The July issue of Shogakukan’s Big Comic Original Special (Big Comic Original Zōkan) magazine announced on Friday that Naoki Urasawa will launch the new manga series Saigo no Manga Kyōshitsu (The Final Manga Classroom) in the September issue on August 12.
The announcement teased, “What’s Urasawa trying to do!? What challenge is he taking on? In an era when AI does everything …” The magazine added as its raison d’être, “It’s said that we’ve entered an era of convenience. But even in inconvenient times, there was something that sparkled because it took time to hone with two hands. To realize this, we must have the awareness to return to the past from time to time!”
Urasawa has been drawing manga since 1981. Viz Media has published Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, 21st Century Boys, Monster, and Pluto manga. He resumed his Asadora! manga in Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine in March after being on hiatus since July 2025.
Monster inspired a television anime series in 2004-2005, and 20th Century Boys inspired a live-action film trilogy in 2008-2009. Additionally, his Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl manga inspired an anime series in 1989-1992, an anime film in 1992, and an anime special in 1996. The net anime project based on Pluto debuted on Netflix in October 2023.
Viz Media also published all of Urasawa, Hokusei Katushika, and Takashi Nagasaki’s Master Keaton manga. The series inspired a television anime in 1998, and an original video anime (OVA) continuation in 2004.
Abrams ComicArts’ Kana imprint is releasing Urasawa and Nagasaki’s Billy Bat manga in English, starting with the first volume on June 2.
Source: Big Comic Original Special July issue
