Haruko Ichikawa announces Cosmic Mimimi manga for November

Kodansha's monthly Afternoon magazine has announced that Haruko Ichikawa will launch a new manga titled Cosmic Mimimi (コズミック・ミミミ) in the magazine's next issue on November 25. The announcement describes the series as a “neo kawaii sci-fi” story about Mimimi, a character living in a cool, dreamy city whose goal is to make everyone happy. ¹

Ichikawa is best known internationally for Land of the Lustrous (宝石の国), the manga she began in Afternoon in 2012. Kodansha published its 13th and final collected volume in November 2024, while the manga itself ended in April that year. Cosmic Mimimi therefore marks Ichikawa's first announced new serial since that long-running work concluded. ¹

The announcement gives the new manga's Japanese title as コズミック・ミミミ and credits Ichikawa and Kodansha. It does not announce an anime adaptation or an English-language release. The November 25 date is the Japanese magazine debut reported from the December issue of Afternoon, rather than a worldwide launch date. ¹²

What we know

Cosmic Mimimi is set in a city described as cool and dreaming, with Mimimi pursuing a mission to make everyone happy. The deliberately playful premise and the “neo kawaii sci-fi” label suggest a different surface from the darker mineral fantasy of Land of the Lustrous, although the announcement does not yet provide enough detail to judge how the two series will compare.

The available announcement artwork shows a group of rounded white figures alongside colourful, bow-wearing characters, with the launch date printed across the bottom. The image is credited via Comic Natalie to the announcement material, with copyright attributed to Haruko Ichikawa and Kodansha. ¹²

Our opinion

The most interesting part of this announcement is not simply that Ichikawa has a new manga; it is the sharply defined promise behind it. “Neo kawaii sci-fi” is a concise signal that Cosmic Mimimi intends to be cute, strange and speculative at the same time, while the mission to make everyone happy gives the series an immediately readable emotional hook. That is enough to make the November debut worth watching without pretending the early announcement has revealed more than it has.

For now, readers should treat November 25 as the Japanese magazine launch date. More details about the cast of characters, collected volumes, overseas licensing or any screen adaptation will need to come from Kodansha or later reporting.

Source reporting identifies the December issue of Afternoon as the announcement's origin, with the launch scheduled for the following issue. ¹