Get to Little Tokyo for guest appearances by Blue Lock’s Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura and Witch Hat Atelier’s Kamome Shirahama!
Anime Expo—North America’s flagship anime convention—and Kodansha—the creative force behind iconic pop-culture properties Akira, The Ghost in the Shell, and Attack on Titan—will partner for this year’s revival of Kodansha’s wildly popular immersive pop-up fan event, Kodansha House, which will make its West Coast debut this summer in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood July 2-12, while Anime Expo runs concurrently July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Highlights of this year’s Kodansha House Los Angeles will include guest appearances by the creators of two of the biggest manga hits of the year: Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura, the creative team behind the global-hit soccer manga Blue Lock, and Kamome Shirahama, author and artist of the magical fantasy manga Witch Hat Atelier, recently adapted into a highly anticipated anime series. In addition, Kaneshiro-sensei, Nomura-sensei, and Shirahama-sensei will appear as official guests of Anime Expo, where they will hold separate panels and signing events. More details of how to attend these coveted appearances at both Kodansha House and Anime Expo will be announced. Attendees of Anime Expo can also unlock special benefits at Kodansha House with their AX badges—more details forthcoming. Anime Expo 2026 credentials are available for purchase at anime-expo.org.
Kodansha is also excited to announce a second Kodansha House in 2026 to be held later this fall, at its traditional homebase of New York City. In addition, Kodansha House satellite booths will appear on the convention floors of San Diego Comic-Con in July and Anime NYC in August. More details, including guest information, to come.
Once again Kodansha will partner with Kinokuniya USA as its official Kodansha House partner for retail operations during the Los Angeles pop-up event. Look for future announcements on exclusive merchandise that can only be purchased at Kodansha House and Kinokuniya bookstores.
More than a manga event, Kodansha House is a vibrant meeting place where the world of manga crosses over into the real world. Fans this year will enter a portal that takes them into a dynamic, interactive space to connect with and celebrate the impossible stories they have come to love. They can then spend their time more leisurely with friends, as well as meeting new ones, while hanging out in a manga gallery, cafe, lounge, and library. With daily programming to include manga creator appearances, anime screenings, panel discussions, and more, Kodansha House is the perfect pop-up for manga enthusiasts, both new and seasoned, to mingle and dive deeper into the magic of manga.
About Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC A subsidiary of Kodansha, Japan’s largest publisher, Kodansha USA Publishing is the English-language publisher of some of the world’s most recognizable manga properties, including Katsuhiro Otomo’s AKIRA and Naoko Takeuchi’s Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, along with a robust catalog of English-language Japanese novels, cookbooks, craft guides, historical and cultural literature, and more. Today, thanks to recent fan-favorite and critically acclaimed hits like Attack on Titan, Blue Lock, Gachiakuta, and Witch Hat Atelier, Kodansha USA Publishing is one of the best-selling manga publishers in the United States. Kodansha USA Publishing’s print offerings are distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services, and their digital manga and select digital books are available across a number of digital comics, manga, and book vendors. For more information visit kodansha.us
Get your digital shelves ready as Kodansha launches a brand new Line-Wide digital manga sale, with over 400 volume 1s discounted to $0.99, and over 4000 additional volumes discounted by up to 50% off!
Sale ends Monday, April 20, 2026!
Now’s the prefract time to start or complete your digital manga collection with beloved series now on sale for two weeks! Whether it’s dark action-packed stories like, Attack on Titan, wholesome and heartfelt romance journeys like A Condition Called Love, and A Sign of Affection, far reaching magical adventures like, Witch Hat Atelier, or plenty other Kodansha series you won’t want to miss stocking up while so many volumes are wonderfully discounted.
Read Beyond Subscriptions & Save
Kodansha is also partnering with select digital subcription channels like Amazon, Kobo, Omoi, Mangamo and GlobalComix to offer fans even more discountss. For any series with volumes included in these vendor’s subscription services, you can purchase the next volume beyond subscription for only $0.99! This offer is available only during the line-wide sale so act fast to read beyond subscription!
Take advantage of the Line-wide sale offerings of $0.99 volume 1s and up to 50% off additional volumes by purchasing on uat.kodansha.us/ or from any of our participating digital manga vendors:
Looking for recommendations of series to try during Kodansha’s Line-wide digital manga sale? Check out the recommendations below for a sampling of the over 4400 digital volumes on sale:
Action & Adventure
FAIRY TAIL By Hiro Mashima
Cute girl wizard Lucy wants to join the FAIRY TAIL, a club for the most powerful wizards. But instead her ambitions land her in the clutches of a gang of unsavory pirates led by a devious magician. Her only hope is Natsu, a strange boy she happens to meet on her travels.
A century ago, the grotesque giants known as Titans appeared and consumed all but a few thousand humans. The survivors took refuge behind giant walls. Today, the threat of the Titans is a distant memory, and a boy named Eren yearns to explore the world beyond Wall Maria. But what began as a childish dream will become an all-too-real nightmare when the Titans return and humanity is once again on the brink of extinction…
For high schooler Kei—and for at least forty-six others—immortality comes as the nastiest surprise ever. In the eyes of both the general public and governments, he’s a rare specimen who needs to be hunted down and handed over to scientists to be experimented on for life—a demi-human who must die a thousand deaths for the benefit of humanity.
Outer space, the far future. A lone seed ship, the Sidonia, plies the void, ten centuries since the obliteration of the solar system. The massive, nearly indestructible, yet barely sentient alien life forms that destroyed humanity’s home world continue to pose an existential threat.
Maki’s first love was her high school classmate, a girl named Midori. But Midori broke up with Maki at graduation, saying they were now “too old to be fooling around dating girls.” Ten years later, Maki still can’t get Midori off her mind, and when the two women reconnect after a chance encounter, Maki realizes that, while her feelings haven’t changed, Midori has long moved on—in fact, she’s engaged.
A hard-working middle-aged gay couple in Tokyo come to enjoy the finer moments of life through food. After long days at work, either in the law firm or the hair salon, Shiro and Kenji will always have down time together by the dinner table, where they can discuss their troubles, hash out their feelings and enjoy delicately prepared home cooked meals!
One rainy night, Saki is rushing to a piano lesson when she crashes into a beautiful, long-haired girl, dropping her sheet music in the process. Saki stutters an apology, but the girl simply hands back her sheet music and leaves without a word. Saki begins her first day of high school the following morning, only to find the stranger from the night before sitting at the desk next to hers.
Carried into modern Japan from a forgotten past, the being known as Ogushi haunts and tortures humans of all kinds. Little is know about Ogushi’s curse, except that it resides in an unexpected place: human hair.
Returning home by train after a class trip, Teru Aoki takes a most frightening ride inside a mountain tunnel. When the train derails, nearly everyone aboard is killed. Amidst the bloody carnage, Teru discovers two survivors—but salvation is far from their grasp. As they try to dig out from the wreck in order to come up with a plan to stay alive, the lack of light and food, combined with the stench of death and decay, will lead one member of the group down a dark and demented path.
