North American manga publisher Yen Press have kicked off 2015 by making their very first set of manga and light novel acquisitions for the year. Yen Press seems to have chosen to announce titles based on more popular and established series in the Western market, with the clear highlight for me being the original light novel of DuRaRaRa!!
Information on all eight of their new licenses can be found below:
RUST BLASTER (manga) by Yana Toboso
Millennium Academy is–a school where elite vampires are trained to maintain balance in a world where humans and vampires, who possess far greater physical strength than their human counterparts, coexist. And commuting to this school is Aldred, the most distinctly un-vampire-like vampire to be found in the entire institution. But when Al encounters Kei, a human transfer student to the school, their destinies become intertwined, and the fate of their world as they know it comes to lie in their hands!
PUELLA MAGI HOMURA TAMURA (manga) by Magica Quartet
The life of a magical girl isn’t all fighting witches and collecting grief seeds. When they aren’t kicking butt, Homura Akemi and her friends face the same trials as normal high school girls! In this four-panel comedy, glimpse a sillier side of the girls from the bestselling Puella Magi Madoka Magica series!
PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA: HOMURA’S REVENGE (manga) by Magica Quartet
If Madoka Kaname had known of the tragic transformation that would mark the end of her magical-girl journey, how would her story have unfolded? In this telling of her story, Madoka remembers the outcomes of her previous timelines–but so does Kyubey. Even with the knowledge of her previous lives, can Madoka outmaneuver Kyubey and avoid her fate?
BLACK BULLET (light novel and manga) by Shiden Kanzaki, Saki Ukai
The future–where a terrible battle against a parasitic virus called “Gastrea” has been fought, and lost. Humanity is cornered, and lives in despair. Rentaro and Enju face constant danger in their work as a team anti-Gastrea specialists known as “Civil Security.” If the daily fight against oblivion weren’t enough, they’ll soon face a threat that could destroy all of Tokyo…
DURARARA!! (light novel) by Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda
The Ikebukuro district in Tokyo is full of interesting people. A boy longing for the extraordinary. A hotheaded punk. An airheaded pseudo stalker. An information broker who works for kicks. An underground doctor who specializes in truly desperate patients. A high school student infatuated with a monster. And a headless rider on a pitch-black motorcycle. Their story may not be a heartwarming one, but as it turns out, even weirdos like these sometimes fall in love.
STRIKE THE BLOOD (light novel and manga) by Gakuto Mikumo, Manyako
High school student Kojo Akatsuki may not seem like anything special, but there is a rumor going around that he is the Fourth Progenitor—a powerful vampire thought only to exist in legend. But if that legend were true, it could have devastating consequences for the Itogamijima special zone for demons. Enter Yukina Hirameki who’s sworn duty is to watch over Koj…or kill him if necessary.
