Tag Archives: Kodansha

Attack on Titan Day Is Official: Free Manga on 9 September

September 2, 2026 Nova Solaris

Why 9 September Is Attack on Titan Day

Hajime Isayama’s manga launched on 9 September 2009. The date carries extra symbolic weight inside the story itself — the series revolves around the Nine Titans, and Kodansha has leaned into that numerology for the anniversary’s official commemorative visual: all nine Titan forms are arranged around the “9.9” motif alongside the tagline “その日、物語は始まった” (“That day, the story began”).

The manga ran for 139 chapters before its April 2021 finale, and the franchise has kept expanding since — most recently with Attack on Titan 3 heading to platforms on 10 December. According to Kodansha’s press release (Japanese), the series has sold over 140 million copies worldwide — making it one of the best-selling manga in history.

Attack on Titan Day commemorative visual featuring the Nine Titans — Image courtesy of Kodansha

Free Manga Reading: 99 Hours, 99 Chapters

The centrepiece event for Singapore fans is a campaign that needs no trip to Japan: starting at midnight JST on 9 September (1:00 AM SGT), Manga Pocket (MagaPocket) will make Attack on Titan chapters 1 through 99 free to read — no subscription required — for exactly 99 hours, until 2:59 AM JST on 13 September (3:59 AM SGT). The app is available internationally.

Those 99 chapters cover the story from the fall of Wall Maria all the way to the beginning of the War for Paradis arc — essentially everything up to where the manga’s most divisive and discussed stretch begins. A good weekend re-read, in other words.

Attack on Titan manga free reading campaign visual for MangaPocket — Image courtesy of Kodansha

Livestream and New Isayama Artwork

At 21:30 JST on 9 September (22:30 SGT), Kodansha will host a commemorative livestream featuring three of the anime’s lead voice actors: Yuki Kaji (Eren Yeager), Yui Ishikawa (Mikasa Ackerman), and Hiroshi Shimono (Connie Springer). Full broadcast details — platform and link — will be posted to the official Attack on Titan X account.

A special merchandise range also drops on 9 September at Magazine Shop, Kodansha’s first offline retail store in Japan. The goods include new commemorative art and, notably, previously unreleased artwork by Hajime Isayama depicting Eren, Levi, and Erwin in formal attire — a rarity given how rarely the creator has shared new character art post-series.

Attack on Titan Day special livestream announcement with voice actors — Image courtesy of Kodansha

For Singapore Fans

The free MagaPocket campaign and the livestream are both accessible from Singapore. If you’re planning around the franchise’s remaining 2026 moments, the Attack on Titan: Symphony from Paradis concert comes to Singapore in November — the official day registration is a nice piece of franchise context ahead of that event.

Attack on Titan Day anniversary merchandise including new Isayama artwork — Image courtesy of Kodansha

Kodansha has confirmed further details will roll out through the official Attack on Titan TV anime site (Japanese) in the lead-up to 9 September. Check the manga and anime section for any updates closer to the date.

Manga Anime

SHAFT Tapped for The Long Summer of August 31 Anime

August 31, 2026 Xian Skyrider

What Is The Long Summer of August 31?

If you have not yet picked up the manga, here is the setup: high school students Takaya Suzuki and Kana Takagi are the only two people who know they are trapped in an endlessly repeating August 31st — the final, dread-inducing last day of summer break. Every morning they wake to the same day. Only they retain memories across each loop. And the reason the loop persists has something to do with a very specific goal Suzuki has yet to accomplish over summer — which the manga describes, with cheerful frankness, as a romance-adjacent bucket-list item.

Creator Ito Ikkado — whose earlier work Boku wa Oniku Janai built a loyal seinen readership — launched the series in Kodansha’s Morning magazine in March 2023. Three years and 13 volumes later, the manga has earned itself an anime-and-drama double billing. Kodansha’s own genre label? “Youth time-loop comedy that confronts romance head-on” — which is exactly the kind of premise SHAFT was built to visualise.

The Long Summer of August 31 Volume 1 manga cover by Ito Ikkado, showing Suzuki and Takagi standing together on a summer beach — Image courtesy of Kodansha

SHAFT at the Helm — Why It Matters for Anime Fans

SHAFT is not a neutral casting choice. The studio has built its reputation on anime that treat visual language as a storytelling instrument: the stark shadow-play of the Monogatari series, the stained-glass surrealism of Madoka Magica, the breakneck rhythm of Nisekoi. A time-loop romance anchored to a single repeating date — the same morning, the same faces, a thousand subtle variations playing out across 13 volumes — is a concept that maps naturally onto SHAFT’s skill set.

