The King of Fighters: A New Beginning volume 1
Story by: Kyōtarō Azuma/SNK
Art by: Kyōtarō Azuma
Serialised in Monthly Shonen Sirius
Published by Kodansha, 2018
Copy purchased from eBookJapan
When there’s no one left to fight
Boys like him don’t shine so bright
Soon as I see the dust settle
He’s out on the town tryin’ to find trouble
‘Sticks and Stones‘ by Jamie T, 2009
What is it?: The King of Fighters: A New Beginning is the manga adaptation slash expansion of SNK’s 2016 return to fighting games, The King of Fighters XIV, taking what had been a fairly loose first entry in a new storyline and fleshing it out into a full tournament storyline, exploring the fights and backstory of The King of Fighters tournament, with a particular focus on Shun’ei and his Team China, and series veteran Kyo Kusanagi and his Team Japan, as well as a surprising change with Samurai Shodown’s Nakoruru, now an outside spectator observing a strange phenomenom in the sky involving dead spirits (which was a part of her appearance in KoF XIV, but she was also an explicit participant in the tournament, something seemingly absent in this telling).
More than anything it’s good times and good fights between mountains of SNK’s most-beloved characters and fresh faces, as they all compete to be THE KING OF FIGHTERS.