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Denpa Licenses Moto Hagio's They Were Eleven Manga

Denpa Books announced on Twitter on Saturday that it has acquired the license to Moto Hagio's They Were Eleven (11-nin Iru!) manga. The publisher plans to offer the manga in a special release in the third quarter of 2022.

Denpa Books is basing its release on the edition (pictured right) that Shogakukan published in Japan in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hagio's debut as a professional manga creator. Shogakukan's 288-page B5-size commemorative edition includes the original 1975 They Were Eleven run as well as the 1976-1977 They Were Eleven Continued run. Denpa Books' edition will have 298 pages with some "color pages, a double-sided fold-out poster in a A4 trim (8.5 x 12in)."

The original manga follows a group of 10 would-be space cadets on their final entrance exam aboard a derelict starship. However, 11 students arrive at the ship instead of 10, and the simulation test starts to go awry.

Hagio published They Were Eleven in 1975 in Shogakukan's Bessatsu Shōjo Comic magazine, and the sequel run ran from 1976 to 1977 in the same magazine. Viz Media published the original They Were Eleven manga in North America, and Central Park Media released the anime film version.

Gekidan Studio Live, an all-male acting troupe, performed a stage play adaptation of the original manga in January 2013, and then performed the first adaptation of the sequel manga in February-March that year. The idol group Morning Musume '16 starred in the second adaptation of the sequel manga in June 2016.

Thanks to A. M. for the news tip

Source: Denpa Books' Twitter account