NEWS
GIFTS WEEK 2026: GIFTS FOR ANIME AND MANGA FANS
Art Books, Box Sets, Deluxe Editions, and More!
Posted by Brigid Alverson on September 8, 2026 @ 9:24 am CT
2026 was a great year for manga, and as the audience continues to mature, publishers are offering not only high-end editions but classic manga and alternative formats that would never have been published in English a decade ago. Here’s a look at what’s coming just ahead of the holiday season.
Kei Urana’s Gachiakuta was one of Kodansha’s top selling manga in comic shops in 2025 (see “2025 Was Kodansha’s Best Year in Comic Shops”), it continues to sell well in both the direct market and the book channel. For those who are late to the party, the Gachiakuta Dumpster Season 1 Manga Box Set collects the first 10 volumes of the series, which is rated 16+, with premium covers, and a manga tote bag made from recycled material. The box set will go on sale on October 13 with an MSRP of $149.99.
The first volume of Jujutsu Kaisen was the top selling manga through ComicHub in the first half of 2026, showing that new readers are continuing to come to the series in large numbers, even though the series ended in May with Vol. 30. For those who want to binge, VIZ Media is publishing the Jujutsu Kaisen Complete Box Set, which includes Vols. 1-30 and Vol. 0 of the series, which is rated Teen Plus, along with a double-sided poster. The box set will go on sale on October 27 with an MSRP of $370.
Kodama Tales launched earlier last year with the classic martial arts manga Baki the Grappler (see “New Manga Startups Roll Out Ambitious Catalogs”). Now they are offering the first 16 volumes as two boxed sets of eight volumes each. This is a Perfect Edition, with a higher page count and larger trim size (about 8” x 5”) than most paperback manga as well as little extras such as French flaps. Both box sets include an exclusive shikishi board and have an MSRP of $179.99; the Baki the Grapple (Perfect Edition)
Black Jack is back! The Kodansha imprint Vertical published Osamu Tezuka’s series about a rogue doctor in the late 2000s, is bringing back the series in a more deluxe format, with a limited selection of stories in three hardcover volumes. Black Jack Deluxe Edition 1, due out on November 3, is a collection of stories that are being published in color for the first time in English, along with selected archival material. MSRP is $54.95. The second and third volumes are in black and white and contain Tezuka’s own favorite stories; both are priced at $49.95 and book 2 will be released on December 1.
Dark Horse adds to its library of Gou Tanabe’s adaptations of the works of H.P. Lovecraft with The Dunwich Horror Deluxe Edition, a 650-page, 7” x 10” hardcover with a street date of November 3 and an MSRP of $49.99.
This is a new category this year, as manga publishers expand into different formats. There are two picture book series coming this fall that are quite different from one another.
VIZ Media will release three horror picture books on October 20: A Bad Book, by Miyuki Miyabe and Hisanori Yoshida; Is It There or Not, by Natsuhiko Kyogoku and Naoko Machida; and Looking at Me, by Soshichi Tonari with art by Junji Ito. All three are 32-page hardcovers, rated Teen and priced at $19.99, and all three have a similar unnerving vibe.
On a cheerier note, Kodansha is about to launch the Cells at Work Picture Book series, by Kumi Makumura, based on the popular manga series by Akane Shimizu. These picture books are actually manga, with panels and word balloons, but they also have simple layouts that young readers can follow, and they are rated for ages 6 to 9. Like the originals, they explain how the body works by representing cells as cute characters and showing how they work together. The first volume, The Great Bacteria vs. White Blood Cell Battle, will be released on September 15, followed by The Dastardly Duo of Flu and Food Poisoning on December 15 and, something to keep in mind for the new year, I’m Not Scared of Shots! on March 16, 2027. All three are 32-page, full color hardcovers.
A new anime based on Shirow Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell premiered in July on Amazon Prime, and publishers are rising to the occasion. Earlier this year, Kodansha published The Ghost in the Shell Legacy Edition Box Set(see “Kodansha to Publish Uncensored ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Box Set”), and on December 1 they will release Shirow Masamune: Artworks in the Shell, a 288-page, 9” x 11 1/2” hardcover collection of his artwork, created as a companion piece to a 2025 retrospective exhibit of his work (see “‘Ghost in the Shell’ Art Book”). MSRP is $44.99.
Dark Horse, meanwhile, is publishing three Shirow titles (see “Three Deluxe Editions of Shirow Masamune Works”). Appleseed Deluxe Edition collects the first four volumes of the manga in an 816-page, 7” x 10” hardcover with wraparound six-color cover art printed on metallic foil, four-color endpapers, and gilded page edges. It was released on September 8 with an MSRP of $69.99. Next up is Appleseed Companion Deluxe Edition, a 304-page, 7” x 10” hardcover with 132 additional pages of the manga including a short story and pages drawn for the never-completed fifth volume, along with a timeline, story notes, an interview with Shirow, and other materials. It will be released on December 8 with an MSRP of $39.99.
Sassy Cats is a cat manga with a human sensibility: Creator Yamada Murasaki reflects on her own experiences of motherhood as she watches her cat tend to her own litter of kittens, bask in the sunshine, and explore the world around her. Murasaki was known as a The manga, first published in the alternative magazine Garo in 1979-80, was Murasaki’s return to cartooning after taking time off to raise her two daughters; she followed it up with Talk to My Back,published by Drawn and Quarterly in 2022. D&Q will release Sassy Cats on November 3; the 160-page paperback will have an MSRP of $22.00.
Yen Press is publishing two volumes of short stories by Ryoko Kui, creator of Delicious in Dungeon.The Dragon School Is Atop the Mountain is a collection of short stories that blend fantasy into everyday life with the same cheeky humor as Delicious in Dungeon. The 278-page paperback is rated Older Teen and is slated for October 27 release with an MSRP of $15.00. Terrarium in a Drawer collects 33 short stories in a variety of genres and is rated Teen; the 230-page paperback will be released on November 24 with an MSRP of $15.00.
Another Yen Press title from a veteran manga-ka: In Such a Small World, by Fruits Basket creator, a slice-of-life romance about neighbors brought together by an adorable dog. Takaya is playing to her strengths here. The manga was published in two volumes in Japan, but Yen Press is combining them in a single 368-page paperback omnibus, due out on December 15 with an MSRP of $22.00.
Food is always a big part of manga and anime, and cookbooks are a logical extension of that. Kiki’s Delivery Service: The Official Cookbook offers a selection of the foods depicted or inspired by the anime, including Herring and Pumpkin Potpie, Ribbon-Shaped Witch Snacks, and Black Cat Cake Pops. The 64-page hardcover also includes a retelling of the story and stills from the film. VIZ will release it on October 27 with an MSRP of $17.00.
Takumi: A Little Japanese Bakery, also from VIZ, is a selection of 80 recipes for pastries, cakes, and other sweet treats, the sort of thing that women are always being handed by strikingly handsome men in manga. The 192-page hardcover is due out on October 27 with an MSRP of $35.00.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brigid Alverson
Contributing Editor. Alverson has been writing about comics since she launched MangaBlog in 2005. She wrote the Comics A.M. column for Robot 6 (now part of CBR), and currently edits the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. In her earlier life, she had roles at magazine and book publishers.
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