KADOKAWA launches KMC: literary classics are now luxury manga

KADOKAWA officially presented its KMC (KADOKAWA Masterpiece Comics) project, a label dedicated to turning masterpieces of Japanese and international literature into high-quality manga. The initiative began in 2022 and today has eight published titles, four more on the way and editions in Traditional Chinese, French and Portuguese.

The idea is simple: take novels that often remain in the realm of "difficult classics" and give them an entry point through panels. It's not just about adapting, but creating a flow between formats. After reading the manga, the reader can jump to the original book. And the reverse also works.

The current catalog includes The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Abandoned by Paul Gallico, The Legends of Tono by Kunio Yanagita and Rūju no Zanzō by Yasutaka Tsutsui. They were joined by The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun, The Gate by Natsume Sōseki, Vita Sexualis by Mori Ōgai and The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo.

Several comics from the KMC label with covers depicting masterpieces of literature and culture.group.kadokawa.co.jp

A project born from an unexpected success

The starting point was the manga adaptation of The Unwomanly Face of War by Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. That comic sold over 400,000 copies in Japan, a huge number for a work that was previously almost unknown in the country.

Hitomi Itō, the editor who drove KMC from the beginning, puts it this way: "Manga has the power to bring dense works to a huge number of people if the adaptation is the right one." That was the push to build a label dedicated to classics.

The project took an international leap thanks to the internal program GAP (Global Business Acceleration Program), where KADOKAWA employees propose global business ideas. Ami Inoue, from the management area, saw the potential of The Alchemist —with more than 100 million copies sold worldwide— and proposed taking KMC outside Japan. The proposal became the first approved project of the program.

Art as an export strategy

One of the most carefully handled aspects of the label is the artwork. Kazuhisa Ogawa, the current project lead, notes that international readers pay a lot of attention to artistic quality. "If the work has an aesthetic that grabs you, sales change completely," he says.

The clearest example is Vita Sexualis. The publisher looked for a manga artist whose style fit the atmosphere of the novel and chose Yūki Kuniyasu for his aestheticist linework. The work generated very positive reactions on social media, especially on Instagram, where users from Europe and the United States described it as "modern art."

Yasunari Yamamoto, a manga editor for the label, admits that The Honjin Murders was his biggest challenge. "In a mystery you can't cut a single clue without breaking the trick. I read the novel dozens of times and redid the page composition over and over." The effort paid off: Professor Naotaka Yamaguchi, who wrote the afterword, noted that "there is not a single wasted panel."

Kazuhisa Ogawa and Yasunari Yamamoto, current heads of the KMC project.group.kadokawa.co.jp

High price, clear bet

KMC volumes cost between 1,300 and 1,400 yen, above the usual price of a manga in Japan. The reason is not just covering costs: KADOKAWA wants authors to receive fair compensation and the cover design and edition to reflect that value.

The bet is already showing results. After the release of the The Alchemist manga, monthly sales of the original novel in Kadokawa's bunko format rose noticeably. The cycle between formats works.

For the coming months, A Portrait of Shunkin by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, The Holy Man of Mount Kōya by Kyōka Izumi, The Castle by Franz Kafka and Gokumonjima by Seishi Yokomizo have been announced. Also, since September KMC operates as an open label: editors from different areas of KADOKAWA can join in producing titles.

Ogawa sums up the final goal: "We want to see bookstore shelves around the world full of KMC, with readers of all ages enjoying masterpieces through Japanese manga." For now, there are no announcements about distribution in Latin America or publishers that have confirmed licenses in Spanish.

Which classic would you like to see turned into manga? Tell us in the comments.