As an art form and commercial product, manga’s influence has continued to grow beyond Japan. This influence has grown worldwide, despite global releases of chapters and volumes for manga often lagging behind the original Japanese releases. However, there have been various recent initiatives to provide these manga stories to a more global audience alongside Japanese audiences in real time. Apps like MANGA Plus, Manga UP!, and K manga have all contributed to this initiative in some way. At New York Comic Con, I was able to attend a panel featuring speakers who represented these platforms—including Yūta Momiyama of MANGA Plus, Nobuhiko Muranaka of Manga UP!, and Yuta Hiraoka of K manga. Together, the three answered questions about this growing global interest in Japanese manga.

One of the most significant changes and benefits of these online manga reading apps is the sense of immediate feedback. According to Hiraoka, originally creators would have to go through licensing teams in order to understand what fans outside of Japan thought about their series. But now a lot of these apps feature comment sections where anybody can leave feedback in real time that can immediately be checked out by publishers and creators. Muranaka even commented how this is very motivating for the creators themselves while also providing a lot of immediate data on what is popular globally. Momiyama commented on how manga has the potential to rally a movement of people, even without an anime adaptation, pointing to shows like SPY x FAMILY and Kaiju No. 8, which were already significantly popular before their anime aired. The ability of these online apps to bring more fans together has only strengthened that rallying power. Hiraoka commented that this is probably due to the fact that manga is always better when everyone is reading it together because it facilitates conversations between fans. The shorter the gap between a Japanese and global release of a manga chapter, the better.

When asked if the sudden influx in global attention has affected what genres are popular, Muranaka commented that there isn’t much difference compared to how things used to be. He noted that Americans seemed to like the same things that are usually popular in Japan, and the three of them agree that some things are just sort of universally beloved, sort of like how Spider-Man is held as one of the most popular superheroes in the West and is also extremely popular in Japan. Hiraoka commented that there might be some minor differences in appeal depending on genre, like how gag manga in particular might be difficult to translate to a global audience, whereas some series like Black Torch might be a bit more popular in America compared to Japan. But overall, there has not been a significant shift in what publishers are seeing as popular despite the larger audience pool.

However, the three also made it clear that these apps aren’t just about putting out more manga that’s already been created; they’re also about fostering new talent. Kodansha‘s Manga Academy and other programs where people from all over can apply with their own series are set up in order to encourage more sparks of creativity. All three speakers emphasized the fact that they want to see more manga creators outside of Japan because they are always looking for a new series that can appeal to as many people as possible. While Hiraoka points out that the industry is not quite at a point where a manga can get serialized without it first being popular in Japan, they will always prioritize a series’ art and ability to reach people above all else. Muranaka says that there might be more manga readers in America than in Japan in the next ten years, given how significantly bigger America is compared to Japan, and Momiyama would love to see more manga creators going to the States. There was a general air of excitement during the panel about how all of these changes are only scratching the surface of how much further this industry can go. There is a lot of amazing potential out there. It’s only a matter of time before everyone is able to fully capitalize on and appreciate it.

I’ve been a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! for as long as I can remember. Of the various eras and gameplay changes that the franchise has gone through, I’m the most nostalgic for the original Duel Monsters and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX era. So I was very happy to hear that there was going to be a revamped release of Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force GX with added scenes, updated animation, and English voice acting. That game is set to come out in early 2027, but there was a special preview of the game being showcased at the Yu-Gi-Oh! booth at New York Comic Con, and I was lucky enough to give this game a try.

One of the main things I love about this game so far is just how expressive it is. When I booted up the game, I was able to pick my tag team partner and explore the overworld with them on Academy Island. The characters are represented by little chibi versions, but the character portraits are very well drawn, and the CG models that are showcased during the duels themselves have a lot of personality. The game’s speed and overall flow are very fast and kinetic, which feels like a stark difference compared to how the original Tag Force games that I grew up on used to be. I was able to squeeze in about three duels during my time, two solo duels and one tag team duel before I was timed out. While the overall format of both the deck building and the duels themselves reminds me a little bit of modern-day Master Duel, that tells me that both new and old fans are gonna be able to slip into this game rather seamlessly.

