Hopefully, this post won’t be so disorganized and sad that Seven Seas Entertainment no longer wants to have anything to do with me.
A little while ago my friend and fellow amazing blogger Scoot announced that he had a partnership with Viz to sell manga. Which is absolutely amazing. And as it happens, I also managed to land a spot on Seven Seas Entertainment’s PR list. I am very excited about it!
If you guys are curious about how I went about getting it, let me know. I’ll write up a post. As for what it means for the blog. Well not that much. I don’t actually have to sell anything and as you will see, for the moment there are still no affiliate links or anything of that nature on the blog.
I will have access to certain advance digital chapters on manga so that I can let you know what’s going to be coming out and you guys can decide whether that interests you or not. And I also get sent press releases from time to time which I can choose to post or not.
I’m not going to lie, I am very excited in an uncool sort of way about this. It’s the first time my blog has had any sort of industry association (as loose as it is) and it makes me feel like I’ve made it in some small way.
Not only that but my first ever press release could not be a better fit:
Seven Seas Dishes Out License of SARAZANMAI ANTHOLOGY Manga Collection
“Seven Seas Entertainment is excited to announce the license acquisition of the Sarazanmai Anthology manga by various creators, a collection of over a dozen short stories based on the hit anime by Kunihiko Ikuhara (Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, PENGUINDRUM)!
After accidentally breaking a statue of a mythical kappa, junior high students Kazuki, Toi, and Enta are transformed into kappa themselves as punishment by Keppi, prince of the Kappa Kingdom. Keppi has a task for the boys if they want their bodies back: work for him to hunt down zombie kappa born of twisted human desires. Even scarier, though? They’re going to have to expose their own deepest fears and desires to each other to do so! Explore this surrealist modern folktale–a fan-favorite anime in 2019–like never before in this collection of all-new short manga by various creators!
Seven Seas will publish the manga collection Sarazanmai Anthology for the first time in North America in print and on digital platforms in a single large-trim edition. It will be released in June 2021 for $13.99 USA / $17.99 CAN.
About Seven Seas Entertainment
Established in 2004, Seven Seas Entertainment specializes in bringing the best of Japanese manga and light novels to North American audiences, and producing original comics, graphic novels, and youth literature. As of July 2021, Seven Seas and all of its book imprints are distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services. For more information, visit sevenseasentertainment.com“
Some of you may remember that I had feelings about Sarazanmai. I mean I have feelings about pretty much all of Ikuhara’s works. But I thought Sarazanmai was one of the most unfairly underrated series. Even as I read fawning positive reviews about it, I figured it deserved more!
It was among my favourite anime that I watched in 2019, and my enthusiasm for it has not dulled since. Sarazanmai takes an uncompromising and occasionally challenging look at the meaning of friendship. Unafraid to show the unpleasant, unfair, painful and sometimes ultimately unsatisfying aspects of platonic relationships and yet infuses even the most cynical views with undaunted hope. It’s a harsh kind of pretty. And it got to me. An anthology exploring those themes and ideas sounds like my exact cup of tea.
Also the OP and ED of the anime remain on my playlist because they rock!
You can be more than certain that I will be purchasing my very own physical copies of Sarazanmai Anthology as soon as they come out this summer!
Wow congrats! Such a great post. Love your blog, I’ve followed you, can’t wait to see more posts from you! Xx
Congrats Irina
Congratulations 🎉
Thank you!
My pleasure 😊
Late to the party, but congratulations, and I would love to hear more about how you landed such a spot.
Thank you
Congratulations. I recently started reading some manga their company published and I love it.
Congratulations Irina! Certainly good news for you.
Thank you so much!
Oh my god! Congratulations Irina! This is big news!
Thank you so much!
Congratulations, Irina. I believe that your willingness to establish relationships by co-reviewing anime series, your focus on the positive things about what you review, as well as your amiable behaviour were all things that made you stand out in the aniblog sphere, earning you this opportunity in the process.
Oh wow, that’s so sweet. Thank you so much
Moving up in the world! Well done, Irina.
Next step is voice acting a Russian villain in Golden Kamuy S4. I believe in you.
How do you know my 2 year plan?
2-year plan… For someone who claims she escaped communists, you sure do speak like them XD
I take it you haven’t had a job interview in a while.
Touche! But I’d be glad to head your cheerleading squad, should the need ever arise.
Always!
Congrats, and good luck!
Thank you!
Congrats Irina! I hope something like this come in my region too!!
I’m sure it will
Congratulations
Thank you!
Congratulations! And well deserved! I hope I can look forward to more light novels and manga here in the U.S. I admit a bit of light novel envy, they make lovely animes and I always wish I could read them. If Seven Seas brings them at a price I can afford, they can count me in!
Thanks Foovay. I’m hoping digital versions will become more affordable
I admit to a certain amount of snark about digital media pricing, although I do realize that you are not paying for paper and binding so much as creative effort – and as a creator I totally feel we ought to be paid for our work. We may love it but it’s still work, believe me. So it’s more based on what I have in my pocket that I can afford to spend 😀
Congrats! Seven Seas release some awesome stuff 🙂
Thanks Matt! I like them as publishers as well
The anime Sarazanmai did have some Yaoi content. Nothing terribly explicit but it was pretty obvious. Were they doing a dance between what they wanted to show and what the censors would allow?
Having the same big production for the build-up to the fight scene started to get boring after the first couple of times. (I suppose it does save animation costs.) Because of this, I guess I wouldn’t rate it as high as you. Good – but a bit shy of being great.
To each, their own.
And congrats on landing that spot with Seven Seas!
My understanding and the few interviews I read was that no, they showed everything they wanted to. It was a one sided infatuation of a young boy discovering sexuality, it makes sense that it was tentative and fairly chaste.
I do enjoy repetition more than most and I enjoyed it as a structural nod to kata and classical Japanese theater. But it’s not for everyone, I completely agree.
🎊 Congratulations! 😊 That’s amazing!
Thank you!
Congratulations! That’s amazing! I’d definitely be interested in a post about how you went about it.
Sounds good, I’ll make sure to write a follow up post
Ohhh congratulations!!!!! 😄🎉
Thank you!
Aye! Congrats Irina! Cheers to even more success in the future!
Thank you Jack!
This is such great news! Congrats!
Thank you very much!
Aww, hopefully that Sarazanmai manga will look like that picture, because the art’s gorgeous.
It’s the official cover image they supplied me with so there’s a chance…
Congratulations! 🎉🎉
Thank you!
Wow Senpai that is amazing! Moving up in the world of blogging! You are an example to us all and Seven Seas Entertainment can be lucky to have you!
I look forward to see more of this! And hey now you even have more subject to blog about! Thats great!
You really are a great Senpai!
Thanks Pinkie. Congratulations on your won promotion in the blogging world! Looking forward to seeing what comes next
My own promotion? Did I gaze in a lamp to long and forget stuff?
I hope you didn’t forget OWLS
Oooh that promotion, true, I have some plans for that, I knew that one in November but the annoucements got pushed. Need to wait for a few messages to come in but then we can pick that up again!
Congratulations, Irina! This is awesome news!
Thank you!
Congrats, that’s really cool! I’d be interested in hearing how this partnership came about, if you want to do a follow up post about it.
Duly noted, I’ll write one up
Congratulations!
Thank you
Yay! Congrats, Irina! 🙂
Right back at you Scott!
Awww 🙂
That’s so cool! Congratulations!
Thank you!