Published: September 13, 2026
Welcome back to another packed week in the world of anime, manga, light novels, and manhwa! The period between September 6 and September 13, 2026 turned out to be a genuinely fascinating one, sitting right at the crossroads between the tail end of Summer 2026's anime season and the enormous wave of Fall 2026 premieres that are now just weeks away. This week brought us Attack on Titan's very first official commemorative day, hololive's leap into television anime for the first time in its history, a brand-new video game announcement from one of the biggest franchises of the year, Detective Conan's most experimental anniversary project yet, and Crunchyroll's full New York Comic Con lineup. We also cover manhwa and webtoon adaptations confirmed for Indian streaming, Korean webtoon exhibitions opening in Los Angeles, and everything happening across the games, merchandise, and events side of the industry. As always, our India section takes a close, careful look at exactly what is and is not confirmed for Indian audiences this week, because assuming something is available in India just because it launched globally does nobody any favors. Let's get into it.
🔥 Biggest News of the Week
Attack on Titan Gets Its Own Official Holiday
The single most talked-about story of the week wasn't a new anime announcement at all — it was a calendar entry. On September 2, the official Attack on Titan account confirmed that the Japan Anniversary Association had formally registered September 9 as "Attack on Titan Day," commemorating the exact date Hajime Isayama's manga began serialization in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Magazine back in 2009. The certificate itself came with a small, charming touch: a wood carving of a Titan holding a fish, a nod to Hokkaido's famous kibori kuma bear statues.
The choice of date carries an almost eerie symmetry, since the story is famously built around nine Titans, and September 9 essentially reads as 9/9. The official key visual leaned into that coincidence directly, embedding panels of the Colossus, Armored, Beast, and Founding Titans into a graphic built around the number nine.
To mark the day, Kodansha ran several coordinated projects. On Magazine Pocket, Weekly Shonen Magazine's free manga app, the publisher unlocked the first 99 chapters of the manga completely free for a 99-hour window, running from midnight on September 9 through 2:59 a.m. on September 13. Magazine Shop, the magazine's flagship physical retail store, began selling commemorative merchandise from September 9 onward, including goods built around a new Hajime Isayama illustration depicting Eren Yeager, Levi, and Erwin Smith in formal dress.
The centerpiece of the day was a livestream at 21:30 JST (roughly 8:30 a.m. Eastern, 5:30 a.m. Pacific) featuring three of the franchise's most recognizable voices: Yuki Kaji (Eren Yeager), Yui Ishikawa (Mikasa Ackerman), and Hiro Shimono (Connie Springer). Producer Tetsuya Kinoshita had previously teased that new films and collaborations were being planned for the franchise, which sent speculation into overdrive in the days leading up to the ninth. As it turned out, the confirmed value of the September 9 broadcast was the celebration itself — the cast livestream, the free manga campaign, and new merchandise — rather than the reveal of a brand-new, previously unannounced anime project. Whatever Kinoshita's teased future projects turn out to be, they were not the centerpiece of this particular anniversary, and no new anime title, studio, or format was confirmed as part of Attack on Titan Day itself.
For a franchise whose manga and anime both concluded years ago, receiving a nationally registered commemorative day is still a rare and significant honor, placing it in the same category as other culturally recognized properties like Gundam, which received its own similar designation earlier this year on April 7.
hololive Is Finally Making a TV Anime — And Nobody Knows What "Odeholo" Means Yet
If you follow VTuber culture even loosely, this next story is a genuinely big deal. On September 7, during a new information program called "hololive Next 2026.9.7," Kadokawa Corporation and Cover Corporation jointly announced that hololive — the enormously popular VTuber talent agency — is producing its first-ever television anime.
The project's working title is being kept deliberately vague: it's currently referred to only by the abbreviation "Odeholo," written おでホロ in Japanese. Cover has not explained what the letters stand for, and the company is actively encouraging fans to guess using the hashtag #Odeholo on social media ahead of a dedicated reveal stream. That full reveal — covering the story, character designs, and presumably the actual title — is scheduled for a one-hour special on the official Odeholo YouTube channel on September 23, 2026, running from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. JST (7:00 a.m. Eastern).
