The July issue of ASUKA, released May 22, features three new serializations: Akira Nagano's "Yoru no Tobari Shokudo," a mysterious diner love story; Soyogo Iwaki's "Gaiaku dakedo Totte Kuremasu ka?" about a cosplayer going viral; and Kei Kanjō's "Ai ga Iru nara Kimi de Ii," a youth love suspense tale.
Kadokawa Corporation reported a 51.3% drop in operating profit for FY2026, citing oversaturation of the isekai genre, a lack of major anime sequels, and rising costs. The publisher's anime division posted a 465 million yen operating loss, down from a 4,729 million yen profit the previous year.
Kadokawa has acknowledged that an overreliance on isekai and narou-kei formulas contributed to a 51.3% drop in operating profit for the fiscal year ending March 2026. The company plans to reform its genre strategy, including a new steering committee and an early retirement program for employees aged 45 and older.
Kadokawa Corporation has launched the KADOKAWA WORLD MANGA ATELIER (KWMA) initiative, starting April 30, 2026, to help overseas manga creators debut in Japan. The program includes an online portfolio review platform and in-person sessions, with the first OnSITE event at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles from July 2 to July 5.
The television anime adaptation of Shinji Saijyo's cooking manga "Iron Wok Jan!" has revealed five new cast members, a July 5 premiere date, and a main promotional video. The seven-member dance vocal group Genin wa Jibun ni Aru. performs the opening theme song "Hien" (Fire Banquet). New cast additions include Masuo Amada as Nichido Otani, M.A.O as Celene Yang, Takahiro Sakurai as Kei Sawada, Taishi Murata as Tomohide Jun, and Yusuke Kobayashi as Yuji Kawahara. Previously announced lead cast members are Kikunosuke Toya as Jan Akiyama, Ikumi Hasegawa as Kiriko Gobancho, Kohei Amasaki as Takao Okonogi, and Kenjiro Tsuda as narrator. Ei Aoki (Fate/Zero, Aldnoah.Zero) directs the series at studio TROYCA, with Makoto Uezu handling series scripts and Masako Matsumoto designing characters. The anime will air Sundays at 5:30 p.m. JST on TV Tokyo and its affiliates. The original manga ran in Weekly Shonen Champion from 1995 to 2000 across 27 volumes, and the franchise has over 10 million copies in circulation.
Wit Studio released preview images for the eighth episode of Agents of the Four Seasons on Wednesday, two days before the episode airs on Saturday, May 16. The spring 2026 series adapts Kana Akatsuki and Suoh's light novel, which began publication under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint in April 2021. Ken Yamamoto directs the adaptation, with Ayumu Hisao writing the scripts and Namiko Torii designing the characters. Kensuke Ushio composes the music. The story follows Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, who disappeared ten years ago and took the season with her. She returns to restore the cycle and, as the myth demands, sends her love to Winter. The light novel has four volumes released so far and is ongoing. A manga adaptation by Nappa Komatsuda also runs alongside it. Yen Press licenses both the light novel and the manga in English. The anime premiered on March 28, 2026, and the new preview gives the first look at the episode before its weekend broadcast.
Kadokawa created a new subsidiary, Kadokawa Retail Ventures, to manage its growing chain of Manga Spot bookstores in the United States. The publisher has opened ten locations since its first store launched in May 2025, placing them in cities from New York and Chicago to smaller hubs like Grove City, Pennsylvania, and Ketchikan, Alaska. Kurt Hassler, who leads Yen Press and Kadokawa World Entertainment, will run the new retail unit. Hassler previously helped Borders and Waldenbooks build their manga sections. He told a podcast last year that the chain aims to go where there is less competition from existing comic shops and that shopping malls remain a viable location, pointing to the survival of specialty retailer Hot Topic. The move comes two and a half years after Kadokawa began its North American marketing push. The company sees direct retail as a way to get more face time with customers, a problem Hassler said most publishers share.
The anime adaptation Sekiro: No Defeat will open in Japanese cinemas on September 4, 2026, for a limited three-week run. Kadokawa, Crunchyroll, Qzil.la, and ARCH announced the date alongside a new main visual. Crunchyroll confirmed the series will stream exclusively on its platform later in 2026. The production committee also released a statement that no generative AI is used in the adaptation, a response to audience concern after studio Qzil.la was chosen. Qzil.la is known for work involving AI technologies. Kenichi Kutsuna directs, with Takuya Satou writing the screenplay and Takahiro Kishida designing the characters. The voice cast includes Daisuke Namikawa as Wolf, Miyuki Satou as Kuro, and Kenjiro Tsuda as Genichiro Ashina. The story adapts FromSoftware's game, following the shinobi Sekiro and the Divine Heir during the warring Sengoku period as Ashina faces an internal threat.