Tag Archives: Shueisha

Manga Anime

MANGA MILLION Launches — 400 Free Manga in 100+ Languages

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Shueisha just opened its vault for its 100th anniversary. MANGA MILLION, the publisher’s most ambitious digital initiative to date, launched today — offering around 400 manga series totalling one million pages, all free, no account required, in over 100 languages. If you have ever wanted to read a classic Shueisha title in English, or Tagalog, or Korean, or Chinese, right now is the moment.

What Is MANGA MILLION?

MANGA MILLION is a limited-time web platform at mangamillion.shueisha.co.jp/en, created to mark Shueisha’s centenary. The project is described by the company as “one of the largest initiatives in Shueisha’s history.” Hideaki Hayashi, President and Representative Director, put it directly: “One of a publisher’s most important responsibilities is to connect creative talent with the public.”

The platform supports 100-plus languages — including English, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish, French, Turkish, and Polish — and requires no sign-up. You visit, you pick a title, you read.

MANGA MILLION – Brand Movie — via MANGA MILLION on YouTube

What Singapore Fans Can Read Right Now

The catalogue covers the biggest names in manga: ONE PIECE, Naruto, Bleach, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, SPY×FAMILY, Kingdom, [Oshi No Ko], Yu Yu Hakusho, Reborn!, and the beautiful short work Look Back. Shojo readers are especially well-served — over 150 shojo titles are included, among them Nana, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, and Boys Over Flowers.

Boys Over Flowers manga cast illustration — one of 150+ shojo titles on MANGA MILLION
Image courtesy of Shueisha

English and Chinese are both available as reading languages, making the platform immediately useful for Singapore’s manga-reading community. The inclusion of Tagalog is a notable touch for Singapore’s Filipino community. No VPN, no subscription, no region unlock needed — just open the site and start reading.

300 First-Ever Translations, Zero AI

The headline figure that makes MANGA MILLION genuinely historic: nearly 300 of the roughly 400 titles are receiving their first-ever professional translation into a given language. Fifty titles are being published in multiple languages simultaneously. All translations were done by human translators — Shueisha confirmed in its press release that no AI was used in the process. International licensing partners across all of Shueisha’s divisions contributed to the effort.

Art from My Capricorn Friend, a title spotlighted by MANGA MILLION Editor-in-Chief Shuhei Hosono
Image courtesy of Shueisha

Shuhei Hosono, Editor-in-Chief of Manga Plus, told Screen Rant: “Language barriers still prevent many readers worldwide from accessing manga.” He added that he is “really excited to see this project help those works find a whole new audience,” and personally championed the shojo catalogue: “I’m a huge fan of manga for women myself, and I really want to share just how rich and incredible that world is.”

How MANGA MILLION Differs From MANGA Plus

Shueisha’s existing free platform, MANGA Plus, already offers simulpub access to currently running series — you get the latest chapter of One Piece the same day it drops in Japan. MANGA MILLION does something different. As Hosono explained to Screen Rant: “The biggest difference is MANGA PLUS focuses on simulpubbing currently running series, whereas MANGA MILLION includes completed titles.” The 100th-anniversary platform is where you find classics and finished runs that never got an official English or multilingual translation before.

Characters from Kochikame and Someone Hertz — classic and newer Shueisha titles on MANGA MILLION
Image courtesy of Shueisha

MANGA MILLION is available for a limited time, though no end date has been announced. Singapore fans are better off starting now rather than waiting. Head to mangamillion.shueisha.co.jp/en — it is free, it is live right now, and it is the easiest that backlog has ever been to tackle. For more manga and anime news, check back on GameTrader.SG.

Manga Anime, News

Shonen Jump Print Copies Fall Below 1 Million — A First in History

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Weekly Shōnen Jump has crossed a threshold that once seemed unthinkable: for the first time since Japan’s print-circulation records began, the most famous manga magazine in the world averaged fewer than one million copies in a single quarter. According to Anime News Network’s report today, citing certified data from the Japan Magazine Publishers Association, the April–June 2026 average came in at 985,000 printed copies — and it is not just Jump that has crossed the line. As Nikkei reported (Japanese) alongside the same data, there is now no print magazine in Japan — across any category — that still prints over one million copies. Jump was the last one standing.

