Manga Mavericks Books Licenses Midnight Robot and Arai-kun & Haruma-senpai
The announcement pairs a long-running robot adventure with a fluffy campus romance, while the publisher also begins restoring color illustrations for The Sword of Paros, signaling a broader restoration effort for older series.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime News Network.
Manga Mavericks Books announced at its Anime NYC panel that it has licensed two manga. Midnight Robot by Yōhei Sajita, a story about a girl with a screw in her head that can summon a giant robot, arrives in May 2027. Arai-kun & Haruma-senpai by Akahachi, a campus romance, hits digital in December 2026 and print in June 2027.
The publisher confirmed the two licenses during its panel at Anime NYC on Friday. Midnight Robot follows Fumiko Daidouji, whose father returns home after an absence and installs a screw in her head, claiming it will protect her from a secret organization. The organization turns out to be real and wants the screw to summon a giant robot. Sajita started self-publishing the manga in 2015, and Hayakawa Publishing has run it on its Hayacomi website since 2024, with the second compiled volume out in September 2025.
Arai-kun & Haruma-senpai is a campus romance about a shy underclassman and a charismatic upperclassman who meet in an elevator. Akahachi published the manga in April 2023.
Manga Mavericks Books is also restoring color illustrations from the original serialization of The Sword of Paros with permission from Fairbell Inc. and Yumiko Igarashi, and has put out an open call for leads on issues of Monthly Asuka magazine from 1986 and 1987.
- Midnight Robot: Release May 2027
- Arai-kun & Haruma-senpai: Digital December 2026, print June 2027
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.