Weekly Anime, Manga, Light Novel & Manhwa News: September 20 - September 27, 2026
Published: September 27, 2026
This week's roundup covers everything confirmed between September 20 and September 27, 2026, and it's a genuinely packed one for India specifically. Crunchyroll made one of its more substantial India library expansions of the year, One Piece wrapped up its 2026 broadcast batch on a massive cliffhanger, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure landed in the middle of a music controversy nobody saw coming. We're also covering a manga mystery that finally got solved after four years, a batch of Fall 2026 anime locking in their final trailers and cast details, a schedule shakeup that moved a whole show to a different streaming service overnight, and the usual spread of light novel, manhwa, and industry news from around the world. Our India section this week is genuinely substantial — not padded, just a legitimately strong week for confirmed Indian streaming news — so we've given it the space it deserves. As always, we only report what's been officially confirmed, we clearly separate background context from this week's actual developments, and we don't guess at Indian availability unless a platform has said so directly. Let's get into it.
🔥 Biggest News of the Week
One Piece Closes Out Its 2026 Broadcast on a Massive Cliffhanger — and India Gets a Huge Library Boost the Same Week
One Piece Episode 1180, titled "Elbaph in Despair – Diabolical Covenant, 'Domi Reversi,'" aired in Japan on September 27, closing out the first half of the Elbaph Arc and marking the anime's final new episode of its 2026 broadcast year. Toei Animation released the first teaser trailer for the episode on September 21, showing Luffy, Zoro, and Nami facing increasingly dire circumstances as the arc barrels toward its climax, with the title alone strongly hinting that the conflict on Elbaph is about to take a much darker turn following the previous episode's reveal that Imu had taken control of Gunko.
Here's the important context for why this particular episode carries extra weight: under the reduced 26-episodes-per-year schedule that Toei Animation and producer Ryūta Koike put in place starting this year, the anime is intentionally taking more time per episode to let it "incorporate more content, tempo, and pacing of the manga." That means Episode 1180 wraps up the first of two planned 13-episode cours for the Elbaph Arc, and the story won't return with new episodes until sometime in 2027, when the second half of the arc is expected to air. The episode streamed on Crunchyroll on September 27, with Netflix picking it up the following Saturday, October 3.
And then, on the same day the finale aired, Crunchyroll dropped a genuinely significant piece of news specifically for India: the platform confirmed it has added the first 325 episodes of the One Piece anime to its Indian library, both with English subtitles and English dubs. This gives Indian viewers — whether brand-new to the series or longtime fans wanting to revisit the earliest chapters of Luffy's journey — direct, immediate access to a massive stretch of the show's history in one place, rather than needing to hunt across multiple sources. We've broken this down in full detail in our India section below, because it's one of the more consequential library additions Crunchyroll has made for the Indian market this year.
A Four-Year Manga Mystery Finally Gets Solved — Gantz's Hiroya Oku Confirms He Secretly Wrote Thunder 3
This is one of those stories that's been simmering in the background of the manga world for years and finally got its answer this week. On September 24, Hiroya Oku — the creator of Gantz, Inuyashiki, and GIGANT — posted on X confirming what a large portion of the manga community had already suspected: he is "Yuki Ikeda," the credited creator of the sci-fi manga Thunder 3.
Thunder 3 began serialization in Monthly Shonen Magazine in May 2022 under Ikeda's name, promoted at the time by the publisher as a "major new talent" making his "serialization debut." The series follows three ordinary schoolboys who discover a DVD that opens a gateway to a parallel universe, and it quickly built a following, drawing a Next Manga Awards 2022 nomination in its earliest chapters. From nearly the start, though, readers noticed the artwork's distinctive machinery, expressive faces, and sci-fi visual language bore an unmistakable resemblance to Oku's established style, and speculation that "Yuki Ikeda" was simply Oku working under a pseudonym became something of an open secret in manga circles — one that Oku and Kodansha's editorial team never directly confirmed or denied.
That changed this week. In his post, Oku wrote: "Yes. Just as everyone already knows, Yuki Ikeda is another pen name of mine. The reason I used a pen name was because revealing my name would have weakened the twist in Episode 1, so I wanted first-time readers to be as surprised as possible." He also thanked the staff behind the Thunder 3 anime adaptation, saying he watches every episode with genuine excitement and calling the manga's characters "my children."
The timing is notable: Oku made the confirmation just days before the Thunder 3 anime's Episode 12 finale, scheduled for September 30, and the anime's official X account reacted with the line "On the eve of the finale... a shocking confession!" The manga itself concluded on June 5, ending with 10 collected volumes, and Kodansha USA has been publishing it in English. This isn't the first time Oku has written under an assumed name — he actually debuted his entire career in 1988 under the pen name Kuon Yahiro when he placed as runner-up in the Young Jump Youth Manga Awards — so this reveal fits a documented pattern rather than coming completely out of nowhere.
