Big surprises are coming for all you manga readers, and we’re letting you in on all the action. The 25th issue of Weekly Big Comic Spirits from Shogakukan has enlightened fans with exciting news on Monday that Imaru Adachi (Higehiro) and HERO (Horimiya) are coming up with a one-shot project of their own called The Light that Shines on Me is My Brother’s Face (Terasu Hikari wa Ani no Omokage). The manga will be released alongside the 27th issue of the magazine on June 3rd till the 29th issue of the magazine on June 17th.
Weekly Big Comic Spirits also gave out one more surprise (because one obviously isn’t enough). GOGOGOGO-GO-GHOST!’s very own Miyako Hiruzuka is also launching a new manga series called Sayonara Diamond on June 10th in the 28th issue of the magazine. As if manga fans aren’t spoiled enough?
Similarities to the Launch of Horimiya‘s Manga
Funny enough, this is a familiar route HERO and Daisuke Hagiwara took with the Hori-san to Miyamura-kun manga—where it started only as a four-panel school comedy in Square Enix’s Monthly G Fantasy more than a decade ago. Since then, Horimiya has been one of the most well-known romantic comedies in anime. Lasting for a whole decade isn’t a joke, but the manga series achieved just that as they ran from 2011 to July 2021 with 16 whole volumes under Square Enix.
In July of 2023, Square Enix decided that Horimiya isn’t ending just yet—introducing a 17th volume of the manga called Horimiya: A Piece of Memories. The manga is published under Yen Press and showcases a couple of snapshots of the whole group including Hori and Miyamura. This aims to celebrate the finale of the original series, which it very much deserves. Hori and Miyamura’s story may be finished, but the fandom’s love continues to grow!
The anime adaptation of the series received just as much love as its manga counterpart. Released in 2021 under Funimation, the anime released 13 episodes and has won awards as a romantic and comedic series—even finishing 2nd place under the Slice of Life genre for the Anime Trending Awards. With this success, Horimiya: The Missing Pieces was released under CloverWorks and covered the best memories of their life in school. If The Light that Shines on Me is My Brother’s Face is slated to be good, then maybe we’ll see it go in a similar direction as one of its creator’s works.
What is Miyako Hiruzuka’s Sayonara Diamond Going to be About?
Sayonara Diamond is about three women who in their younger years spent a good chunk of time in their high school’s softball club. Fast forward to their 30s, these three friends open up their detective agency in Asakusa and put their adult and, quite literally, detective hats on.
Miyako Hiruzuka is the genius behind this upcoming manga and GOGOGOGO-GO-GHOST!, a series about the partnership between office worker Ushiro Akechi and Masako, a ghost from the other side who decided to help the desperate protagonist out. The manga was released in 2021 under Kodakawa’s Comic Bridge website and ended in July 2023 with 5 volumes. Yen Press is also responsible for licensing the supernatural manga and will release the first volume in English on July 23rd.