Kara Dennison
March 18, 2024 
Here at Otaku USA, we’re about all things anime and anime-adjacent. That includes indulging in the inspirations behind our favorite (and soon-to-be-favorite) anime series, be it manga, light novels or games. And with apps and ebooks at our fingertips, keeping up is easier than ever. That’s why today, we’re diving into the latest headlines and helping you keep ahead of all the big titles currently in production.
Grab this trio of manga and get ahead of the curve for some of this year’s biggest new and returning titles. Which are you most looking forward to?
The Elusive Samurai
Penned by Assassination Classroom creator Yusei Matsui, The Elusive Samurai couldn’t be more different from his last hit title. This historical fiction manga is based loosely on the life of Hojo Tokiyuki, a samurai of the Hojo clan whose family once ruled the Kamakura shogunate. With his family and legacy in tatters, he flees his home and becomes embroiled in a series of battles, rallying troops to regain his home.
An anime adaptation is currently in production from CloverWorks, set to premiere sometime this year. For now, you can catch up to the nearly 150 chapters already in print, and check in every Sunday when a new chapter of Tokiyuki’s adventure drops!
Call of the Night
A lonely teen falls in with a seemingly-teenaged vampire, attracts the attention of many other vampires and their mortal enemies, and is interested in becoming a vampire as well. But no one’s sparkling here. This is Call of the Night, Kotoyama’s hit manga about Ko, an insomniac boy who finds himself entrenched in the world of vampires and vampire hunters. If he wants to join them, he has to get one to fall in love with him.
The manga already got one season of anime and recently finished out its manga run. With the book closed (literally) on Ko and Nazuna’s story, a second season has been announced. Now is a great time to catch up to the manga, and to that first season!
Dandadan
Do you believe in the supernatural? Which kind of supernatural? That’s the disagreement that kicks off Dandadan, Yukinobu Tatsu’s hit sci-fi manga. Momo believes in ghosts, but her friend Okarun believes in aliens, and never the twain shall meet. Well, until they do. Turns out they were both right.
Science Saru is hard at work on an anime adaptation of the manga series, scheduled to kick off this October. Right now, more than 140 chapters are available on the Viz website (not the app, due to the manga’s mature rating). Jump in now and get the supernatural scoop on Momo and Okarun’s adventures!
Want something coming sooner? Catch up on these manga that inspired the spring anime season!
