2 New Crows Manga Titles Launch This Fall

The September issue of Akita Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Champion magazine announced on Saturday that two new Crows titles will launch in the magazine. Hiroshi Takahashi is credited as the original creator on both manga.

Shūhei Saitō's Crows Gaiden Hōsenka the beginning of HOSEN will launch in the magazine's December issue on November 6. The manga tells origins of Hōsen Academy, a rival of the strongest delinquent school Suzuran. The story takes place one year before the school's founding and focuses on a temple-gate buddha. A line accompanying the announcement reads "The secret origin story of the 'Killer Army'."

Tatsuya Kanda's Crows Explode manga, an adaptation of the live-action film of the same name, will launch in the magazine's November issue on October 6. Kōsuke Mukai, Rikiya Mizushima, and Takashi Hasegawa are credited as the scriptwriters. The story follows the new third-year students who are aiming for the vacated top spot at Suzuran High School, and the newcomers who appear in their midst: the third-year transfer student Kazeo Kaburagi and the new first-year student Ryōhei Kagami.

Takahashi's Crows manga ran for 26 volumes, and Digital Manga Publishing partially published its sequel manga Worst in English. Crows also inspired a two-episode anime OVA adaptation, the 1994 Koukou Butouden Crows.

The manga inspired three live-action films, with Takashi Miike directing the first two films, Crows Zero and Crows Zero II. These prequel films, in turn, inspired manga adaptations. Crows Explode, the third film, opened in Japan in April 2014. Tokyo Shock released the first film on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in North America, and video label MVM released both Crows Zero and Crows Zero II in the United Kingdom.

Takahashi debuted the Crows Gaiden: Katagiri Ken Monogatari manga mini-series in Akita Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Champion magazine in June 2014. Akita Shoten published the manga's one compiled book volume in November 2014.