Billy Bat, Naoki Urasawa's manga, is being released in English for the first time, eighteen years after its original Japanese run, and has been nominated for the 2026 Harvey Award for Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel.
Billy Bat, the manga by Naoki Urasawa, has finally become available in English. The first volume was released in North America during the week of May 31 to June 6, 2026, published by Kana. This marks the first English-language release of the series, which originally ran in Japan eighteen years earlier.
The English debut has drawn attention from awards bodies. The Harvey Awards nominated Billy Bat for Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel for the 2026 ceremony, alongside four other anime and manga-related projects. The American Manga Awards also recognized the series, though the specific category was not detailed in the coverage.
Beneath the Tangles' Reader's Column highlighted the release as a major event, noting the long wait for an English edition. The column paired it with the one-volume historical manga cocoon, both set in the 1940s. The nomination and the column coverage together establish Billy Bat as a notable new arrival in the English-language manga market.
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The Harvey Awards announced nominees for the 2026 ceremony, with five anime and manga-related projects nominated for Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel. The Best Manga category includes seven titles. The winners will be announced at New York Comic Con on October 9.
Beneath the Tangles' June 16th Reader's Corner features reviews of several new manga releases, headlined by the long-awaited English release of Naoki Urasawa's Billy Bat and the one-volume historical manga cocoon about the Himeyuri schoolgirls during the Battle of Okinawa.
The Japan Society and Anime NYC announced the nominees for the third American Manga Awards on Monday. Categories include Best New Manga, Best Continuing Manga Series, Best One-Shot Manga, Best New Edition of Classic Manga, Best Lettering, Best Translation, and Best Publication Design. Chigusa Ogino will receive the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame award.
Anime News Network's weekly roundup covers North American releases for the week of May 31-June 6, 2026. Highlights include the NANA - Complete Collection on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, the debut of Billy Bat from Kana, and Viz Media's I'm No Angel and Kodansha USA's Secondhand Sisters. The list spans 40 print manga, 31 digital manga, and one anime title.