From 6.53 Million to Under a Million

Weekly Shōnen Jump Issue 35 (2026) cover featuring Sakamoto Days
Image courtesy of Shueisha

The numbers tell a story of relentless structural decline. Weekly Shōnen Jump, published by Shueisha since 1968, hit its all-time peak with 6.53 million copies per week in the New Year 1995 issue — a figure so dominant that the magazine had a total readership of 18 million people in Japan at the time. By 2017 it had slipped below two million. By the early 2020s it was hovering around 1.3–1.6 million. The Q2 2026 figure of 985,000 completes what has been a three-decade-long contraction.

For context, the rest of Japan’s major weekly manga publications are even further along the same path. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Kodansha) now averages 281,000 copies; Weekly Shōnen Sunday (Shogakukan) sits at 120,000; and the monthly CoroCoro Comic — still Japan’s Pokémon magazine of record — comes in at 213,000. None of those are new struggles, but Jump reaching the same sub-million territory is the milestone that closes the chapter on Japan’s print-magazine boom era.

What Is Still Running in Jump Right Now

Kagurabachi manga art from Weekly Shōnen Jump
Image courtesy of Shueisha

None of this means the magazine is going away, or that its best titles are disappearing. Weekly Shōnen Jump’s current serialisation list remains one of the strongest in manga: Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is approaching its final arc; Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter × Hunter is in an active run; Yuto Suzuki’s Sakamoto Days — whose cover art appears on recent issues — is one of the breakout action hits of the past five years; and newer series like Takeru Hokazono’s Kagurabachi and Boichi’s The Marshal King have built substantial global fanbases without a single printed copy needing to change hands.

The Marshal King manga art by Boichi for Weekly Shōnen Jump
Image courtesy of Shueisha

That last point matters. A huge share of Jump’s actual readership never buys a physical copy at all — and never has. The magazine’s Manga Plus platform, which simulpublishes chapters globally for free on the day they drop in Japan, has become one of the most popular manga platforms in Southeast Asia. Singapore fans in particular have been reading Jump titles through Manga Plus since it launched in 2019 without needing to track down an import issue at Kinokuniya. VIZ Media’s digital Shonen Jump subscription covers the Western audience on the same schedule.

Print Is Down; the Manga Is Not

The picture that emerges is not of a magazine dying, but of a distribution format completing a very long transition. The stories and the readership are intact — the ink-on-paper pipeline is not. Shueisha knows this: the company has invested heavily in Manga Plus as a global free-to-read channel, and titles like Kagurabachi and The Marshal King are clearly built with an international digital audience in mind from day one.

For Singapore manga fans, the practical reality hasn’t shifted much — most of us have been reading manga on our phones for years. But there is something still worth pausing for in this number. The magazine that introduced the world to Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece once printed 6.53 million copies in a single week. On 6 August 2026, for the first time, it printed fewer than one million.

Manga Anime, News

Kochikame at 50: New Anime, New Game and a Fresh One-Shot

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If you grew up watching the Kochikame anime on television — that perpetually broke Officer Ryotsu stumbling from one harebrained money-making scheme to the next — 2026 is the year to pay attention. The franchise is turning 50, and Shueisha is marking the milestone with a new anime, a new game and a fresh one-shot chapter, all at once.

A New Anime for a New Generation

KochiKame Ryo-san's Billion-yen Beat - event reward gameplay screenshot
Image courtesy of Shueisha Games / Kairosoft

Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo — better known as Kochikame — began in 1976 and ran for an extraordinary 40 years in Weekly Shonen Jump, ending in September 2016 with 200 volumes and the record for the longest-running manga in the magazine’s history. Its anime ran from 1996 to 2004, racking up 373 episodes, and became a fixture across Asia.

