During
"The Legacy of Baki" panel at San Diego Comic-Con, publisher
Kodama Tales Inc., a subsidiary of Kyodo Printing Co., Ltd., announced that
it will launch Mitei Hattori's disturbing manga
Smile! (also known as Smiley). The premiere is
scheduled for January 2026.
A
disturbing story about loss, manipulation and false smiles
The story
of Smile! follows Yuushi Kamome, a journalist who
is grieving the death of his daughter and the disappearance of his wife.
Everything takes an unexpected turn when two women from a sect called the
Smiling Hearts Society arrive at his door with a flyer showing the
smiling face of his missing wife. From there, Yuushi infiltrates the
organization, unleashing a spiral of psychological terror, forced
joy, and mental manipulation.
The
recognition and trajectory of manga
The work
took second place in the category "I want the
world to know it! Most Recommended Manga" from the Rakuten
Kobo E-book Awards held in May 2024. The manga was
originally serialized in Nihonbungeisha's Weekly Manga
Goraku magazine from 2021 until its end on March
7, 2025. The 11th and final volume was published on March
28.
Kodama
Tales expands its publishing catalog
This
release is part of Kodama Tales' expansion strategy as a new
English-language manga publisher. The company has already announced that it is
working on upcoming titles with publishers such as Asahi Shimbun
Publications, Coamix, Daiwa Shobo, Hero's Inc., Nihonbungeisha, Shodensha and Shonengahosha.