🎬 Anime News
Steel Ball Run Returns With New Episodes — and Immediately Runs Into a Music Controversy
STEEL BALL RUN JoJo's Bizarre Adventure resumed on Netflix on September 25 with the start of its 2nd and 3rd STAGE, an 11-episode block that will run weekly on Fridays through early December, following the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7 story of Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli's cross-continental race through the American desert region known as the "Devil's Palm." The opening theme is "SPIN" by Kroi — the same band behind the openings for Sakamoto Days and Liar Game — and the block's first episode ran 47 minutes.
The controversy came with Episode 2's ending theme, "Shinukaikiruka" by Yuki Chiba, which debuted alongside the episode on September 25. According to the official credits, Chiba is listed as lyricist, with Lukasz Gottwald credited as composer and "Dr. Luke" credited as producer — both credits referring to the same person. Some fans immediately began calling for the song to be replaced once this connection became widely known, with criticism circulating on social media alongside fan-made edits proposing alternative tracks. Part of the backlash also stems from expectations set by the franchise's history: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has a long tradition of using licensed songs from outside Japan for its endings — including tracks like Yes's "Roundabout" for the Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency arcs — and some viewers had hoped Steel Ball Run would continue that same tradition in a way that didn't invite this kind of controversy.
Re:ZERO Season 4 Confirms an Extended 45-Minute Finale
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4 will conclude with an extended, 45-minute final episode — Episode 19 — airing September 30, 2026, giving the season a longer-than-usual send-off for whatever confrontation or resolution the story has been building toward across its run.
Black Clover Season 2 Reveals Its Premiere Episode Preview
Black Clover Season 2 released a preview and synopsis for its Episode 1 on September 21, giving fans their first proper look at how the story picks back up as the series returns after nearly five years away from new episodes.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Confirms Its Roadmap Through 2027
TenSura Season 4 will continue into a third cour in July 2027, and alongside that confirmation came news of a Clayman REVENGE anime adaptation set to begin in April 2027, giving the franchise's substantial fanbase a clear, dated roadmap for where the story goes next across two separate projects.
A New Code Geass Anime Is Coming — Star Chaser Aspal Announced for 2027
A new entry in the Code Geass franchise, titled Star Chaser Aspal, was announced this week for a 2027 release, with a teaser trailer, key visual, and main staff all revealed alongside the announcement. Details on where exactly this fits into the Code Geass timeline weren't specified in the initial reveal.
Now That We Draw Confirms a January 2027 Premiere With First Trailer
Now That We Draw revealed its first trailer on September 24, confirming a January 2027 release date for the anime adaptation.
The World's Strongest Witch Reveals More Cast Ahead of October 7 Debut
The World's Strongest Witch added additional cast members to its lineup this week, continuing preparations for its confirmed October 7 premiere.
Frieren Marks Its Third Broadcast Anniversary With a Special New Visual
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End released a special commemorative visual to mark the third anniversary of the anime's first broadcast, which began in September 2023 — a nice touch for a series that continues to hold a firm place among fan favorites.
Roshidere Season 2 Drops a Teaser Trailer Ahead of Its 2027 Premiere
Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian (Roshidere) Season 2 revealed a teaser trailer on September 20, confirming a 2027 premiere. Doga Kobo returns as the animation studio, but with a new director, Hiroshi Haraguchi, stepping in to replace Ryota Itoh from the first season. Yuka Yamada handles series composition and Yuhei Murota returns as character designer, with the original cast reprising their roles.
Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Wraps Up a Month-Long 20th Anniversary Music Celebration
Throughout September, the Katekyo Hitman Reborn! anime has been running "REBORN! MUSIC MONTH," a daily campaign releasing creditless versions of the series' past opening and ending sequences on its official YouTube channel to celebrate the anime's 20th anniversary. This week saw the release of the eighth and final opening, featuring "LISTEN TO THE STEREO!!" by Going Under Ground, on September 24, followed by the fifteenth ending featuring "Famiglia" by D-51, and finally the sixteenth and last ending, featuring "Canvas" by +Plus (originally used in Episodes 191–203). These sequences had previously only been available on physical home video releases and had never been officially posted online before this campaign, which began September 1 with a 25-song playlist covering the show's full musical history.
Mushoku Tensei Releases a Bonus Light Novel Excerpt Tied to the Season 3 Finale
Following the Season 3 finale (Episode 13, which aired September 20 as previously previewed), the production shared Old Rudeus' full diary entry sourced from Light Novel Volume 15, giving fans additional context material connected directly to the emotional beats of the finale.