Now it is coming back. Shin Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo (New Kochikame) was announced at Jump Festa 2026, with Studio Gallop — the same studio behind the original anime — returning for production. The new series features an entirely fresh cast; the new voice actors for the four lead roles — Ryotsu Kankichi, Nakagawa Keiichi, Akimoto Reiko and Ohara Daijiro — will be revealed at a special event in Tokyo on 5 September 2026. Applications for 50 lucky pairs of tickets opened on 3 August and close 10 August. Release date for the anime is still to be confirmed.

The Kairosoft Game: Build Ryo-san’s Shopping Empire

KochiKame Ryo-san's Billion-yen Beat - developed shopping district in autumn
Image courtesy of Shueisha Games / Kairosoft

The game side of the anniversary is being handled by Kairosoft, the studio behind Game Dev Story, Grand Prix Story and dozens of other beloved management sims — and the fit is perfect. KochiKame: Ryo-san’s Billion-yen Beat (published by Shueisha Games) drops Ryotsu into his natural habitat of wild financial schemes, this time as a pixel-art shopping district simulation. Players scrape together seed money through gambling and part-time jobs, then invest it into storefronts — a convenience store here, a game shop there, a camera shop, a model kit store — and watch the customers roll in.

KochiKame Ryo-san's Billion-yen Beat - shop selection menu showing variety of store types
Image courtesy of Shueisha Games / Kairosoft

The game features over 200 characters from the manga — almost every recurring face from 40 years of the series — and episodic storylines drawn from classic chapters. Kairosoft’s signature pixel aesthetic suits the material well; Kameari has never looked so charmingly retro.

For Singapore and Southeast Asia fans, the key detail is that the Steam version will support English and Traditional Chinese at launch, alongside Japanese. The game is planned for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, iOS and Android. A release date has not yet been announced.

KochiKame: Ryo-san’s Billion-yen Beat – Episode 01: Ryo-san Gets a Game!? — via SHUEISHA GAMES on YouTube

The 50th-Anniversary One-Shot

KochiKame Ryo-san's Billion-yen Beat - police box story scene with characters
Image courtesy of Shueisha Games / Kairosoft

The celebrations kicked off in print on 3 August with a special one-shot chapter published in Weekly Shonen Jump #36. Written by original creator Osamu Akimoto, it sees Ryo-san getting caught up in a certain money-making opportunity in 2026 — entirely in character for the perennially scheme-prone officer. Two new tankobon volumes collecting post-series material are also due out in September and October 2026, the first new physical volumes in five years.

Why It Matters for Fans in Singapore

The original Kochikame anime had long runs across Asian television markets, and many Singapore fans discovered the franchise through Chinese-dubbed broadcasts in the late 1990s and 2000s. The new anime, new game and new volumes all launching in the same anniversary year is a bigger celebration than most long-running franchises get, and the confirmed English and Traditional Chinese support for Billion-yen Beat signals Shueisha and Kairosoft are thinking beyond Japan for this one. Keep an eye on the Manga & Anime section here for cast and release date news as September’s reveal approaches.

Manga Anime, News

Prince of Tennis Manga Closes After 27 Years — Final Chapter Out Now

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After 27 years, one of manga’s most beloved sports series has played its last point. The New Prince of Tennis by Takeshi Konomi ran its final chapter — Chapter 477 — in the September 2026 issue of Jump SQ, which went on sale in Japan on 4 August. The Prince of Tennis franchise that began in 1999 is now complete, closing a story that shaped childhoods across Asia, Singapore included.

Ryoma Echizen in action — The Prince of Tennis art by Takeshi Konomi
Image courtesy of Shueisha

From Weekly Jump to Jump SQ: The 27-Year Road to Chapter 477

Takeshi Konomi launched The Prince of Tennis (テニスの王子様) in Weekly Shonen Jump in July 1999, following tennis prodigy Ryoma Echizen as he led Seishun Academy’s middle school team to national glory. The original run stretched to 379 chapters before wrapping in March 2008 — a run that also produced a TV anime (2001–2005), a film, and the long-running Tenimyu musical theatre franchise that is still performing today.

The sequel, The New Prince of Tennis, shifted to the monthly Jump Square in 2009 and escalated the stakes: Ryoma and Japan’s under-17 national team squared off against the world’s best junior players in an increasingly supernatural tournament arc. For Singapore fans who grew up watching the original anime on cable and hunting down Jump SQ imports at Kinokuniya and Comics Connection, the sequel kept the flame alive through two decades of increasingly outrageous tennis.

