KADOKAWA Begins Translating and Distributing Manga and Light Novels Directly

KADOKAWA announced today at their Virtual Crunchyroll Expo panel that due to demand from English readers, they will directly translate and distribute manga and light novels for digital release. They have begun with the following 5 manga titles:

• Ryosuke Hata & Toya Kuno’s A Boy Raised by Gods Will Be The Strongest, which is based off a light novel with art from fame (The Berserk of Gluttony illustrator), with the manga being serialized since 2019 in Web DenPlay Comic.
• Ryou Yuuki & Kenji Sugawara’s Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me The Strongest, which is based off a light novel with art from Chisato Naruse (My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! illustrator), with the manga starting in 2019 in Dra-Dra Sharp#, but is now running in Dra Dra Flat♭.
• Ten Kashiwa & hi8mugi’s My Little Sister Stole My Fiancé: The Strongest Dragon Favors Me And Plans To Take Over The Kingdom?, which is based off a light novel with art from COMTA (The Magic in This Other World is Too Far Behind! manga artist, An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride illustrator), with the manga being serialized since 2019 on FLOS Comic.
• Momotomoe & Tsubasa Nanaki’s The 31st Consort, which is based off a light novel with art from Nanao Yamashita, with the manga starting in 2018 and is serialized on FLOS Comic.
• Mizutaki’s The Lotus Eaters, Drunk and Sober, which is a spinoff of ZUN’s long-running Touhou bullet hell shoot’em up indie video game series, and has been serialized since 2019 in Comp Ace magazine.

The light novel and manga adaptation of the following series:

• Quantum & Hana Amano’s I’m Quitting Heroing. The manga version, drawn by Nori Kazato, has been serialized since 2018 in Young Ace Up.　
• Tanba & Yunagi’s The Insipid Prince’s Furtive Grab for The Throne. The manga version, drawn by Yukino Amagai, has been serialized since 2019 in Young Ace Up.

And the light novel Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway, which was created by Shimesaba and illustrated by Booota. The manga version will be released starting this October from One Peace Books. 

The three light novels are slated to be on digital platforms sometime in October, but all seven manga are available to be purchased on select digital platforms now or sometime this month. Future KADOKAWA manga and light novels — the company’s aim is over 100 — will be released by their partner BOOK WALKER Global and other digital outlets gradually over time. 

To gain some more info about this digital initiative, I sent questions over email to Satoru Miki, who’s been involved in the globalization of the Japanese entertainment industry for a long time and is working in the Global Business Division at KADOKAWA as a project manager, and has been with the company since 2017.

TheOASG: KADOKAWA has been involved in expanding globally for a good while, but in regards to manga and light novels, how long has the company been planning to translate and simulpub titles?

Satoru Miki: As our press release says, KADOKAWA has historically licensed its translation rights to its subsidiary Yen Press and other publishers in English-speaking countries and will keep that relationship. But regarding its own translation and simulpub project, we spent around a year to date.

What made it ideal for KADOKAWA to launch their digital publishing line now?

I think as long as the contents are good, they should be welcomed not only in Japan but also overseas. Now all the manga fans from all over the world have something in common. Thus if a title is popular in Japan, it will have great potential in any other English-speaking country. 

KADOKAWA’s launch lineup of manga and light novels are mostly fantasy. Can you explain what went into choosing these titles to start with?

We plan to release various genres, not focusing only on fantasy. Yes our initial line-ups focus relatively on fantasy but it’s just a result after thinking about what is best currently for the English world.

Did the anime adaptation play a role in the future English release of Shimesaba’s Higehiro light novel?

Yes, the anime adaptation had a great impact on our digital release.

It’s stated the plan is to release over 100 KADOKAWA titles soon. Can you give a rough expectation on how fast these new titles will be released over the next year or so? 

Within three years.

Will these be mostly current titles or will there be chapter releases for older titles in KADOKAWA’s catalog?

We don’t stick to “how old”. As long as there is demand for our titles, we’re open to release them regardless of their ages. 

KADOKAWA will only be releasing chapters, correct?

We will release digital volumes in the near future.

Will the focus be on simulpubbing more manga than translated chapter releases of light novels?

The simulpub of manga and chapter release of light novels are both equally important. Regarding manga, there is so much piracy in English, some of which is uploaded just after the serialization in Japan. It suggests that there is business potential, but at the same time it’s so tough to monetize because our competitor is piracy, which is free. 

On the other hand, there’s little piracy for light novels. The reason I guess is that it needs much effort to translate. In that sense, I think there is some monetization opportunity because there are only a few competitors.

There’s more official digital options for English manga and light novel readers than ever before. What do you believe has allowed more Japanese companies to be comfortable releasing their works now as opposed to years ago?

The biggest reason is the demand/market itself for Japanese manga is growing in English-speaking countries. As many people point out, anime streaming services such as Crunchyroll and Netflix contribute to this growth. After people watch the anime first, they get interested in the original manga and light novels.

The interview has been edited for clarity.