Yoshiaki Maeda has been falsely accused and detained, along with delinquents from all over the Kanto region, in the juvenile correctional facility, Shouran Institute. Yoshiaki is as typical as a boy can get, so when he finds himself living in this violence-ridden prison, he can’t think of anything worse. Then suddenly, a prison van crashes into the facility and what shambles out of the wreckage are flesh-eating zombies!
Can You Just Die, My Darling? By Majuro Kaname and Sousou Sakakibara
“I want to kill you”—Taku Kamishiro’s crush on Mika Hanazono had always been one sided, until one fateful day, his feelings turn into murderous impulse instead…You won’t be able to predict what each new page will bring!
Yuki is a college student who’s into friends and fashion. She’s also deaf. A chance meeting on a train leads to a serious crush… but can it grow into something more? A sweet and touching manga romance from the creator of Shortcake Cake!
Nagatoro is a freshman in high school who loves teasing and torturing her older male classmate! What’s her motivation and why does Senpai put up with her? Does Nagatoro just want to create misery for Senpai? Or maybe she secretly likes him?
Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You. By Haruka Mitsui
Love in the time of COVID-19? This new series pits the the crushes, nostalgia, and friendship of shojo manga against a crushing pandemic. Can it be that a determined high school girl is more resilient than anyone expected?
Wife: Ichiko Aihara. Husband: Otoya Aihara. Married for seven years, they get along well, but sexless and without children, they agree to see other people. Otoya has an affair with Mitsuki, and Ichiko is aware of it. Looking at Otoya in a state of bliss with Mitsuki, Ichiko begins to change, too…
After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan’s team struggles to regroup. But what’s missing? An absolute Ace Striker, who can guide them to the win. The Japan Football Union is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, and who can be the decisive instrument in turning around a losing match…and to do so, they’ve gathered 300 of Japan’s best and brightest youth players. Who will emerge to lead the team…and will they be able to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in their way?
Chihaya is a girl in the sixth grade, still not old enough to even know the meaning of the word zeal. But one day, she meets Arata, a transfer student from rural Fukui prefecture. Though docile and quiet, he has an unexpected skill: his ability to play competitive karuta, a traditional Japanese card game.
Eijun Sawamura had his heart set on the middle-school national baseball championships. But his team is eliminated thanks to a wild pitch thrown by Eijun himself. He’s planning to go to high school with his teammates and try again next year when he’s scouted by the famous Seido High School Baseball team.
Natsuo Ishido has always been a gifted athlete, but it’s not easy being good at everything! Her high school peers may resent her for her indifference, but she truly couldn’t care less. She only longs for a break from the monotony of life among tryhards. As she daydreams of a real rival worth crushing, she runs into a pair of peppy transfer students from Brazil. What’s more, the newcomers are starting up a club that teases the challenge she craves—Mixed Martial Arts
In a world where everyone takes wonders like magic spells and dragons for granted, Coco is a girl with a simple dream: She wants to be a witch. But everybody knows magicians are born, not made, and Coco was not born with a gift for magic. Resigned to her un-magical life, Coco is about to give up on her dream to become a witch…until the day she meets Qifrey, a mysterious, traveling magician. After secretly seeing Qifrey perform magic in a way she’s never seen before, Coco soon learns what everybody “knows” might not be the truth, and discovers that her magical dream may not be as far away as it may seem…
In the small village of Amun lives a poor boy named Theo. Theo adores books, but because of his pointed ears and impoverished life, he isn’t allowed to use the village library. As he endures the prejudice and hatred of the village, he dreams of going where such things don’t exist: Aftzaak, City of Books. But one day, Theo chances to meet a Kafna—a librarian who works for the great library of Aftzaak—and his life changes forever…
Am I Actually the Strongest? By Ai Takahashi, Sai Sumimori and Sai Sumimori
Being reincarnated into another world with the promise of a “cheat” power is one thing, but being reborn as a baby, and then left for dead after your royal parents think you’re powerless? That’s another thing entirely! Now the newly born Reinhardt—Haruto to his new friends—must find his way through a dangerous world…but luckily he’s got magic that’s quite literally off the charts!
Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! By Chika Mizube, Peperon and Kanata Hoshi
Like any proper noble lady, one must have certain acquired tastes. For Melphiera Marchalrayd, she just happens to crave a rather exotic protein—monsters! But do not judge! Despite its bad reputation, monster meat can be used in exquisite cuisine and Melphiera is determined to change the kingdom’s opinion of it! Unfortunately, since debuting in society, Melphiera has been struggling to find her perfect match…until she meets the fearless “Blood-Mad Duke” of Galbraith!
Dig into a backlog of diamonds with the Catch Up With: Hidden Gems digital sale.
There’s plenty of amazing manga that are just one deep dive away from becoming your next favorite! Whether it be Land of the Lustrous, a literal world of humanoid gems battling for their lives; Tank Chair, the over-the-top assassin action saga; The Food Diary of Miss Maid, a tasty slice-of-life cullinary jourey; The Heroic Legend of Arslan, the mythic journey of a prince betrayed, or other hidden gems waiting to be unearthed. There’s a new manga series sure to catch your eye, especially when all select volumes are up to 50% off!
Sale ends Monday, March 30, 2026!
You can add these overlooked treasures to your digital collection by purchasing on uat.kodansha.us/ or from any of our participating digital manga vendors:
Check out the full list of discounted titles for the Catch Up With: Hidden Gems digital sale below:
Tank Chair By Manabu Yashiro
Living on Guicheng Island, called “the most dangerous town in the universe,” is no easy task. Genetic doping is common for gangs to gain ultimate power. Shizuka, a young girl, takes on the most dangerous of assassin jobs, but she’s not the one doing the killing. Rather, it’s her brother, Nagi, a strong assassin who took a bullet to protect his sister, leaving him in a comatose state and having to use a wheelchair. However, Shizuka has figured out the key to waking her brother up: he must be faced with murderous intent!
Cool and collected high school student Risa Amakawa has something in her heavy bag for every situation, and the last thing she needs—or knows how to ask for—is anyone’s help. When she saves a beat-up delinquent in the park one rainy evening, she refuses any sort of repayment. But it turns out that saving the notorious Zen Ohira buys her the attention of some unsavory characters. A Kodansha Print Club series!
A little boy named Yuma is obsessed with the impending return of the Arville Comet. Then, one day, he sneaks onto the roof of an apartment building and finds something even more amazing-something not from this world. Now Yuma and his friends, and his hovering autopet Nanako, must work together to uncover a secret that’s slumbered on the Earth for years, as dawn breaks over a new era for him and for humanity.