The final arc delivered the showdown readers had been waiting for: Ryoma versus his older brother Ryoga. Ryoga’s “Consume” ability had stripped Ryoma of his inherited techniques — including his father’s signature Samurai Phantom — but the final chapters saw Ryoma reclaim them one by one, culminating in the series’ core thesis: that real strength comes from believing in your own game. It is a fittingly Prince of Tennis ending.

A Record-Breaking Send-Off — Jump SQ Reprints for the First Time Ever

New Prince of Tennis Volume 47 — Jump Comics SQ cover
Image courtesy of Shueisha

The scale of demand for the final issue is extraordinary. Jump SQ — a magazine that has been publishing since December 2007 — is printing a reprint of its September 2026 issue for the very first time in the magazine’s 19-year history, with an additional 165% run on top of the initial print. For context: no single issue of Jump SQ in nearly two decades has ever needed a reprint — until now.

The issue also ships with a special bonus CD: 「ラケットに想い出詰め込んで」 (“Packing Memories Into a Racket”), performed by Kou Yamato featuring Tennis Familia — a collective drawn from the 143 voice actors and cast members who have voiced characters across the franchise’s entire run. Think the voices of Seishun Academy, Hyotei, Rikkai, Shitenhouji and every rival school, together one final time on a single track. It is a remarkable parting gift.

Creator Takeshi Konomi shared a brief message after completing the chapter: “Final chapter complete. My schedule has been even more insanely grueling this month, and it is still ongoing, so everyone’s warm support and cheers truly gave me strength. Thank you so much,” as reported by Oricon News.

Final Volume 48 releases on 4 September 2026. Singapore fans can import it via Kinokuniya’s online store or other Japanese import retailers. The series is also available digitally through MangaPlus by Shueisha.

What Comes Next: The Anime Carries On This Fall

New Prince of Tennis U-17 World Cup Finals Members Selection Match — Fall 2026 anime key visual
Image courtesy of 新テニスの王子様プロジェクト

The manga era may be over, but the franchise is not. A new anime season — 新テニスの王子様 U-17 WORLD CUP 決勝メンバー決定戦 (The New Prince of Tennis U-17 World Cup Finals Members Selection Match) — is scheduled to premiere in Japan this Fall 2026, adapting the battle for Japan’s roster for the final against Spain. A second teaser PV is already out on the official channel:

『新テニスの王子様 U-17 WORLD CUP 決勝メンバー決定戦』 Teaser PV #2 — via アニメ 新テニスの王子様 オフィシャルチャンネル on YouTube
Ryoma Echizen in the anime — New Prince of Tennis U-17 World Cup
Image courtesy of 新テニスの王子様プロジェクト

For those who missed earlier arcs, the anime adaptations are the easiest entry point — check streaming availability locally, as distribution varies for Singapore viewers.

For an entire generation of Singapore fans who grew up watching Ryoma tell every opponent “Mada mada dane,” this week marks the end of a very long match. Twenty-seven years, 379 + 477 chapters, one kid in a white FILA cap. Game, set, match, Echizen.

Manga Anime

Black Clover Volume 38 Is Out — New Bonus Chapter Shows Asta’s Coronation

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After 11 years and 392 chapters, Asta’s journey from penniless orphan to Wizard King is finally complete on the page — and fans who waited for the physical release get something digital readers never had. Black Clover Volume 38, the manga’s final tankobon, lands in Japan today (4 August), and it comes bundled with an all-new 15-page bonus chapter plus a 340-page companion guidebook released the same day.

Black Clover Official Guidebook cover showing the main cast
Image courtesy of Shueisha

What Black Clover Volume 38 Contains

The final tankobon collects chapters 381 through 392 — the entire endgame of Yuki Tabata’s decade-long Shonen Jump series. Those chapters cover the Clover Kingdom’s most desperate battle and bring Asta’s seemingly impossible dream to its conclusion. If you read the serialisation week-to-week on Manga Plus or Viz, you already know how it ends — but Volume 38 is worth picking up for what comes next.