Roadmap Notes: A Wave of January 2027 Premieres Locking In
Several other titles confirmed January 2027 premiere windows or key promotional material this week: The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage's Carefree Life in Another World confirmed a January 2027 release with a teaser trailer and main cast reveal on September 17 (just prior to this week but relevant as very recent context), and the 7th Be Forever Yamato film, Yamato yo Towa ni: Rebel 3199 – Nijiiro no Rinne, had its main trailer unveiled by Bandai Namco Filmworks, confirming an October 30, 2026 theatrical opening.
📚 Manga News
The Hiroya Oku / Thunder 3 Story, Covered Above, Doubles as This Week's Biggest Manga News
We've covered the full details of this story in our biggest news section above, since it's arguably as much a manga industry story as it is general anime news — a rare, confirmed case of a major, established creator successfully concealing his identity behind a pen name for over four years across an entire serialized run.
📖 Light Novel News
Roshidere's Light Novel Roots Get Fresh Attention With the Season 2 Teaser
As covered above, Roshidere's anime is based on the light novel series written by SunSunSun with illustrations by Momoco, with Yen Press handling the English-language license for both the novels and the separate manga adaptation illustrated by Saho Tenamachi. The Season 2 teaser gives light novel readers a fresh reason to revisit the source material ahead of the sequel's 2027 arrival.
Mushoku Tensei's Light Novel Volume 15 Gets Direct Tie-In Content
As mentioned above, the release of Old Rudeus' diary excerpt sourced from Light Novel Volume 15 is a nice example of a light novel's specific volume getting a direct, dated promotional spotlight tied to a real-world anime broadcast moment.
🇰🇷 Manhwa, Manhua & Webtoon News
This was another comparatively quiet week specifically for new manhwa, manhua, or webtoon adaptation announcements, platform launches, or licensing deals that met our verification bar for the September 20–27 window. We'd rather say that plainly than manufacture filler content in this category. The strongest webtoon-adjacent story from recent weeks — the Sekiro: No Defeat anime, based on the FromSoftware game and confirmed for Crunchyroll India — is covered in our India section below, since its most recent confirmed update this week was specifically about Indian streaming rights.
🌏 Worldwide News
With Vengeance, Sincerely, Your Broken Saintess Season 2 Moves Platforms and Premieres Early — Without Warning
This is a genuinely unusual scheduling story worth flagging. Season 2 of With Vengeance, Sincerely, Your Broken Saintess had previously been listed for an October 1, 2026 premiere on Crunchyroll. Instead, the season quietly premiered on September 23 — eight days earlier than expected — on Pluto TV's newly launched "Big A Anime" linear FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) channel in the United States, rather than on Crunchyroll as originally announced. Big A Anime launched on Pluto TV as part of a broader anime programming expansion that also includes titles like Vinland Saga and Dororo. This kind of last-minute platform and date change is uncommon enough that it's worth noting for anyone who had Crunchyroll's original October 1 date circled.
Umayuru Full Gate! Added to Anime News Network's Upcoming Database
Anime News Network formally added Umayuru Full Gate! to its official upcoming anime database this week, confirming it as a new Original Net Animation with a September 2026 release window, though the precise premiere date and streaming platform have not yet been disclosed.
🇮🇳 Anime & Manga News in India
This was a genuinely strong week for confirmed India-specific news, and we want to walk through it properly rather than rushing past it.
Crunchyroll Adds the First 325 Episodes of One Piece to Its Indian Library
As introduced above, Crunchyroll confirmed on September 25 that it has added One Piece Episodes 1 through 325 to its Indian catalog, streaming with both English subtitles and English dubs. This gives newer Indian viewers an entry point into the earliest arcs of Eiichiro Oda's story, and gives longtime fans an easy way to revisit the Straw Hat Pirates' earlier adventures without needing to track episodes down elsewhere. This addition sits alongside Crunchyroll's ongoing Elbaph Arc simulcast, which the platform began streaming in India on April 5, the same day the arc debuted in Japan — and Crunchyroll has also confirmed that it will begin streaming the English dub of the Elbaph Arc specifically (starting from Episode 1156) in India from October 20, 2026. Netflix is separately streaming the Elbaph Arc in India as well, on its own slightly delayed schedule following Crunchyroll's releases.
It's worth putting this in context: Crunchyroll has been steadily expanding its back-catalog availability of One Piece in India over the past few years, having added episodes 892 through 1077 in September 2023 and continuing from Episode 1078 that October, and having streamed the Egghead Arc in India starting in April 2024. This week's 325-episode addition is a genuinely significant expansion of just how much of the series' earliest run is now legally and easily accessible to Indian subscribers in one place.
Sekiro: No Defeat Confirmed for Crunchyroll India, January 2027
Sekiro: No Defeat, a new anime series, had its Indian streaming rights formally confirmed this week for a January 2027 release window on Crunchyroll specifically in India. This formalizes and sets a clearer premiere window following an earlier notice about the project from earlier in September, giving Indian fans of the source game a concrete platform and rough timeframe to look forward to.