Yoshiaki Maeda has been falsely accused and detained, along with delinquents from all over the Kanto region, in the juvenile correctional facility, Shouran Institute. Yoshiaki is as typical as a boy can get, so when he finds himself living in this violence-ridden prison, he can’t think of anything worse. His cellmates, Iwakura, Yamanoi, and Yoshioka, are a cunning crew and soon Yoshiaki finds himself pulled into a feud going on in the prison. Then suddenly, a prison van crashes into the facility and what shambles out of the wreckage are flesh-eating zombies…
More Series Revealed to Join Kodansha Print Club This Spring
Hot on the heels of the recent Kodansha Print Club Spring licenses announcement, Kodansha unveils a new wave of exciting series making the jump from digital to print, including one all-new license!
Leading the pack of Kodansha Print Club releases is the hotly anticipated print edition of MF Ghost—the spiritual successor to the high-octane racing saga Initial D by Shuichi Shigeno.
Shifting gears, Kodansha Print Club is also proud to announce the print and digital debut of Secondhand Sisters—a drama-filled saga about grief, old resentments, and hidden passions from Battan, the acclaimed creator of Run Away With Me, Girl.
Fans will also see the following digital-first titles arriving in print this Spring:
Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns 2: A new “husband hunting” quarter-life crisis rom-com from the author of Princess Jellyfish
You Must Be This Tall to Propose!: A romcom about a short boy, his tall crush, and the series of embarrassing misunderstandings keeping the two from confessing
Finally a new volume of a Kodansha Print Club favorite, Teppu, arrives this spring as well with volume 4 coming to print soon.
Kodansha Print Club titles debuting in Spring 2026 will be available to pre-order in the coming weeks via retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Books-A-Million, Kinokuniya, Hudson Booksellers, Powell’s, and the Crunchyroll Store. These titles may even be available at your local bookstore, but if you don’t see these titles, you can ask to special order them. Shipping of Kodansha Print Club titles may vary by retailer and may take longer for international orders.
Kodansha continues to invite fans to be part of this program by not only purchasing Kodansha Print Club titles, but also by letting the publisher know which series they would like to see added to this ever-expanding roster. Suggestions, comments, and requests can be submitted via Kodansha’s Publishing suggestion feedback form.
For details on each new Kodansha Print Club series debuting this Spring, see below:
MF Ghost By Shuichi Shigeno
JP Title: MFゴースト
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Get back into gear with the successor to Initial D!
In a not-so-distant future where most cars have switched over to sustainable power, combustion-engine racing is a rarity, and the MFG is the last major race for this dying breed. On the heels of graduating from a British racing school, half-Japanese Kanata Rivington has returned to Japan to make a name for himself on the infamous circuit…and find his estranged father. As he puts everything on the line, both literally and figuratively, will he have what it takes to become a new racing legend?
Ever since they were girls, charismatic and carefree Ran has had a habit of “borrowing” her sister Jun’s favorite things and making them her own. It always annoyed Jun to lose her toys, clothing, and other belongings, but she just saw it as part of having a younger sibling—until the day Ran claimed her boyfriend, too.
The two haven’t spoken in eight years when they’re reunited at their mother’s funeral. Ran and her husband—Jun’s ex—want to move into the house their mother left behind, but Jun will be damned if she lets Ran take one more thing away from her. With neither side willing to budge, the three find themselves living under the same roof, and it’s not long before old resentments, secrets, and passions threaten to unravel their lives. A Kodansha Print Club series from the acclaimed author of Run Away With Me, Girl.
Rated: 16+
Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns 2 By Akiko Higashimura
JP Title: 東京タラレバ娘 シーズン2
Debut Date: Spring 2026
30-year-old Reina Hirota’s chill life of snacking and binge-watching TV shows gets a wake-up call through a forgotten childhood dream buried in a time capsule. Suddenly, her content solitude seems more like a forever-solo voyage, prompting her to crawl off the couch and start husband hunting—not just to find love, but to help her family find their groove again. Now, if only she knew what she wanted—not just in life, but in a guy, too.
How to Treat a Lady Knight Right By Kengo Matsumoto
JP Title: 今まで一度も女扱いされたことがない女騎士を女扱いする漫画
Debut Date: Spring 2026
For Leo Cornelia, there is no demon she cannot slay, no challenge she cannot handle. Until, that is, the confounding mage Foolie Dent professes his love to her. Though she has long turned away from the world’s expectations of femininity and romance, this annoying-yet-dependable new friend just might shake things up!
Chitose Oki has a huge crush on his next-door neighbor Tomo, but there’s one small problem—his height. Back as kids, when his dream girl said she wouldn’t marry him until he grew up, poor Chitose took that quite literally. These days, it’s not just height—one embarrassing misunderstanding after another keeps them from seeing eye to eye. The truth is, they’re both head over heels for each other, but it’s a tall order to confess your feelings to the one you love.
After her first amateur fight ends in a swift KO, Natsuo is disappointed…not in her dominant performance, but because the win came too easy, a far cry from the brutal challenge that she craves. When she finds out that her rival Yuzuko Mawatari will be entering the rookie selection competition for the big G-Girl tournament at the end of the year, it lights a fire under her. She trains single-mindedly for the chance to pummel Yuzuko’s little face in the ring, but her coach thinks it’s far too soon to be entering a competition of that caliber, full of killer fighters…a prospect that makes Natsuo only more hungry.
Kodansha announces the global release of its third branded film, featuring AKIRA and Attack on Titan
Kodansha Ltd. has so far produced two branded films as part of global expansion efforts. Its third and latest
branded film,
LIGHT HOLE
, is the winner of Kodansha’s global film contest, chosen from over 150 entries from within Japan and overseas.
Combining live action with papercraft stop-motion animation, the film provides a cinematic experience that has never
been seen before.
The film begins with a girl opening a book. When she becomes immersed in the world in the story, a light hole opens
up. That light hole is an entrance to the world of imagination, a portal between the real world and the worlds in
stories.
Live action was combined with papercraft stop-motion animation to create a surreal setting that juxtaposes the real
world with the worlds in stories. It is a world where figments of the imagination become possible, a world where a
girl’s fantasies run free.
The movie world expressed with paper brings together over 100 works by Kodansha, including
AKIRA
,
Attack on Titan
, and
Blue Period
. In addition to our manga, the film captures the essence of a wide range of Kodansha’s genres, from journalism to
fashion, beauty, literature, arts and sciences, and children’s books. Each time you watch it, you’ll notice something
new. Popular manga artists also appear in this exciting film.
Kodansha’s Branded Film series Since Kodansha was first established in 1909, it has emphasized stories that are both interesting and beneficial to readers, a brand purpose that Kodansha expresses as “Inspire Impossible Stories” in English. This reflects Kodansha’s commitment to being a company that continuously inspires new discoveries and creativity in both creators and readers, sparking impossible stories that have never been seen before.