The Bonus Chapter: Asta’s Coronation, Finally on the Page

The real draw for manga readers is a scene the serialisation deliberately skipped: Asta’s coronation ceremony as Wizard King. The weekly chapters ended at chapter 392 without ever showing the moment fans had been chasing since chapter one. Shueisha confirmed that Volume 38 corrects that omission with a brand-new, 15-page chapter drawn exclusively for this release by Tabata himself — depicting Asta being crowned Wizard King alongside Yuno.

Asta and Yuno in formal coronation ceremony attire, colored promotional art
Image courtesy of Shueisha

It is 15 pages of entirely new Tabata-drawn material, not a reprint. For anyone who has been reading since 2015, this is the payoff the serialised ending held back.

The 340-Page Official Guidebook

Also releasing today, the Black Clover Official Guidebook runs to 340 pages and covers the entire series in depth:

  • An encyclopedia of 250-plus characters, from the Black Bulls through the final arc’s Paladins
  • A catalogue of 400-plus magic spells from across the series
  • An extended interview and commentary by Yuki Tabata — including previously unreleased thoughts on the world, the characters, and how the story was planned

The spell and character encyclopedias alone should fill in years of lore that never made it into the chapters. Given how rarely Tabata has spoken publicly about the series, the creator commentary section is probably the most anticipated part.

Getting It in Singapore

The Japanese edition is out now — import copies should reach online retailers and Japanese-book specialists in Singapore within the coming weeks. No confirmed English release date from Viz Media yet; their tankobon releases typically follow the Japanese editions by several months.

In the meantime, chapters 381–392 are freely readable in English on Manga Plus, so SG fans can catch up on the ending right now. And if animated Black Clover is more your speed, Black Clover Season 2 arrives on Crunchyroll this October.

Black Clover Season 2 official key visual — Asta in full Devil Union form
Image courtesy of Shueisha / Studio Pierrot

More manga and anime coverage as it arrives.

Manga Anime

Kagurabachi Is Back 27 July — Chapter 126 in Weekly Shonen Jump

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Kagurabachi is coming back sooner than expected — Shueisha has confirmed that Chapter 126 will run in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 35 on 27 July 2026, wrapping up Takeru Hokazono’s rest break roughly a week ahead of the August window fans had been told to anticipate.

Kagurabachi Chapter 126 Drops 27 July — Day-One Simulpub Confirmed

Kagurabachi protagonist Chihiro Rokuhira in a colored manga panel
Image courtesy of Shueisha / Kagurabachi

Chapter 126 lands in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 35 on 27 July 2026, confirmed via Siliconera and Viz Media’s updated simulpub schedule. When creator Takeru Hokazono announced the break in late June following Chapter 125, the original messaging pointed to a return sometime in August without giving a specific date. The Issue 35 confirmation moves that forward by a week or more.

Hokazono explained the break simply, as reported by ComicBook: “I’ll be taking a small break. Please wait patiently while I work on making Kagurabachi even better!”

Singapore readers can read Chapter 126 free on Manga Plus (manga.plus) the same day as the Japanese release — no regional delay. Paid subscribers on the Viz Media Weekly Shonen Jump platform get access on the same schedule.

Where the Story Left Off Before the Hiatus

Kagurabachi Volume 9 manga cover art showing Chihiro in an intense battle close-up
Image courtesy of Shueisha / Kagurabachi

Chapter 125 left the story mid-tension, with Chihiro Rokuhira and Subaru Urita working through the mounting pressure of the Datenseki arc. The series has been drilling into the origins of the Seitei War and the history of Enchanted Blades — lore-heavy territory that has kept the stakes feeling substantial even as the action ramps up.

Physical edition readers have two release windows to note. Volume 12 of the Japanese edition arrives on 4 September 2026. For English readers, Viz Media’s Volume 8 (chapters 66–74) is due on 4 August 2026 — look for it at Singapore bookshops carrying the Viz Manga range.

