In February of this year, the manga magazine Rakuen: Le Paradis ended its run after seventeen years. With its seasonal schedule and experimental titles by an eclectic collection of authors, Rakuen stood out as a very unusual publication. Among these titles was Kio Shimoku’s Spotted Flower.

However, it was revealed this month that Rakuen is getting a successor! The new magazine, titled Souten: Le Ciel Azur, is retaining the authors published in Rakuen with a new thrice-annual publication schedule of physical issues, while also retaining the posting of supplemental web manga. 

And yes, this includes Spotted Flower! In a few previous Twitter posts, Kio has been talking about doing manuscripts for a mysterious something, and I have to wonder now if this was it.

Souten will be under LEED Publishing, which was founded in the 1970s as an off-shoot of Takao Production, the studio founded by late Golgo 13 author Saito Takao. The Twitter account is the same as the old Rakuen one but under a new name, though it seems old links work just fine.

Kio also commented on Twitter about the news, saying that he drew Chapter 51 expecting it to be the end of Spotted Flower, and put everything he had into it. The continuation can be considered the start of “Chapter 2,” and he’s mentioned that “the limiters are gone.” Given everything we’ve seen so far, this has me excited, nervous, and kind of scared. 

I’m looking forward to what he has in store, especially the saga of Ogino-sensei.