On Wednesday, Takarajimasha’s revered Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook revealed its number-one choices for the best men’s and women’s manga for its 2026 edition. Heading the list in the latter category is Hanbun Kyodai, a series written and illustrated by Yoiko Fujimi. It tells the story of Kazumi Mandanda Yoneyama and her brother, children of a Black French father and a Japanese mother. Viz Media will start publishing the manga in English under the title Half is More from the summer of 2026.
According to Viz Media, “Being a mixed-race Japanese person is not easy, and that’s especially true for Kazumi Mandanda Yoneyama and her brother. Despite being born and raised in the Land of the Rising Sun and having a Japanese mother, the siblings, who share a Black French father, are treated as outsiders. But knowing they have as much right to belong as anyone else, they and their mixed-race friends search for ways to cope and find wholeness in their half-Japanese identities.”
Hanbun Kyodai, by Yoiko Fujimi / LEED Publishing. Via PR Times
Mixed Reaction to ‘Half Is More’ Among Netizens
The manga was initially serialized on Leed Publishing’s Torch Web manga website in June 2022 after Fujimi, who is mixed-race herself, conducted extensive interviews with individuals from diverse backgrounds. Her work has been praised for showing the everyday challenges many mixed-race children face in Japan. However, there has also been a backlash against it, particularly following Viz Media’s announcement in October that it had licensed the series for English publication, as some felt the decision was made just to meet diversity expectations.
While Half is More was ranked top in Takarajimasha’s women’s category, leading the way in the men’s section was Ao Kojima’s Hon Nara Uru Hodo (The More Books We Sell). First published as a one-shot manga titled “Hon o Sosoru” in Kadokawa’s Harta magazine in 2022, it’s a series of short stories centering around a cheerful, middle-aged owner of a second-hand bookstore called Jugatsudo, and his encounters with various customers. In January, Kadokawa published the manga’s first compiled book volume, followed by the second three months later.
About the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Annual Guidebook
The annual guidebook series started in 2006. That year, Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto and Hachimitsu to Kuroba (Honey and Clover) by Chica Umino topped the lists. Notable choices since then have included Hajime Isayama’s Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan), Tatsuya Endo’s Spy × Family and Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto. The list is determined by votes from a wide range of individuals, including manga artists, critics, editors and booksellers. The full guidebook for 2026, featuring the top 20 lists, is due to be released on December 15.