What we do know for certain: Studio KAI, an animation house with a long track record of producing official hololive shorts and music videos, is handling the animation. The timing is deliberate — September 7, 2026 marked hololive's ninth anniversary, and this announcement effectively kicks off a full year-long countdown toward the tenth anniversary on September 7, 2027. Odeholo is described as one of several flagship projects being lined up for that milestone.
Cast members Momosuzu Nene, Omaru Polka, Yukihana Lamy, and Shishiro Botan are confirmed to appear during the September 23 special, though it hasn't been confirmed whether they'll be voicing characters in the show itself or simply presenting the reveal. As of this week, there is no confirmed premiere date, network, episode count, or international streaming plan. hololive has steadily branched out from pure livestreaming into music, concerts, mobile games, and mixed-media ventures over the years, but a dedicated TV anime represents its biggest and most traditional entertainment expansion yet.
🎬 Anime News
Mushoku Tensei Season 3 Locks In Tomokazu Sugita as "Old Rudeus"
On September 6, the Mushoku Tensei Season 3 production confirmed a genuinely exciting bit of casting: veteran voice actor Tomokazu Sugita — known for roles like Gintoki Sakata in Gintama and Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya — will voice the older, future version of protagonist Rudeus Greyrat that occasionally narrates and reflects on the story. Season 3 has been building toward one of the more emotionally heavy stretches of the story in recent weeks, and the September 9 episode preview for Episode 12 confirmed that Rudeus is about to learn about a tragic future event, adding weight to why this "future Rudeus" casting matters right now rather than being a distant, background detail.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Shifts Its Streaming Schedule
Fans tracking Bleach's final arc closely should note a scheduling change: Episode 47 of Thousand-Year Blood War saw its streaming delayed, with numerous platforms in Japan shifting the series' regular release day to Tuesdays going forward. This is a logistics and broadcast-scheduling update rather than a content delay tied to production trouble, but it's worth knowing if you've been tracking new episodes on a fixed weekly schedule.
New Magic Knight Rayearth Anime Reveals More Cast Ahead of October 7 Debut
The upcoming Magic Knight Rayearth revival continued its promotional rollout this week with a new trailer that added several additional cast members to the previously announced lineup, keeping the show on track for its confirmed October 7, 2026 premiere.
A Wave of Fall 2026 Trailers and Key Visuals
With the fall season now just weeks away, a steady stream of promotional material rolled out across multiple titles this week. Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle revealed a new trailer for its second cour, confirming its theme songs alongside an October 13, 2026 premiere date. Black Torch released its "Final PV" ahead of its concluding episodes, drawing footage from Episodes 11 and 12 to close out its run. A Certain ITEM of Dark Side unveiled a new key visual featuring its main cast ahead of its previously set October 9, 2026 debut. Reincarnated as a Sword Season 2 revealed a fun collaboration visual crossing over with From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman Season 2. And PSYREN — the adaptation of Toshiaki Iwashiro's manga — dropped a new trailer, key visual, and cast reveal confirming it remains on track for its previously announced October 2026 premiere.
Reborn as a Space Mercenary Confirms October 4 Debut
During the Aniplex One Focus livestream, it was confirmed that Reborn as a Space Mercenary, the television adaptation of Ryūto and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima's light novel series, will debut on October 4, airing on Tokyo MX among other stations.
Yūsanchi! Omnibus Short Anime Set for October 5
Fanworks announced that Yūsanchi! from Yū-hachi, an omnibus short anime adapting three of Yū-hachi's manga works (Dekai Hachi, Miseban no Spis, and Ah, Tanuki wa Mō Dame Desu), will premiere on October 5, airing within Fuji TV's Nonstop! programming block on Mondays and Fridays, as well as on Kansai TV.