Kodansha began initiatives to express this brand purpose in films in 2021. This is where Kodansha’s branded films come
in, as an exciting endeavor where Kodansha works together with talented creators to bring to life Kodansha’s vision
for the future of publishers.
An editor worked with the creator throughout the production process. Like with books, the editor brainstormed with the
creator to capture the world the creator wanted to bring to the screen. This process was overseen by the Creators’
Lab, our department for creating new businesses. This project exemplified our stance of “The Creative Collaborator,”
where the creator and the publisher work together to create a new story.
In contrast to our previous film, LIGHT HOLE was produced for a domestic audience, placing the characters and worlds of Kodansha’s works, such as AKIRA and Attack on Titan, front and center.
Directed by Toru Katori, the independent creator who was selected from over 150 entries from within Japan and overseas, the film uses a unique combination of live action and papercraft stop-motion animation to capture a reader’s immersion in the world of a story. It is the first film in the series for which applications were accepted from directors around the world. https://youtu.be/iIL_CB_YjFk
Director’s message (from Toru Katori) The concept for this film was the way stories connect the reader and the creator.
In LIGHT HOLE, paper media like books and manuscripts are shown in 3D, creating that world. What begins as a story on a page takes on various new forms that impact reality. I wanted to take Kodansha’s approach to stories, where nothing is impossible and anything can be created, and depict that in a film. I think this work is what it is because of everyone at Creators’ Lab who believed in this project and accompanied me on it, and the ideas of the staff.
Profiles of the production team
Director: Toru Katori Joined THE DIRECTORS GUILD after working for a design studio. His projects include production of live-action works, along with production of illustration-based character designs and animation, stop motion, and puppetry. He works on a wide range of media including commercials, music videos, and short movies.
Animation director: Takuro Oishi Established Lunch Box Studios LLP. in 2013. His work centers on stop-motion animation but spans a wide range of areas including 3D modeling and illustrations. In 2024, he was the animation director for the opening sequence of the TV drama Unmet. https://lunchbox-st.com/
Producer: Satoshi Otake Joined GEEK PICTURES in 2014 and began working as a producer in 2020. Works on planning and production of media, primarily movies and commercials, for purposes such as brand communication. He was involved in the overseas promotion of GACHIAKUTA in 2025.
About KODANSHA Ltd. Based in Tokyo, KODANSHA Ltd. is Japan’s leading publishing house, having delivered stories into ready hands across the globe with a wide variety of content from comic books to novels, fashion magazines, news journals and picture books for children, as well as video games and anime series and movies.
KODANSHA Ltd. was founded in 1909 to “Inspire Impossible Stories”, and is globally recognized as the licensor of some of the world’s most loved comic book IPs, including AKIRA , Attack on Titan and The Ghost in the Shell. https://www.kodansha.com/
Grammy Award-winning artist The Weeknd recommends Assassin Thriller Nezumi’s First Love! Volume 3 Debuts in English
March 2026!
First serialized in the pages of Kodansha’s Young Magazine , and boasting more than 1.5 million volumes sold worldwide, Nezumi’s First Love — the gritty assassin-in-love crime thriller — sees the third volume in English debut March 24, 2026. After a recent visit to Kodansha headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, the globally renowned singer-songwriter, The Weeknd—known for hit songs like “Blinding Lights” — has offered praise for this series. As an avid reader of the series, The Weeknd shared his feelings and endorsement of Nezumi’s First Love:
The Weeknd commented, “A vicious descent into violence and vulnerability,
Nezumi’s First Love
grips the throat and refuses mercy. Through carnage and despair, Riku Oseto clings to a fragile hope—where love cuts
deeper than any blade. Beautiful, brutal, and unflinching, this dark romance is not for the faint of heart and leaves
readers desperate for a happy ending.”
Riku Oseto, the author of
Nezumi’s First Love
, responded, “I was truly astonished, and it’s an honor. I was deeply moved that The Weeknd expressed, through his
beautiful writing, thoughtful sentiments about themes in
Nezumi’s First Love
that I hadn’t even put to words myself. “I will continue drawing this manga until its conclusion and strive to create
something worthy of the praise it has received.
Nezumi’s First Love currently has two volumes released in English, with a third scheduled for March 2026. All English-language volumes are available in both print and digital versions. Print editions can be purchased at physical and online book stores like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and more. While digital editions are available across all our participating vendors, including Bookwalker, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Google Play, Nook, Kobo, MyAnimeList, among others. Fans can also purchase and read all Kodansha digital manga directly on uat.kodansha.us/ .
About Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC A subsidiary of Kodansha, Japan’s largest publisher, Kodansha USA Publishing is the English-language publisher of some of the world’s most recognizable manga properties, including Katsuhiro Otomo’s AKIRA and Naoko Takeuchi’s Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon , along with a robust catalog of English-language Japanese novels, cookbooks, craft guides, historical and cultural literature, and more. Today, thanks to recent fan-favorite and critically acclaimed hits like Attack on Titan , Battle Angel Alita , Witch Hat Atelier , and the popular MONOGATARI novels, Kodansha USA Publishing is one of the best-selling manga publishers in the United States. Kodansha USA Publishing’s print offerings are distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services, and their digital manga and select digital books are available across a number of digital comics, manga, and book vendors. For more information visit uat.kodansha.us/ .
Title Overview: Title: Nezumi’s First Love Author: Riku Oseto Published in English by: Kodansha USA Publishing LLC Synopsis: Nezumi was raised by the yakuza to be a killer. It’s all she’s ever known. Love is something she’s never experienced or even contemplated…until she meets an ordinary, hapless young man named Ao in an arcade during a hit. Suddenly thrust into the simple bliss of shared dinners, video games, and bashful intimacy, Nezumi is happy for the first time in her life.
But her masters were never going to allow the dream to last forever. Now Nezumi has to make a terrible choice to save
Ao’s life—and her own. How far will this killing machine go to assert her humanity…?
Regarding Volume 3 of the Manga Series: Release Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026 List Price: Print $13.95 USD // Digital $8.99 Page count: 192 pages
Highlights: Recommended by Grammy Award-winning artist The Weeknd! This series depicts the brutally cruel and heartbreaking first love between a girl assassin named Nezumi and an ordinary young man named Ao, surpassing 1.5 million copies sold worldwide!
Let the games and savings begin with the Sports Manga Madness digital sale!
Get into the competative spirit with heart-pounding sports and game manga on sale and available digitally!
From the mixed martial arts drama of Teppu (Also in print via Kodansha Print Club), to the bases loaded saga of Ace of the Diamond, or the basketball-fueled romance of Getting Closer To You, and even the finely trained elegance of figure skating in Knight of the Ice. Now’s the chance to get in the game with all these exciting series and more now on sale up to 50% off!
Sale ends Monday, March 16, 2026!
