Writer Yukiaki Kurando and Artist WOOMA Team Up for New School Romance Manga
Writer Yukiaki Kurando and artist WOOMA are launching a new manga titled Kiss Me With Your Face in Bessatsu ShΕnen Champion's July issue (shipping June 15). The school-set romance follows an A-rank student and an E-rank student from opposite ends of a rigid hierarchy.

Bessatsu ShΕnen Champion magazine announced that writer Yukiaki Kurando and artist WOOMA will debut their new manga, Kiss Me With Your Face (Kimi no Kao de Boku ni Kiss shite), in the publication's July issue arriving June 15.
The story centers on a school governed by a strict rank system. Shikima, an A-rank top student, and Azuki, an E-rank bottom-tier student, unexpectedly cross paths after a pivotal event and develop a romantic relationshipβdespite their worlds being designed to keep them separated.
Kurando brings a track record of engaging genre work to the project. He previously collaborated with artist SΕsΕ Sakakibara on the suspense thriller Then Shall I Kill in Your Stead? (Jaa, Kimi no Kawari ni KorosΕ ka?), which ran in Bessatsu Young Champion starting in November 2018. That series wrapped in November 2025 after an 11-volume run, plus a three-chapter epilogue. Yen Press licensed the title and is publishing the first English volume on August 25, 2026.
Kurando has also worked with artist YΕ«suke Nomura on Dolly Kill Kill, another Kodansha USA publication that reached 11 volumes.
The pairing of Kurando's storytelling with WOOMA's artwork suggests Kiss Me With Your Face will aim for a balance between emotional depth and visual appealβfitting for a romance centered on class conflict and forbidden connection. The premise taps into familiar school hierarchy tropes while promising a specific conflict: how two people from opposite ends of the social ladder navigate their relationship in an environment designed to keep them apart.
With Bessatsu ShΕnen Champion's history of serializing genre-forward manga, the magazine appears confident the series will resonate with its audience. Whether Kiss Me With Your Face follows the path of Kurando's previous work into English publication remains to be seen, but his established fanbase and licensing track record suggest there's appetite for this new project outside Japan.