One Piece's Broader India Streaming Picture Remains Strong
Between the new 325-episode back-catalog addition, the ongoing Elbaph Arc simulcast, the upcoming October 20 English dub rollout for the arc, and Netflix's parallel India availability, One Piece is arguably one of the best-served anime franchises for Indian fans right now in terms of sheer breadth of legal access across formats and languages.
We did not find additional major new India-specific dubbing, theatrical, or convention announcements confirmed specifically within this September 20–27 window beyond what's detailed above — but this week's One Piece and Sekiro news alone represents a substantial and genuinely useful update for Indian readers, so we're not stretching to manufacture more.
🎉 Events, Anniversaries & Special Projects
Katekyo Hitman Reborn!'s Month-Long 20th Anniversary Campaign Concludes
As detailed in our anime section, "REBORN! MUSIC MONTH" wrapped up its central run of daily creditless theme song releases this week, giving longtime fans a genuinely thoughtful anniversary gift by finally making previously home-video-exclusive opening and ending sequences available on YouTube for the first time.
Frieren's Third Anniversary Visual
Also mentioned above, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End marking its third broadcast anniversary with a dedicated new visual is a small but meaningful gesture from a production that continues to maintain an unusually devoted fanbase years after its debut.
📅 Releases & Important Dates
- September 20, 2026 — Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 finale (Episode 13) airs; Roshidere Season 2 teaser trailer released.
- September 21, 2026 — Black Clover Season 2 Episode 1 preview and synopsis revealed; One Piece releases first teaser trailer for Episode 1180.
- September 23, 2026 — With Vengeance, Sincerely, Your Broken Saintess Season 2 premieres unexpectedly on Pluto TV's Big A Anime channel.
- September 24, 2026 — Hiroya Oku confirms he is Thunder 3's "Yuki Ikeda"; Now That We Draw reveals first trailer; Katekyo Hitman Reborn! releases final opening in its anniversary campaign.
- September 25, 2026 — STEEL BALL RUN JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd and 3rd STAGE premieres on Netflix; Crunchyroll adds One Piece Episodes 1–325 in India.
- September 27, 2026 — One Piece Episode 1180 airs in Japan and streams on Crunchyroll, closing out the anime's 2026 broadcast batch.
- September 30, 2026 — Re:ZERO Season 4 concludes with an extended 45-minute Episode 19; Thunder 3 anime finale (Episode 12) airs.
- October 3, 2026 — One Piece Episode 1180 streams on Netflix.
- October 7, 2026 — The World's Strongest Witch premieres.
- October 20, 2026 — Crunchyroll begins streaming the One Piece Elbaph Arc's English dub (from Episode 1156) in India.
- October 30, 2026 — 7th Be Forever Yamato film, Yamato yo Towa ni: Rebel 3199 – Nijiiro no Rinne, opens in theaters.
- January 2027 — Roughly ten different titles confirmed premiere windows this month, including Sekiro: No Defeat (Crunchyroll India), Now That We Draw, and The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage's Carefree Life in Another World.
- April 2027 — Clayman REVENGE anime begins.
- July 2027 — TenSura Season 4's third cour continues.
- 2027 — One Piece Elbaph Arc's second cour returns (exact date TBA); Code Geass: Star Chaser Aspal, Roshidere Season 2 premiere.
🔎 What to Watch for Next
The most immediate thing worth following is how the Steel Ball Run ending theme controversy develops — whether Netflix or the production committee responds to the fan backlash in any way over the coming episodes, or whether the song stays in place for the rest of the 2nd and 3rd STAGE run. Re:ZERO's extended 45-minute Season 4 finale on September 30 is also worth watching closely, given how much weight the "extended episode" framing typically signals for a season's final confrontation. And for our Indian readers specifically, October 20 is a genuinely important date to have marked — that's when Crunchyroll's English dub of the One Piece Elbaph Arc begins rolling out in India, adding yet another access option on top of this week's substantial 325-episode library addition.
📰 Weekly Summary
This week's biggest throughline was really about access and revelation — Crunchyroll significantly expanded what Indian fans can legally watch of One Piece in one sitting, a four-year-old manga mystery finally got a definitive answer straight from the creator himself, and Steel Ball Run's return reminded everyone that even a beloved, long-awaited comeback can generate friction the moment music credits get scrutinized closely. One Piece itself closed its 2026 chapter on a cliffhanger dark enough that the wait for 2027's continuation is going to feel like a genuinely long one. For India, this was one of the more concretely useful weeks we've covered recently, and we'll keep tracking the October 20 English dub rollout and the Sekiro: No Defeat January 2027 window as they get closer. See you next week.
0 Comments