#Higehiro Light Novel, Kowloon Generic Romance Headline Latest Yen Press Releases

Yen Press announced a series of new manga and light novel licenses on January 28, 2022. All of them are scheduled to be published in North America sometime this coming July. 

The first big acquisition is their release of the Higehiro: After Getting Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway original light novel, which inspired the 2021 anime. The series’ first volume will be published in trade paperback format on July 19, 2022. KADOKAWA has previously announced its digital release on BOOK WALKER Global and its manga adaptation is currently being published by One Peace Books. 

Higehiro is described as: 

Yoshida was just rejected by his crush of 5 years. On the way home from drowning his sorrows, he runs into a girl crouching in the middle of the road, and she offers him a deal—let her crash at his place and he can do whatever he wants with her. When he refuses, she asks to stay for free. This is the story of Yoshida, a 26-year-old office worker, and Sayu, a runaway high school girl, and their unconventional life together. 

In another anticipated license, Yen Press announced their acquisition of Kowloon Generic Romance. The 2019 manga is written and illustrated by Jun Mayuzuki (After the Rain) and was first serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine. The series has collected six tankoubon volumes so far and takes place in the real life Kowloon Walled City, located in Hong Kong. 

Mayuzuki first learned of the walled city through a 1997 Japanese video game titled Kowloon’s Gate when she was younger. She was deeply inspired by the setting and decided to create a series revolving around it while After the Rain was in serialization. 

The first volume of Kowloon Generic Romance is slated to be published in paperback and digital formats on July 19, 2022. The series is described as: 

Welcome to Kowloon Walled City—a dystopian townscape full of people brimming with nostalgia and a place where the past, present, and future converge. This vividly drawn tale tells the story of the secret feelings and extraordinary daily lives of the working men and women living in the city. 

Next up, Yen Press also revealed plans to publish the first volume of Mika Yamamori’s Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet on July 19, 2022 in paperback and digital formats. The romantic drama manga series was first serialized in the bi-weekly shoujo magazine Margaret, consisting of 85 total chapters collected into 14 tankoubon volumes. The series ran from May 20, 2015 to August 20, 2019. 

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet is described as: 

Fumi Oono, second-year high school student. Stuck with the debts of her father, she needs a job—fast. While she did indeed manage to find one as a housekeeper for THE Akatsuki Kibikino, it leaves much to be desired. After all, the novelist has a mean glare and an even worse attitude…And on top of that, she has to live with him?!

Another light novel series Yen Press has licensed is Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi’s Silent Witch. Isora is in charge of writing the school fantasy series while Fujimi provides illustrations. Silent Witch was first published as a web novel on Shousetsuka ni Narou on February 20, 2020. KADOKAWA later picked up the series and has published it under its Kadokawa Books label since June 10, 2021. 

The light novel will be published on both paperback and digital formats on July 19, 2022. 

Yen Press describes the Silent Witch light novel as: 

Monica Movalette, the Silent Witch, is the world’s only practitioner of Voiceless Magic, a veritable heroine who single-handedly fended off the Black Dragon of legend. However, the young prodigy is actually…super-duper shy! Yup, turns out she only learned Voiceless Magic to avoid speaking in public. Ignorant of this, Seven Sages have placed her on a top-secret mission to guard the Second Prince. Can Monica keep it together as she contends with both social interaction and the evils targeting the young royal?  

Boys-love and yuri manga artist Asumiko Nakamura (Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist) will be getting another of her series, Tales of the Kingdom, published in North America. The series’ first volume is set to be published on both hardcover and digital formats on July 19, 2022. 

Nakamura’s historical drama fantasy is best described as a take on The Prince and the Pauper and first started out as a full-color one shot story in a web magazine. It was then serialized in Shueisha’s Ultra Jump seinen magazine on April 19, 2017. 

Yen Press describes the manga series as: 

Purple-eyed Adarte, blue-eyed Adolte. One enveloped in light—the graceful son; and one shrouded in darkness— the prisoner. Destined to walk different paths in a kingdom where a beautiful man is lauded as a hero while his enigmatic assistant toils to support him…

Tamaki Itomori’s Kakuriyo Shinjuki: God’s Doctor Starts a Practice in Another World light novel series will also see its first volume published in North America. Yen Press will publish the series in paperback format on July 19, 2022. 

The romance fantasy manga is described as: 

A girl named Yae reincarnates into a world where one’s name determines their essence. When a monster attacks her, she unleashes Arai, an ex-god in the form of a golden tiger, to defend herself. Shortly after, however, Arai manipulates Yae into assisting his little brother, who has been warped into a grotesque form by a disease that strips people of their essences. As Yae searches for a cure, she finds herself warming to the pompous, threatening Arai…  

Lastly, a companion book to Ryouko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon manga series will also be published on July 19, 2022 in paperback and digital formats. Delicious in Dungeon: The Adventurer’s Bible will feature never before seen illustrations from the main series, as well as information about side characters and monsters in an encyclopedia format. 

Delicious in Dungeon was licensed and published by Yen Press in 2016. It was first serialized in Enterbrain’s Harta seinen magazine in 2014 and has collected 11 tankoubon volumes so far. 

Yen Press describes Delicious in Dungeon: The Adventurer’s Bible as:

Featuring Laios and Marcille of course, and even the Lunatic Magician and Elves, don’t miss out on these new illustrations encompassing almost all your favorite characters. Within, you’ll find various stories that couldn’t be told during the main story, detailed character information ranging from age, height, BMI, family structure, and the first time they died—absolutely everything there is to know about the characters. Plus, descriptions of the magical creatures that live in the dungeons. This is the one-stop-shop companion full to bursting with world origin stories, monster guides, multiple dungeons, and descriptions of the various races that live in the world of Delicious in Dungeon.  

Source: Yen Press