SSS-Class Revival Hunter Anime Confirmed for January 2027 — With Confirmed Streaming in the Indian Subcontinent
Writer Sinnoa and artist Neida's SSS-Class Revival Hunter web novel and webtoon is getting a television anime from STUDIO fu, premiering in January 2027. Crunchyroll confirmed it will stream the series worldwide excluding most of Asia, but with availability specifically confirmed in the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, and Singapore. This is a genuinely important detail for our Indian readers, since it's one of the clearest, most specific confirmations of Indian streaming access we've seen for a new title this week — flagged in this section because it's such a direct and unambiguous confirmation, but repeated again in our India section below for visibility.
📚 Manga News
Jujutsu Kaisen Creator Draws New Art for the Franchise's Final Exhibition
Gege Akutami, creator of Jujutsu Kaisen, personally illustrated a new piece of art on August 30 depicting Yuta Okkotsu and Rika ahead of the franchise's upcoming Final Exhibition. It's a small but meaningful gesture from a creator who has remained relatively private since the manga's conclusion, and it arrived in the same general window as continued excitement around the Jujutsu Kaisen Season 4 teaser visual, which reminded fans of Sukuna's ominous "something interesting" line from earlier in the story.
The Long Summer of August 31 Manga Gets Both a TV Anime and a Live-Action Series
Ikkado Ito's manga The Long Summer of August 31 is being adapted twice over — once as a television anime, and separately as a live-action series. Dual adaptations of a single manga into both animated and live-action formats within the same announcement window remain relatively rare, so this is a notable vote of confidence in the source material from its publisher.
Yellow Tanabe's Kai-hen Wizards Manga Resumes Serialization
Kekkaishi creator Yellow Tanabe's newer manga, Kai-hen Wizards, resumed its regular serialization on July 29 after a hiatus, giving longtime fans of Tanabe's work new chapters to catch up on.
📖 Light Novel News
The Apothecary Diaries Author Writes an Original Story for a Brand-New Game
While this is technically a gaming announcement, it starts with the light novel side of the franchise, so it belongs here too. Original Apothecary Diaries author Natsu Hyuga is credited with the original concept behind a completely new story being developed for The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother, a mystery adventure game announced this week (full details in our Games section below). It's worth noting for light novel readers specifically because this isn't simply a game retelling existing novel content — it's new narrative material personally overseen by the person who created the world in the first place.
Black Bullet: New World Order Reboot Confirms Bi-Monthly Novel Releases
The Black Bullet franchise reboot project, titled Black Bullet: New World Order, will release two new novel volumes every month, running from November 2026 through February 2027. This gives longtime fans of the original light novel series a concentrated and rapid release schedule to look forward to over the winter.
🇰🇷 Manhwa, Manhua & Webtoon News
The Ordinary Jackpot Live-Action Adaptation Premieres on TVING
The Ordinary Jackpot, a live-action series based on a web novel and webtoon of the same name, follows a burned-out department manager who wins the lottery. It premiered on the Korean streaming platform TVING on September 10, with its first two episodes released exclusively on the service. This is a useful reminder that webtoon adaptations aren't limited to anime — Korean live-action television continues to be a major destination for popular webtoon source material.
2026 K-Comics Origin Los Angeles — Korean Webtoon Experience Exhibition Opens
The Korean Culture Center Los Angeles, working alongside the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), is hosting the 2026 K-Comics Origin Los Angeles – Korean Webtoon Experience Exhibition from September 11 through October 17. The exhibition explores how Korean comics evolved into the modern webtoon format, and its opening day on September 11 features an appearance from Dong-geun Joo, the creator of the enormously popular All of Us Are Dead. For anyone in the Los Angeles area with an interest in webtoon history and culture, this is a genuinely rare opportunity to see the medium's development covered in a dedicated physical exhibition space.
