and said NTV did not uphold that condition. Ashihara later deleted the blog post, after the show's scriptwriter started receiving backlash online, stating it was not her intention to attack anyone, and she apologized.

NTV, who produced the adaptation, issued an apology in February, apologizing to all involved and expressing condolences to Ashihara's family. The network added at the time that it was taking the situation seriously and would conduct its own investigation with an internal team. NTV cooperated with Shogakukan and an outside investigation team, including an outside lawyer.

The investigation concluded that while Ashihara stated in a blog post shortly before her death that she had originally set a condition that the live-action adaptation must always stay faithful to the manga, due to miscommunication from the very start of negotiations and production, that message was never conveyed to the staff of the adaptation. The investigation revealed that there was a discrepancy between the two sides of the production from the beginning, including confusion around the ending of the series.

NTV then revealed in July new guidelines for live-action adaptations of original works following the internal investigation. The new guidelines addressed the production process, safety, social media policies, and human resources.

Ashihara launched the manga in Shogakukan's Anikei Petite Comic magazine in 2018, and it is unfinished. The live-action series adaptation premiered on NTV on October 22, and aired for 10 episodes.

Ashihara debuted as a manga creator in 1994. Viz Media released Ashihara's 10-volume Sand Chronicles manga in English. The company also released Ashihara's SOS manga, which is a one-volume collection of short stories. Tokyopop released Ashihara's four-volume Forbidden Dance manga in English.

Sources: Shogakukan Comic, Comic Natalie