‘I’m Relieved I Could End It Properly’: The Dangers In My Heart Author Reflects On Physical Toll Of Manga’s 8.5-Year Run

Akita Shoten released the 14th and final compiled tankobon volume of Norio Sakurai’s romantic comedy manga The Dangers in My Heart (BokuYaba) on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026.

To mark this release, Animate Times published a commemorative interview written by Mari Sakasai featuring Sakurai alongside her longtime editor Yuko Fukuda.

In the interview, the creator discussed the physical strain of her eight-and-a-half-year serialization and her relief at bringing the story of Kyotaro Ichikawa and Anna Yamada to a close.

“First of all, I am relieved. I think the longer a serialization continues, the harder it can be to find the right way to end it, and there are times when it gradually becomes physically exhausting. My honest feeling is that I am relieved I could end it properly,” Sakurai said.

When asked if the finale matched the concept she had previously planned out, Sakurai confirmed that the ending did not deviate from her original outline and said she was able to bring the story to a gentle “soft landing.”

Sakurai also noted in the interview that when preparations for The Dangers in My Heart began in early 2018, she was still drawing her seven-volume gag manga Rororro!, which ran in Weekly Shonen Champion from 2016 to 2020.

Because of that overlap, she stated that the continuous stretch of work felt even longer than eight and a half years, adding that she decided around the midpoint of the series to end the story at Kyotaro and Anna’s middle school graduation.

“In the early stages of the serialization, I hadn’t thought about it that clearly. I decided on it when the story reached its middle stage and Yamada and Ichikawa began to have feelings for each other,” the author said.

In addition to this, Sakurai revealed how working on the series differed from her earlier career drawing pure gag comedies such as Kodomo Gakkyuu and Mitsudomoe.

Because she had never needed to write emotional dialogue before, she struggled right up to the final chapter to craft inner monologues for Kyotaro’s moments of realization without making the lines sound too poetic or too plain, leading her to carefully adjust grammar and reverse word order to leave an impression on readers.

In the end, Sakurai shared a message for the readers who followed the two main characters over the past eight and a half years.

“Eight and a half years. While there are people who watched over them every time, I am sure there are also people who stopped reading along the way. However, there is still plenty of time to catch up, so I would love for you to read it. Including myself, I am truly happy that so many people watched over the two of them. I also think being able to finish a serialization while being properly celebrated like this is something that is quite rare to achieve. I am very happy to be told ‘congratulations’ in time with the timing of graduation. Being able to end it in an atmosphere of ‘it is sad that it is ending, but it is an occasion to celebrate’ is something I am truly grateful for,” Sakurai said.

With the release of Volume 14, The Dangers in My Heart has surpassed seven million copies in circulation.

To promote the series, Akita Shoten put up a classroom graduation display at Shibuya Station through Nov. 8, 2026, and also released a promotional statement from Sakurai hoping readers remember the work with warmth during their daily lives.

Though the manga has officially come to an end, the anime adaptation of The Dangers in My Heart will be returning with its third season.

The Dangers in My Heart to Return With Season 3 in 2027:

Around the same time the final volume went on sale, the official anime website released a new teaser visual and promotional video confirming that the third season of The Dangers in My Heart anime will premiere in April 2027.

Animated by Shin-Ei Animation, Season 3 sees Seasons 1 and 2 director Hiroaki Akagi take on the role of chief director, while The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie director Dali Chen steps in as series director alongside returning scriptwriter Jukki Hanada, character designer Masato Katsumata, and composer Kensuke Ushio.

Shun Horie and Hina Youmiya will reprise their lead voice roles as Kyotaro Ichikawa and Anna Yamada as the story adapts the manga from around chapter 114 onward.

The anime’s 12-episode first season aired from April to June 2023 and its 13-episode second season aired from January to March 2024, both streaming on HIDIVE, followed by the compilation film The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie, which opened in Japan on Feb. 13, 2026.

The series centers on Kyotaro Ichikawa, a socially withdrawn middle school student with grandiose ‘chuunibyou’ delusions who initially fantasizes about disrupting his classmates’ lives before warming up to his quirky, snack-loving classmate Anna Yamada.

Sakurai launched the manga in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shonen Champion in March 2018 before moving it to Champion Cross in April 2018, with Seven Seas Entertainment publishing it in English.

Source: Animate Times