🌏 Worldwide News
Crunchyroll Reveals Its Full New York Comic Con 2026 Lineup
Crunchyroll announced its complete panel schedule for New York Comic Con 2026, which runs from October 8 through October 11 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The lineup is genuinely stacked. The Crunchyroll Showcase kicks things off on Thursday, October 8 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 405, promising sneak peeks, studio spotlights, and surprise announcements.
On Friday, October 9 at 12:15 p.m. in Room 409, a dedicated Apothecary Diaries panel presented by Crunchyroll and NTV will feature Aoi Yuki, the Japanese voice of Maomao, alongside Takeo Otsuka, the Japanese voice of Jinshi. The pair will discuss their work on the anime and recreate scenes live on stage — a lovely way to build anticipation just one week after Season 3 premieres on October 2.
Later that same day, at 6:30 p.m. in Room 405, a Sentenced to Be a Hero panel titled "Reflecting on Season 1" will bring together original light novel author Rocket Shokai, original illustrator Mephisto, and voice actors Yohei Azakami (Xylo) and Mayu Iizuka (Teoritta) for a talk session and a live dubbing performance. This panel doubles as a celebration of the fact that Season 2 of the series was recently confirmed.
On Saturday, October 10 at 12:45 p.m. on the Empire Stage, Black Clover Season 2 gets a special screening and live dubbing session featuring Gakuto Kajiwara and Dallas Reid, the Japanese and English voices of Asta respectively, marking the character's return to new episodes after nearly five years away.
Beyond the panels, the Crunchyroll booth (#1653) will offer a Black Clover photo opportunity and a Witch Hat Atelier-themed interactive experience, while a dedicated Crunchyroll Manga booth (#1643) will let attendees browse the platform's growing manga catalog on tablets to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Crunchyroll Manga app, which originally launched at last year's NYCC.
Detective Conan's 30th Anniversary Gets Its Most Ambitious Special Yet
Detective Conan's 30th anniversary celebrations took a genuinely creative turn this week. During a livestreamed anniversary program, the franchise confirmed two separate projects that have occasionally been mixed up in coverage because they were announced on the same day and both involve murders — but they are, in fact, two distinct pieces of content.
The first is Detective Conan: 30-Gō Satsujin Jiken (translated roughly as The Number 30 Murder Case, and referred to by some outlets as The Counterfeit Case of Ultra 30), a two-hour television special airing in Japan on September 25 at 9:00 p.m. on Yomiuri Television and the wider Nippon TV network, broadcasting in the "Kinyō Roadshow" slot usually reserved for films. This is the franchise's first two-hour special in ten years — a genuinely significant format for a series that typically works in half-hour weekly episodes. Actress Elaiza Ikeda (known for live-action roles including Doronjo and Sadako) joins as a guest voice cast member, and Takeharu Sakurai wrote the completely original script.
The second, and arguably more novel, project is Misohitojima no Satsujin (The Misohitojima Murder Case), an original anime special designed to let the audience itself attempt to deduce the culprit before the reveal — a first for the franchise. Director Yasuichirō Yamamoto reportedly conceived the concept more than two decades ago after being inspired by an armchair-detective drama, and finally got approval to make it happen as part of the 30th anniversary slate. Frequent franchise contributor Takahiro Ōkura, who also wrote for Lupin the 3rd Part 6, handled the script. No specific air date for this interactive special had been confirmed as of this week, separate from the September 25 date locked in for the two-hour special.
🇮🇳 Anime & Manga News in India
This week's India-specific news is more modest than some recent weeks, but there is one genuinely concrete and useful confirmation worth flagging clearly for readers here.
SSS-Class Revival Hunter Confirmed for Streaming in the Indian Subcontinent
As mentioned above in our anime section, Crunchyroll has confirmed that SSS-Class Revival Hunter — the upcoming anime adaptation of Sinnoa and Neida's web novel and webtoon, premiering January 2027 — will stream worldwide with specific confirmed availability in the Indian subcontinent, alongside Indonesia and Singapore. This is exactly the kind of concrete, dated confirmation that Indian anime and webtoon fans deserve to hear clearly, rather than simply assuming a "worldwide excluding parts of Asia" release automatically includes India. In this case, it explicitly does.
