Princess Jellyfish, the popular manga from Akiko Higashimura about a group of otaku women living together in Tokyo, will return from hiatus this June, it has been announced.
The manga, which debuted in 2008, went on hiatus in January 2016.
A Publishers Weekly article by Shaenon K. Garrity brings attention to how manga’s large segment of female readers is changing the publishing landscape in America. Many girls who grew up reading manga are now women reading manga, and this is leading to more titles being published here that would have been much harder to license in the past.
According to the article, publishers have noticed that female manga readers tend to look for more mature titles and to check out a variety of genres. And so they’re making sure to license these books.
Boys love is a genre aimed for women that sells especially well. Yen Press’ director of sales and marketing Mark de Vera noted, “BL has one of the most reliable fanbases.” The majority of Yen Press’ BL titles offer “solid” sales.
While boys’ love is doing well, girls’ love is also a growing interest for many female readers. Manga Planet’s managing editor Emma Hanashiro remarked, “In Japan, you now see a lot more indie comics related to yuri at fan events.” (Unfortunately, manga — as well as books — with gay characters are seeing Publishers Weekly
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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