Tag Archives: hajime isayama

SDCC 2025: Kodansha Reveals New Premium Editions and Upcoming Series

Announced at Comic-Con International San Diego 2025Kodansha revealed to manga fans in-person and online updates to the Kodansha Print Club program as well as more print manga licenses arriving Spring 2026.

Kodansha kicked off their announcements with a surprise update on the Kodansha Print Club program, where they announced that volumes 2 of Blade Girl, Teppu, and Love, That’s an Understatement will be available for purchase in print starting August 2025.

Then, moving onto the Spring 2026 slate of new print manga licenses, Kodansha unveiled new premium editions of fan-favorite series Witch Hat Atelier and Attack on Titan. Also announced were all-new series, ranging from action-packed apocalypse fighting sagas like DRAGON CIRCUS, to taut thrillers about relationships that are too-good-to-be-true, like Whoever You Are, I Love You, and even a new chapter in the perennial cozy kitten series with Chi’s Sweet France. 

See below for details on the full slate of debuts coming soon in print and digital from Kodansha.

Kodansha Print Club Update:

With many thanks to the patience of fans eagerly waiting for more information on this experimental program, Kodansha is proud to announce that volumes 2 of Blade Girl, Teppu, and Love, That’s an Understatement, will be available to purchase online and through select physical retailers on August 5, 2025. Pre-orders will begin as soon as next week, so check with your favorite retailer or bookstore for availability.

Kodansha Print Club Update

Premium Editions:

Witch Hat Atelier: Grimoire Edition

By Kamome Shirahama
JP Title: とんがり帽子のアトリエ
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 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.

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…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!

The new Grimoire Edition is a gold-foiled hardcover of nearly 600 pages each, including color pages and bonus content and presenting this magical epic in a special large size.

Witch Hat Atelier: Grimoire Edition

Blue Lock Omnibus

Story by Muneyuki Kaneshiro; Art by Yusuke Nomura
JP Title: ブルーロック
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 16+

The manga that became a worldwide sports action phenomenon returns in a new 3-in-1 omnibus edition featuring sculpted embossed covers!

A mad young coach gathers soccer players from across the country to compete in a series of bizarre challenges in a high-tech colosseum he calls Blue Lock. It’s a no-balls-barred battle to become Japan’s next top striker, in this Squid Game–meets–World Cup manga, now a global hit anime with two explosive seasons!

Blue Lock Omnibus

Attack on Titan Definitive Hardcover Collection

By Hajime Isayama
JP Title: 進撃の巨人 特装合本版
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 16+

The global manga hit returns in a massive new deluxe edition, including three volumes in one hardcover book featuring faux leather cover, gold foil stamping, library-style binding, and color pages that aren’t even included in the Japanese edition!

For eons, humans ruled the natural world. But a century ago, everything changed when the Titans appeared. Giant, grotesque parodies of the human form, these monsters consumed all but a few thousand human beings, who 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 the wall. But what began as a childish dream will become an all-too-real nightmare when a Titan finally knocks a hole in the wall, and humanity is once again on the brink of extinction.

Attack on Titan Definitive Hardcover Collection

Action & Adventure:

DRAGON CIRCUS

Story by Eiichi Shimizu, Illustrated by Tomohiro Shimoguchi
JP Title: DRAGON CIRCUS
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 13+

DEATH TO ALL DRAGONS!

The sudden appearance of massive monsters known as “Dragons” throws the world into chaos. The New United Nations, created as a response to the threat, puts together a team known as the Dragonslayers, including (among others) a vampire, an android, a witch, the animated remains of the legendary ogre Shuten Doji, and….a little girl?! Ace pilot Momo may still be in grade school, but she just might have the skills to save humankind.

Taut action, propulsive storytelling, and sly humor take this seinen action series to new heights and unexpected places!

