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Vertical to Release Your Lie in April Light Novel in July

Vertical announced during its panel at Anime Central on Sunday that it has licensed Yui Tokiumi's Shōsetsu Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso - 6-nin no Etude (Novel Your Lie in April - Six People's Etude) light novel. The novel is a prequel to the story of the manga and anime, centering on the story of manga protagonist Kōsei Arima, as well as five other central characters. The book also contains side-stories not told in the manga.

Vertical will release the novel in the last week of July. Kodansha published the novel in Japan in November 2014.

Naoshi Arakawa's original manga follows Kōsei Arima, a former child prodigy who lost his ability to play the piano when his mother died. His daily life is monochrome, but it begins to gain color when he meets a female violinist by chance. Kaori Miyazono is an audacious go-getter who is overflowing with personality. Enchanted by the girl, Kōsei begins to rediscover his love for piano when Kaori invites him to be her accompanist for a competition.

The manga debuted in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine in 2011, and ended in February 2015. Kodansha published the 11th and final compiled volume in Japan in May 2015, which shipped with an OVA episode. Kodansha Comics is releasing the manga in North America, and released the 11th and final volume in December.

A television anime series adaptation of Arakawa's manga premiered in 2014. Aniplex of America streamed the anime on the Aniplex Channel, Hulu, and Crunchyroll as it aired in Japan. The company released the series with an English dub in two Blu-ray Disc sets last year.

The manga also received a live-action film adaptation, which opened in Japan last September.

Vertical also revealed that it will re-release Shūzō Oshimi's The Flowers of Evil manga in omnibus format with new cover art. The new release will have four volumes, with each volume being a three-in-one release except for the final volume, which will only cover two volumes. The first omnibus volume is slated for October.

In addition, Vertical announced release dates and new details for some of its upcoming manga and novels. Mizuki Tsujimura's Anime Supremacy (Haken Anime!) novel is getting a hardcover release in September, featuring art by CLAMP. Makoto Shinkai and Tsubasa Yamaguchi 's She and Her Cat manga will ship in August. Keiichi Arawi's Helvetica Standard manga is slated for October. Hikaru Nakamura's Arakawa Under the Bridge omnibus releases will be seven two-in-one volumes starting in November. The re-release of Mizu Sahara's The Voices of a Distant Star manga is slated for early 2018.

Vertical also revealed that it will release Nekomonogatari (White) and Nekomonogatari (Black), the sixth and seventh volumes in NisiOisin's Monogatari Series of novels, in November 2017 and January 2018, respectively. Vertical further stated that it plans to release most of the novels in the franchise "probably at a three-month pace."