What I found most interesting about playing Tag Force was that, while it seemed like the card roster had been updated to involve a few modern cards, a majority of what was featured were cards from that era. In fact, the overall gameplay structure reverted back to how duels were during the era, which means there were no extra monster zones for Link Monsters or Pendulum cards. This is Yu-Gi-Oh! as it was played during the mid 2000s, right down to a lot of ruling changes reverting back to how things were during that time. For example, you get to draw even if you go first, which is something that you’re not allowed to do when playing the game in modern-day. What’s more, two field spells can’t exist on the field at the same time. While some people might not like the fact that this definitely doesn’t play like a modern Yu-Gi-Oh! game, I actually welcome this throwback because a part of me is nostalgic for this slower era of Yu-Gi-Oh!. The duels felt relatively balanced, and turns didn’t take an eternity to do. Even if there was a minor setback from a trap card or a strategy falling apart, it wouldn’t immediately mean that I lost the duel. While this might affect the game, acting as a good gateway to people checking out modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, I think it does a good job of easing people in.

There are a few things that I am curious about, though. It seems that the developers were able to get back most of the voice cast from the dub of the show, and in fact, some of the voice actors were actually present at the booth meeting up with people. I’m very much looking forward to this because, from what I’ve seen in trailers, this game might feature material that technically was never dubbed over in America, which means this could be the first time that I get to hear how certain characters sound in English. However, some voice actors were not able to reprise their roles, and while I can understand some recasts due to the fact that a lot of actors who worked on this show just don’t really work in the industry anymore, others were a bit questionable. Sean Schimmel, for example, does not reprise his role as Crawler in this game, despite still being active in the dubbing industry. I have no idea why the recast is there, and well, I have a lot of respect for his replacement, Billy Bob Thompson; I would be lying if you said he did a seamless voice match to the rather iconic performance that Sean did for the character. I’ll have to listen to more of it when the game officially comes out, but despite a few questionable elements, I more than enjoyed my time with this game, and I cannot wait as a die-hard Yu-Gi-Oh! fan to get my hands on it when it comes out.

Everyone is carrying baggage that informs their attitude or behavior. That theme seems to be at the heart of Here U Are, a boys’ love romance about university students who are processing a lot of external events. The series feels pretty typical, focusing on two young men with very different appearances, outlooks, and personality types, finding a sense of solidarity with each other. Huan Li is a tall, seemingly emotionless and borderline rude musician who is still processing the death of his mother, which happened just a month prior to him starting classes. He’s very emotionally withdrawn, and while he seems to have a good heart, he is definitely not good at expressing that, which led to some comedic moments that got a good laugh from the audience at New York Comic Con, where the first two episodes were previewed.

Yang Yu, in contrast, is a lot more sociable and able to read the room, given that he has a position at the university where he needs to work with or introduce a lot of students. However, he might ironically have less patience for people than even Huan Li does. I think I liked his characterization a bit more since it was clear he was projecting a lot of niceness to hide a lot of rough edges beneath the surface. What shocked me about this show is that it seems that his identity as being explicitly gay and how people treat him is at the forefront of the show. My favorite scene in the premiere was when a jerk tries to make a big deal about him being gay, but Yang Yu just comes out about it and flips it around back on the bully. Then, when he gets confronted again, Yang Yu gets frustrated and physically retaliates, saying that maybe he was too nice. The second episode ends with a little bit of a dark confrontation that might allude to a lot of the inner workings of gay culture. The last scene literally takes place at a gay bar, and Yang Yu seems to always be on the lookout for people who are trying to cause trouble for the gay community.

Despite watching and consuming a lot of boys’ love stories, very rarely do I find myself coming across a show that has the culture or explicitness of being gay brought to the forefront of the story. As a non-binary person myself, I actually found a lot of this premise very relatable, with a lot of setup for heavy subject matter to get confronted in the future. The idea of how we treat ourselves and how we treat other people inadvertently ends up shaping who we are is interesting. I like how the show is setting up that Yang Yu and Huan Li can feel a little bit vulnerable around each other and that might be the catalyst for why they get together. It’s a little basic, but the execution is incredibly solid, with a good sense of comedy and strong character dynamics that feel surprisingly real. The show wasn’t originally on my radar, but after getting a little taste, it is definitely going to be something that I am adamantly looking forward to when it comes out soon.