At this stage there is no release window, no director, no announced cast. The official series X account (@831longsummmmer) promises further details in due course. But for Singapore anime fans who have been tracking SHAFT’s output, the studio name alone is enough to put this firmly on the watchlist. As for Ito Ikkado’s own reaction to the announcement: the author’s comment, as carried in the Kodansha press release (Japanese), was refreshingly succinct — “That’s quite the summer announcement.”

A Live-Action Drama Is Also Coming

Confirmed alongside the TV anime is a separate live-action TV drama adaptation. Network, cast, and air date have not been disclosed — both the anime and drama appear to be in parallel early development. The dual adaptation approach (TV anime plus concurrent live-action drama) has become a notable Kodansha playbook for its bigger titles, and the simultaneous announcement here suggests the publisher sees strong crossover potential for The Long Summer of August 31 beyond a strictly anime-watching audience.

The Long Summer of August 31 Volume 13 manga cover showing Kana Takagi on a road bicycle with a tropical palm-lined boulevard in the background — Image courtesy of Kodansha

Where to Read the Manga Now

Singapore readers can get into the story well ahead of the anime. Seven Seas Entertainment has been releasing the English edition since April 2025, and Volume 6 landed in August 2026 — six volumes of Suzuki and Takagi’s endless summer are available in English right now, with more to follow as the remaining volumes roll out. The series is also available in digital English on Kodansha’s K Manga platform, accessible from Singapore. As a launch promotion, Kodansha also made four volumes free on Comic Days for the week following today’s announcement.

For more manga and anime adaptation news as production details emerge — staff, cast, and a first proper trailer — stay tuned to GameTrader.

Manga Anime

Fairy Tail Re:Fantasia Manga Launches 29 July — Natsu and Guild Return After 9 Years

July 23, 2026 Xian Skyrider

What Is Fairy Tail Re:Fantasia?

Re:Fantasia is described by Kodansha as a “short-term intensive serialisation” — a tightly paced miniseries rather than an open-ended ongoing run. The series will feature the core Fairy Tail cast, including Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Wendy, and Happy. Full story details are being held back until Chapter 1 drops on 29 July, so what exactly “Re:Fantasia” means for the timeline and continuity will become clear when the first pages hit newsstands in Japan and digital platforms simultaneously.

What we do know: Mashima announced a launch date move, pulling the debut forward by one week from the originally planned 5 August date, after completing the manuscript faster than editors anticipated. That’s Mashima at his most fired-up.

Natsu Dragneel with the main Fairy Tail cast sketches in the background — Image courtesy of Kodansha / Hiro Mashima

Hiro Mashima Is Writing and Drawing Every Page

This is the creative team — not a spinoff handled by an assistant or a licenced tie-in. Mashima himself is both writing and illustrating Re:Fantasia, just as he did all 545 chapters of the original run and the ongoing sequel Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest (handled with co-artist Atsuo Ueda). The 20th anniversary miniseries is his own personal celebration, and he made that clear when the milestone was announced earlier this year.

“Even though the manga ended quite some time ago, the fact that we can still celebrate it like this is entirely thanks to the unwavering support of all the readers. From this year into next year, we’re preparing lots of new goods and events, so please look forward to them. Let’s celebrate the 20th anniversary together! I’m fired up!”

— Hiro Mashima, via Anime Corner

FAIRY TAIL 20th Anniversary -Special PV- — via マガジンチャンネル on YouTube

Where Singapore Fans Can Read Fairy Tail Re:Fantasia

Fairy Tail manga cover featuring the full ensemble cast by Hiro Mashima — Image courtesy of Kodansha / Hiro Mashima

Singapore readers have a few options to follow Re:Fantasia from day one:

Crunchyroll Manga — Crunchyroll’s manga service, which launched support for Singapore in June 2026, carries Kodansha titles and is likely to carry Re:Fantasia simultaneously with Japan. Check the Crunchyroll app to confirm availability on launch day.
K Manga — Kodansha’s own manga app supports English-language access to Weekly Shōnen Magazine titles for readers in select regions; check regional availability in-app.
Magazine Pocket (digital) — Kodansha’s Japanese-market digital service for subscribers in Japan.

If you’re a physical volume collector, an English-language collected edition will almost certainly follow, though no release date has been announced yet. Keep an eye on our manga and anime coverage for updates.

Twenty Years of Fairy Tail

The original Fairy Tail manga ran in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from August 2006 to July 2017, spanning 63 volumes and 545 chapters. The anime adaptation — produced by A-1 Pictures and later Satelight/CloverWorks — aired from 2009 to 2019 and is still widely streamed today. The sequel series Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest has been running since 2018 and recently received its own anime adaptation, keeping the guild’s adventures alive.

Re:Fantasia represents something different: a tightly focused 20th-anniversary project where Mashima steps back in to close the loop personally. Whether it’s a reimagining of the guild’s origins, a new adventure set after the main series, or something else entirely will be clear in less than a week. For now, mark 29 July on your calendar and dust off your guild card.