For a limited time stock up on these sports and games-powered series by purchasing on
uat.kodansha.us/
or by visiting any of our participating digital manga vendors:
See what’s on sale during the
Sports Manga Madnessdigital sale
with recommendations and the full list of series on sale below:
Blade Girl By Narumi Shigematsu
An energizing coming-of-age story about a teenager,
Blade Girl
follows Rin as she navigates life with a new prosthetic leg. She meets fellow athletes along the way in this
three-volume manga full of heart, drama, and action! A Kodansha Print Club series.
Chihaya is a girl in the sixth grade, still not old enough to even know the meaning of the word zeal. But one day, she
meets Arata, a transfer student from rural Fukui prefecture. Though docile and quiet, he has an unexpected skill: his
ability to play competitive karuta, a traditional Japanese card game.
High schooler and budding Shooto mixed martial arts fighter, Meguru Takayanagi, reunites with his old friend from
grade school, Takashi Segawa, in the ring for the first time in seven years. However, while the two used to be good
friends, due to the difference in their upbringings, Takashi now sees Meguru as an enemy. Without a moment of joy to
commemorate their reunion, the old friends’ match begins…
For Kaho, a man’s muscles are all that matters. She’s sports-agnostic, type-agnostic—all she cares about are that those abs, pecs, biceps and delts look good. She thinks she’s found her perfect Muscle Prince in Natsume-sempai…that is, until he finds out what a muscle-freak she is. But instead of ridiculing her, he instead suggests she becomes manager of the basketball team—the one he just so happens to be on? For a muscle-lover like Kaho, there’s nothing to lose…and everything to gain. By the author of Four Kisses, in Secret!
Hello comic shop and direct market retailer friends! It’s that time again when we all gather at ComicsPRO annual to
meet and mingle in person to swap ideas and info about how to bring amazing comics, graphic novels and, of course,
MANGA, to fans and readers everywhere.
If you weren’t able to get down all the information we presented during our ComicsPRO presentation on Friday, February
20th, 2026, we at Kodansha have gathered a number of the key points in a digestable format for you to share with your
co-workers and read at our own leisure.
This page sees seasonal updates to help keep retailers informed of upcoming manga releases, anime, and other promotions. So be sure to book mark this page or sign up to Kodansha’s email newsletter here.
Now on to the ComicsPRO Annual udpates!
KODANSHA’S LINE-WIDE COMICSPRO DISCOUNT SALE
Even if you didn’t attend the ComicsPRO Annual Conference you can still take advantage of the Kodansha’s BIGGEST
retailer sale ever by ordering on
PRHComics.com
from now until
February 27, 2026
.
Elligible Titles:
All Kodansha manga published before
January 1, 2026
.
Discount Terms:
Ordering 1 – 9 copies = 3% Discount
Ordering 10-20 copies = 5% Discount
Ordering 21+ copies = 10% Discount
Beginner-friendly Cheat Sheet: Not sure where to start on this line-wide Kodansha sale? We have some recommendations to get you started:
Calculated by net units across comic shops in 2025 below is the list of Kodansha’s Top Five bestsellers from last
year. Kodansha also saw these series fluctuate in rank but ALWAYS remain in our Top 5 bestellers across ALL retail
channels across the last half of 2025. This shows the lasting demand from manga fans for these Kodansha series.
Click on the image to see and download a larger image
When one day of comic giveaways ends another begins to take its place and so we are excited to participate in
Penguin Random House’s Comics Giveaway Day™
happening May 2, 2026! The response for our
Blue Lock Full Color Selection
and
DRAGON CIRCUS
2-in-1 preview has been tremendous and we hope you were able to get your copy before they sold out!
SPOTLIGHT ON CELLS AT WORK!
ComicsPRO Annual attendees were treated to a preview of the first up a series of upcoming all-ages
Cells at Work!
picture books beginning with
Cells at Works! The Great Bacteria Vs. White Blood Cell Battle!.
But If you couldn’t make it to the annual conference we are offering a limited preview below:
More info on: Cells at Work! Picture Book 1: The Great Bacteria Vs. White Blood Cell Battle! By Kumi Makimura Original work by Akane Shimizu
Debuts: Aug 25, 2026 Order ISBN:9798888778401 Rated: All-ages 10+
The mega-hit anime and best-selling manga is now an edutainment picture book series! Red Blood Cell, White Blood Cell
(Neutrophil), and their team guide young readers on an exciting behind the scenes exploration of all the hard work
going on to keep the human body healthy. Adorable characters, diagrams, and simple language help make the scientific
adventure fun.
Other Titles in the series:
Cells at Work! Picture Book 2: The Dastardly Duo of Flu and Food Poisoning!
Cells at Work! Picture Book 3: I’m Not Scared of Shots!
Cells at Work! Picture Book 4: Just a Cold? Just a Bump?
Cells at Work! Picture Book 5: Busy, Busy Gut Bug Buddies!
SPOTLIGHT ON MEDIA TIE-INS
One of the most anticpated anime of the spring season is nearly here! The
Witch Hat Atelier
anime from Studio BUG FILMS (
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
) premieres April 2026 streaming on Crunchyroll.
In celebration Kodansha is releasing a stunning deluxe edition of the Kamome Shirahama’s Eisner and Harvey
Award-winning magical fantasy advenure with the
Witch Hat Atelier: Grimoire Edition
in May 2026.
Witch Hat Atelier: Grimoire Edition
By Kamome Shirahama
Debuts: May 5, 2026 Order ISBN:9798888777794 Age Rating: 10+
This deluxe, keepsake-quality hardcover edition includes three volumes of the acclaimed fantasy manga on which the
enchanting anime was based. Experience the beautiful tale of a young witch who discovers her creativity and faces down
a dangerous and thrilling world with her friends by her side in these extra-large books, printed on premium paper with
intricate gold foil covers and exclusive bonus content. Includes
Witch Hat Atelier
Vols. 1–3.
Since the debut of the latest trailer for
The Ghost in the Shell
anime from Science Saru (
DanDaDan
) fan reaction and interest in the original
The Ghost in the Shell
manga has sky rocketed. And in anticipation Kodansha is debuting a new and updated edition of the original
Ghost in the Shell
series—from creator Shiro Masamune—in one exquisite box set, full of special never-before-released in the U.S. goodies
sure to be a hot ticket item upon debut and for this year’s holiday season!
The Ghost in the Shell Legacy Edition Manga Box Set
By Shirow Masamune
Every page of the defining work of modern cyberpunk returns in an ultimate, uncensored edition that matches the final
Japanese manga, packaged in a box set featuring two brand-new illustrations by creator Shirow Masamune, 11 exclusive
posters, and a set of multicolored Fuchikoma robot stickers.
Also included:
A premium slipcase featuring two brand-new illustrations by original author Shirow Masamune, created specifically for this box.
