Square Enix Announces New English Manga Imprint

Square Enix has been making the rounds in the news recently with its release of a new trailer for its Final Fantasy VII remake. Not satisfied with that news alone, the video game publisher has decided to release the promotion that it will be creating an English Manga Imprint with the help of distributor, Penguin Random House Publisher. The first title will be related to Final Fantasy XV (Dawn Of The Future), along with some well known hit manga.

The deal itself between Square Enix and Penguin Random House will see a number of titles arriving to the United States. Hi Score Girl, A Man And His Cat, and Soul Eater are just the first of the announced manga that will be making their way to the states. In the past, Square has licensed its properties to a number of different distributors, but now with the assistance of Penguin, they will be able to have control over the channels and methods of distribution and we are certainly looking forward to seeing their licenses hit a broader audience.

Katsuyoshi Matsuura, the Executive Officer and Vice President of Square Enix’s Publication Business Unit had this to say about the upcoming deal:

“We are excited to have this opportunity to introduce our wide variety of books with the help of PRHPS to our new readers.”

Concurrently, The General Manager and Publisher of the Book Publishing Division for Square Enix, Masaaki Shimizu, who was ultimately responsible for putting together this new program, added this:

“We’re so excited that we now have the full support from PRHPS for achieving our goals to introduce more English translated books and expand our reach to new audiences.”

Finally, the current President of Penguin Random House Publishers, Jeff Abraham, had this to add about the upcoming deal with Square:

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Square Enix for their venture into the worldwide, English-speaking market. We see significant opportunity for their exciting and original program to succeed here.”

Square Enix Inc. holds a number of different licenses, including Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Dragon Quest, and Space Invaders. Aside from producing video games, the company also holds ownership of some of the more popular recent manga in the form of Full Metal Alchemist and Black Butler, to name a few. Penguin is not slouch either in working with some recognizable companies, having previously worked with DC Comics.

Are you excited to read the upcoming manga from Square Enix? What properties would you most like to see next adapted? Let us know in the comments or go ahead and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.