The King of Fighters: A New Beginning

The King of Fighters: A New Beginning is a Japanese shōnen manga authored by Kyōtarō Azuma. The series has been serialized in Kodansha's Magazine Pocket since January 2018.[2] Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the manga for a North American release with the first volume released in March 2020. The manga is an adaptation of SNK's 2016 fighting game The King of Fighters XIV and follows multiple characters who get involved in a new worldwide tournament led by a man known as Antonov.

The King of Fighters: A New Beginning
Cover of the first Japanese volume of A New Beginning
GenreMartial arts[1]
Manga
Written byKyōtarō Azuma
Published byKodansha
English publisher
MagazineMagazine Pocket
DemographicShōnen
Original runJanuary 1, 2018 – present
Volumes5

Publication

The series was first announced in November 2017 by Kodansha to be published in online Magazine Pocket for free.[2] Kyōtarō Azuma's work is being reviewed by Akihiko Ureshino, writer of most The King of Fighters works. The King of Fighters XIV producer Yasuyuki Oda noted that while the story might fit within the franchise's canon, it could greatly influece their latter works as they aim A New Beginning to stay true to the game's narrative.[3] Although the original The King of Fighters XIV game offered extra characters in the form of downloadable content, Azuma refraimed from using them.[4]

The first tankōbon volume was released on August 9, 2018.[5] Sales of the series have been positive with Azuma noting that the third Japanese volume run out of print and due to fan demand, Kodansha re-print more copies of it.[6] However, Azuma stated the amount of releases for every volume was relatively low.[7] By the time the third volume was released, Oda stated the series is an entertaining fighting series, hoping it attracts more readers.[1] In January 2019, the series took a one month hiatus due to issues with the editorial. However, Azuma said that there were no major issues so the manga will continue serialization without any problems.[8] According to Azuma the series is meant to conclude in September 2020 with the story having reached its climax by May of the same year.[9]

In July 2019, Seven Seas Entertainment announced they licensed the manga for a North American release with the first volume aiming to be released in early 2020.[10] The first volume was released on March 10, 2020. The translation is being handled by Daniel Komen and J.P. Sullivan.[11]

Premise

Years after the last fighting tournament known as "The King of Fighters", Antonov leads his own competition. This attracts returning fighters and most notably newcomers. The elder martial artist Tung Fu Rue wants to use this fight to test his student Shun'ei and Meitenkun's powers. Across this fights, the fights appear to be overseen only by Antonov but also the apparently destroyed organization NESTS for unknown purposes.

Chapter list
No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBNEnglish release dateEnglish ISBN
1 August 9, 2018[12]978-4-06-512269-3March 10, 2020[11]978-1-64275-687-6
  • Round 1： "Member Select"
  • Round 2："Order Select"
  • Round 3: "Japan Team vs Yagami Team 1st" (チーム日本ｖｓチーム八神１ｓｔ)
  • Round 4： "Japan Team vs Yagami Team 2nd" (チーム日本ｖｓチーム八神２ｎｄ)
  • Round 5： "Japan Team vs Yagami Team 3rd" (チーム日本ｖｓチーム八神３ｒｄ)
2 January 1, 2019[13]978-4-06-514076-5April 28, 2020[14]978-1-64505-184-8
  • Round 6："Japan Team vs Yagami Team 4th" (チーム日本ｖｓチーム八神4th)
  • Round 7："Japan Team vs Yagami Team 5th" (チーム日本ｖｓチーム八神5th)
  • Round 8："Interval"
  • Round 9："チーム中国ｖｓチーム龍虎１ｓｔ"
  • Round 10："チーム中国ｖｓチーム龍虎２ｎｄ"
3 May 9, 2019[15]978-4-06-515407-6-—
  • Round 11："チーム中国v s チーム龍虎3 r d"
  • Round 12："チーム中国v s チーム龍虎4 t h"
  • Round 13："Briefing"
  • Round 14："チーム怒v s チームメキシコ1 ｓ ｔ"
  • Round 15："チーム怒v s チームメキシコ２ n d"
4 November 8, 2019[16]978-4-06-517585-9-—
  • Round 16：チーム怒v s チームメキシコ３ｒｄ
  • Round 17：チーム怒v s チームメキシコ４ｔｈ
  • Round 18：Strategy
  • Round 19：K' Team vs South America Team 1st
  • Round 20：K' Team vs South America Team 2nd
5 April 9, 2020[17]978-4-06-519051-7-—
  • Round 21.
  • Round 22.
  • Round 23.
  • Round 24.
  • Round 25.

Reception

Anime UK News scored the first volume a 8 out of 10, praising the adaptation to the game faithful as well as the illustrations of fight scenes, most notably Kyo Kusanagi's against Iori Yagami, whom the reviewer found enjoyable based on their popularity.[18]

gollark: They are proprietary.
gollark: No.
gollark: Relatedly, fear my 317 nether stars.
gollark: Alternatively, if you get enough, you secretly control Google Maps.
gollark: Presumably it weights your comments higher...?

References
  1. @snk_oda (May 9, 2019). "Yasuyuki Oda 侍魂発売中！" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved November 25, 2019 – via Twitter.
  2. "King of Fighters Games Inspire 'New Beginning' Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  3. "Exclusive: We Talk To Oda San About SNK Heroines, KOF Manga and Anime and More". Neo Geo Now. September 6, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  4. Azuma, Kyōtarō [@az_ky_] (January 8, 2019). "あずま京太郎/KOF-A NEW BEGINNING-連載中" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved November 24, 2019 – via Twitter.
  5. "ＴＨＥ ＫＩＮＧ ＯＦ ＦＩＧＨＴＥＲＳ ～Ａ ＮＥＷ ＢＥＧＩＮＮＩＮＧ～（１）". Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  6. @shonen_sirius (July 24, 2019). "月刊少年シリウス編集部" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved November 24, 2019 – via Twitter.
  7. @az_ky (July 24, 2019). "あずま京太郎/KOF-A NEW BEGINNING-連載中" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved November 24, 2019 – via Twitter.
  8. Azuma, Kyōtarō [@az_ky_] (January 12, 2020). "KOF-ANB-休載のお知らせ 1月はKOF-ANB-休載となります。 原稿を管轄しているシリウス編集部内での日程調整があったためです。 作者の体調不良や原稿を落としたなどではありませんのでご心配なく。次の更新まで期間が空いてしまいますがお待ちいただければ幸いです。" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved January 12, 2020 – via Twitter.
  9. Azuma, Kyōtarō [@az_ky_] (May 10, 2020). "KOF-ANB-はあと4ヶ月ほどで連載終了となります。 ラストバトルに詰め込めるだけ詰め込んでいきます。最後までよろしくお願いします。" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved May 10, 2020 – via Twitter.
  10. "The King of Fighters: A New Beginning Manga Licensed For NA By Seven Seas". Siliconera. 8 July 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  11. "Book: The King of Fighters: A New Beginning Vol. 1". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  12. "The King of Fighters: A New Beginning （１）". Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  13. "The King of Fighters: A New Beginning （2）". Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  14. "Book: The King of Fighters: A New Beginning Vol. 2". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  15. "The King of Fighters: A New Beginning （3）". Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  16. "The King of Fighters: A New Beginning （4）". Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  17. "The King of Fighters: A New Beginning （5）". Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  18. "The King of Fighters – A New Beginning Volume 1". Anime Uk News. April 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
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