Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Carat editorial department has announced a special digital campaign offering the first three compiled volumes of Asteroid in Love (Koisuru Asteroid) for free between September 18 and September 23. The promotion celebrates the astronomical discovery and official naming of minor planet Daianji (designated 2015 FX488, catalog #865364).
The celestial body was identified through the citizen-astronomy project Come On! Impacting Asteroids (COIAS), utilizing archival survey data captured by the Subaru Telescope stationed at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. While naming priority technically belonged to the Subaru observation team, rights were transferred to COIAS, who elected to honor a fifth-year student contributor from Okayama Daianji Secondary School. The International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on the Naming of Small Objects officially entered the moniker into its registry bulletin.
The science-rooted slice-of-life manga, authored and illustrated by Quro, ran in Manga Time Kirara Carat from January 2017 through June 2024, compiling six tankobon volumes alongside receiving an anime adaptation by studio Doga Kobo in 2020. The series holds deep ties to real-world astronomical outreach, having previously inspired astronomical naming initiatives honoring the creator as well as lead characters Ao Manaka and Hoshizaki High School.
