Anime
‘Zatsuyou Fuyo Jutsushi ga Jibun no Saikyou ni Kizuku made’ Unveils Additional Cast, Opening Theme, Second Promo
The Crunchyroll Showcase at New York Comic Con 2026 unveiled additional cast, a second key visual (pictured right), the opening theme, and second promotional video for the television anime adaptation of Haka Tokura and Shin Arakawa‘s Zatsuyou Fuyo Jutsushi ga Jibun no Saikyou ni Kizuku made (Magical Buffs: The Support Caster Is Stronger Than He Realized!) manga on Thursday. The anime series will be broadcast on Tokyo MX, MBS, and BS11 on January 4, 2027.
Cast
Abel: Haruki Ishiya (Marriagetoxin)
Mark: Atsushi Ono (Re:Creators)
Monica: Yui Ishikawa (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Singer-songwriter LiSA (Kimetsu no Yaiba) is performing the opening theme “Ecstatic Buffer,” which previewed in the second promotional video below.
Hideki Okamoto (2.5-jigen no Ririsa) is directing the series at J.C.Staff. Takao Yoshioka (Horimiya) is handling series composition and Yuu Murakami (Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru animation director) is designing the characters. Yuuki Hayashi (Tsue to Tsurugi no Wistoria), Luke Standridge, and Asa Taylor (Jishou Akuyaku Reijou na Konyakusha no Kansatsu Kiroku.) are composing the music.
Arakawa began serializing the manga adaptation of Tokura’s action fantasy novel on the Gaugau Monster web service in September 2021. The 12th volume went on sale on August 28.
Tokura originally began writing the novel on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website in November 2020. Futabasha began publishing the light novel under its Monster Novel imprint with illustrations by Eiri Shirai in September 2021. The fourth volume went on sale on June 30.
Seven Seas Entertainment licensed both the light novel and manga in English in May 2025 and May 2024, respectively. The second novel volume shipped on June 16, with the third volume scheduled to be released on October 27. The seventh manga volume went on sale on September 22, with the eighth planned to be released on January 19, 2027.
PV 2
Source: Comic Natalie
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The MAPPA Expo 15th Anniversary exhibition shared photos of Digger star Tom Cruise (Top Gun, The Last Samurai, A Few Good Men) and director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman, The Revenant) visiting the exhibition on social media on Friday. Veteran character designer and key animator Tadashi Hiramatsu (Yuri!!! on Ice, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc) joined the two for a roundtable conversation.
Photo: ©MAPPA Co.,LTD Digger: © 2026 WARNER BROS. ENT.
Iñárritu said that his son is a huge fan of MAPPA‘s works, while Cruise marveled at the cinematic style, hair, and framing of scenes on display in the exhibition’s Jujutsu Kaisen area.
Photo: ©MAPPA Co.,LTD Digger: © 2026 WARNER BROS. ENT.
Cruise asked Hiramatsu how much of anime is drawn by hand, and Hiramatsu noted that he trained on paper and pencil. The animator observed that many in the younger generations have gone digital, but he believes that it is important to start with paper. Cruise agreed and compared this sentiment to voice recording to ensure the artist’s voice is literally and figuratively retained.
Photo: ©MAPPA Co.,LTD Digger: © 2026 WARNER BROS. ENT.
Hiramatsu said he enjoyed Digger’s camera work, color palette, music, sound effects, and Cruise’s performance so much that he asked to see the movie a second time. He then presented Cruise and Iñárritu with a Digger illustration he drew:
Photo: ©MAPPA Co.,LTD Digger: © 2026 WARNER BROS. ENT.
Cruise and Iñárritu came to Japan this week to promote the Friday opening of Digger in Japan, one week after its opening in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. (It opened in other countries throughout the world on September 30, and in Mexico on October 1.) The film stars Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons.
The MAPPA Expo 15th Anniversary exhibition is taking place at the Yurakucho Museum in Tokyo between September 16 and December 27. The exhibition will also travel to Fukuoka between January and March 2027.
This is not Cruise’s first joint foray into Japan. The actor joined his Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie in May 2025 for the Japan premiere of the film. The two posed in front of the giant Totoro plush at the Ghibli Museum.
Sources: MAPPA Expo 15th Anniversary’s X/Twitter account and website, Digger’s website, Comic Natalie
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© Naoki Urasawa / N Wood Studio, Takashi Nagasaki, 2009
The Harvey Awards, which honor outstanding work in comics and sequential art, announced the winners for this year’s awards on Friday at New York Comic Con. Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki‘s Billy Bat manga, released by Abrams ComicArts‘ Kana imprint, won the award for Best Manga. Kristi Iwashiro translates the manga.
The other nominees in the category included:
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – Akaza Sairai, My Hero Academia — Final Season, the One Piece: Into the Grand Line live-action season, and the Korean animated film Your Letter were nominated for Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel category. However, Spider-Noir won the award.
Kamome Shirahama‘s Witch Hat Atelier won the Best Manga award last year.
The Harvey Awards added the Best Manga category in 2018. Kabi Nagata‘s My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness manga won the first award in this category. Kōhei Horikoshi‘s My Hero Academia won the award in 2019, and Kamome Shirahama‘s Witch Hat Atelier won the award in 2020. Tatsuki Fujimoto‘s Chainsaw Man won the award in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Ryōko Kui‘s Delicious in Dungeon won the award in 2024.
In previous years, manga were nominated alongside other comics in the “Best American Edition of Foreign Material” category. The last manga to win the category was Hajime Isayama‘s Attack on Titan in 2014. One-Punch Man and Showa: A History of Japan (1953-1989) were nominated in 2016 but did not win. “Best American Edition of Foreign Material” is no longer a category.
Unlike the Eisner Awards and other awards in the North American comic book industry, the Harvey Awards are nominated and selected by the comic book professionals themselves.
Source: Harvey Awards’ X/Twitter account
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