During a panel at New York Comic Con 2025, Kodama Tales announced on its social media that it has licensed Boichi’s Sun-Ken Rock and Yuzuko Hoshimi’s MAGICA manga series for English release.
Here are the details on the latest licenses from the publisher:
Sun-Ken Rock
Story and Art: Boichi
Release Date: April 1, 2026
Kodama Tales will publish the series in omnibus format as the “Perfect Edition.” Each volume will include newly designed covers exclusive to the English release and combine about two of the original Japanese tankobon volumes.
The publisher also announced that the new English releases will feature revised dialogue and draw from both the original Japanese editions and newer Korean Perfect Editions.
Sun-Ken Rock was originally serialized in Shonengahosha’s Young King magazine from April 24, 2006 to February 22, 2016 and released a total of 25 tankobon volumes in Japan. The manga was previously available in English digitally from JManga, Crunchyroll, BookWalker, and Manga Planet.
The main synopsis of Sun-Ken Rock is described by Kodama Tales (via Amazon) as:
Ken Kitano has lost everything. He’s lost his family, his dreams, and even his first crush, Yumin, who suddenly left for Korea to pursue her dream of becoming a police officer. He spends his days getting into one meaningless fight after another, but one day, after learning Yumin actually managed to make her dream come true, he decides to follow in her footsteps and head to Seoul. Only, instead of becoming a cop, he ends up catching the attention of a street gang and becoming their boss! Suddenly, his strength, values, and beliefs are put to the test as he navigates a new life that he’s determined to keep a secret from Yumin, a cop to her very core. Sun-Ken Rock is a gritty and raw action-drama by Boichi, the renowned artist behind Dr. STONE! This cult classic combines explosive artwork with powerful storytelling and makes its English debut in a must-have edition.
MAGICA
Story and Art: Yuzuko Hoshimi
Release Date: March 1, 2026
MAGICA will be released in two full-color volumes that feature “beautiful foil treatments.” It is a short story manga anthology that contains six total stories. Daiwa Shobo published the manga in two volumes in Japan between 2020 and 2021.
The main synopsis of MAGICA is described by Kodama Tales (via Amazon) as:
Each and every being has a wondrous story to tell, if you’ll listen. Long, long ago, there once lived a beautiful mage. The mage had but only one spell: the strange ability to turn the twinkle of life into gems. It was a powerless magic that couldn’t save anyone, but the mage believed in it, witnessing all the comedies and all the tragedies across the universe and weaving them into tales with wondrous luster. And so, the curtain rises on a heart-stirring fairy-tale fantasy!
Kodama Tales also confirmed at its New York Comic Con panel that it will start releasing Mitei Hattori’s Smile! manga series in January 2026 and Miyashita Hiroki’s Me and the Alien MuMu manga in February 2026.
Sources: Kodama Tales Official Twitter, Anime News Network, press release, MangaAlerts Twitter Account