One new piece and ten posters from the rare, limited-edition 1997Cyberdelics box set, never before released in English, reproduced in new versions featuring a staggering range of special print effects, including etched metallic paper, vinyl stock, and holographic spot gloss. The new, 10-inch-wide posters come rolled (not folded) and packed in a rigid box inside the slipcase for added protection.
A set of multicolored Fuchikoma robot stickers, also fromCyberdelics.
A double-sided poster with Shirow-sensei’s explanation of his artistic process and the poster art, never before translated into English.
Also check out below for the list of anime currently airing and debuting soon in Spring 2026.
Winter 2026 Anime Inspired by Kodansha Manga
(Currently Airing)
Attack on Titan Definitive Edition By Hajime Isayama
Debuts: Jun 16, 2026 Order ISBN:9798888777930 Age Rating: 16+
ATTACK ON TITAN FINALLY GETS THE DELUXE TREATMENT: Fans demanded it, and it’s here—a collectible hardcover edition of the shonen hit, featuring debossed, gold foil–stamped covers on faux leather with library bands.
THREE VOLUMES IN ONE: This volume contains three volumes of the original manga, almost 600 pages of manga, on premium paper at a larger size.
BONUS CONTENT: Bonus material included in this edition will include color art galleries, interviews, sketches and rough layouts, and short stories previously available only in out-of-print box sets.
Special Box Set Call Out
Gachiakuta Dumpster Season 1 Manga Box Set By Kei Urana and Hideyoshi Andou
Debuts: Oct 13, 2026 Order ISBN:9798888778487 Age Rating: 16+
MANGA NOW AVAILABLE IN A COLLECTOR’S BOX SET: Premium slipcase “Dumpster” design contains 10 volumes of the Gachiakuta manga with updated covers, along with an exclusive themed tote bag, perfect for new fans starting their collection or veterans looking for collectibles.
ORGANIZED TO REACH FANS OF THE ANIME: Fans eager to relive their favorite heart-pounding moments of the anime can easily collect the first 10 volumes of the manga, corresponding to the first season of the anime.
STUNNING GRAFFITI ART: See more of the fantastical and stunning graffiti art of Hideyoshi Andou and Kei Urana come to life in this premium box set design.
New and Upcoming Classics for 2026
During the ComicsPRO Annual presenatation we called out some of our latest classics and premium edition reprints that
have been making a splash since their debut in 2025 continuing into 2026.
Officially free from Kodansha the Anime Manga Official YouTube channel is currently streaming all 26 episodes of the Mushishi anime free for a limited time! Catch this and select officially licensed anime inspired by Kodansha-manga.
Upcoming Manga Classics
Kodansha continues to bring manga classics into the present with new editions of heavily saught after series like
MARS 30th Anniversary Edition
, dangerous but heartfelt romance, and
BECK Omnibus
, the indie-rock coming-of-age saga—both series which were massive hits of the 2000s. While also releasing a classic
from the “god of manga” Osamu Tezuka with the
Black Jack Deluxe editions
.
With both BL and Yuri continuing to be growing categories for Kodansha we wanted to share some notable upcoming BL
that runs the gamut from heartwarming and wholesome romance to more serious coming-of-age tales, as well as
light-hearted and comedic entanglements.
Recent surprise hits within the BL genre come from the often spicy, and sometimes cerebreal Omegaverse sub-category of BL! In a recent new license announcement, and to much fanfare online, a new series is set to take the stage this summer blending Omegaverse tropes with the workd of KPOP with, Comeback After Fate . This series joins two stand out hits amonst Kodansha’s Omegaverse offerings with How to Deal When Your Intimidating Neighbor is Actually an Omega , the scary neighbors to spicy lovers sage, and Omega Megaera, the long-con succession-style Omegaverse drama.
Not to be outdone Kodansha is also continuing to invest in Yuri titles like the popular love on the magical
battlefield romance,
I Want to Love You Until Your Dying Day
(which sees an anime begin Summer 2026), and two new series arriving soon with the fantastical enemies to lovers
rom-com
Marrying the Dark Knight for Her Money
, and the wickedly sweet seduction of
Wicket Spot
.
Direct market retailers looking to get the latest info on Kodansha manga need only to sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date on new releases & upcoming new license announcements.
Breaking News: Cells at Work! Lady Joins Kodansha Print Club
UPDATED: Wednesday, February 18, 2026
A late-breaking addition is coming to the Kodansha Print Club!
Cells at Work! Lady
, the female-focused spin-off of the critically acclaimed medical drama
Cells at Work!
, will also debut as part of Kodansha Print Club’s Spring 2026 offerings. Just as with other announced Spring 2026 KPC
titles, pre-orders for the first volume of this series will begin soon at participating retailers.
And an update to the announcement of Omega of the Divine —this series will also be available to purchase and read digitally upon its debut across across all our participating digital vendors, including Bookwalker, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Google Play, Nook, Kobo, MyAnimeList, and more!
Kodansha is proud to reveal eight new series additions coming soon to the Kodansha Print Club—the publishing program
aimed at bringing Kodansha’s digital-first manga favorites to print. And now…
In a Kodansha Print Club first,
Omega of the Divine
—the atmospheric yet sensual god-mortal omega BL romance—makes its premiere in English, via Kodansha’s print-on-demand
program.
Fans will also recognize several current digital-first titles arriving in print this Spring. These series
include:
The World is Dancing, the dynamic Noh-theater-focused historical fiction, which will see an anime adaptation in Summer 2026
Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns, the sequel to the hilarious triple-marriage-pact saga (from the author of Princess Jellyfish)
Killing Line, the deadly and action-packed assassin/target romance
And more!
Kodansha Print Club titles debuting in Spring 2026 will be available to pre-order in the coming weeks via retailers
like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Books-A-Million, Kinokuniya, Hudson Booksellers, Powell’s, and the
Crunchyroll Store. These titles may even be available at your local bookstore, but if you don’t see these titles, you
can ask to special order them. Shipping of Kodansha Print Club titles may vary by retailer and may take longer for
international orders.
Kodansha continues to invite fans to be part of this program by not only purchasing Kodansha Print Club titles, but
also by letting the publisher know which series they would like to see added to this ever-expanding roster.
Suggestions, comments, and requests can be submitted via Kodansha’s
Publishing suggestion feedback form
.
For details on each new Kodansha Print Club series debuting this Spring, see below:
Cells at Work! Lady By Shigemitsu Harada, Akari Otokawa and Akane Shimizu
JP Title:
はたらく細胞ＬＡＤＹ
Debut Date:
Spring 2026
A female-focused
Cells at Work!
spin-off that turns women’s health into an action-packed, edutainment adventure. Follow immune cells and their allies
as they tackle periods, beauty routines, pregnancy, aging, and loss inside one woman’s body. A Kodansha Print Club
series.
