Friday, July 24, 2026

One of Shonen Jump's biggest action series is calling its shot. Weekly Shonen Jump's 34th issue confirmed that Yuuto Suzuki's Sakamoto Days, the comedy-action hit about a retired legendary hitman who now runs a corner store, has entered its climax starting in issue 35 on July 26, 2026. "Climax" is Jump shorthand for "the ending is close," and with a hit anime already running, the manga bowing out would clear a marquee slot in the magazine's rotation (via Anime News Network Manga).

A familiar name is starting over. Kensuke Nishida, creator of the cult ultraviolent thriller Jagaan, is launching a new series called Yusha Yukio in Shueisha's Ultra Jump, debuting August 19, 2026. Ultra Jump is the monthly seinen title (older-teen and adult readers) that also houses JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, so it is a comfortable landing spot for a creator known for edge (via Anime News Network Manga).

One of Jump's hottest young swords is still sheathed. Takeru Hokazono's Kagurabachi, the revenge tale about a boy and an enchanted blade that became a breakout meme-turned-genuine-hit, has been on hiatus since late June while Hokazono rests to keep a steady pace. The break arrives just as a TV anime looms in 2027, so the magazine is holding a spot for its return (via Anime News Network Manga).

Seven Seas came home from Anime Expo with a full cart. The publisher announced 15 new English licenses spanning fantasy, romance, horror, and its boys-love label, including a hardcover Classic Manga Collection of Ultraman by Kazuo Umezz, the late horror master better known for The Drifting Classroom. Isekai fans get The Journey of a Dark Elf with Fading Powers, with its first volume slated for March 2027 (via Seven Seas Entertainment).

Yen Press used the same convention to stock its shelves. The publisher's Anime Expo 2026 wrap-up laid out a batch of fresh acquisitions across manga, light novels, and boys-love, the kind of slate that turns into next year's release calendar. Yen Press is one of the largest English manga houses, so its Expo haul is a decent tell for what a lot of North American readers will be buying in 2027 (via Yen Press).

Jujutsu Kaisen still owns the American manga chart, long after its story ended. On the June 2026 Circana BookScan list, the curse-fighting shonen series took the number one adult graphic novel spot, with Viz Media placing 15 titles in the top 20 and 11 of those being Jujutsu Kaisen volumes. That is a backlist doing the work of a new release, powered by an anime that keeps minting new readers (via Anime News Network Manga).

The fuller picture confirms how top-heavy the U.S. market has become. ICv2's breakdown of the June BookScan top 20, covering roughly 85 percent of the country's trade print sales, shows Viz dominating the manga rankings with a wall of Jujutsu Kaisen alongside its other franchises, leaving little oxygen for smaller publishers on the print bestseller list (via ICv2 Manga).

A time-loop favorite is jumping off the page and onto the big screen. The official account for Yasuki Tanaka's Summer Time Rendering, the supernatural thriller about a young man reliving the same deadly days on his home island, announced a live-action film for 2027, directed by Ken Ninomiya. The manga already earned a well-liked anime, so this is a franchise being pushed into a third format rather than a one-off experiment (via Anime News Network Manga).

A shojo staple is getting another live-action turn. Kodansha announced that Makino's Defying Kurosaki-kun, the high-school romance about a timid girl and the bad boy who rattles her, will spin into a new live-action series on Fuji TV's on-demand platform. Shojo romances (manga aimed at teen girls) are reliable live-action fodder in Japan, and this one already has a built-in audience (via Anime News Network Manga).

Boys-love keeps proving it can carry prime real estate. Mitsubashi Miyuki's It's Strictly Business, a workplace BL romance, is heading to a live-action TV series. The steady march of BL titles into mainstream Japanese television is one of the quieter shifts in adaptation programming, and another data point landed this month (via Anime News Network Manga).

What actually makes a hit manga? At Anime Expo 2026, Noboru Segawa, director and editor-in-chief of Kadokawa's Global Comics Department, sat down to explain the editorial math behind a breakout, and put character above everything: "Prioritize compelling character creation above all else," he said, ahead of plot or premise. It is a rare on-record look from the editor's side of the desk, where a lot of a series' fate is quietly decided before readers ever see chapter one (via Anime News Network Manga).

Comics' biggest night lands tonight, and manga has skin in the game. The 2026 Eisner Awards are handed out July 24 at San Diego Comic-Con, and the Best U.S. Edition of International Material, Asia category pits three manga against each other: Keigo Shinzo's gentle slice-of-life Hirayasumi and his sci-fi Tokyo Alien Bros., plus Kazumi Yamashita's Land. Across the ballot, manga picked up nine nominations in six categories, and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama is up for the Hall of Fame (via Anime News Network Manga). The full slate of nominees, including the tight Asia race, is worth a look before the envelopes open (via ICv2 Manga).