News
Yen Press Announces 16 Title Licenses, Ize Press Licenses 4 Titles
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Yen Press made the following licensing announcements at its panel at New York Comic Con on Sunday.
Author(s): Mio Nukaga, original story and illustrations by Mokumokuren
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: The bond between Yoshiki and Hikaru is a welcome escape from their isolated village. But one fateful day when the two boys meet up, Yoshiki can immediately tell something is off. Though the person standing before him wears Hikaru's face, Yoshiki knows that his friend is...gone. It is then that Yoshiki makes a decision. Although things will never be as they once were, he would prefer this Hikaru to no Hikaru at all.
Author(s): Ryōko Kui
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: From Ryōko Kui, author of Delicious in Dungeon, comes a lush compilation of artwork drawn over the course of the hit series's creation! Featuring hundreds of pages of comics, sketches, and full color illustrations, this gorgeous collection will help you discover new sides to your favorite characters as they're depicted in situations you've never seen before!
Author(s): original story by Saizō Harawata, art by zunta
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: High schooler Kouji Mikagami is painfully average in every way— except when he's playing video games! So getting summoned to a magical world and granted the ability to copy his opponents' skills should be his way to the top. But before he gets the chance, he's thrown into the coliseum as a combat slave...for his trash-tier skill! In the midst of his despair, he realizes only one path remains open to him—beat down the strongest girls with the weakest skill and make a name for himself!
Author(s): Fumi Yoshinaga
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: Family, romance, friendship—endless relationships tether us to the people we love. From the Edo period to modern-day Japan, the postwar era to the seventies, Tamaki and Amane's fates intertwine time and time again.
Author(s): Tsubasa Nanaki, original story by Momotoe, original character design by Nanao Yamashita
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: No lady wants to be chosen as the unfortunate 31st consort candidate. After all, being the lowest rank means only one chance to see the king every few months! That's perfect for Feria, though. Hailing from the far remote territory of the kingdom and uninterested in marriage, she'd much rather tend to her lovely herb garden than vie for favor! But when the inevitable visit on the 31st comes...what's to become of her “romance”?!
Also available in English from Book Walker.
Author(s): Iroto Tsumugi, original story by Kori Hisakawa, original character design by Airumu
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: On the day Byletta is supposed to meet her husband-to-be...the man's gone off to war! Eight years later, as she's enjoying her spouseless married life, Byletta receives news that he is set to return. Determined to keep her man-free lifestyle, she sends a divorce letter. But the man (whom she still hasn't met) responds with an outrageous wager: to sleep together for a month and she's free to go if she doesn't conceive!
Also available in English from Book Walker.
Author(s): Tow Ubukata
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: Belle lives in a world where people take the form of animals like cats,
frogs, and mice—and she's the odd one out! This peculiar fang-less, fur- less, scale-less, smooth-skinned girl sets off on a journey to find others
like her. However, in order to travel freely, she'll have to wield her Howling Sword and prove herself in battle!
Author(s): Kenji Saitō, art by GUNP
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: Rintarou, a renowned hero who helped save Japan from being taken over by demons, has become an unconfident university student. Though he still has his incredible abilities, there's one thing he doesn't have—a girlfriend. But one day, a princess suddenly approaches him and asks to be his wife, his girlfriend...or even his friend with benefits!?
Author(s): Michika Tomizawa
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: “Hey, wanna try going out with me?” Rei has feelings for Ami, a girl in her class who's always been kind to her. So when she confesses to Ami, she fully expects to get turned down...until Ami says she likes her back! But now that they're officially a couple, Ami seems a little off. While Rei is head over heels for her, Ami is a player who isn't even sure how to love just one person. Rei is crushed by Ami's seemingly careless approach to their relationship, but even so, she won't give up. Will Rei's earnest but cumbersome feelings for Ami win out in the end? Or is the girl she loves simply too far out of reach?
Author(s): Phantom Invasion
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: Ryo wakes up one day to find himself transported to another world full of monster girls. Although their power far surpasses that of any humans, Ryo has his own ability—the “Charm” skill, which forcibly increases his affection level with all monster girls! Using this skill, he seduces all kinds of monster girls and builds a harem to get revenge on all the fantastical creatures that attacked and brought his home to ruin...!
Author(s): Aki Poroyama
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: In a future world, children hold the authority to determine who may become parents. Having children is illegal—unless a couple first passes a strict examination, conducted by a child, that certifies them as capable providers. It is a veritable utopia with no child abuse...or at least, so it may seem. Hikari is one such examiner in this system, spending his days evaluating prospective parents. But one day, he comes across a couple that isn't quite like the others...