On the fateful day the dragons first appeared, Dr. Abe’s beloved died in the initial onslaught. Now he has created an android in his own image: the DS-08 “Shikigami,” part of the NUN (New United Nations)’s top secret project to counter this monstrous invasion. In addition to the Shikigami, this team of “Dragonslayers” is comprised of members of the many races that have up till now lived in obscurity: elves, dwarves, witches, vampires, and more… As the team assembles to fight off the massive and mysterious creatures that now menace humanity, however, one member stands apart from the rest: Momo Agatsuma, the young daughter of an NUN scientist and ace pilot par excellence. Together this motley crew must fend off the greatest threat the world has ever faced…!

DRAGON CIRCUS

Stella Must Die

Story by Yasunori Mitsunaga; Art by Ine Ohtaka 
JP Title: 絶対死なないステラ姫
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 16+

From the acclaimed creator of Princess Resurrection and Time Stop Hero comes the darkly comical tale of a princess with a most curious self-defense mechanism… Parasyte meets Cinderella in this zany fantasy manga about a princess who just won’t seem to die!

After losing her father, the king of Hillvalley, Princess Stella is thrown into the middle of a succession crisis. Her stepsister Illusia wastes no time in trying to assassinate Stella and seize the throne, but all her attempts mysteriously go awry. Little does anyone know that the young princess has a hidden protector…in the most unlikely of places!

Stella Must Die

Magical Karina

By Coyuri Tono
JP Title: まじかるカリナ
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 13+

We all know transforming into a magical girl can help destroy the forces of evil. But can it help a high schooler who’s just lost the person who raised her through the stages of grief? A poignant and funny action manga that applies the trappings of Sailor Moon to the universal experience of elder care and decline; death without closure; and finding a will to carry on.

Just this morning, Karina was sitting at the breakfast table, cleaning up the miso soup her grandmother dropped on the floor. Now, she’s being called out to class to go to the hospital and see her grandma’s body…with a piece of seaweed still stuck to her uniform. She still finds time to make it to her hourly job at a family restaurant, but on the way home, she sees a glittering, elephant-like creature floating in the sky… And a teenage boy appears to push her out of the way of its attack! Death is stalking Karina’s town in a form that only she can see, and this boy gives her two choices: Die or transform and fight! She can scarcely follow what he’s saying, but her clothes do change, and the staff she finds herself holding has enough heft to do some serious damage… But is there space in Karina’s life for getting revenge for her grandma and fighting magical monsters when she’s already stretched to her limit?

Magical Karina

Crime & Drama:

Whoever You Are, I Love You

By Keiku Hagiwara
JP Title: きみが誰でも愛してる
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 16+

Evil lurks beneath the most beautiful surfaces…

Temp worker Yuki Sato is ready to settle down with the perfect man she met on a dating app—until she discovers her fiancé may not be who he seems. When the beguiling Shun Majima confronts her with the details of the mysterious death of his brother Kosuke, Yuki finds herself torn between the man she thinks she loves and the handsome stranger whose revelations threaten to upend her life completely.

A world of digital deceit gives way to very real danger in this tense romantic crime thriller.

Despite being unmarried at 32, Yuki Sato is happy—she enjoys temping as a greeter, and more importantly, she’s engaged to a handsome, successful man she met on a dating app…until Shun Majima walks into her life and blows it up. 

Does her fiancé seem too good to be true because he is? And was he really involved in the death of Shun’s brother? As Yuki’s life slowly starts to unravel, she finds herself drawn into the seedy underbelly of Tokyo, caught in a web of lies and manipulation. She and Shun join forces to uncover the truth, but will they be able to do so before it’s too late…?

Whoever You Are, I Love You

That’s Not Love

By Peko Watanabe
JP Title: 恋じゃねえから
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 18+

Two female friends from middle school reunite as adults in this hard-hitting and personal drama manga. What begins as idle reminiscing leads to painful revelations as they heal the reopened wounds of their past in this highly-anticipated first print release from the creator of 1122: For a Happy Marriage.

