Kodansha is expanding its international presence through a joint venture in India and a large catalog deal with Crunchyroll, while facing public allegations of editorial mistreatment from a major creator and managing several ongoing manga serializations.
Kodansha's recent activities span international expansion, licensing deals, and internal controversy. The publisher announced a joint venture with Dai Nippon Printing to localize and publish manga in India, aiming to release 200 titles per year in English and Hindi starting this autumn. This makes Kodansha the first Japanese publisher to directly enter the Indian market, a move intended to reduce costs and compete with pirated editions. Separately, Kodansha USA partnered with Crunchyroll to add 23 back-catalog manga titles to the Crunchyroll Manga app, including major series like Attack on Titan and Tokyo Revengers, marking the largest single catalog addition since the app's relaunch.
On the creative side, Kodansha's 50th Manga Awards saw Gachiakuta win the Shonen category, with the prize including two million yen, a certificate, and a bronze statue. The Historie TV anime, based on Hitoshi Iwaaki's award-winning manga, is set to premiere in January 2027 with Nobunaga Shimazaki in the lead role and LIDEN FILMS handling animation. Kodansha USA also announced seven new print releases for spring 2026, including Witch Hat Atelier: Special Stories and the classic Phoenix.
However, the publisher faces serious allegations from Akane Shimizu, creator of Cells at Work!, who posted a series of claims on X detailing years of editorial mistreatment during the manga's serialization. Shimizu alleges 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. Several series are also in transition: Hiro Mashima's Dead Rock manga went on hiatus after its Academy Arc and will return with a new Godfall arc this winter, while Akane Torikai's Bad Babies Don't Cry ended its run in Morning magazine. The artist of Even the Student Council Has Its Holes! took a health break in Weekly Shōnen Magazine, with a return scheduled for June 3.
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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.