News

Elex Media Licenses Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Sarishinohara Manga

Indonesian publisher Elex Media announced last week that it has licensed Ark Performance's Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio (Arpeggio of Blue Steel), MikitoP and CHRIS' Sarishinohara, Noriko Ōtani's Otomurai-san, and Vitaone and Yuuki's Ikinokore! Shachiku-chan (Survive! Corporate Slave) manga. Elex Media will begin releasing all four manga on August 16.

In Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio's story, humanity lost much of its developed land due to global warming in the first half of the 21st century. Then, a "Fleet of Fog" loaded with super weapons suddenly appears all over the world. Without the ability to withstand this fleet, humanity was defeated and could no longer travel the seas. 17 years after the devastating naval war, Gunzō Chihaya and his crewmates somehow commandeer a "Fleet of Fog" submarine named I-401. Together with Iona (I-401's "mental model" or incarnation in humanoid form), they take on the "Fleet of Fog."

Ark Performance launched the manga in Shonengahosha's Young King Ours magazine in 2009. Shonengahosha released the manga's 14th compiled book volume on June 30. Studio Nue's Shigeru Morita began serializing a novel adaptation in Shonengahosha's Monthly Youngking Ours GH magazine on April 17. The manga inspired a television anime adaptation in 2013. The anime inspired a compilation film titled Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova DC, which premiered in Japan in January 2015. The show also inspired a sequel anime film titled Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova Cadenza, which premiered in Japan in October 2015.

Sarishinohara is an adaptation of MikitoP and CHRIS' Hatsune Miku Vocaloid song. The story centers on a girl who is kicked out of her band by the other members. An introverted boy who loves music ends up consoling the girl. Their relationship initially uplifts both of them, but something lies on the horizon that will threaten their relationship.

MikitoP and CHRIS published the manga in Kadokawa's Comic@loid magazine in 2013. Kadokawa published the first compiled book volume in 2013, and the second compiled book volume with the title Sarishinohara -Dear- in 2015. MikitoP and CHRIS uploaded the original song in October 2012.

The song also inspired a novel by Novala Takemoto in 2015 titled Sarishinohara/47. The book takes inspiration from both the original song, as well as the "Yonjūnana" song by MikitoP and CHRIS that served as a story sequel to the original "Sarishinohara" song.

Otomurai-san centers on Izumi Otomura, an actress whose career has not yet taken off. While acting work is hard to come by, and all her roles so far include minor roles where her character somehow always ends up dead, she still works hard and dreams of making it into a movie by her favorite director... until that director announces his retirement. Heartbroken, she decides to make ends meet and work as a funeral officiant.

Ōtani launched the manga in Kodansha's Be Love magazine in 2015, and Kodansha published the manga's fourth compiled book volume on July 13.

Ōtani launched the Sukutte Goran manga in Be Love in September 2014, and ended it in January 2015. Kodansha published three compiled book volumes for the series. Elex Media published the manga with the title Fish For It, and released the third volume on May 24.

Ikinokore! Shachiku-chan centers on the titular "Shachiku-chan" a woman who works in a shady I.T. company and every day is worked to the bone and takes the last train home. Together with her sister and colleagues – the trustworthy Sempai-chan, the corporate dunce Kōhai-chan, her rival Dōki-chan, the one-woman infrastructure team Infra-san, and the high school student/part-time coder Baito-chan – she tries to survive the brutal everyday life of being a corporate slave.

Vitaone and Yuuki introduced the character on Vitaone's Twitter account (@vitaone_) in December 2014 and began drawing a four-panel comedy manga on the Twitter account shortly thereafter. The four-panel strips released on Twitter have collectively received 110,000 retweets and 150,000 likes. In December of the same year, the manga began serialization in Kadokawa's @vitamin web magazine. Kadokawa published the manga's second compiled book volume on February 27.