Drawing on real events and the Japanese #MeToo movement and Watanabe’s own reflections on friendship and womanhood, That’s Not Love won a place on the industry insider poll Kono Manga ga Sugoi! as one of the best manga of the year.

Forty-year-old Akane attends the opening of a new art exhibit by her former cram school teacher, Mr. Imai, who has now become a sculptor. Akane notices that Mr. Imai’s new sculpture bears a striking resemblance to her middle school best friend, Yukari, who she remembers suddenly transferred out of the school. It even has a distinct scar that Yukari shared with Akane privately. Wondering what this could mean, Akane reaches out to her old friend, and learns that there was something else going on when they were children that she only partly understood. Was Yukari just a muse? Or something with more upsetting implications?

That's Not Love

Lonely Deaths Lie Thick as Snow

Story by Hajime Inoryu, Illustrated by Shota Ito
JP Title: 降り積もれ孤独な死よ
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 16+

The shocking, gritty new seinen crime thriller from the team behind bestselling manga My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought. A unique blend of cinematic art and realistic storytelling undergirds the terrifying mysteries and wild reversals of this dark police procedural, which will appeal to older readers of crime novels and graphic fiction far beyond the usual manga audience.

A routine call regarding a burglary at an empty mansion leads cocky young police detective Jin Saeki to a gruesome and shocking discovery. The corpses of 13 children, along with the presence of a strange symbol, spur a manhunt for Juzo Haikawa, the mysterious absentee owner of the house. So begins an investigation (and an obsession) that will take Jin all over Japan and into the darkest recesses of both the past and the human soul.

Lonely Deaths Lie Thick as Snow

Cozy & Comforting:

Cat-Life Balance

By Akari Otokawa
JP Title: 黒根さんはニャーと鳴かない
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 16+

In this office romance manga with a feline twist, a people-pleaser teetering on the edge of burnout discovers his antisocial coworker’s secret: She only smiles when she’s playing with stray cats! Now he’s got a choice: Keep up the façade and keep saying “yes” to every extra task and happy hour, or risk his perfect work image to sneak off for some simple, frisky fun?

Fans of Sweat & Soap and Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You will love this new series from the creator of Cells at Work! Lady.

Everyone at work loves Mamoru, because Mamoru never says no. Replacing lightbulbs, carrying boxes, taking over an impossible client from a retiring colleague… He’ll do it all, and it’s earned him the nickname “Prince of the Office.” This glittering extrovert’s opposite at work is Kurone, a quiet woman in another department who soaks up her boss’s senseless mood swings with a blank stoicism. After one particularly long day, Mamoru is thrilled to be walking home alone, sipping a beer (because all his colleagues went drinking and left him to work overtime), when he encounters something strange: The usually glum Kurone is in the park, gleefully playing with stray cats. This secret seems silly, but it brings Kurone joy. It’s the start of an unlikely relationship that will lead Mamoru to start reflecting on his life and who he really wants to share it with. Is work really all there is, or can he strike a balance with the help of these fluffy new friends–and a human who might become something more?

Cat-Life Balance

Hitting Rewind With You

By Hanamaru Kira
Debut Date: Spring 2026
Rated: 13+

Two college students desperate to live out the high school glory days they never had fall for each other in this silly and sweet romcom manga! This fun and escapist (non-)age gap romance is brimming with youthful nostalgia and perfect for fans of My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv 999 and In the Clear Moonlit Dusk.

Wakaba Kayano is a 20-year-old college student who was too busy studying in high school to experience the quintessential personal milestones of her teenage years, like going on an afterschool date. In a moment of desperation, she goes out on Halloween in her old high school uniform in an effort to take back some of those heart-fluttering experiences she never had, and in doing encounters Fumito, a boy clad in the quintessential high school boy uniform. Whisked away on the date of her dreams, she panics when forced to reveal her true age–only to find out that Fumito is in college, too!