The April 2027 Anime Keeps Rolling While the Manga Rests

Kagurabachi anime official teaser still from Crunchyroll
Image courtesy of Shueisha / Project Kagurabachi
Kagurabachi | Official Teaser | Crunchyroll — via Crunchyroll on YouTube

The anime side of Kagurabachi has been moving along while the manga took its break. Produced by studio Cypic (also behind Umamusume: Cinderella Gray and The Summer Hikaru Died), the adaptation is locked for an April 2027 debut on Crunchyroll with worldwide simulcast confirmed, Singapore included.

The cast announced so far: Taihi Kimura as Chihiro Rokuhira, Tomokazu Seki as Kunishige Rokuhira, and Katsuyuki Konishi as Togo Shiba. A global World Tour of early episode screenings kicked off at Anime Expo in July 2026 and continues at Japan Expo, AnimagiC, Otakon, and Anime NYC. No Singapore or SEA screening has been announced yet — we’ll update as dates emerge closer to the Spring 2027 premiere.

For more on what’s new in manga and anime, check our latest coverage while you count down to 27 July.

Manga Anime, News

Jump Festa 2027 Set for 19–20 December at Makuhari Messe

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Singapore anime fans, mark your calendars. Shueisha has officially confirmed that Jump Festa 2027 will be held on 19–20 December 2026 at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall in Chiba, Japan. Doors open at 9:00 AM and last entry is at 4:30 PM both days — and if the past couple of years are any guide, it is going to be one of the biggest weekends in manga and anime this year.

The announcement was published by Famitsu (Japanese) today and is the first official word from Shueisha on dates for the 2027 edition. A dedicated JF2027 page on the official Jump Festa website is expected to follow closer to the event.

What is Jump Festa?

Jump Festa is Shueisha’s annual mega-event, jointly hosted by five of Japan’s biggest manga magazines — Weekly Shonen Jump, Shonen Jump+, V Jump, Jump SQ., and Saikyō Jump. Every December it takes over Makuhari Messe — the same sprawling convention complex that hosts Tokyo Game Show — with franchise stage shows, world-premiere trailers, voice-actor appearances, exclusive merch, and enough announcement firepower to keep the anime internet buzzing for weeks.

JF2027 will occupy Halls 1–9 and Hall 11, keeping the expanded footprint that the event has used since 2026.

What to Expect in December

Shueisha hasn’t confirmed the franchise lineup for JF2027 yet — that information typically drops through individual Jump magazine announcements and the official JF website in the months leading up to the event. But based on what’s currently airing and in production, Singapore fans will almost certainly be watching for news on:

  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle Part 2, with the first film having already become a generational event for SG fans
  • Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol, which has been teased in Jump magazines
  • Kagurabachi and Sakamoto Days, two of the hottest ongoing Shonen Jump manga currently in production as anime
  • One Piece — always a centrepiece of Jump Festa — now deep into the Elbaph arc
  • Haikyu!! theatrical releases
Chainsaw Man International Assassins Arc anime visual
Image courtesy of Shueisha / MAPPA

It’s worth noting that Jump Festa regularly springs genuine surprises. The Chainsaw Man: International Assassins Arc, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run anime premiere date and Black Clover Season 2 were all confirmed at Jump Festa 2026 — none of them were in the pre-event speculation lists. Expect at least one or two out-of-nowhere reveals this December.

Jump Festa 2026 Anime Heaven in Tokyo – ジャンプフェスタ2026 [4K 60fps ASMR] — via Kaibear Explores on YouTube

What Jump Festa 2026 Delivered

Jump Festa 2026 (held December 20–21, 2025 at Makuhari Messe) set a high bar. Alongside the announcements above, Shueisha used the event to drop a first trailer for the fourth and final arc of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, confirm the Elbaph arc premiere date for One Piece, and reveal a Dan Da Dan Season 3 key visual. The main Jump Super Stage was livestreamed globally — Singapore fans watching from home at 9 AM were refreshing their feeds just as fast as fans queuing at Chiba.

One Piece Elbaph arc key visual revealed at Jump Festa 2026
Image courtesy of Toei Animation / Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha

Shueisha has confirmed all three stages — Jump Super Stage, Jump Studio, and Jump Station — will return for 2027, though a full schedule and performer lineup will only be revealed later in the year.

