New Courtroom Drama Manga School Judgment: Gakkyu Hotei Coming In February From VIZ

VIZ Media announced today that it will launch the courtroom drama manga series School Judgment: Gakkyuu Hotei in both print and digital form on February 2.

The series was born from a collaboration between writer Nobuaki Enoki and artist Takeshi Obata, creator of Death Note and All You Need Is Kill, and has been running in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump. It’s Enoki’s first work to be serialized that way, though he’s been on the radar of manga fans since winning the Jump Treasure New Cartoonist Prize in April 2009 for Rikuou.

Here’s how VIZ describes School Judgment: Gakkyuu Hotei:

"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,” editor Marlene First said in a press release. “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!”

The first print volume of School Judgment: Gakkyuu Hotei will feature Shonen Jump branding and sell for a suggested $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN, with new volumes following three times a year. The series will also be available through VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App, as well as from the Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, comiXology, and GooglePlay stores.