On Monday (3/1), Indonesian comics publisher Elex Media Komputindo posted the list of manga that will be published on January 5, 2022. The list includes the first volumes of Blue Lock, A Couple of Cuckoos, and Star & Dust -Don’t worry, Be Happy!- manga. Blue Lock retails for IDR 45000 (about USD 3.15), while A Couple of Cuckoos and Star & Dust retails for IDR 40000 (about USD 2.8).
Written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and drawn by Yusuke Nomura, the story of Blue Lock began with Japan’s elimination from the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The elimination prompts the Japan Football Union to start a program for high-school football players in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. The Union initiates a prison-like training institution called Blue Lock, which isolates 300 young forwards and puts them through rigorous training to create “the world’s greatest egoistic striker”. Blue Lock began its serialization in Kodansha’s Weekly Shounen Magazine in August 2018.
A Couple of Cuckoos (Japanese Title: Kakkou no Iinazuke) is a manga written and illustrated by Miki Yoshikawa. It tells a story about Nagi Umino a student of a prestigious private high school. One day, he meets with Erika Amano, a rich high school girl who forces Nagi to be her fake boyfriend because she doesn’t want to meet her fiancee. It turns out later that Nagi is Erika’s soon-to-be fiancee. Moreover, both of them were switched at birth. The manga was first published in January 2020 and is currently serialized by Weekly Shounen Magazine.
Written and Illustrated by Kaori Hoshiya, Star & Dust -Don’t worry, Be Happy!- (Japanese title: Hoshi to Kuzu -Don’t Worry be Happy!) tells about Anzu, a poor but ambitious girl who sought to be the student council president as a stepping stone for her future. Unfortunately, she lost the position to popular guy Yamabuki, and has to settle to being the vice president instead. The series is serialized in Shueisha’s Bessatsu Margaret in 2015 and finished in four volumes.
Elex Media had teased Star & Dust in July 2020, when editing of the first volume had finished. In December 2020, The manga is listed as one of the manga that planned to be released in 2021. However, in December 2021, Star & Dust is confirmed to be available in Indonesian bookstores on the first week of January 2022, along with Blue Lock and A Couple of Cuckoos.
Semangat pagiiii🎏
Udah lama nggak pantun nih… senggol dulu boss🤩
Kue geplak kue semprong
Belinya di simpang lima
Mari siap2 pada ngeborong
Manga #HappyJanuary minggu pertama pic.twitter.com/lDz7XyHTWb— Editor Komik Elex-Level Comics (@comic_lxlc) December 23, 2021
Elex Media Komputindo is a comics publisher under the Kompas-Gramedia Group. The publisher releases licensed foreign comics, including manga, and also Indonesian comics. Since 2005, Elex Media also published comics that were intended for adult audiences under the new imprint called Level Comics.
DISCLAIMER: the availability of books at bookstores / agents may differ from the planned schedule, especially for regions outside of Java island To obtain accurate information regarding the availability of the book, it is advised to contact the Customer Service of your stores of choice for confirmation. For Gramedia bookstores, the contact numbers can be obtained via email [email protected].
The Indonesian Anime Times
