As Spring 2025 progresses, TOKYOPOP has unveiled a varied slate of upcoming manga and light novel releases, featuring long-requested English debuts and new titles under its LoveLove imprint. Spanning romantic drama, supernatural intrigue, slice-of-life fantasy, and coming-of-age narratives, the publisher’s latest announcements aim to cater to a wide range of readers. With launch dates spanning from April through June, scroll down to see what could be making their way onto your bookshelves in the coming months:
WE’RE NOT CUT OUT TO BE LOVERS, Vol. 1
By: Kou Hirokawa
SRP: $13.99
Page Count: 184 pages
Release Date: 22 April 2025
Introducing the noisy neighbor of your nightmares: a Youtuber.
It’s been six months since broody auto-mechanic Kumazawa moved in next door to Koichi, a streamer who claims to be an expert on love. After one too many loud recordings, Kumazawa finally snaps and shows up at Koichi’s door… only to shut him up with a passionate kiss!
Kumazawa has no interest in pursuing a straight guy, but Koichi stops by night after night and won’t leave until he’s “satisfied.” Coming off the heels of a traumatic breakup in which his partner cheated, Kumazawa is convinced he and Koichi won’t work out, but Koichi is determined to persuade him otherwise. Can a physical relationship between two people who are totally NOT “meant to be” turn into something real…?
THE LITTLE BIRD SLEEPS BY THE SEA
By: Yuu Minaduki
SRP: $15.99
Page Count: 256 pages
Release Date: 15 April 2025
This heartfelt, emotional, boys love one-shot explores themes of healing from trauma, grief, and family both by blood and by choice. A beautiful tearjerker with immersive, atmospheric art by prolific BL creator Yuu Minaduki.
Left devastated after the tragic death of his parents and sister, Yuuichi Tachibana adopts his seven-year-old nephew, Ayumu. Seeking a new beginning, he chooses to move them to a new house with a view of the ocean, hoping for a peaceful setting where they can concentrate on their healing.
There they meet Ryou Kurebayashi, who owns a neighborhood deli, and become regular customers. As Ryou and Yuuichi grow closer, learning about each other’s unfortunately similarly tragic pasts, they begin to support one another — and Ayumu — day by day, building a little family of their own by the sea.
FATED NOT TO MEET, Vol. 1
By: Ei Eijou
SRP: $15.99
Page Count: 224 pages
Release Date: 15 April 2025
Izumi, the sales ace with excellent grades, good looks and great communication skills, has someone he absolutely cannot lose to. His name is Sendo, the most unlikable man who took the top spot from Izumi. Izumi was the top salesman and fan favorite amongst the girls in the office… that is, until Sendo came along.
When a friend recruits him to be a plant for a gay dating app, Izumi agrees, so long as he never has to meet anyone in person. But when he makes a connection with “Kei”, the temptation to meet his new friend becomes irresistible. After all, even if they meet, it’s not like they have to start dating… right?! Well, turns out it is none other than Izumi’s rival, Sendo! Moreover, what Sendo has in mind for Izumi isn’t exactly “dating,” and the intense pleasure that awaits them both might just be worth defying fate.
MERRY WITCHES’ LIFE, Vol. 1: The Three Widows of Berlebagille
By: Menota
SRP: $13.99
Page Count: 192 pages
Release Date: 6 May 2025
A quirky and unexpected manga series exploring themes of grief and friendship in a heart-warming, light-hearted fantasy setting with plenty of humor, MERRY WITCHES’ LIFE is a story about three women determined to learn magic and be the agents of their own happiness!
Zoe, Shishka, and Eliza have very little in common. Zoe is a failed witch and a hopeless romantic, Shishka is a shop owner with a mysterious past, and Eliza is… well, a scarab beetle. However, the three of them do share something important: they are all recently widowed, and none of them are willing to give up on their beloveds!
From spells that go hilariously wrong to uncovering their island home’s hidden past, this story of romance and friendship is truly magical!
EMMA & CAPUCINE, Vol. 1
By: Jérôme Hamon and Léna Sayaphoum
SRP: $14.99
Page Count: 104 pages
Release Date: 6 May 2025
This stylish, full-color bande dessinée is a beautiful coming-of-age story from France focusing on themes of family, friendship, self-confidence and personal growth through the lens of music and dance.
Emma and Capucine are sisters and best friends, who have worked their whole lives to attend the most prestigious ballet school in Paris. However, when Capucine passes the auditions and Emma doesn’t, their world collapses completely.
Dealing with parental pressure, new friendships, and first loves, the two girls learn to follow their hearts – and that, sometimes, what you really want is something you never expected. Growing up and finding yourself isn’t so hard… when you can dance through it!
THE WIZARD: WHEN WORDS KILL (Light Novel)
By: Shi Wu, illustrated by Uri
SRP: $19.99
Page Count: 352 pages
Release Date: 20 May 2025
Eighteen-year-old Cheng Jinxi is accused of brutally murdering a dozen of his relatives in just one night. Despite police officer Liang Yuanfeng doing everything he could to find evidence of his innocence, Cheng Jinxi confesses to the crime and is sent away to prison. Seven years later, a series of bizarre supernatural murders occur, and Liang Yuanfeng is given permission to bring Cheng Jinxi out of prison as a backup to help solve them. Cheng Jinxi can bring so much despair and pain with his powers, but Liang Yuanfeng believes the two of them can work together in the name of justice. And when the guilt and numbness he once felt fades into something new, Yuanfeng realizes…
This new feeling is love.
THE UNWANTED BRIDE LOVES THE CROWN PRINCE WITH ALL HER HEART, Vol. 1
By: Sua Tsumugi, illustrated by Maya Koike
SRP: $16.99
Page Count: 168 pages
Release Date: 17 June 2025
When her country of Lidea loses the war, Princess Tinalia must wed the enemy prince, Keith. The arrangement isn’t as dire as it sounds, though: after all, Tinalia has been in love with Keith for years!
Unfortunately for her, Keith doesn’t remember they already know each other. The circumstances of their first meeting were unfortunate, as their countries were at war, and Lidea committed too many atrocities against his people to forgive. Thus, Tinalia finds herself the hated bride of the crown prince, treated coldly and scornfully by everyone around her… even though she continues to love him with all her heart.
SANCTIFY: LOST PARADISE
By: Godsstation
SRP: $19.99
Page Count: 224 pages
Release Date: 24 June 2025
In this world, there is good and evil… and one cannot exist without the other.
Thirty-three-year-old Lance Hunter has no memory of his past lives, but the scars of his former selves remain etched in his skin. As the only remaining Exorcist in London, Lance is hired to investigate a series of gruesome murders connected to a sinister cult. Accompanied by Gil, a mysterious policeman, Lance uses his spiritual powers to unravel the tangled truth of this case, unaware of the dark, sinister corners into which his new partner’s twisted desires may lead.