Author(s): Nobuhisa Tsuruoka, original story by Nozomi Ginyoku
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: Out of all the horrors born in the labyrinth, skeletons are the weakest. In a world where the strong prey on the weak, one skeleton has no choice but to always run from danger—until a fateful encounter with a sentient cursed blade gives him unfathomable abilities?! From Nozomi Ginyoku, the author of I'm a Behemoth, comes the unlikeliest story of one monster's rise to the top!
Author(s): Tomato Soup
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: In the harem of the Khan, wisdom is beauty. The time: the thirteenth century. The place: Yeke Mongol Ulus, the greatest empire the world has ever known. The woman: Fatima, hailing from Persia, where medical technique and scientific knowledge have been perfected beyond all precedent. Fatima's desire for a stage where she can put her knowledge to work has brought her to the palace of the Mongols, where she falls under the wing of Töregene, the sixth wife of Ögedei, the second Great Khan—a mighty woman with complicated feelings about the direction of the empire. These two women are the axel upon which the politics of the palace, and soon the very world, will turn...
Author(s): Kei Sanbe
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: Following their son Ao's release from the hospital, Touya and Haru were all ready to start a new life with him in their picturesque new home. But that was before the postcards arrived... Each postcard details an event— one that won't happen until the next day. Follow this family on an adventure to unravel the mystery, stopping to help everyone they can along the way.
Also available in English from Book Walker.
Author(s): You Chiba
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: Rita is Convict 999, a former legendary assassin who now works at a kindergarten for the children of world leaders. Her job is to protect the schoolchildren from the clutches of would-be assassins sent after them! But even with her overwhelming strength, Rita has a weakness—she's head-over-heels for good-looking men!
Also available in English from MANGA Plus.
JY for Kids, the Yen Press imprint for middle-grade graphic novels, announced during the convention that it licensed the following manga:
Author(s): Niko Yuki, Midori Sato, Norio Tsuruta, original character design by Yon
Release Date: TBA (JY for Kids)
Summary: The internet is full of creepypastas, cryptid sightings, tales of paranormal activity, and unsolved disappearances. These are mostly rumors and pranks fueled by trolls—entertainment. But the unlucky few learn the hard way that some legends are true. Many of these unfortunate souls are doomed, but their luck may change if they cross paths with the boy in the red hood. He roams from town to town and appears wherever strange things occur. Is he a light in
JY for Kids also publishes the original light novel series in English.
Ize Press also made the following announcements for manhwa and Korean novels on Sunday at the Yen Press panel. All three of the novels listed below will release in print, eBook, and audio formats.
While Ize Press had announced its license of the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint novel series in July 2023, Sunday's announcement is for the release date.
Author(s): singNsong
Release Date: July 2025
Summary: The global hit fantasy novel finally coming to print in English! Struggling office worker Dokja Kim's sole joy in life is an online novel so obscure that he's its only reader. Then one day the story comes to an end...and so does the world. Horrific monsters, ordinary people forced to kill or be killed, and goblins gleefully streaming the carnage to a celestial audience—with the apocalypse straight out of his favorite novel unfolding around him, Dokja is the only one who can see this story to the finale!
The novel and its webcomic adaptation are inspiring an upcoming anime. Ize Press also releases the webcomic in print. A live-action Korean film adaptation is also in the works.
Author(s): J. Soori
Release Date: TBD
Summary: The heart-pounding novel that inspired the hit BL comic! Computer science major Sangwoo Choo lives by the following tenets: reason, routine, and rules. So when the rest of his groupmates flake on their class presentation, he deletes their names from the project without hesitation— inadvertently destroying one groupmate's plans to graduate and study abroad. That's got nothing to do with Sangwoo, though...or so he thinks, until he realizes that Jaeyoung Jang, the talented design major he was hoping to hire for his video game, is not only that very same classmate, but eager to get some payback! Will Sangwoo be able to debug this Semantic Error before it upends his entire life?
The artist of the webcomic adaptation, Angy, attended New York Comic Con. Ize Press also releases the webcomic in print. The franchise has also inspired a live-action Korean adaptation.
Author(s): Gwon Gyeoeul
Release Date: TBD
Summary: Surprise event unlocked—the release of the original novel behind the hit fantasy romance comic! When a college student with a tragic past picks up reverse harem video game Daughter of the Duke's Super Love Project, she immediately sees herself in one of the characters. Not the adored heroine of easy mode, Ivonne, no— but the protagonist of hard mode, misunderstood villain Penelope. Little did she know that she'd go to sleep playing the story...and wake up in Penelope's body! The only way to escape the game world? Charm one of the love interests and reach his good ending. But with affection meters starting in the negative and the inability to speak without choosing from preselected dialogue, it quickly becomes clear that a single wrong move means her demise—and this villain might just be destined to die!
