Kodansha is a major Japanese manga publisher actively expanding its digital and international presence, while managing multiple series hiatuses and addressing creator complaints about editorial practices.
Kodansha's recent activity spans new licenses, digital expansion, and international ventures. At San Diego Comic-Con, Kodansha USA announced eight new manga licenses, including The Pool, Subaru and Subaru, and Kraken Mare, all set for spring 2027 release. The company also revealed a spring 2027 box set for The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity. Earlier, at Anime Expo, Kodansha USA announced seven print releases for spring 2026, including Witch Hat Atelier: Special Stories, Fatale Game, and Phoenix.
Digital growth continued with a partnership bringing 23 back-catalog titles to Crunchyroll Manga, including Attack on Titan and Tokyo Revengers, and a joint venture with Dai Nippon Printing to publish manga in India starting this autumn. Kodansha also released the live-action romance game Hamukoi on Steam and Epic Game Store, and streamed all 12 episodes of Drifting Dragons for free on YouTube.
Several series faced hiatuses due to creator health, including Go! Go! Loser Ranger!, Dead Rock, and Even the Student Council Has Its Holes!. The company also issued a public apology to Cells at Work! creator Akane Shimizu after she detailed years of editorial mistreatment. At the 50th Kodansha Manga Awards, Gachiakuta won the Shonen Prize, and Historie is set to premiere its anime in January 2027.
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Soborou's Jukebox manga ended on August 1 with the final part of its final chapter on Kodansha's Magazine Pocket platform. The third compiled volume ships September 16. The series follows odd residents of the Jukebox dormitory, including an angel, a demon, a wizard and apprentice, an amateur manga artist, and a genius Edo-era painter.
Yuri Sonoda's Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi manga resumed with a new chapter on Kodansha's Comic Days website on Friday. Sonoda put the manga on hiatus in January 2025 for health reasons. She said the series will proceed at a slower pace but that she will continue to draw each chapter with care.
Masamichi Sato announced on Kodansha's Comic Days platform that the Quality Assurance in Another World manga will take an extended hiatus while they recover from hospitalization for a hernia. The series will return at a later date to be announced. Kodansha ships the 18th volume in Japanese on Monday, and Kodansha USA releases the 17th volume on August 18.
Anime and manga accounts celebrated International Cat Day on August 8 with cat-themed art and messages. Participants included Cyberpunk 2077, Pragmata, Inherit the Winds, Black Torch, Akira Failing in Love, Kodansha, and Kojima Productions, among others.
Celsys announced the release of footage showing manga being drawn in space for Mission: SPACE COMIC, Kodansha's project to draw manga in space. The demonstration used the Kibo module's robotic arm on the ISS. Celsys provided technical support through CLIP STUDIO PAINT, its illustration and manga creation app.
Digital manga publisher Omoi announced at its Otakon 2026 industry panel on Friday that it will release Shinji Wada's Delinquent Detective: Sukeban Deka in English for the first time. The shojo crime thriller will be available exclusively on the Omoi: Manga Reader app this fall, with chapters accessible through the Omoi Premium subscription. The original manga ran in Hakusensha's Hana to Yume magazine from 1976 to 1982, and has inspired multiple live-action series and films, a 1991 video anime, and a 2006 live-action film. Omoi also revealed plans to add 54 Kodansha titles to its catalog, available for volume purchase, with early volumes from six titles available now, including After the Rain, Dororo, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun. Omoi Premium members receive a 20% discount on all volume purchases. The announcement marks a significant addition to Omoi's library of classic shojo manga, following its earlier license of The Sword of Paros.
Kodansha USA announced eight new manga licenses at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, including Gamon Sakurai's The Pool, Shuuichi Shigeno's Subaru and Subaru, and IZU and Hagane's Kraken Mare. The company also plans a spring 2027 box set for The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity.
Kodansha released 'Hamukoi - Hamster ni Tensei Shita Boku to Sanshimai no Amaama na Hibi' on July 17 for PC via Steam and Epic Game Store. The live-action romance sim places the player as a hamster pampered by three sisters, played by gravure idols. The game faced multiple Steam bans before release, which developers discussed in an interview with Automaton.
Kodansha released the gravure mook 'FRIDAY GOLD 2026 Summer' on July 13, featuring talent and YouTuber Shinonome Umi on the cover and opening pages. The issue includes 30 pages of new photos of Umi, a selection of gravure photos from other talents including voice actress Kanon Shizaki, and a 100-minute making DVD. The mook is priced at 1,300 yen.
Negi Haruba's Go! Go! Loser Ranger! manga is going on hiatus due to the creator's health, according to the 32nd issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine. The series will resume sometime in August. This follows a previous hiatus in February 2026, after which the manga returned and entered its final arc. The series launched in February 2021 and has two television anime seasons.
Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Sirius editor-in-chief Takashi Yamaguchi issued a public apology to Cells at Work! creator Akane Shimizu on July 3, acknowledging failures in medical supervision, working environment, editor conduct, and crediting of derivative works. Shimizu confirmed receiving the apology and said discussions with Kodansha are ongoing.
Kodansha USA Publishing announced during its Anime Expo panel on Thursday seven new print releases for spring 2026, including the prose collection Witch Hat Atelier: Special Stories, the yuri thriller Fatale Game, and the historical fantasy The Chronicles of Leënde. Other titles are The Serenade of Spring Thunder, Myther, and the classic Phoenix, along with Historié.
Akane Shimizu, creator of Cells at Work!, posted a series of allegations on X on July 1 and 2 detailing what she describes as years of editorial mistreatment during the manga's serialization. She claims Kodansha failed to provide promised medical supervision, dismissed her requests for professional assistants, and subjected her to personal criticism that contributed to severe mental health struggles, including suicidal thoughts.
The 30th issue of Kodansha's Morning magazine published the final chapter of Akane Torikai's Bad Babies Don't Cry manga on Thursday. The series, which launched in July 2024, follows four strangers who saved a 10-year-old girl from a train platform and must reunite years later to save her again. The manga entered its final arc on April 30.
Kodansha will begin localizing and publishing manga in India this autumn through a joint venture with Dai Nippon Printing, becoming the first Japanese publisher to directly enter the Indian market. The venture aims to release 200 titles per year in English and Hindi, printed locally to reduce costs and compete with pirated editions.
Kodansha announced on June 5 that all 12 episodes of the TV anime adaptation of Taku Kuwabara's manga Drifting Dragons will be streamed for free on the Full☆Anime TV YouTube channel from June 5 to July 5. The limited-time release coincides with the manga's 10th anniversary and the launch of its 22nd volume.
The television anime adaptation of Hitoshi Iwaaki's historical manga Historie will premiere in January 2027, with Nobunaga Shimazaki voicing the lead role of Eumenes. The announcement came via the July issue of Kodansha's Afternoon magazine on Monday, alongside a second teaser visual and the first promotional video. LIDEN FILMS is handling animation production. The cast also includes Ryota Suzuki as Eumenes' brother Hieronymus, Kazuya Ichijo as his father Hieronymus, Yuko Kaida as Teresila, Wataru Takagi as Charon, Satoshi Tsuruoka as Hecataeus, Anri Katsura as Trax, Tsuguo Mogami as Aristotle, Miki Kariya as Periala, Seiyu Fujiwara as Nicogenes, and Junya Enoki as Tormides. Iwaaki began serializing Historie in Afternoon in 2003 (some sources say 2004), and the manga has 12 compiled volumes as of June 2024, with over 4.7 million copies in circulation. The series previously won the 2010 Ministry of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival Award for manga, the 2012 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and the Best General Manga category at the 49th Kodansha Manga Awards in 2025. Iwaaki noted he first conceived the story over four decades ago.
Hiro Mashima's Dead Rock manga ended its Academy Arc on Thursday and will go on hiatus before returning with a new Godfall arc this winter. Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine published the final chapter of the arc. The seventh compiled volume shipped on Friday.
Muchimaro's Even the Student Council Has Its Holes! manga is taking a break in Weekly Shōnen Magazine due to the artist's health, with a return scheduled for the 27th issue on June 3. The announcement noted Muchimaro's health is improving. The series, which launched in 2022, has 12 compiled volumes and is inspiring a television anime.
Crunchyroll announced a partnership with Kodansha USA to add 23 back-catalog manga titles to its Crunchyroll Manga app on May 18, alongside You Chiba's Dricam!! from Shueisha. The additions include major series like Attack on Titan, Tokyo Revengers, and Your Lie in April, marking a significant expansion of the app's library since its relaunch in October 2025.
Kodansha named the winners of its 50th Manga Awards on May 11, 2026. Gachiakuta, written and drawn by Kei Urana with graffiti art by Hideyoshi Andou, took the Shonen category. The series beat fellow finalists Ichi the Witch, The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, and Utsuranain desu. Urana posted on X that she never expected the honor and would keep working at full speed. The prize includes two million yen, a certificate, and a bronze statue. In the Shojo category, Gin Shirakawa's Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn't Remember Me won. The manga adapts Eiko Mutsuhana's light novel Return from Death, with original illustrations by Yugiri Aika. Shun Umezawa's The Darwin Incident won the General category after being a finalist in two previous years. The series follows Charlie, a half-human half-chimpanzee raised by human parents, who is pulled into an eco-terrorist plot. Judges for the 50th awards included Hiro Mashima, Hikaru Nakamura, and Natsumi Ando.