Manzhou Ahensquad Manga Gets Anime and Returns with New Artist

This Monday confirmed what many readers had been waiting for and dreading in equal measure for months: Manzhou Ahensquad will get an anime adaptation. The announcement came alongside the resumption of the manga, which had been on hiatus since the death of its original artist, known as Kanoko, in November 2025. The news was shared by the series' official account, which also launched a website for the anime.

Almost nothing is known about the animated production. No studio, no cast, no release year. Only that it exists and that Kodansha is behind it. For a series that has had an extremely difficult year editorially, the announcement is a boost to its continuity, though it's worth keeping in mind that in these cases, silence about the studio usually means the project is in a very early phase.

A Forced and Painful Handover

The manga resumes today, October 5, in issue 45 of Weekly Young Magazine. The new artist is Tsurushima, who was an assistant on Kingdom, just as Kanoko was. He's not an outsider: he shared a workspace with the late author and knows the craft.

Kanoko died at age 37 from malignant choroidal melanoma. The illness forced him to put the series on hiatus, and after his death, the question remained whether Manzhou Ahensquad would continue. According to the publisher, Kanoko himself left word that he wanted the manga to go on with another artist. That wish is what has made this return possible.

The decision wasn't easy for Tsurushima. In a comment published in the magazine, the new illustrator admits that taking over caused him enormous inner conflict. "His absence is unbearable to me, and drawing as his successor means facing that feeling head-on. I thought it would be very painful," he writes. He also admits he came to believe he shouldn't touch a work that so many people had raised alongside Kanoko.

Over time, he says, the question changed: instead of wondering whether he should do it, he asked himself if he could help fulfill what Kanoko wanted. And he accepted. "I will put my heart into every stroke. I want you to follow the story to the end," he concludes.

Two Chapters in a Single Issue

Issue 45 of Young Magazine has a special feature: it publishes two chapters. Chapter 216, which Kanoko had finished drawing before his death, and chapter 217, the first with the new team. It's a way to close one stage and open another without abrupt jumps. For readers, it's also a farewell in the same issue that introduces the successor.

The magazine also includes comments from the writer, Monma Tsukasa, and Kanoko's family. The writer expresses relief at being able to continue: "Master Kanoko's will has been splendidly inherited. It makes me truly happy that we can keep going with the work." The family, for their part, thanks Tsurushima and the team for "the weight of inheriting the work amid so many contradictions."

To celebrate the resumption, the publisher made all chapters published so far available for free on Yanmaga Web and Comic Days. The campaign runs until October 11. Anyone unfamiliar with the series has a week to catch up for free and understand why this handover matters so much.

What Is Manzhou Ahensquad

The series began in 2020 in Young Magazine, written by Monma Tsukasa with art by Kanoko. The story is set in 1930s Manchuria under Japanese occupation and follows a group of opium traffickers. The title plays on the word "squad" and opium, and from the first chapter it makes clear this isn't a gentle series: corruption, violence, drugs, and characters surviving on the margins.

It's not a manga for all audiences. Its tone recalls works like Golden Kamuy for its mix of historical context, action, and pitch-black humor, though here the starting point is even more sordid. Kanoko's art was one of its great attractions: rough lines, harsh expressions, and a very physical visual narrative.

The artist handover will inevitably be compared. Tsurushima is not Kanoko, and readers will notice from page one. The question is whether he can maintain the series' visual identity without becoming an imitator. His comment suggests he's aware of that tension and isn't dodging it.

As for the anime, for now all we can do is wait. The work has more than enough material for an ambitious adaptation, but the silence about the studio suggests not getting our hopes up yet. First, we need to see how the manga breathes with its new pulse.