Kodansha USA Licenses Stella Must Die, DRAGON CIRCUS, Magical Karina, More Manga for Spring 2026
Kodansha USA Publishing announced during its San Diego Comic-Con panel on Thursday new releases for spring 2026. Kodansha USA also revealed that the second volume of the Blade Girl, Teppu, and Love, That's an Understatement manga titles from its Kodansha Print Club — a new publishing program bringing digital-first manga titles to print — will be available for purchase in August.Title: Witch Hat Atelier: Grimoire Edition Author: Kamome Shirahama Summary: This deluxe, keepsake-quality hardcover edition includes three volumes of the acclaimed fantasy manga on which the enchanting anime was based. Experience the beautiful tale of a young witch who discovers her creativity and faces down a dangerous and thrilling world with her friends by her side in these extra-large books, printed on premium paper with intricate gold foil covers and exclusive bonus content.Includes Witch Hat Atelier Vols. 1–3.In a world where everyone takes wonders like magic spells and dragons for granted, Coco is a girl with a simple dream: She wants to be a witch. But everybody knows magicians are born, not made, and Coco was not born with a gift for magic. Resigned to her un-magical life, Coco is about to give up on her dream...until the day she meets Qifrey, a mysterious, traveling magician. After secretly seeing Qifrey perform magic in a way she's never seen before, Coco soon learns what everybody "knows" might not be the truth, and discovers that her magical dream may not be as far away as it may seem!The new Grimoire Edition is a gold-foiled hardcover of nearly 600 pages each, including color pages and bonus content and presenting this magical epic in a special large size.Title: Blue Lock Omnibus Authors: Muneyuki Kaneshiro (story), Yūsuke Nomura (art) Summary: The manga that became a worldwide sports action phenomenon returns in a new 3-in-1 omnibus edition featuring sculpted embossed covers!A mad young coach gathers soccer players from across the country to compete in a series of bizarre challenges in a high-tech colosseum he calls Blue Lock. It's a no-balls-barred battle to become Japan's next top striker, in this Squid Game–meets–World Cup manga, now a global hit anime with two explosive seasons!Title: Attack on Titan Definitive Hardcover Collection Author: Hajime Isayama Summary: The global manga hit returns in a massive new deluxe edition, including three volumes in one hardcover book featuring faux leather binding, gold foil stamping, library-style binding, and color pages that aren't even included in the Japanese edition!For eons, humans ruled the natural world. But a century ago, everything changed when the Titans appeared. Giant, grotesque parodies of the human form, these monsters consumed all but a few thousand human beings, who took refuge behind giant walls. Today, the threat of the Titans is a distant memory, and a boy named Eren yearns to explore the world beyond the wall. But what began as a childish dream will become an all-too-real nightmare when a Titan finally knocks a hole in the wall, and humanity is once again on the brink of extinction.Title: DRAGON CIRCUS Authors: Eiichi Shimizu (story), Tomohiro Shimoguchi (art) Summary: On the fateful day the dragons first appeared, Dr. Abe's beloved died in the initial onslaught. Now he has created an android in his own image: the DS-08 "Shikigami," part of the NUN (New United Nations)'s top secret project to counter this monstrous invasion. In addition to the Shikigami, this team of "Dragonslayers" is comprised of members of the many races that have up till now lived in obscurity: elves, dwarves, witches, vampires, and more... As the team assembles to fight off the massive and mysterious creatures that now menace humanity, however, one member stands apart from the rest: Momo Agatsuma, the young daughter of an NUN scientist and ace pilot par excellence. Together this motley crew must fend off the greatest threat the world has ever faced...!Title: Stella Must Die Authors: Yasunori Mitsunaga (story), Ine Ohtaka (art) Summary: After losing her father, the king of Hillvalley, Princess Stella is thrown into the middle of a succession crisis. Her stepsister Illusia wastes no time in trying to assassinate Stella and seize the throne, but all her attempts mysteriously go awry. Little does anyone know that the young princess has a hidden protector…in the most unlikely of places!Title: Magical Karina Author: Coyuri Tōno Summary: Just this morning, Karina was sitting at the breakfast table, cleaning up the miso soup her grandmother dropped on the floor. Now, she's being called out to class to go to the hospital and see her grandma's body...with a piece of seaweed still stuck to her uniform. She still finds time to make it to her hourly job at a family restaurant, but on the way home, she sees a glittering, elephant-like creature floating in the sky... And a teenage boy appears to push her out of the way of its attack! Death is stalking Karina's town in a form that only she can see, and this boy gives her two choices: Die or transform and fight! She can scarcely follow what he's saying, but her clothes do change, and the staff she finds herself holding has enough heft to do some serious damage... But is there space in Karina's life for getting revenge for her grandma and fighting magical monsters when she's already stretched to her limit?Title: Whoever You Are, I Love You Author: Keiku Hagiwara Summary: Despite being unmarried at 32, Yuki Sato is happy—she enjoys temping as a greeter, and more importantly, she's engaged to a handsome, successful man she met on a dating app...until Shun Majima walks into her life and blows it up. Does her fiancé seem too good to be true because he is? And was he really involved in the death of Shun's brother? As Yuki's life slowly starts to unravel, she finds herself drawn into the seedy underbelly of Tokyo, caught in a web of lies and manipulation. She and Shun join forces to uncover the truth, but will they be able to do so before it's too late...?Title: That's Not Love Author: Peko Watanabe Summary: Forty-year-old Akane attends the opening of a new art exhibit by her former cram school teacher, Mr. Imai, who has now become a sculptor. Akane notices that Mr. Imai's new sculpture bears a striking resemblance to her middle school best friend, Yukari, who she remembers suddenly transferred out of the school. It even has a distinct scar that Yukari shared with Akane privately. Wondering what this could mean, Akane reaches out to her old friend, and learns that there was something else going on when they were children that she only partly understood. Was Yukari just a muse? Or something with more upsetting implications?Title: Lonely Deaths Lie Thick as Snow Authors: Hajime Inoryū (story), Shōta Itō (art) Summary: A routine call regarding a burglary at an empty mansion leads cocky young police detective Jin Saeki to a gruesome and shocking discovery. The corpses of 13 children, along with the presence of a strange symbol, spur a manhunt for Juzo Haikawa, the mysterious absentee owner of the house. So begins an investigation (and an obsession) that will take Jin all over Japan and into the darkest recesses of both the past and the human soul.Title: Cat-Life Balance Author: Akari Otokawa Summary: Everyone at work loves Mamoru, because Mamoru never says no. Replacing lightbulbs, carrying boxes, taking over an impossible client from a retiring colleague… He'll do it all, and it's earned him the nickname "Prince of the Office." This glittering extrovert's opposite at work is Kurone, a quiet woman in another department who soaks up her boss's senseless mood swings with a blank stoicism. After one particularly long day, Mamoru is thrilled to be walking home alone, sipping a beer (because all his colleagues went drinking and left him to work overtime), when he encounters something strange: The usually glum Kurone is in the park, gleefully playing with stray cats. This secret seems silly, but it brings Kurone joy. It's the start of an unlikely relationship that will lead Mamoru to start reflecting on his life and who he really wants to share it with. Is work really all there is, or can he strike a balance with the help of these fluffy new friends--and a human who might become something more?Title: Chi's Sweet France Authors: Kanata Konami (story), Catherine Bouvier (art) Summary: A coda that picks up exactly where the main series left off: with Chi & Family in Paris.Chi & her human family have moved to Paris but, even before the boxes are unpacked, relocate to 'burbs just so the cat may still venture outdoors.Sources: Kodansha USA panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Kodansha USA's website
