Tokyopop has announced the licensing of several new manga titles for its LoveLove imprint, significantly broadening its romance and Boys’ Love (BL) offerings for upcoming releases. The announcement, made during a recent panel at Anime Expo on Saturday, July 5, 2025, includes the highly anticipated ‘In So Deep, It’s Love Already’ and ‘Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko!’, alongside other compelling narratives. This expansion solidifies Tokyopop’s commitment to diverse romantic storytelling within the manga market.
Featured New Licenses
‘In So Deep, It’s Love Already’
Authored by Reida Soragaki, ‘In So Deep, It’s Love Already’ presents an unconventional teen romantic comedy. The story centers on Kirino, a high school student who, after a past heartbreak, decides to dedicate her emotional energy to her idol rather than pursuing real-life romance. However, her life takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of a transfer student named Kametani. Kametani possesses a vibe strikingly similar to her favorite idol, and Kirino becomes intrigued after he pointedly tells other girls, “Don’t even think about talking to me!” As she uncovers his secret, her once quiet high school existence is propelled into a dramatic romantic trajectory. The manga has been serialized in Japan’s Dessert magazine since May 2022 and is also available for simulpub on K Manga.
‘Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko!’
‘Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko!’ (original Japanese title: Ayaka-chan wa Hiroko-senpai ni Koishiteru) is a Girls’ Love (GL) workplace romantic comedy by popular Twitter artist Sal Jiang. The narrative follows Ayaka Usagida, a bubbly office lady who is madly in love with her senior colleague, Hiroko Kanō. The central humorous and endearing conflict arises from both Ayaka and Hiroko believing their feelings for each other are unrequited, as each mistakenly assumes the other is straight. Despite being a lesbian outside of work, Hiroko, a respected senior sales manager, consistently misinterprets Ayaka’s advances as platonic or directed at male co-workers due to a past incident at work that led her to remain closeted. Ayaka, undeterred, continues her attempts to confess her feelings. This series was originally serialized online via Futabasha’s Web Comic Action from June 2020 to March 2023 and has been collected into three tankōbon volumes. It previously saw an English-language digital release on NTT Solmare’s MangaPlaza and inspired a live-action television drama adaptation in Japan, which premiered in July 2024. Tokyopop plans a paperback release for this title in 2026.
Further Additions to the LoveLove Imprint
Beyond these two prominent titles, Tokyopop’s Anime Expo panel also unveiled several other manga joining its diverse LoveLove imprint. These include:
- ‘Walking in Your Tracks’ by Tatsumi Kifuu: This Boys’ Love drama focuses on Kizaki Ren, who has pushed away every caretaker since an accident left him paralyzed. His isolation slowly begins to break down with the quiet persistence and warmth of Maki Rintarou, his new caretaker.
- ‘The Tale of Luvelia Kingdom’ by Keiko and Shion: This is a romantic tale featuring Alois, an imperial guard and royal descendant, who is ordered by the emperor to marry Elina, the former fiancée of the crown prince. The story explores themes of duty, sympathy, and the journey to finding love.
- ‘Bride of Ignat’ by Moyori Mori: From the creator of Touch Within the Abyss, this manga introduces Rita, a lonely boy from a poor village, who is chosen as a sacrificial bride.
These new acquisitions further bolster Tokyopop’s commitment to providing a wide range of romantic and fantasy stories to its readership, building upon recent announcements of other BL titles like ‘Monster and Ghost’, ‘My Fluffy Moody Crush’, and ‘My Noons and Midnights Are for You’, as well as romance/fantasy series such as ‘My Contract with the Apothecary Monster’, ‘The Margrave’s Daughter and the Enemy Prince’, and ‘The Inconvenient Life Of an Arousing Priestess’. Tokyopop continues to be an active presence in the manga publishing landscape, bringing a mix of established and emerging titles to English-speaking audiences.
