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Hideki Arai Launches New Manga on January 9
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The January 2026 issue of Kadokawa's Comic Beam magazine revealed last Friday that Hideki Arai will launch a new manga tentatively titled Pi to Po (Pi and Po) in the magazine's next issue on January 9.
本日発売のコミックビームに(仮)タイトルの予告載った〜！
— 新井英樹 Hideki Arai 新連載は1月9日(金)発売のコミックビームから！ (@arai_h_official) December 12, 2025
謎？サスペンス？…ぜひ読んでお確かめください笑
2026年1月9日(金)からスタートっす！ pic.twitter.com/08bBmPIcvn
The magazine teases the manga as a suspense drama centered on an assassin and his pet bird. The protagonist, left with only his pet sparrow after his wife died, focuses solely on his dirty work and "waiting for his mother."
Director Kenji Iwaisawa is working on Hina is Beautiful, an anime film adaptation of Arai's Hina manga. The movie does not yet have a release date, but its pilot version screened at the Cannes' Marché du Film in May 2023.
Arai's Itoshi no Irene manga previously inspired a live-action film adaptation that opened in Japan in September 2018. Arai's Miyamoto kara Kimi e (From Miyamoto to You) manga also inspired a live-action series in 2018.
Sources: Comic Beam January 2026 issue, Hideki Arai's X/Twitter account
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
