Marvel announced at its “Marvel Comics: House of Ideas” panel at New York Comic Con on Saturday more details about the five manga launching as part of its partnership with Kadokawa. Marvel’s executive editor of Asia originals C.B. Cebulski, Kadokawa chief editor Kenta Matsui, and Kadokawa comics editor Naofumi Mashino attended the panel and talked about the series.

The five manga launched on Kadokawa‘s KadoComi website on Sunday in Japan.

The new manga include:

Title: Iron Man: I Am Iron Man The Manga
Author(s): TERU
Summary (translated): Tony Stark, both a scientist and the president of a military weapons company. While in Afghanistan for an experiment for his company’s weapons, a terrorist attack occurs.

The first part of the first chapter is available here.

Title: Spider-Man: Shibuya Cross Line
Author(s): tokitokoro
Summary (translated): A serial murder case is happening on the outskirts of Tokyo. Haruto Hachidori is a high school student who was bitten by a spider at a small shrine, and becomes Spider-Man. As he investigates the case, he encounters Daredevil, a lawyer-hero who fights evil that cannot be punished by the law. The two are attacked by a certain person who is cruel and bent on revenge.

The first part of the first chapter is available here.

Title: Deadpool: Millionaire With a Mouth The Manga
Author(s): Hōsuke Momoi
Summary (translated): Wade Wilson (Deadpool) was once a mercenary who lived in obscurity. After joining the Avengers, he gets a complete makeover as a popular superstar beloved around the world. His merchandise is extremely popular, his bank account is overflowing, and he has become “the millionaire who always has a comeback.” In order to deal with the huge amount of commissions coming in from all over the world, he forms “Deadpool Heroes For Hire.”

The first part of the first chapter is available here.

Title: Spider-Gwen: Her Big Debut The Manga
Author(s): Ryūsei Yamada
Summary (translated): Gwen Stacy is a female high school student who was bitten by a radioactive spider and received special powers. She wears a mask as the hero Ghost Spider and protects her town every day. However, she struggles with her police officer father, and she has worries about her band activities and her high school life. She performs her acrobatic midair dance to protect her beloved town and the people in it.

The first part of the first chapter is available here.

Title: Venom: Lethal Protector The Manga
Author(s): Peperon
Summary (translated): Eddie Brock is a newspaper reporter who lost both his job and his reputation, and has hit rock bottom. He encounters a symbiote, the extraterrestrial parasite that hates Spider-Man, and they resonate so they can have their revenge against the same target. They fuse together, becoming the terrifying nemesis Venom. The door opens on this tragic revenge of a nightmarish monster.

The first part of the first chapter is available here.

Shueisha announced on July 1 that its contract with Walt Disney Japan to publish manga adaptations of Marvel Comics characters would end on September 30. Shueisha began removing five manga titles — Marvel x Shonen Jump+ Super Collaboration, Secret Reverse, Spider-Man: Octo-Girl, Spider-Man: Kizuna, and Deadpool: Samurai — from digital storefronts gradually from September 28 to 30, and is ceasing the sales of the same manga titles in physical print volumes. All five of these manga have ended their serializations.

Sho-Pro Books’ (Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions) contract to publish Marvel Comics titles in Japanese ended this year on March 31.

Marvel had announced on July 16 that Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski would move on from the EiC role and become the editor of “Asia Originals” for Marvel. Veteran editor Stephen Wacker is the new Editor-in-Chief.

Marvel and WEBTOON Entertainment are partnering to launch a new “Marvel Comics” app on November 16, offering digital access to Marvel’s library of current and classic comics. Marvel has additionally announced that its Marvel Unlimited service, which launched in November 2007, will end service in December.

Sources: Kadocomi, The Beat (D. Morris)

TOHO animation began streaming a character trailer on Saturday for The Apothecary Diaries: The Late Lady’s Treasure (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Bо̄hi no Hihо̄), the upcoming film for the anime based on Hyuganatsu and Touko Shino‘s The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) light novel series. The trailer highlights Jinshi and Maomao.

TOHO animation will reveal more character videos over the next three days: for the Mi clan on October 12, for the Kaja Troupe on October 13, and for Ruo Qing and Yi Shan on October 14 (all name romanizations not confirmed).

