Shihei Lin

Shihei Lin is a veteran manga editor and the representative of Mix Green Inc. In August, at Anime NYC, The Japan Foundation hosted him for a panel on his partnerships with the creators behind DAN DA DAN, SPY x FAMILY, and Chainsaw Man. The panel covered a six-year development process for DAN DA DAN and nearly two decades of work with the SPY x FAMILY author before that series began serialization. The description of Lin as current CEO of Mix Green and former Editor-in-Chief of Shonen Jump Plus set the terms for what came next.

On September 30, Shueisha announced that its outsourcing contract with Lin and Mix Green ended as of July 31. The arrangement covered editorial operations for titles on the Shonen Jump+ app. The three works named in the coverage, Chainsaw Man, SPY x FAMILY, and Dandadan, are among the platform's best known. According to the announcement, the works Lin oversaw will continue serialization on Shonen Jump+ under a new structure. Shueisha did not name a replacement editor and did not give a reason for the end of the contract. The announcement addresses the outsourcing arrangement only, not the status of any individual series, and no date was given for when the new editorial structure takes effect beyond the July 31 end.

Across the two stories, the picture is of an editor whose public account of his own method arrived weeks before the arrangement that supported it was confirmed to be over. What is settled is that Lin and Mix Green no longer hold the Shonen Jump+ editorial operations contract and that the serializations continue. What is not settled, on the record given, is who runs that work next.