Press Release
During its panel at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle today, Kodansha Comics announced the digital publication of the holy trinity of fan-requested sports manga: Ace of the Diamond, All-Rounder Meguru, and Giant Killing. Volume 1s of all 3 titles will go on sale March 7 on all of Kodansha’s digital retail channels.
Yuji Terajima’s Ace of the Diamond, a hot-blooded, epic-length bestseller in Japan about the travails of a gifted left-handed pitcher who comes to the big city to play premier-level high-school baseball, was the basis of the hit anime series that streamed on Crunchyroll.
All-Rounder Meguru, a stirring drama about a determined young man looking to escape the bleak prospects of home by making it in the brutal world of Shooto MMA (mixed martial arts), is the latest work from acclaimed creator Hiroki Endo (Eden: It’s an Endless World!, published by Dark Horse Comics).
Masaya Tsunamoto and Tsujitomo’s Giant Killing, about an eccentric-genius soccer coach who returns from abroad to bring success to an underdog team, is one of the all-time-favorite and long-running (still ongoing in Japan) manga about the beautiful game. It was also adapted into a hit anime series.
In addition, the panel at ECCC announced Natsumi Eguchi’s Hozuki’s Coolheadedness(adapted into the anime available from Sentai Filmworks), Kotono Kato’s Altair: A Record of Battles, and Ryosuke Tomoe’s Museum, which will see digital publication on March 21. Kodansha Comics has been steadily bringing out new, off-the-beaten-path manga series in digital format since the start of 2017.
Volume 1s of Ace of the Diamond, All-Rounder Meguru, Giant Killing, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness, Altair: A Record of Battles, and Museum will be available for sale or preorder across all Kodansha Comics digital book channels: BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook.
More information and Chapter 1 previews of the aforementioned series can be found at kodanshacomics.com.