Continuing Availability of Major Fall 2026 Titles on Existing Platforms
While no major new India-specific licensing or dubbing announcements were confirmed during this particular week, it's worth reiterating for context that titles previously confirmed for Indian availability continue moving toward their release dates on schedule. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3, for example, remains on track for its October 2 premiere on Crunchyroll, a platform that operates in India, though readers should always check the app directly for their specific regional catalog rather than assuming blanket availability. We did not find any specific new statement this week confirming Indian streaming rights, dubbing, or regional pricing changes tied to Season 3, so we're deliberately not claiming anything beyond what Crunchyroll's general India operations already suggest.
We want to be transparent with our readers: this was a genuinely quieter week for India-specific anime and manga news compared to some other recent weeks that included convention announcements or dedicated dubbing reveals. Rather than stretch general global news into an artificial "India angle," we've focused this section on the one clearly confirmed, dated piece of information we found. We'll continue to search closely every week and will flag bigger India-specific developments — cinema releases, new dubs, convention news, or licensing deals — the moment they're officially confirmed.
🎮 Anime, Manga & Webtoon Games
The Apothecary Diaries Announces Its First-Ever Console Game
This was one of the most creatively interesting announcements of the week. During the September 9 Nintendo Direct broadcast, Koei Tecmo revealed The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother, the franchise's first-ever console video game. It's scheduled for release in early 2027 on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.
What makes this announcement stand out is that it isn't simply a retelling of existing anime or novel content. The game features a brand-new mystery story developed from an original concept by series creator Natsu Hyuga herself, described in official materials as: "A palace mystery where medicine and deduction reveal everything. A new story in which 'five mysteries' and 'five curses' intertwine. What is the truth behind the 'false imperial brother' that Maomao ultimately discovers?"
According to the official description, the story begins shortly after Maomao starts working as a servant within the Rear Palace, where a string of disturbing incidents — collectively known as the "Five Mysteries" — begins spreading fear among the palace's residents. These reportedly include unsettling details like a faceless eunuch, a warehouse that cries during the night, and clothing that mysteriously turns red overnight. Jinshi tasks Maomao with uncovering the truth, and the promotional footage shown during the Direct depicted Maomao investigating familiar environments while interacting with other major characters, including her friend Xiaolan.
The timing places this game as part of an extraordinary run of Apothecary Diaries content stretching from late 2026 through 2028: Season 3 of the anime premieres October 2, 2026, with its second cour following in April 2027; an original theatrical film, The Apothecary Diaries: The Movie – Bouhi no Hihou, opens in Japanese theaters on December 11, 2026; the new console game arrives in early 2027; and a live-action series starring Mana Ashida as Maomao, co-produced by Amazon Prime Video and TOHO, is set to stream worldwide on Prime Video in 2028. It's genuinely rare to see a single franchise expanding this aggressively and across this many mediums within such a tight timeframe, and it speaks to just how far The Apothecary Diaries has grown since its original 2023 debut — the combined novel and manga series has now surpassed 57 million copies in circulation worldwide.
🎉 Events, Anniversaries & Special Projects
Attack on Titan Day Café Continues Through October
As a reminder for anyone hoping to visit in person, the Attack on Titan themed café that opened in Japan on September 3 will continue running through October 12, 2026, overlapping neatly with the newly registered Attack on Titan Day on September 9.
hololive's Year-Long 10th Anniversary Countdown Begins
As covered above, the September 7 announcement of the Odeholo TV anime project effectively marks the opening of a full year of hololive 10th-anniversary celebrations, building toward the actual anniversary date of September 7, 2027. Expect additional flagship project reveals throughout the year, with the next confirmed milestone being the September 23 information stream that will finally reveal what "Odeholo" actually stands for.
