Skip to content 
Kodansha, the publisher of manga like Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga, has officially announced the serialization lineup for five new manga series following the results of a massive popularity poll conducted exclusively among readers in the U.S.
The voting campaign, which concluded on Nov 10, 2025, allowed overseas fans to determine the editorial direction of a major Japanese magazine for the first time.
The campaign, centered on a special U.S. edition of Young Magazine, which was released to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the magazine’s Japanese debut earlier this year. The magazine included 19 debut series, out of which 16 were eligible to be part of the voting process.
The poll garnered 281,461 votes, a figure that far exceeded the publisher’s initial projections.
Kami Nishio’s LGBTQ themed drama Still You led the rankings, followed by Rin Shimokawa’s horror title Godmother, Ray Kindo’s The Knight of Blasphemy, Daisuke Itabashi’s The Journey of a Dark Elf with Fading Powers and OUGA’s Fasciation.
These works will be serialized simultaneously in Japan via Weekly Young Magazine or Monthly Young Magazine and in the U.S. via the K-MANGA app.
Itabashi’s fantasy series is the first to receive a confirmed release date, with serialization scheduled to begin in the January 2026 issue of Monthly Young Magazine on Dec 20. The plot of the manga follows an elf who loses her magical abilities and begins a new life in the countryside.
Release dates for the remaining winners will be announced later.
While the original plan was to serialize the top five works based on the votes, the overwhelming voter turnout prompted Kodansha to select four additional works for serialization, bringing the total number of picked-up titles to nine. The names of the new titles will be revealed at a later date.
Mr. Shiraki, Editor-in-Chief of the Young Magazine Special Issue, expressed astonishment at the enthusiastic response from the American market. “The entire editorial department was genuinely astonished by the massive response, which far exceeded our initial expectations,” Shiraki stated. He noted that the results highlighted the diverse sensibilities of the U.S. audience.
Shiraki also confirmed that preparations for a second “Yanmaga US” project are already underway, emphasizing the publisher’s belief that “there are no borders in storytelling.”
The special U.S. issue was edited entirely in English from the ground up and featured works specifically curated to depict “unvarnished reality” across sci-fi, horror and cyberpunk genres. The project was designed to find Japanese manga creators capable of appealing directly to an overseas audience.
First published in 1980, Weekly Young Magazine is known for producing gritty, culturally significant hits. The magazine has been the home to Katsuhiro Otomo’s AKIRA, Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell and Shuichi Shigeno’s Initial D.
The 19-title lineup for this U.S. experiment included works from industry veterans like Shuzo Oshimi (The Flowers of Evil) and Masaaki Nakayama (PTSD Radio) though they were ineligible for voting.
Check out the complete list of works from the magazine below:
- BOYS RUN THE RIOT – IN TRANSITION- by Keito Gaku
- Fasciation by OUGA
- Godmother by Rin Shimokawa
- GOUMA The Blade that Slaughters Gods by Hiroki Ishizawa
- Into the Dark by Anri Morikuma
- Is My Love Strange? by Hikari Azuma
- ΚΙΚΙΚΑΙΚΑΙ by Kyuri Yamada
- Pregnant, with story by Denchi Matsumoto and art by Keita Nishijima
- PROJECT METALLIA by Yukito Iwai
- Protocol Ryugu by Daisaku Tsuru
- Still You by Kami Nishio
- The Graveyard Shift by Yoshimi Sato
- The Journey of a Dark Elf with Fading Powers by Daisuke Itabashi
- The Knight of Blasphemy by Ray Kindo
- THE LAST TERRAN, with story by Hiroshi Takashige and art by Tatsumi Hitomoji
- To Dusk and Twilight by Robico
- ME AND BOB DYLAN (AND MY FATHER) by Shuzo Oshimi
- The Silent Forest by Masaaki Nakayama
- Subaru and Subaru by Shuichi Shigeno
Source: Press Release