Life as a lady can be tough, but life IN a lady is that much tougher. From periods to pregnancies, it can be an
emotional ride…especially when you’re the size of a cell. Thankfully, Macrophage, Killer T, Helper T, and White Blood
Cell are joined by a host of hard-working allies equipped to deal with the daily struggles of lady life in this
female-focused spin-off of
Cells at Work!
In this atmospheric tale between a sullen, winged god and his mortal omega bride, tragedy and tradition find hope in a
life shared. A three-volume BL romance full of feverish sensual encounters—restrained or otherwise…
Once upon a time in a barren land, tradition called for villagers to offer a bride to the sun god… Here enters our
bride: Luca, the gentle son of the late village chief, who is one day struck with fevers, fainting spells, and
something more. The villagers understand this as a sign, and the young man, his fear held within his mortal heart,
understands it as his assignment. He is to be given over to a ravenous god, who, in turn, shall bring bountiful
harvests to his neighbors. The one Luca encounters, however, may be far warmer, far more precious than the legends
foretold, if only fate would steer them from tragedy…
Rated: 18+
Because I, the True Saint, was Banished, that Country is Done For! By Shikiso Utsuzawa, Mokuba Matsu and Pukyunosuke
JP Title:
真の聖女である私は追放されました。だからこの国はもう終わりです
Debut Date:
Spring 2026
Ever since she was a child, Eliane has been the saint and protector of the Kingdom of Belkheim, warding off monsters
and ensuring bountiful harvests with her prayers. But when a pretender saint beguiles the foolish prince—to whom she
is engaged—into believing she is nothing but a fraud, he calls off the marriage and banishes her from the kingdom.
Homeless and penniless but free to chart her own course for the first time in her life, Eliane decides to make for the
neighboring kingdom, where she hopes to blend in as a commoner and lead a quiet life…but a chance encounter on the
road will totally upend her modest plans.
To her high school classmates, Erina Wada is a cool, collected, practical queen, but the second she sees a cat…her
heart melts into a puddle! One day, she sees a kitty being bullied by crows and scoops the furball up to bring it
home. When she gives it a friendly boop, she can’t believe her eyes—what’s this hot guy doing in her house?!
27-year-old Maki Enomoto is done with relationships. One year ago, her terrible boyfriend made her the joint guarantor
on a loan before promptly ghosting her with a mountain of debt. Now she just wants to be left alone to her quiet otaku
life, working her office job to make her ex’s monthly repayments, and devoting what scant little is left to her
hobbies. Namely, her virtual boyfriend Allen-kun, who is hot, kind, and dependable in a way that real-life men
aren’t—least of all the hotshot young VP that keeps getting on her case about deadlines and deliverables. But when
said VP shows up with a rather interesting proposal, Maki must decide if she’s ready to roll the dice one last time…
Yui Mitsuya and Masugu Tateishi aren’t just any coworkers—they totally have the hots for each other. His helpful yet
humble attitude makes her giddy, and her cuteness leaves him grinning like a fool. Problem is, they’re trying to keep
their new relationship under wraps to avoid making things awkward at work. But seeing how they can’t keep their hands
off each other, they run the risk of spilling their little secret with each passing day at the office.
Rinko, Kaori and Koyuki swore they would get married by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics … Now they’re about to step into a new
chapter of romance… but will they, should they, finally get married?
Born into a life of acting and dance with a traveling theater troupe in 14th-century Japan, 12-year-old Oniyasha has
one problem—he doesn’t know what the point of any of it is.
Why must I step with the left foot here instead of the right? Why is one performance good and another bad? Why do
people dance at all?
It all seems perfectly arbitrary, until a chance encounter in a run-down shack sets him down a path to revolutionizing
the art form and influencing much of Japanese culture to come.
A coming-of-age artist’s journey about the founder of Noh theater.
In this thrilling, high-stakes black comedy, a quick-witted teen girl and a movie-buff assassin are locked in a
whirlwind romance.
Struggling to make ends meet, 18-year-old Mako meets with a sugar daddy for a casual dinner. The night quickly turns
deadly when a contract killer enters the mix. Now, she’ll need to think fast and turn on the charm to survive. Can she
melt the heart of a cold-blooded hit man?
You’ve seen them in motion, and now’s the perfect time to see the panels and pages that inspired them with the Manga
Seen on TV sale!
Whether it’s anime-inspiring titles like Tune Into The Midnight Heart, The Darwin Incident, Fire Force and MF Ghost ; or series that’ve made the jump into live-action like The Drops of God and 10 DANCE , this is an amazing opportunity to add these manga to your digital collection. Now you can experience these exciting series with select volume 1s available for just $0.99, and if you are immediately hooked, you can get additional volumes up to 50% off for a limited time!
Sale ends Monday, March 2nd, 2026!
Take advantage of these amazing discounts by purchasing on uat.kodansha.us/ or by visiting any of our participating digital manga vendors:
Read on to see the full list of titles discounted for the
Manga Seen on TV
digital sale, as well as more details on each!
Tune In to the Midnight Heart By Masakuni Igarashi
At the end of a difficult day, the haughty but purehearted rich kid Arisu found his only solace in the voice of
another girl his age, who hosted a livestream under the pseudonym “Apollo.” Then, one day, the broadcasts stopped.
Arisu has dedicated the years since then to finding Apollo’s true identity, and he’s narrowed it down to one
particular high school. He transfers in as a student and figures it’ll be a cinch—but then discovers it could be any
of the girls in the broadcasting club! Can the blunt and blustering Arisu buy his way into the club’s good graces, and
find the real girl attached to his dream voice?
Inori is a little girl who dreams of becoming a figure skater. Yet, the obstacles to this dream feel insurmountable:
Inori’s already “too old” (she’s 11); she’s always had trouble at school; and, worst of all, her older sister’s
skating dreams ended in failure, so her mother is dead set against putting her other daughter through a similar
experience. Tsukasa, a frustrated coach on the edge of giving up competitive skating himself, will join Inori to form
an unstoppable duo powered by hard work, transcendent joy, and an unshakeable belief that they can prove everyone
wrong.
The Animal Liberation Alliance, an eco-terrorist organization, rescues a pregnant chimpanzee from an animal testing
lab-only for it to give birth to a half-human, half-chimpanzee “humanzee” named Charlie! Fifteen years later,
Charlie’s human foster parents are finally ready to send him to a normal high school, where he makes his first friend:
a human girl named Lucy. In the meantime, however, the ALA’s stance has become ever more extreme, and now they’re here
to drag Charlie into their terrorist plot…
A lonely boy wandering the Arctic regions of North America meets a wolf, and the two become fast friends, depending on
each other to survive the harsh environment. But the boy has a history, and the wolf is more than meets the eye as
well… To Your Eternity is a totally unique and moving manga about death, life, reincarnation, and the nature of love.
