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Kodansha USA Licenses Keiko Suenobu's Life, Life 2: Giver/Taker Manga
posted on by Alex Mateo
The company will launch Life on March 7, and it describes the story:
All Ayumu dreams of is making it into the same high school as her best friend. But when she gets in and her friend doesn't, their friendship crumbles—sending Ayumu spiraling into depression. She finds relief in cutting herself, but soon realizes that her scars may interfere with her budding high school life. Can she trust her new friend, Manami, who seems too good to be true? Or will Ayumu's apparent lack of compassion and understanding get her tossed aside like she was before? And is there anyone else out there who could possibly love her for who she is? A melancholy coming-of-age story by Keiko Suenobu!
The 20-volume Life manga ran in Kodansha's Bessatsu Friend magazine from 2002-2009, and it won the Kodansha Manga Award in the shōjo category in 2006. Tokyopop published nine volumes of the series before it shut down its North American publishing division in 2011. The manga inspired a live-action television series in 2007.
Kodansha USA will publish Life 2: Giver/Taker on March 14, and it describes the story:
When the charming young boy who moves next door turns out to be a psychopath who murders her little sister, Itsuki vows to fight the injustice that allowed him a second chance at life while her sister lies dead. Blaming herself for what happened, she becomes a stone-cold cop who fears nothing to prevent others from living through a similar tragedy. But six years later, on the very same day the killer is finally set free, she finds a chilling letter in her mailbox threatening to once again steal what's most important to her. And though she wants nothing more than to make him pay for her sister's life that he stole, she'll have to watch her back now that there's a killer on the loose.
Suenobu launched the Life 2: Giver/Taker manga in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine in June 2016, and ended it in October 2018. Kodansha published six compiled book volumes for the manga. The manga inspired a live-action show adaptation in January.
Source: Email correspondence
