Manga's Tsubasa Sugie returns to illustrate story set 6 months after anime's ending

The official Twitter account for Shueisha's Jump J-Books imprint revealed on Friday that director Tsutomu Mizushima and scriptwriter Michiko Yokote's original television anime project Kōya no Kotobuki Hikōtai (The Magnificent KOTOBUKI) is inspiring a novel. The 240-page Kōya no Kotobuki Hikōtai Kōya Senichiya novel will ship on June 19.

Keiji Andō (name romanization not confirmed) is writing the novel, and Kōya no Kotobuki Hikōtai manga illustrator Tsubasa Sugie is returning to illustrate the novel. The sequel story will center on the Kotobuki Squadron and Hogoromo Maru Crew a half year after the ending of the anime.

Author Muneaki Taoka and Sugie, who previously worked together on Tenjin , launched the manga adaptation of the anime on April 24.

The anime premiered on January 13, and aired for 12 episodes. Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime, and HIDIVE and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.

The anime's story takes place in a barren frontier where people trade goods with each other in order to help each other survive. The Kotobuki Squadron are bodyguards for hire, led by a strict but beautiful squadron leader, an unreliable commanding officer, and a true artisan of a crew chief. Alongside pilots who do not lack for personality, they take to the air in dogfights, letting the engine noise of their Hayabusa fighters ring out in the skies.

A smartphone game titled Kōya no Kotobuki Hikōtai - Ōzora no Take Off Girls! (The Magnificent KOTOBUKI: Take Off Girls of the Sky!) launched on February 13.

Sources: Jump J-Books' Twitter account and website