Yoi Takiguchi has long legs, a deep voice, and a handsome face…in other words, Yoi is such a good-looking guy that
most people don’t notice or care that she is, in fact, a girl. Indeed, she’s had the nickname “Prince” for as long as
she can remember. That is, until she met Ichimura-senpai…the only person who really seemed to see her for herself.
All the romance you need is found in the pages of series like
A Sign of Affection
,
Lovesick Ellie
,
Love, That’s an Understatement
and more, now up to 50% off!
Life’s too short for boring dates and lack of romance, that’s why Kodansha is offering, for a limited time, a slate of
stories sure to get your heart racing in the loveliest way during the
I Love Yaou But I’ve Chosen Mangadigital sale
. Take up to 50% off on some of our recent romantic favorites like
A Condition Called Love
and
How I Met My Soulmate
, as well as classic love story manga like
My Little Monster
, and
Say I Love You.
.
But much like a sweet fling, this sale won’t last, so take advantage of these discounts wherever digital manga is
sold.
Sale Ends Monday, February 16th, 2026
Take advantage of these amazing discounts by purchasing on
uat.kodansha.us/
or by visiting any of our participating digital manga vendors:
Curious to learn more about which series are discounted during the
I Love You But I’ve Chosen Manga digital sale
? Take a look below for recommendations on where to start on this sale!
A Sign of Affection
By suu Morishita
Yuki is a college student who’s into friends and fashion. She’s also deaf. A chance meeting on a train leads to a
serious crush… but can it grow into something more? A sweet and touching manga romance from the creator of
Shortcake Cake
!
From the creator of
Lovesick Ellie
comes a new, high school romcom between a model student and a loyal punk! Available in print through the
Kodansha Print Club
.
Hotaru doesn’t need a boyfriend. But an act of kindness to a classmate going through a breakup opens a door she never
thought to step through, and everything begins to change… A sweet new shojo romance manga from the creator of
Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty
!
Mizutani is a self-absorbed overachiever, concerned only with maintaining the highest grades in school. Haru is an
impulsive short tempered brute, who scares everyone with his explosive bursts of violence. Haru gets suspended on the
first day of school when he encounters some bullies harassing a student and dispatches the bullies with great bloody
violence. Mizutani is tasked with delivering school materials to Haru who interprets this as an act of friendship and
latches on to Mizutani, much to her dismay. And so begins a strange and potentially combustible relationship!
Mei Tachibana has no friends—and she doesn’t need them! Ever since her “friends” betrayed her in elementary school,
she’s sworn off friendship entirely. All it leads to is betrayal and heartbreak, and she’s well enough on her own. But
everything changes when she accidentally roundhouse kicks the most popular boy in school! However, Yamato Kurosawa
isn’t angry in the slightest—in fact, he thinks his ordinary life could use an unusual girl like Mei! He won’t take no
for an answer, and soon Mei and Yamato embark on an unwanted friendship that will change both of them forever.
Dear readers! We present to you a special interview with Nobuhiko Horie, president of COAMIX and the legendary former
editor-in-chief of Shueisha’s
Weekly Shonen JUMP
who, as editor, launched
Hana no Keiji～Beyond the Clouds～
a.k.a.
The Magnificent Bastard: The Legend of Keiji
.
Nobuhiko Horie, president of COAMIX
If you’d like to explore the exciting story of
The Magnificent Bastard: The Legend of Keiji
—the historical action drama from Keiichiro Ryu, Mio Aso and Tetsuo Hara (
Fist of the North Star
) you can read the full first chapter
here
.
Translation by Daniel Joseph.
This interview was conducted in writing and been translated and edited for clarity.
Kodansha:
With the release of
Hana no Keiji
in the US as
The Magnificent Bastard: The Legend of Keiji
, could you please share your thoughts on the series’ history, as well as your expectations for American and
international readers?
Horie:
Understanding the past begins with understanding the social norms of a given era. This work is set in the late 1500s
and early 1600s, so we tried to reflect the mindset of that era as much as possible. The period in question is known
as the era of “gekokujo,” the low overcoming the high, which could even be freely translated as “democracy.” It was an
era when commoners could become kings, and when the Japanese people behaved most freely and authentically, the latter
perhaps best embodied in the dynamism of the warrior class. As a representative example I chose to depict Keiji Maeda,
who was known as a “kabukimono,” a name for those with outlandish tastes and outsized behavior. In any event, I hope
this book will help international readers learn more about Japan.
Kodansha:
When
Hana no Keiji
was serialized in
Weekly Shonen JUMP
, what message or theme did you most want to convey to readers through the story and characters?
Horie:
The theme of the work was centered around “gi,” or righteousness.
Righteousness means living beautifully in relation to yourself. You could also just call it a “cool way of life.”
JUMP
‘s editorial policy at the time was “friendship,” “effort,” and “victory.” These are eternal themes for boys which,
pursued to their fullest, are sublimated into “coolness.”
Kodansha:
When creating
Hana no Keiji
, how did you incorporate the worldview and characters of Keiichiro Ryu (1923-1989), author of
Ichimuan Furyuki
, the novel that inspired the manga? What were the key points and strategies you kept in mind when soliciting the art
from Tetsuo Hara, illustrator of
Fist of the North Star
?
Horie:
The flower (“hana”) of
Hana no Keiji
refers to cherry blossoms. I wanted the title to evoke the idea of falling as beautifully and gallantly as the cherry
blossoms do. The final title was chosen by Ryu-sensei on his hospital bed shortly before he passed away. I presented
several ideas, and he readily agreed to
Hana no Keiji
. But he also said, “I love clouds. Please include clouds somewhere,” so I added the subtitle
Beyond the Clouds
.
In Hara-sensei’s
Fist of the North Star
, the characters rarely smile. I suggested that Keiji Maeda’s breezy smile be the most appealing aspect of this work,
and he endeavored to oblige.
Kodansha:
When it came to character design and the characters’ personalities, what were the points you paid particular attention
to and the creative challenges you faced?
Horie:
One of the basic principles of writing period dramas is that you mustn’t stray too far from historical fact. To that
end, you have to research the customs and sensibilities of the time. For
Keiji
, I began by reading hundreds of history books and ancient documents. The Sengoku period* featured a plethora of
concepts of freedom, many of which are more relevant to the present day than they were to the preceding Edo period*,
so I did my best to reflect that as much as possible.
*Sengoku period = A turbulent era of civil war spanning the late 15th and 16th centuries.
*Edo period = An era of relative peace stretching from the beginning of the 17th century to the mid-1800s, centered
around the new capital of Edo (present day Tokyo).
Kodansha:
With the release in English of
The Magnificent Bastard: The Legend of Keiji
, is there anything else you’d like to say to your American and international readers?
Horie:
This work is packed with what Japanese people consider to be “cool.” I think—I hope—people will be able relate to it,
even if they’re not from the same country.
To participate, follow the instructions on our official giveaway posts where it asks you to like, share and follow us on either of our social media channel below:
