These manga and comic stars are coming to the Leipzig Book Fair

Next month, the Japanese will be one of the guests of honor at the Leipzig Book Fair (March 19th – 22nd) and the Manga Comic Con, which is taking place at the same time. The organizers recently announced this.

With his current series “Mujina into the Deep”, the third volume of which was published in German by Tokyopop at the end of 2025, Inio Asano shows a side that has hardly been known from him before: It is a dystopian story enriched with an unusual amount of violence and action, set in a Japan of the near future. The main characters are outcasts without rights who try to survive as assassins – which Asano combines with the social criticism that is also familiar from his earlier works.

In Leipzig, fans can meet the artist in person at book signings, among other things. The publisher recently announced that further information on the program, panels, book signings and exclusive promotions will follow in the coming weeks.

Manga – i.e. comics from Japan as well as comics from other countries that are influenced by the local tradition – have experienced enormous growth in Germany in recent years and have now stabilized at a high level. They now make up around two thirds of the German comics market and are estimated to generate annual sales of well over 100 million euros.

Dark Fantasy von Tohru Kuramori

Another star of the manga scene who is expected to be a guest of honor in Leipzig is Tohru Kuramoricreator of the popular dark fantasy series “Centuria”, the second volume of which will be published in German by Egmont at the beginning of March.

In Leipzig, Tohru Kuramori is available for book signings, among other things, as his publisher reports. The places for this will be distributed through a lottery process; registration is currently underway via Egmont Manga’s social media channels.

As the highlight of Tohru Kuramori’s stay, his Berlin publishing house announces the public live drawing on Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m. on the Black Sofa at the Book Fair.

Boys-Love-Mangas by Fumi Tsuyuhisa

The Panini publishing house is bringing the up-and-coming duo Fumi Tsuyuhisa two more Japanese mangaka to Leipzig. The two are presenting, among other things, the new volumes of their boys love series “In the Veil of the Night” and “The Omega at the Royal Palace”. They won’t officially go on sale in Germany until April, but they are available in advance in Leipzig and will be signed there by their creators.

Shu Sakuratani and German mangaka

At Altraverse Publishing, among other things Shu Sakuratani from Japan, whose action comedy series “Rooster Fighter” also has many fans here. The seventh volume was recently published in German.

In addition to the book signings, fans can also meet the mangaka in a small group for a conversation, as the publisher announced. You can apply for this on the Altraverse homepage.

Altraverse also has many German mangaka in its program, including: Sozan Coskun will come to Leipzig and sign her works. In her manga “Kiela and the Last Conduct,” the Cologne-based illustrator devotes herself to the taboo subject of death.

Fantasy und Action

Fans of fantasy manga can rely on the Japanese illustrator Nod are pleased that the Hamburg-based Carlsen-Verlag is bringing to Leipzig this year. She is known for her five-part series “Beyond the Clouds”, the last volume of which will be published in German at the beginning of March. According to the publisher, Nicke is available for book signings and live events in Leipzig; details can be found on the Carlsen website.

The Splitter publishing house, whose new label Splitter Manga+ launched a year ago, offers additional manga guests. The Bielefeld publishing house presents the Parisian mangaka Zyad Hamani alias in Leipzig ZD as guest of honor. He is the author and illustrator of the action manga “Space Punch”, the fifth volume of which was recently published in German.

There are further book signings at Splitter with the mangaka Ricedumpling (“Sexsurfing in Japan”) and Wu Shi-Shan (“Cupid Coworkers”), who come to the fair as guests of the Taiwanese Taipei Book Foundation.

A new prize honors German manga

More attention should be paid to the German-speaking manga scene Tancho Award bring, a new prize that will be awarded in Leipzig for the first time this year. The award ceremony will take place on March 20th on the main stage in Hall 5.

The prize is awarded to German-language works in manga style in two categories: publishing and self-publishing. The six nominees for the award were announced at the end of January. They are Sozan Coskun (“Kiela and the Last Escort”), Dominik Jell (“Crossing Borders”), Gin Zarbo (“The Secret of Screcrow”), Anna Hörner (“Carrier of the Mask”), Melanie Schober (“Black & Blue”) and Lisa Sintrau (“Rabenfluch”).

A Smurfs illustrator and a Fitzek adaptation

Anyone who is more interested in western-style comics instead of manga also has the opportunity to meet some of the scene’s stars in person in Leipzig. This is how the Spanish “Smurfs” artist becomes Miguel Diaz Vizosowho also drew the funny classic “Robin Ausdemwald”, will come to the trade fair as one of the guests of honor and sign his albums at the Splitter-Verlag stand.

Another Splinter guest in Leipzig is the Munich illustrator Frank Schmolkewho, in addition to some of his own outstanding graphic novels such as “Night in Paradise”, has currently adapted Sebastian Fitzek’s thriller “The Eye Hunter” as a comic. The French Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche are also presenting the second part of their biographical comic trilogy about “Star Wars” creator George Lucas at Splitter.

“Congratulations, it’s autism!”

The Berlin illustrator known for her very successful “Schattenspringer” series about life with autism Daniela Schreiter presents her new book in Leipzig: “Congratulations, it’s autism!”

Another guest at Panini is the Leipzig illustrator Jenny Jinyawho in her book “Loving Reaper”, inspired by Asian comics, tells of the relationship between humans and animals, which is characterized on the one hand by great affection and on the other by cruelty.

The first comic to win a non-fiction award

The illustrator is also likely to receive a lot of attention at the book fair Ulli Lust receive. She made history last year, in two senses. On the one hand, in her feminist book “Woman as a Human: At the Beginning of History,” published in 2025, the Berlin comic author processed new scientific findings about early human history, according to which women had a more important role than classical ethnology and archeology ascribes to them.

On the other hand, the book, which was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences last year, achieved something that no comic had ever achieved before: it was awarded the German Non-Fiction Prize.

The sequel to “Woman as a Human” with the subtitle “Shamans” will soon be published by Reprodukt-Verlag. This will be accompanied by a reading tour, which will also include two readings and a book signing at the Leipzig Book Fair on March 21st.

Further information on comic events as part of the book fair will be added to this article soon. The complete Manga-Comic-Con program will be published on the organizers’ website on February 19th.