Forever Young: A New Manga Title Takes On the American Market

Bringing Out the Big Guns to Make a Splash

Manga has long been big business in Japan, and weekly publications like Young Magazine are instrumental in keeping it front and center in the cultural conversation. But in an era of shrinking Japanese readerships, creators see the future of the medium as being overseas. A new English-language edition of the manga vehicle, the special issue released to kick off the Young Magazine US print run, goes hard from the very beginning, featuring an originally illustrated cover by Ghost in the Shell creator Shirow Masamune. The artwork envisions a futuristic city where urban life, humanity, and technology intersect—perfectly capturing the issue’s editorial theme: unfiltered manga.

The cover of the US-exclusive edition of Young Magazine. (© Kōdansha)

The debut issue features 19 works across a wide range of genres—including sci-fi, dark horror, and cyberpunk—created by both established and emerging talents from Japan and abroad. Highlights include Subaru and Subaru by Shigeno Shūichi, known internationally for Initial D, and Me and Bob Dylan (And My Father) by Oshimi Shūzō, renowned for his raw portrayals of adolescence in titles like The Flowers of Evil and Blood on the Tracks.

Me and Bob Dylan (And My Father) by Oshimi Shūzō. (© Kōdansha)

A limited run of 4,000 print copies of this special kick-off issue will be handed out at the Anime NYC 2025 show, held in New York City from August 21 to 24. The special issue will also be made available at 17 Kinokuniya bookstores across the United States. A digital version will be released through a dedicated website and on social media platforms.

Of the 19 featured titles, 16 will be opened to fan voting to determine whether they continue in serialization in English. Rankings will be determined by votes on the special website and by the number of likes and reposts their shares receive on X (formerly Twitter). The top five titles will be serialized in both Japanese and English later this year in the official English edition of Young Magazine and Kōdansha’s K Manga app.

The title page of The Graveyard Shift by Satō Yoshimi, one of 19 works included in the special US issue. (© Kōdansha)

While manga for younger teens—both boys and girls—dominates the North American market, Hidemi Shiraki, the chief editor of this special English issue of Young Magazine, emphasizes the unique appeal of manga for young adults: “So-called seinen manga, aimed at older readers, has in Japan long explored the raw emotional complexities of life—including the struggles, pain, and alienation from society that people in this cohort experience. I hope readers in North America can connect with these emotions through our stories.”

(Originally published in Japanese on July 15. Banner photo: The special Young Magazine US issue with its original cover by Shirow Masamune. © Kōdansha.)