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Kodansha Confirms License of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, Danza Manga

The North American manga publisher Kodansha Comics confirmed on Monday that it has licensed the Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, Danza, and Missions of Love (Watashi ni xx Shinasai!) manga. Kodansha will publish Ema Toyama's Missions of Love manga in November, and then it will publish the 16th volume of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita: Last Order manga and Natsume Ono's Danza manga in December.

Viz originally published the previous volumes of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order until Kishiro switched publishers from Shueisha to Kodansha last year.

Toyama's Missions of Love manga revolves around a cold and distant high school student named Yukina who is also a popular cell phone novelist. Yukina blackmails her fellow student Shigure into completing Missions of Love for her to help inspire her writing. Kodansha Comics is already publishing Toyama's I Am Here! manga, and Tokyopop previously published Toyama's Pixie Pop: Gokkun Pucho manga.

Kodansha Comics describes Ono's (Ristorante Paradiso, House of Five Leaves, Not Simple) Danza manga as a collection of six short stories that "chronicle interpersonal relationships." The different stories deal with an estranged Father and Son, the relationship between a German-American man and his Japanese father-in-law, and the dissolving relationship between two NYPD partners, among others. Viz Media has published Ono's Ristorante Paradiso, Gente, Not Simple, Tesoro, House of Five Leaves, and La Quinta Camera in North America.