Star Fruit Books, Glacier Bay Books Both Reveal New Licenses

Small press manga publishers Star Fruit Books and Glacier Bay Books announced on Twitter their new manga acquisitions for 2023 on Saturday.

Star Fruit Books announced its collaboration with the recent 24th Ax Manga Newcomer award winner, ESDRO, and their Yumemanga magazine. The company will announce more details of the collaboration soon.

Star Fruit Books also announced that Hideshi Hino‘s Panorama of Hell manga’s release will now include two red ink color pages, which were previously exclusive in Japan. The company will release the manga this year.

Glacier Bay Books announced the release of three manga series this year: Natsujikei Miyazaki’s To, Aru Hi no Sugoku Fushigi (And That Day Was Very Mysterious); Hana Chatani’s Give Her Back to Me; and Tomohiro Tsugawa‘s D’Artagnan’s Horse.

Hayakawa Publishing released Natsujikei Miyazaki’s To, Aru Hi no Sugoku Fushigi manga in Japan in 2020. Glacier Bay Books plans to release the manga in print in late 2023.

Glacier Bay Books describes the manga:

Debuting in 2010, and hailed as one of the most imaginative new cartoonists of her generation, Natsujikei Miyazaki’s work has been recognized by the Japan Media Arts Festival as well as “Best Manga” lists such as OREMAN and KONO MANGA GA SUGOI!. 「と、ある日のすごふしぎ」 collects 33 stories serialized in Hayakawa’s SF Magazine. Small sci fi fragments infused with an ecstatic sense of playfulness and wonder, that slice through that mysterious, inescapable thing “everyday life”.

Chatani’s Give Her Back to Me manga first debuted digitally at the 2022 Shortbox Comic Fair. The company plans to release the manga physically and digitally this year. It describes the manga’s story:

Tragedy follows those whose lives are linked by a family heirloom and the strange curse it bequeaths. Simultaneously tender yet haunting, Hana Chatani’s shōjo horror manga depicts the human weakness such a curse reveals, the trauma and loss wreaked upon each generation by the last.

Tomohiro Tsugawa‘s D’Artagnan’s Horse manga is the sequel to their Mermaid Town manga, and Glacier Bay Books will release the manga in late 2023 physically and digitally. Glacier Bay Books describes the manga:

The sequel to Tsugawa’s ‘dream journal’ collection Mermaid Town, D’Artagnan’s Horse collects new episodes from Tsugawa’s vast, varied dreamscape. Experience the fresh surreal adventure, journeys through remote territories, mysterious creatures, and more, complete with author commentary.

Sources: Star Fruit Books‘ Twitter account (link 2), Glacier Bay Books‘ Twitter account via Crunchyroll