Drifters Manga, From Hellsing Creator

Kouta Hirano has been teasing his fans with a new fantasy manga series since last year, when he ended his popular manga Hellsing after 11 years. But it sure took a while for some details to transpire about this new work - now known to be titled Drifters. We have the Young King Ours magazine to thank for that (via ANN): the same publication where the Hellsing manga had been serialized, and also the one where Drifters will begin on April 30, in the mag's June issue.



The story of Drifters will take place during Japan's Sengoku period (roughly XV to XVII century), a time of constant warring between the island's states, and a natural setting of choice for samurai stories. The manga will apparently follow a band of adventurers, but that's about all that has been revealed for the time being.

Aside from Drifters, last summer Kouta Hirano also said he was working on a one-shot mystery story set in the early Showa era (after 1926), but that one's still wrapped in mystery.

On a related note, the ongoing Hellsing OVA (Hellsing Ultimate) will have its 6th volume shipped in Japan during summer 2009. We have a trailer for it locally, and as far as I know there will also be a 7th volume, eventually.