Kei Sanbe, the mangaka of Erased, will release a new manga in March.

As reported by Anime News Network, Sanbe, who is most well-known for their manga series Erased, will pen a new manga called Otogi no Hako no Reto. The manga, described as a “sword-fighting period drama set in the northern country,” will begin serialization in Square Enix’s Big Gangan magazine. Akan Ainu Consuln, an organization committed to “[disseminate] Ainu culture and [protect] Ainu intellectual property,” will act as the consultant for the manga. Hiroshi Hirono, the chairperson of the Akan Ainu Consuln, established the organization in 2019. Otogi no Hako no Reto releases on March 25.

How Kei Sanbe Carved Out His Career

Sanbe’s career began as a manga assistant to Hirohiko Araki, the mangaka of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. He worked with Araki for eight years before leaving to focus on his own career as a manga artist. His first work Testarotho, an action-fantasy manga, released in March 2001. He went on to work on another few series but did not see much success until he released Erased, a mystery thriller with a time traveling concept, in June 2012. Following Erased, Sanbe published two other series, including a body-switching manga called Island in a Puddle.

Serialized in Kadokawa Shoten’s Young Ace magazine, Erased or Boku dake ga Inai Machi, translating to The Town Where Only I Am Missing, follows a 29-year-old mangaka named Satoru Fujinuma who can turn back enough time to prevent a life-threatening accident from happening. However, when he finds his mother dead in his apartment, his ability, known as “Revival,” activates and sends him back 18 years into the past — when he was an 11-year-old boy, at a time when his town saw three children kidnapped and murdered. Satoru realizes he can save his mother if he can save the first kidnapped child, a quiet, isolated young girl named Kayo Hinazuki.

Erased’s Success Led to a Media Franchise

Erased garnered positive reception for its emotional storytelling and received a nomination for the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Reader Award, the 7th Manga Taishō and the Manga Taishõ the following year. Its popularity led to an anime adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures in January 2016 with a total of 12 episodes. The first live-action adaptation in the form of a film premiered in March 2016, starring Tatsuya Fujiwara (Battle Royale and Death Note) as Satoru. A year later, a second live-action adaptation, this time a web drama, released on Netflix with Yuki Furukawa (Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo) as Satoru.

The anime adaptation of Erased is available on Crunchyroll, while Yen Press licenses the English translation of the manga. Fans can read Otogi no Hako no Reto in Big Gangan magazine on March 25.

Source: Anime News Network