Planning Your December Trip from Singapore

December 19–20 sits right at the start of Singapore’s year-end school holidays, which makes it a realistic travel window for families and students alike. Makuhari Messe is in Chiba — roughly 30 minutes from central Tokyo on the JR Keiyo Line — so it pairs naturally with a wider Japan year-end trip.

Singapore Airlines, Scoot, and Jetstar all fly direct Singapore to Tokyo (Narita or Haneda). Narita is marginally closer to Makuhari Messe via the JR Sobu Line or Keisei Skyliner connection. Accommodation in the Makuhari area books out fast for Jump Festa weekend, so if you are seriously considering attending in person, now is not too early to start watching flight and hotel prices.

Dan Da Dan Season 3 key visual revealed at Jump Festa 2026
Image courtesy of Shueisha / Science SARU

If you are not making the trip to Japan, the Jump Super Stage livestream is your best bet — Shueisha has streamed it globally in recent years, with some regional restrictions that have historically not affected Singapore. We will post the official stream links as they are confirmed.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Steel Ball Run anime visual from Jump Festa 2026
Image courtesy of Shueisha / David Production

Keep an eye on our manga and anime coverage — we will track every official JF2027 stage and franchise announcement as they drop in the lead-up to December.

Manga Anime

Hunter x Hunter Volume 39 Is Out — First New Tankōbon in Nearly Two Years

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The long wait is finally over. Hunter x Hunter Volume 39 — titled Negotiation — hit shelves in Japan today, 3 July 2026, marking the series’ first new tankōbon in nearly 22 months. Volume 38 shipped in September 2024, and in the time since, many fans wondered whether another release was coming at all. It is — and the manga is showing no signs of stopping there.

Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of Hunter x Hunter, with series protagonist Gon Freecss
Image courtesy of Shueisha

What’s Inside Volume 39

Negotiation collects chapters 401 to 410, continuing the Succession Contest Arc deep inside the Dark Continent storyline. The volume’s cover puts Hisoka front and centre — a striking close-up in Togashi’s more realistic cover style, hand obscuring half his face with the number ’39’ inscribed on it, directly mirroring Chrollo Lucilfer’s Volume 11 cover in a visual call-and-response that fans have been quick to dissect online. The ten chapters inside push several of the arc’s political and psychological threads forward — hence the title, which fits both the literal card-game negotiations depicted in the pages and the broader chess match playing out between the Succession Contest contestants.

Hunter x Hunter manga panel from Volume 39 — negotiation card game scene
Image courtesy of Shueisha

Togashi’s Health and What Comes Next

Yoshihiro Togashi’s relationship with Hunter x Hunter has always been inseparable from his ongoing health battles — a spine condition and related complications have forced repeated hiatuses since 2006, turning every new chapter into a minor news event in itself. Volume 38 took almost two years to follow Volume 37, and Volume 39 has taken the same amount of time to follow Volume 38. But the signals for the future are more encouraging than they’ve been in a long time. On his social media, Togashi confirmed completing the manuscript for Chapter 421 in late May 2026, and had already penned character layouts for Chapter 430 back in April. That means chapters 411–420 are already complete and waiting for publication, and work on the following batch is well underway — an unusual cushion for a series that once went years without a single chapter.

Gon Freecss from Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime
Image courtesy of Shueisha

Where Singapore Fans Can Read It

Volume 39 is a Japanese physical release for now. Singapore manga readers can pick up the Japanese edition at Kinokuniya (Ngee Ann City and Bugis+ branches both stock Japanese manga) — stock tends to arrive within a week or two of Japan’s release date for popular Shueisha titles, so check the shelves or call ahead. Digital readers should check MANGA Plus by Shueisha (manga.plus), the publisher’s free global simulpub platform, for digital availability. An English edition from VIZ Media has not been announced yet — Volume 38 appeared in English in January 2026, roughly 16 months after its Japanese release, so a localised Volume 39 is realistically a late-2026 or early-2027 arrival at the earliest. For more manga and anime coverage, head to our Manga Anime section.