Takeshi Obata, the acclaimed manga artist behind Death Note and All You Need it Kill, has been working on School Judgment: Gakkyu Hotei with writer Nobuaki Enoki (Rikkuou) in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump, and on February 2nd, Viz Media is launching it as a new book series under the Shonen Jump imprint.

The book is set in an elementary school in which all problems are settled in a court, featuring the school's own students who happen to be skilled lawyers. I hope I don't sound too hopelessly American in my sensibilities when I say that this premise is one magical gender change away from being the most manga thing I've ever heard.

Here's more from the press release:

 

The new series was created by writer Nobuaki Enoki and Takeshi Obata, the famed manga artist who achieved international acclaim for the hit series DEATH NOTE, BAKUMAN。and ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (all published by VIZ Media). SCHOOL JUDGMENT: GAKKYU HOTEI will debut in print under the Shonen Jump imprint and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. The series also launches digitally on February 2nd via VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App, as well as from the Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, comiXology, and GooglePlay stores. New volumes will be published three times a year.

SCHOOL JUDGMENT: GAKKYU HOTEI is set at Tenbin Elementary, where there is only one way to settle a dispute – in a court of law! All quarrels bypass the teachers and are settled by some of the best lawyers in the country…who also happen to be elementary school students. In the opening volume of the series, the accused this time is a boy named Tento. His crime? The murder of a beloved member of the classroom! Luckily for him, the state has sent him a defense attorney–Abaku Inugami. But is this wild young lawyer skilled enough to get his client off the hook?

“SCHOOL JUDGMENT was rated as one of the most successful manga series based on reader surveys from WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP’s Jump Start initiative,” says Marlene First, Editor. “Takeshi Obata’s detailed and riveting artwork is the perfect vehicle to bring Nobuaki Enoki’s courtroom drama to life. Don’t miss the launch next month of this new thriller!”

 

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