Ize Press also releases the webcomic adaptation in print.
Author(s): Art by Choco FUKI, adaptation by hanheun, original story by B.Cenci
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: Giovinetta Valdemar, Lady Devil herself, was branded as such after her first husband's heart was ripped out on their wedding night. Years later, she is betrothed once more to a much older nobleman, and in her desperation, makes a wish to the devil of Ducommun for help—a plea that is answered by transforming her twin brother, Johannes, the exalted hero of Valdemar, into a devil! Will this creature be her salvation or lead her down an even more treacherous and forbidden path?
Featuring twisted characters and dark themes, Lady Devil is a historical romance manhwa that
was adapted by hanheun, who oversaw the adaptation of Marriage of Convenience. Complete in
140 episodes, the webcomic is serialized on both Tappytoon and Manta Comics. This tragic tale
of a young girl's forbidden love with her twin brother takes readers on a tumultuous but
enthralling ride.
Author(s): Art by MUK_BU, adaptation by 0L, original story by Sumnagi
Release Date: TBD
Summary: A string of murders has left the residents of Ira Street feeling uneasy....although that's none of Shavonne's business. The penniless author is too busy trying to secure his next paycheck to pay much attention to such matters—well, that and figuring out what the deal is with his strange new neighbor, Lewellyn, a young and handsome man who spends his days peeling onions on the stairs right outside Shavonne's apartment. Shavonne tries not to concern himself, but when he makes a gruesome discovery during a candlelit dinner at Lewellyn's place, both his neighbor's eccentricities and the murders plaguing the community become harder to ignore...
Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner is a historical murder-mystery Boys Love manhwa
following the interactions between a down-on-his-luck writer and the peculiar neighbor with
skeletons in his closet. This psychological thriller is serialized on Lezhin and complete in 90
episodes. Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner will engross readers with its amazing plot full of
intricate details and plenty of emotional moments. The print publication of Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner is highly anticipated by fans of BL stories with obsessive lovers and character depth.
Author(s): ZEC
Release Date: April 2025
Summary: For Eunho Jung, there has always been one constant in life—his feelings for the boy next door, Jaeha Yoo. From a proposal at the age of three to a confession in his teenage years, the torch Eunho carries for the older man has never died out...not even when Jaeha got married. Now in college, a chance meeting leads Eunho to reconnect with the recently divorced Jaeha— and he'll do everything in his power to make his crush see him for the potential lover he is, not the cute kid he was. Will this finally be the right time, right place for these two? Or will Jaeha's inability to let love in lead them to crash and burn?
From the artist of The New Recruit comes a riveting Boys Love manhwa about a university
student chasing after his unrequited love and a self-destructive divorcee who struggles to open
his heart. Lover Boy features black-and-white artwork and is rated mature for its steamy
romance scenes. Complete in 87 episodes, the webcomic has received over 196 thousand views
and 20 thousand likes on Tapas. Lover Boy is a great read for BL fans who love childhood reunion
stories, bisexual protagonists, and tantalizing intimacy.
Author(s): Team S&S
Release Date: TBD
Summary: Are love and salvation possible at the end of the world? For core-user Sak, such a dream is unthinkable. Bullied by his peers at the war academy for his seemingly useless abilities, Sak spends every day focused only on survival. But when a deadly plague compromises the haven of his school, fantasy suddenly starts looking a whole lot more like reality. Now Sak must find his Caller—a person who amplifies his powers and who he'll feel an innate, deep sense of affection for. The only problem? When he finally meets his stranger, he thinks Sak has lost his mind! In the face of unreciprocated feelings, weaponized distrust, and life-or-death stakes, can Sak and his Caller meet on the same wavelength? Or will their journey lead them to a hell of regret...?
Taking place in a dystopian zombie apocalypse setting, Radio Storm is a supernatural Boys Love
manhwa that follows an apathetic protagonist whose pheromones can determine the fate of
humanity and a sexy rogue soldier with a tragic backstory. Radio Storm features beautiful black-and-white artwork with spot color sprinkled throughout the pages. The webcomic was serialized
on Tapas and is complete in 80 episodes. Creating a wholly unique reading experience, Radio Storm is perfect for BL readers looking for a horror mystery comic with an unreliable narrator,
intricate world-building, plenty of plot twists, and steamy scenes of affection.
Source: Yen Press panel at New York Comic Con (Deb Aoki), press release
