U.S.-Japan anime studio N Lite has struck a co-development partnership with Japanese publishing giant Kodansha to produce a serialized manga based on its feature film “Mfinda,” with the debut set for Kodansha’s Biblio Sirius Magazine in 2026.
The manga, written by N Lite founder Christiano Terry and drawn by studio art director Tom Lintern, functions as a prequel to the “Mfinda” feature, expanding the Congolese mythology and sacred forest of spirits and gods at the center of the film. Dual protagonists Nasambi and Odi guide readers through origin stories that feed into the wider screen narrative, with N Lite and Kodansha jointly supervising the creative team across what is expected to be a multi-volume run.
The broader feature film project brings together producer Masao Maruyama (“Tokyo Godfathers”) and director Gisaburō Sugii (“Touch”), working from a story by Terry and Congolese-American artist Patience Lekien. The partnership is one of the first instances of a major Japanese publishing house co-developing manga from an original IP conceived by a global studio for its flagship local readership.
“It has been a true honor to collaborate with Kodansha, a legendary publishing house that not only helped define my creative perspective but also defined generation after generation of anime and manga,” Terry said. “The Sirius editorial team are incredible creative partners, and we’re thrilled to bring ‘Mfinda’ to the pages of Sirius magazine, uniting timeless storytelling, Congolese mythology and Japanese craft.”
“The journey of Congolese culture – crossing the Atlantic to reach America and then spanning the Pacific to evolve into anime and manga – is deeply inspiring,” added Keigo Nakama, senior editor of Kodansha’s Sirius editorial eepartment. “I am thrilled to work together to bring an exceptional project to life.”
The Biblio Sirius serialization is the opening phase of a global rollout intended to build audience reach ahead of the “Mfinda” feature’s production. The N Lite–Kodansha deal was brokered by anime consultancy Henshin, Inc.
Source: variety.com
