Seven Seas Entertainment, which began by introducing a number of OEL titles, has announced the licensing of three new Japanese manga series and one novel series, including Kashimashi -- Girl Meets Girl, the gender-bending story of a boy who is accidentally killed by aliens and reconstructed as a girl, which has its humorous complications, but which is all right with him/her since the girl 'he' had a crush on is a lesbian.

The first volume of Kashimashi ships in December along with the first book in the Kodomo No Jikan manga by Kaworu Watashiya -- a tale about a male grade school teacher who is pursued by one of his precocious third grade students.

Shinigami no Ballad
(Orig. Japanese manga)

In March Seven Seas plans to issue the first book in the Shinigami no Ballad novel series (original manga by K-Suke Hasegawa).  This series concerns a young female grim reaper (shinigami) who has to release plenty of humans from their mortal bonds, but who also manages to help those in need.

The third new Seven Seas manga series, Neconoclasm, is a super-cute and hilarious collection of four-panel manga strips by Azaki Yuzuno.  Some four-panel manga collections such as Azumanga Daioh have been extremely popular in the U.S., and Neconoclasm, which ships in May, could well follow suit.