Renowned
author Ayu Watanabe, famous for the hit manga LDK, will
return to the publishing scene with a new story titled Kokoro, Ai ni
Arazu. (translated as Kokoro is not in love), which will be
published in the next issue of Kodansha's Kiss magazine,
available on July 25 in Japan (UTC+2).
The manga
will focus on Kokoro, a woman whose imposing personality generates
some fear among her younger co-workers. However, her life takes an unexpected
turn when she begins to live in her own apartment with a young bartender.
An
author with experience in young adult romance
Ayu
Watanabe has left an important mark on shōjo manga. His work Arashi-kun
no Dakimakura, published in Bessatsu Friend magazine since
March 2020, was completed in January 2023. But without a doubt, his most
emblematic series has been LDK, begun in 2009 and completed
in August 2017, with a total of 24 compilation volumes. In North
America, the work is being distributed by Kodansha USA Publishing.
In February
2022, Watanabe surprised with a sequel titled LDK Pink, also
published on Bessatsu Friend, although with an irregular
serialization.
LDK also
conquered the big screen
LDK's success was not limited to
paper. In April 2014, the story was adapted into a live-action film
starring Ayame Gōriki and Kento Yamazaki.
Subsequently, in March 2019, a new film version entitled LDK Hitotsu
Yane no Shita, "Suki" ga Futatsu (Two Loves Under the
Same Roof), was released in Japan, with a completely renewed cast.
With Kokoro,
Ai ni Arazu., Ayu Watanabe promises to make her readers fall in love again
with a fresh, intimate and emotionally charged story, reaffirming her place as
one of the most recognized voices in contemporary romantic manga.