Hitting Rewind With You

Anime NYC 2024: Kodansha Reveals New Print and Digital Licenses

Announced at Anime NYC 2024, Kodansha has expanded its upcoming print lineup with a collection of brand-new series, fresh editions, and box sets arriving in Summer 2025.

Kodansha also announced the digital debut of Manchuria Opium Squad, a gritty historical crime drama that will launch this September.

SUMMER 2025 NEW PRINT LICENSES:

Last Samurai Standing

By TATSUZ
Rated: 16+

In a rapidly changing world, a sinister game of life-or-death brutally culls Japan’s fading warrior class. Who is rounding up the few who still cling to their swords and is forcing them to fight? And who will be the last samurai standing?

It is the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and more than a decade since the samurai were stripped of their privileges, with swords outlawed on public streets. A mysterious poster appears in all corners of the land, luring those skilled in martial arts to Kyoto with the promise of riches beyond common imagination. As warriors deprived of purpose flock to the appointed place at the appointed time, what awaits them is no ordinary task, but an all-out war—against each other!

Last Samurai Standing

You’re All Mine Tonight

By Takiba
Rated: 18+

A steamy new BL one-shot about a businessman longing to reunite with his past lover—who wants nothing more than to put his own troubled past behind him.

Kanzaki is your typical businessman: He’s stoic, dependable, and respected by all of his subordinates. But he has a secret he can’t tell anyone: Five years ago, he became involved with a male sex worker named Nagi. The more nights they spent together, the more lust gave way to love, and Kanzaki hasn’t been able to get Nagi off his mind since. After being sent to work abroad, Kanzaki returns to Japan and meets one of his new subordinates—a young man named Futagami, who looks exactly like Nagi. As the part of Kanzaki’s past that was once frozen in time begins to thaw, can the two men find their way back toward each other, or will the passionate nights they spent together remain a thing of the past?

You're All Mine Tonight

Light of My Life

By Takiba
Rated: 18+

Aki and Minagi were inseparable in high school, until an incident pulled their friendship apart at the seams. Years later, both men have given up on their high school dreams, and on each other. But when Minagi shows up one night on Aki’s doorstep, is it just the push the two men need in order to address their past and repair their future?

Back in high school, best friends Aki and Minagi were inseparable. Aki dreamed of becoming a professional football player, while Minagi was seen as a “genius” who was eager to chase his dream of working in medicine. Years later, Aki has taken over his grandfather’s hair salon, and Minagi set his interest in medicine aside to work in a host club. Despite the growing tension between them following their high school fallout, Minagi shows up at Aki’s apartment one day asking for a place to stay. Can the two men confront their past in order to repair their future?

Light of My Life

Attack on Titan FLY

By Hajime Isayama
Rated: 16+

That was not the end! This super-premium collector’s set includes a colossal-sized art book with color illustrations and a new interview with creator Hajime Isayama, replicas of Eren’s key and Mikasa’s scarf, and, for the first time, the exclusive manga booklet Vol. 35.

The ultimate addition to every collection, Attack on Titan: FLY—previously only available in Japan in limited quantities—is coming to the world in English! This huge box set includes the final Attack on Titan art book, featuring every AoT color illustration known to man (or Titan!) and an exclusive new interview with Hajime Isayama, housed in a beautiful slipcase, alongside bonuses true Titan fans are going to love, like a full-sized replica set of the manuscript pages of the last chapter of Attack on Titan; the padlock and key housing the secrets behind the basement of Eren’s family home; the scarf Eren gave to Mikasa; and, most exciting of all the exclusive manga “Volume 35”—a new chapter of manga focused on fan-favorite Levi, plus the rough layouts of the final chapter, all presented for the first time in English!

Attack on Titan FLY

SPECIAL COVER REVEALS:

Musashi (New Edition)

By Eiji Yoshikawa, Translated by Charles Terry
Rated: 16+

Eiji Yoshikawa’s classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. New Edition features a new original cover design by a renowned creator, Takehiko Inoue (Slam Dunk, Vagabond)!

