To commemorate the second anniversary of Takeru Hokazono Ken's manga "Kagurabachi ," which is currently being serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha), a special conversation was published in the magazine's 45th issue, released on October 6th, between Kohei Horikoshi and Horikoshi Kohei of " My Hero Academia (Hiroaka)," who have been friends since before the serialization of " Kagurabachi ." As a result of the conversation, an exchange of illustrations of the main characters from each other's works was also made public. Horikoshi drew Chihiro (Rokubei Chiko), the main character of " Kagurabachi," and Tonozono drew Deku (Izuku Midoriya), the main character of "Hiroaka."
A portion of Horikoshi's Chihiro was revealed on the cover of the latest 9th volume of the "Kagurabachi" comics, which went on sale on October 3rd, but now the full image has been unveiled. Issue 45 of "Weekly Shonen Jump" will include a special collaboration illustration card using the exchanged illustration as a bound-in supplement.
An advertisement featuring special visuals of "Kagurabachi" was published in the October 6th issue of the New York Times. "Kagurabachi" will be appearing in the lineup of "Kisekae" (customization) features that allow users to change the design of the barcode displayed on the home screen of the cashless payment service "PayPay." There are two designs in total, and the period is from October 6th to January 5th, 2026.
"Kagurabachi" is Tonozono's first serialized work, a sword-fighting action series that began serialization in "Weekly Shonen Jump" in September 2023. The story follows Chihiro, a boy aspiring to become a swordsmith who trains daily under his father, a swordsmith, until one day tragedy strikes... It also garnered attention after being selected as the top manga in the "Next Manga Awards 2024" comics category. The latest ninth volume of the comic was released on October 3rd, and the total number of copies sold, including the digital version, has now surpassed 3 million.