Korean Webtoon Culture Gets a Dedicated Los Angeles Exhibition
The K-Comics Origin exhibition covered in our manhwa section above deserves a second mention here specifically as a cultural event — it represents one of the more substantial physical showcases of Korean webtoon history to appear in North America, running for over a month and including a creator appearance from one of the medium's most recognizable names.
📅 Releases & Important Dates
- September 9, 2026 — Attack on Titan Day livestream at 21:30 JST featuring Yuki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa, and Hiro Shimono; 99-hour free manga campaign on Magazine Pocket runs until 2:59 a.m. September 13.
- September 10, 2026 — The Ordinary Jackpot live-action series premieres on TVING (South Korea).
- September 11 – October 17, 2026 — 2026 K-Comics Origin Los Angeles Korean Webtoon Experience Exhibition runs at the Korean Culture Center Los Angeles.
- September 23, 2026 — hololive's "Odeholo" TV anime full reveal stream, 8:00–9:00 p.m. JST.
- September 25, 2026 — Detective Conan: 30-Gō Satsujin Jiken two-hour anniversary special airs on Nippon TV/Yomiuri TV at 9:00 p.m. JST.
- October 2, 2026 — The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 premieres.
- October 4, 2026 — Reborn as a Space Mercenary premieres on Tokyo MX.
- October 5, 2026 — Yūsanchi! from Yū-hachi omnibus short anime premieres.
- October 7, 2026 — New Magic Knight Rayearth anime debuts.
- October 8 – 11, 2026 — New York Comic Con 2026, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, featuring Crunchyroll's full panel lineup.
- October 9, 2026 — A Certain ITEM of Dark Side premieres.
- October 13, 2026 — Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle Cour 2 premieres.
- December 11, 2026 — The Apothecary Diaries: The Movie – Bouhi no Hihou opens in Japanese theaters.
- Early 2027 — The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother launches on Switch 2, Switch, PS5, and Steam.
- January 2027 — SSS-Class Revival Hunter anime premieres, confirmed for streaming in the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, and Singapore.
- April 2027 — The Apothecary Diaries Season 3, second cour, premieres.
- 2028 — The Apothecary Diaries live-action series, starring Mana Ashida, premieres worldwide on Amazon Prime Video.
🔎 What to Watch for Next
Two dates stand out as the most important things to keep an eye on in the immediate future. First, September 23 will finally answer the "Odeholo" mystery, revealing what hololive's first television anime actually is, who it will feature, and what its true title means. Given how tightly Cover has controlled information so far, expect this reveal to generate a significant amount of discussion regardless of what the answer turns out to be.
Second, September 25 brings Detective Conan's two-hour anniversary special to Japanese television, marking the franchise's first special of this length in a full decade. Keep an eye out separately for a confirmed air date on the audience-participation Misohitojima no Satsujin special, which remains one of the more genuinely novel format experiments any long-running anime has attempted in recent memory.
Beyond that, the Fall 2026 season is now close enough that nearly every major franchise is locking in final trailers, cast additions, and premiere dates — expect the pace of announcements to accelerate significantly heading into early October, especially around New York Comic Con.
📰 Weekly Summary
This was a week defined less by a single explosive announcement and more by franchises reflecting on their own histories while simultaneously planning ambitious futures. Attack on Titan received a formal, government-recognized commemorative day nearly a decade after its story concluded. hololive took its biggest step yet from livestreaming into traditional television. Detective Conan, thirty years into its run, found a genuinely new format to celebrate with. And The Apothecary Diaries continued an almost unprecedented multi-format expansion spanning anime, film, video games, and live-action television across the next two years. For our readers in India, this week's confirmed news was more limited than usual, but the SSS-Class Revival Hunter streaming confirmation is a concrete, useful piece of information worth remembering as January 2027 approaches. We'll be back next week with another full roundup — see you then.
0 Comments