Press Release

Kodansha Comics announced today it is continuing to expand its growing list of well-received digital-first manga titles with the series debuts of GTO Paradise Lost, Toru Fujisawa’s sequel to his beloved manga classic Great Teacher Onizuka, and Domestic Girlfriend (Japanese title Domestic na kanojo), Kei Sasuga’s love-triangle romancer that’s a top requested title by Western fans—and a bestseller in Japan. Volume 1s of both titles go on sale today April 11 on all of Kodansha’s digital retail channels.

The April rollout then rounds out on April 25 with the highly anticipated debut of Tsuyoshi Yasuda’s school-soccer manga Days—the anime adaptation of which recently streamed to great acclaim on Crunchyroll—and Toshiya Wakabayashi’s surprising webcomic-turned-hitTsuredure Children.

“We’ve been ramping up the number of ‘digital-first’ manga series we’re publishing this year to a very positive reception. It’s an exciting development for digital manga publishing,” said Alvin Lu, General Manager of Kodansha Advanced Media, the digital-distribution arm of Kodansha Comics.

To provide a way for fans to catch up to the speedy new releases (with many series releasing new volumes every month or quicker), Kodansha Comics is currently holding a 2-week-long “Digital-First Manga Sale” on all its digital book channels—BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook—with volumes (many of them volume 1s) from 16 different series up to 50% off. The sale ends April 17.

Chapter 1 previews can now be read for free at kodanshacomics.com for the April 11 releases:

Domestic Girlfriend Kei Sasuga’s racy romancer is a breakout hit in Japan about a high schooler with a bad teacher-crush whose home life gets rather complicated when his dad gets remarried and he finds out who his new step-siblings are!

GTO Paradise Lost Toru Fujisawa brings us up-to-date on the latest adventures of Great Teacher Onizuka, the classic manga character who took the world by storm when he gave up his gang life for a new one as a classroom legend. The newest chapter starts off with Onizuka’s life … in prison!