Manga adaptation of Nahoko Uehashi’s novel launches on July 26
The first volume of the manga adaptation of Nahoko Uehashi’s novel series Shika No O (The Deer King) revealed on September 10 that the manga will end with a second volume.
Sekiguchi launched the manga on Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up website on July 26.
The novel focuses on Van, the head of a group of soldiers expected to die fighting for their land against a great empire looking to incorporate their home into his kingdom. However, instead of dying, Van was enslaved and thrown into a salt mine. One night, a pack of strange dogs attacked the salt mine, and a mysterious disease broke out. While being attacked, Van Nhan had the opportunity to escape when he met a young girl. Elsewhere, rumors are circulating that only immigrants get this mysterious disease. Medical scientist Hossal risks his life in search of a cure. Doctors also studied a father and child who appeared to have survived the illness. The novel tells the interconnected stories and relationships of people fighting against a grim fate.
The novel won the Japan Bookseller Award and won the fourth “Japanese Medical Novel Award” in 2015.
This novel was the inspiration for the anime film Shika no Ō: Yuna to Yakusoku no Tabi. The film was previously scheduled to open on September 10, but it was delayed indefinitely because of the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The film was shown in competition at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in July this year. The film also screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival in August, where the anime won the Bronze Audience Award for Best Animated Feature.
Uehashi’s Moribito novel series and The Beast Player Erin’s novels were both adapted into television anime. Moribito also has a live-action adaptation. North American publisher Scholastic published the first two volumes of Moribito in English. Uehashi won the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014.