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Kodansha USA Licenses The Pool, Subaru and Subaru, Kraken Mare, 5 More Manga

Kodansha USA Publishing announced new manga licenses during its panel at San Diego Comic-Con International on Saturday. 

The company also announced it will release a box set of the first six volumes of Saka Mikami's The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity manga in spring 2027.

The newly announced manga licenses are:

Title: The Pool
Creator: Gamon Sakurai
Debut Date: Spring 2027
Synopsis: Twenty years ago, a wormhole suddenly appeared above Earth's orbit and opened a passageway to an alien planet full of untapped resources and mysterious lifeforms. Two decades later, Team Sierra, a small military squad of security specialists working for the Tiberius Coke Corporation, are thirty miles away from home base on that planet when their leader, Chief Yugi Oishi, spots an SOS flare coming from a theoretically abandoned mine. Despite the danger, she leads her four-man team to the facility to see who'd called for help, only for it to be attacked by a horde of powerful creatures almost as soon as the doors closed behind them. Now, she and the stranded exploration crew Team Sierra finds inside must traverse the treacherous mine to reach the only vehicle that could get them to safety—without waking the terrifying monster that's been picking off the researchers one by one.

Title: Subaru and Subaru (Subaru to Subaru)
Creator: Shuuichi Shigeno
Debut Date: Spring 2027
Synopsis: One year after Takumi Fujiwara's student Kanata Rivington tore it up on Japan's mega-popular MFG street racing circuit, two new drivers are itching to try their luck at the event. Their names: Subaru Sato from Gunma Prefecture, and Subaru Kudo, from Kanagawa. The world of Initial D and MF Ghost meld into one as these two Subarus join together to weave the ultimate street racing legend!

Title: The Cat and Dog's Nine-Tailed Lives (Inumata to Nekomata no Isshō)
Creators: Maki (Story), Hamuhamu (Art)
Debut Date: Spring 2027
Synopsis: One day, a pet cat and dog named Buchi and Kotaro wake up to find that they have become yokai, supernatural beings blessed with eternal life. Now, not only do they get to spend more time with their beloved owner, they can stick around to befriend his children, and his children's children! But even as Buchi and Kotaro remain the same, their owner slowly begins to gray...

Title: Kraken Mare
Creators: IZU (Story), Hagane (Art)
Debut Date: Spring 2027
Synopsis: In the distant, far-flung future, humanity's pursuit of a vital energy source known as "Black Ether" has awakened monsters called Krakens, which lay dormant within black holes. These horrors brought humanity to the brink of extinction. A thousand years later, the Krakens are worshipped as gods by a church that exploits them to spread fear and control the remnants of humanity.

Brave smugglers known as scavengers defy the iron fist of the clergy, risking their lives to mine black ether in secret for profit. The crew of the space ship Pulsar, led by Captain Paze, is tasked with extracting black ether from an extremely dangerous black hole at the request of the Mars-based pirate group Red Sand.

Oriale, a church agent and skilled Atomancer, lurks amongst the crew, pretending to be the innocent cook "Eden." But when the Pulsar is discovered by a terrifying Abyssal Kraken, she must reveal herself in order to save the crew.

Title: Meaheim
Creators: Kenji Tsurubuchi (Story), Konata (Art)
Debut Date: Spring 2027
Synopsis: A young scholar named Ren makes her way to Meaheim, the last town on the border of the Dark Lands—a bizarre place where horrifying monsters run amok, and reality itself is all but unrecognizable. With the aid of a Guide named Tobia, Ren sets off on a journey into the very maw of chaos, where she must overcome monsters known as "Witches," traitorous adventures, and the godforsaken land itself to retrieve the panacea and save her brother...

Title: Rega in the Sleeping Forest (Nemureru Mori no Rega)
Creator: yoruhashi
Debut Date: Spring 2027
Synopsis: To save Princess Lorana from a sleeping curse cast by an evil dragon, Rega, captain of the kingdom's knights, faces down a wicked wyrm within an ancient forest. Drawing upon his devotion to the princess, who rescued him from a life of slavery many years ago, Rega slays the monster, freeing the princess from her sleep. But the moment she awakens, the girl begins casting wicked magic, slaying Rega's fellow knights and cursing the land, creating a "sleeping forest" which corrupts familiar figures into dark, monstrous forms. Stunned at this horrific sight, Rega looks up to see a crooked, crescent-moon smile in the night sky. Could this be the mastermind behind the corruption? And were those tears Rega saw in the princess's eyes as she gleefully destroyed the kingdom she called home?

Title: I Love You, Please Dump Me (Yume to Koi de wa Tsuriawanai)
Creator: Shizuku Torii
Debut Date: Spring 2027
Synopsis: "Love makes people go crazy."

Hikaru's always been told to be wary of love—it can make you do stupid things. Like abandon your dreams, or worse, fail your exams! Which is exactly what happens when she falls in love at first sight with Kairi Kira. The problem is, Hikaru's dreams of one day living it up in an expensive penthouse apartment relies on her first achieving academic success. Which is why she's going to have to nip this little love problem in the bud. If Kairi rejects her and breaks her heart, she'll be able to get over her feelings and focus on her grades. Except Kairi insists on becoming her girlfriend, which is definitely not part of the plan! But this should be fine, right? She just has to get used to splitting her time and attention. Or... she could, if Kairi would let her!

Title: I Loved Him First! (Ore ga Saki ni Suki datta!)
Creator: toreta
Debut Date: Spring 2027
Synopsis: Makoto, an ex-yakuza, has harbored feelings for his best friend Ayato since high school but has always been afraid to confess his love and risk ruining their friendship. Instead, he resigns himself to the role of best friend to the bitter end...that is, until Ayato tells him he's dating—a guy. Makoto does a total 180 and vows to win over Ayato's heart by any means necessary—after all, he thinks, "I loved him first!"

Source: Press release