Hiroya Oku plans to retire after finishing his current manga, Kanrekihime. He also revealed that he wrote Thunder 3 under the pen name Yuki Ikeda, and that series concluded in June 2026.
Hiroya Oku now says he will retire after finishing his current manga, Kanrekihime. In an interview with Courrier Japon, the creator of Gantz, Inuyashiki, and GIGANT cited a lack of energy and stamina for drawing, and described the series as his end-of-life preparation. He still has Inuyashiki and GIGANT behind him. The retirement is stated as his plan after Kanrekihime ends, not with a date.
In September he confirmed on X that he is Yuki Ikeda, the pen name credited as the author of Thunder 3. He said the alias protected the twist in Episode 1, so first-time readers would be surprised. He thanked the anime staff and said he watches every episode. The confirmation turns years of reader suspicion about the shared art style into a stated fact, and it lands while he is telling interviewers he plans to retire.
Thunder 3 ran in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine, concluded in June 2026, and its anime streams on Netflix. The two stories settle the pen-name question and the retirement plan. Neither story gives a date for the retirement or for the next project. The pen name ends the uncertainty about the credits; the retirement plan ends the run. Between them, the two pieces leave Oku's career with a concluded series and a stated end point, not a new start.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every fact links the story it came from.
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Hiroya Oku revealed on X that he is Yuki Ikeda, the pen name credited as the author of Thunder 3. He said the alias protected the twist in Episode 1, so first-time readers would be surprised. Oku thanked the anime staff and said he watches every episode. Thunder 3 ran in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine, concluded in June 2026, and its anime streams on Netflix.
Hiroya Oku, creator of Gantz, Inuyashiki, and GIGANT, said in an interview with Courrier Japon that he plans to retire after finishing his current manga Kanrekihime. He cited a lack of energy and stamina for drawing as the reason, calling the series his end-of-life preparation.