Hiroya Oku Confirms He Drew Thunder 3 Under Pen Name Yuki Ikeda
The reveal reclassifies Thunder 3 as an Oku work from its 2022 launch, an authorship the pen name was chosen to hide, at a point when the series has already ended and Oku has said he plans to retire after Kanrekihime.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime News Network.
Hiroya Oku confirmed on social media Thursday that he created the Thunder 3 manga under the pen name Yuki Ikeda. He said the pen name kept a first-chapter surprise intact for new readers, one that the Oku name would have lessened. The series launched in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine in May 2022, entered its climax in January 2025, went on hiatus that March over Ikeda's health, returned in February, and ended on June 5.
The Gantz creator said on social media Thursday that he wrote Thunder 3 as Yuki Ikeda to preserve a first-chapter surprise for first-time readers, which the Hiroya Oku name would have lessened. Ikeda launched the series in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine in May 2022. It entered its climax in January 2025 and went on hiatus that March over Ikeda's health, returned in February, and ended on June 5. Kodansha published the 10th volume on August 17; Kodansha USA shipped the eighth on February 10. An anime premiered on Fuji TV's +Ultra block on July 8 and streams on Netflix.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.