Crunchyroll announced on Thursday it has acquired the North American and worldwide rights (excluding Asia but including India) to the film. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will announce the release date at a later time.

The film will open in theaters in Japan on December 11 and feature a brand-new story by the original novel series’ author Hyuganatsu. Mariya Ise joins the cast as Mu Qing (English romanization not confirmed).

The story follows Maomao and Jinshi as they travel to the hometown of a concubine who died five years ago in the imperial harem, to return her remains to her homeland. There, they encounter pirates, hidden treasures, the secret of the Empress’ remains, and a mysterious boy who holds the key to the story.

The third television anime season premiered on October 2 at 11:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. EDT) in the “Friday Anime Night” programming block on NTV and 29 affiliated channels for its first cours (quarter of a year), and its second cours will premiere in April 2027.

The anime’s first season premiered in October 2023 with the first three episodes, and aired for two cours. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan and is also streaming an English dub.

The second anime season premiered in January 2025 on Nippon TV‘s FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT programming block, and aired for two consecutive cours. Crunchyroll is streaming the second season, and it is also streaming an English dub.

J-Novel Club publishes the novel series digitally, and it describes the story:

In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there.

Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That’s her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao’s façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor’s favorite consort… so she can taste the lady’s food for poison!

Hyuganatsu began serializing the story on the “Shōsetsuka ni Narō” (Let’s Become Novelists) website in October 2011. Shufunotomo began publishing the novels in print volume with illustrations by Shino in August 2014. Nekokurage launched an ongoing manga adaptation in Square Enix‘s Monthly Big Gangan magazine in May 2017. Square Enix Manga & Books is releasing the manga adaptation in English. The company is also publishing the novels in print. Viz Media is releasing Minoji Kurata‘s separate manga adaptation titled The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace.

Source: Apothecary Diaries anime’s website, Comic Natalie

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.

The organizers of the Yuriten (Yuri Fair) exhibition announced on Sunday that they have canceled the first of Yuriten’s planned 10th anniversary events next weekend, after yuri manga creators criticized the event’s use of AI-generated imagery in promotional material. The “Yuriten 10th Anniversary Restart Campaign in Ikebukuro” event would have been a free kickoff event in front of the Hareza Ikebukuro complex in Tokyo on October 17 and 18.

The organizers had posted an announcement about the event on social media on Friday. Hours later, they posted again to acknowledge the use of generative AI in that announcement’s visual, the decorations at the event itself, and some of the organizers’ other promotions and services. They said that they will not use generative AI in future Yuriten exhibitions or their promotional images.

Both posts generated criticism from artists and fans. Bloom Into You manga creator Nio Nakatani responded that, as someone who had taken part in past Yuriten exhibtions, she found the use of AI-generated imagery both confounding and disappointing. Yukiko (Futaribeya: A Room for Two) mused about not working with the organizers again for this and other reasons. Yayoi Osawa (Hello, Melancholic!) noted that Yuriten used AI despite being surrounded by many creators over the past decade.

Lilium, the company behind Yuriten which also runs a yuri book cafe, posted a new statement on Sunday to apologize to the creators, fans, and all those involved for the initial announcement post. Lilium said it contracted another company to manage and promote the event, and cited shortcomings in its own vetting process for letting the image be posted.

Lilium promised to review and strengthen its vetting process and management of outside contractors. It added that it will maintain its policy of not using generative AI internally and be more thorough in enforcing this policy on outside contractors.

Lilium deleted the event’s initial announcement post shortly thereafter on Sunday, and confirmed that it canceled the event after multiple discussions within the company.

Yuriten launched with an exhibition at the now-defunct Ikebukuro Marui department store in Tokyo on February 22-28, 2016. The following year’s exhibition teased an upcoming anime of Hiromi Takashima‘s Kase-san and… manga. Organizers canceled their 2018 exhibition five days before its planned launch at Ikebukuro Marui, after explaining that it would have been difficult for all of its creators to participate at that store. The organizers moved the exhibition to a new Tokyo venue later that year.

Source: Yuriten’s X/Twitter account, Nio Nakatani, Yukiko, Yayoi Osawa via Yuri Network News, helixu on Reddit