Miyamoto Musashi was the child of an era when Japan was emerging from decades of civil strife. Lured to the great Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 by the hope of becoming a samurai–without really knowing what it meant–he regains consciousness after the battle to find himself lying defeated, dazed and wounded among thousands of the dead and dying. On his way home, he commits a rash act, becomes a fugitive and brings life in his own village to a standstill—until he is captured by a weaponless Zen monk.

Musashi (New Edition)

Twilight Out of Focus Box Set

By Jyanome
Rated: 18+

This collector’s box set contains volumes 1-4 of the Twilight Out of Focus series and includes a special booklet with U.S.-edition-exclusive art, a never-before translated short story, and all-new full-color illustrations!

Second-years Mao Tsuchiya and Hisashi Otomo make three promises: 1) That Mao will never tell anyone that Hisashi is gay and has a boyfriend, 2) That Hisashi will never think of Mao “in that way,” and 3) That they’ll always knock before entering, in case someone is having some “private time.” The two’s ground rules should ensure a peaceful life together in their dorm, but life is never as simple as it should be, and some things are not so easily promised…

Twilight Out of Focus Box Set

SEPTEMBER 2024 NEW DIGITAL LICENSE:

Manchuria Opium Squad

By Tsukasa Monma and Shikako
Debut Date: September 10, 2024
Rated: 18+

In the corrupt, conflict-ridden Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, the illegal opium trade is a perilous path to quick riches-or a swift death. Desperate to save his doomed family, the young Isamu Higata seizes a dangerous opportunity, using his botanical expertise to make mind-blowing opium in hopes of cashing in. But when sinister gangs and the oppressive state catch wind of his operation, Isamu is thrust deeper and deeper into a treacherous world of deceit and depravity to protect himself and those he loves.

This series is a work of fiction and contains graphic depictions of intense violence, drug abuse, and other shocking imagery. The story and its contents are not recommended for young or sensitive readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Manchuria Opium Squad

Attack on Titan x Humble Bundle to Benefit the ACLU and World Land Trust

Kodansha Comics is teaming up with Humble Bundle for the “Humble Manga Bundle: Attack on Titan Universe” bundle.

The offering amounts to over $500 worth of digital manga, or 44 complete volumes of Hajime Isayama’s monster hit manga Attack on Titan. The actual cost of the bundle is based on Humble Bundle’s unique pay-what-you-want charitable model.

The manga comes in multiple formats including CBZ, PDF, and ePub, so they can be read on computer, e-readers, iPads, cell phones, and a wide array of mobile devices. Bundle buyers choose where their money goes—among Kodansha Comics, two charities, and, if they like, a third charity of their choice via the PayPal Giving Fund. If they like what Humble Bundle does, they can leave a Humble Tip too.

The bundle benefits the ACLU and World Land Trust.

This special bundle ends WEDNESDAY, January 31, 10:59 A.M. PACIFIC TIME.

Here’s what bundle buyers get with each tier:

Pay $1 or more 
Attack on Titan volumes 1-5

Pay $8 or more 
All of the above + Attack on Titan volumes 6-15 and the spinoff series:
Attack on Titan: Lost Girls volumes 1-2
Attack on Titan: No Regrets volumes 1-2

Pay $15 or more 
All of the above + Attack on Titan volumes 16-20 and the spinoff series:
Attack on Titan: Before the Fall volumes 1-11
Attack on Titan: Junior High volumes 1-4

Pay $18 or more 
All of the above + Attack on Titan volumes 21-22 and the spinoff series:
Spoof on Titan volumes 1-2
Attack on Titan Guidebook: Inside & Outside
+
The Humble Bundle exclusive never-before-released 
Attack on Titan Exclusive Artbook 
including rarely seen illustrations by Hajime Isayama and a global lineup of comics greats inspired by Attack on Titan