Hiroya Oku will retire with Kairoki Hime, the manga he currently serializes in Big Comic Superior, and he stated on October 12, 2026 that he will draw both Kairoki Hime and GANTZ:E through to the end. Thunder 3, the manga he created under the pen name Yuki Ikeda, finished in June 2026, and its television anime will return for a second season in 2027.
Hiroya Oku has been the subject of two threads across these stories: the authorship of Thunder 3 and the end of his career. On September 24, 2026, Oku stated on his X account that he is Yuki Ikeda, the credited author of Thunder 3. He said the pen name kept a chapter 1 twist intact, since the Oku name would have lessened the surprise for new readers. The reveal arrived after the manga had already ended and one episode before the anime finale.
Thunder 3 ran in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine. It launched in May 2022, ended on June 5, 2026 in the July issue, and the collected volumes total 10. The anime premiered on July 8, 2026 on Fuji-TV's +Ultra block and streamed on Netflix the same day, and its second season is set for 2027. Kodansha USA publishes the manga in English. On October 12, 2026, Oku said on X that he will retire with Kairoki Hime, a statement he had made before in posts on February 4 and May 28. In an August 11, 2026 interview with Courrier Japon, he said he plans to retire after finishing Kairoki Hime, citing a lack of energy and stamina for drawing. He said he will draw both Kairoki Hime and GANTZ:E through to the end.
Earlier coverage framed the retirement as the end of a long career and the pen name confirmation as the resolution of reader speculation about art style. The later stories establish the pen name as a stated fact and the retirement as a declared endpoint for two series. No story states a release window for future Kairoki Hime chapters or a date for the second Thunder 3 season beyond 2027.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every fact links the story it came from.
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When a claim about Hiroya Oku was confirmed, debunked, or disputed against open-web sources. The record stays even after a claim drops off the facts list.
Hiroya Oku, the manga author known for GANTZ, stated on his official X account on October 12 that he will retire with Kairoki Hime, the manga he currently serializes in Big Comic Superior. He had called it his retirement work in earlier posts, on February 4 and May 28. Kairoki Hime has volumes 1 and 2 on sale. Oku said he will draw both Kairoki Hime and GANTZ:E through to the end.
The television anime of the Thunder 3 manga will return for a second season next year, the staff announced Thursday. Hiroya Oku confirmed in September that he created the manga under the pen name Yuki Ikeda. The adaptation premiered on Fuji-TV's +Ultra block on July 8 and streamed worldwide on Netflix the same day. Kodansha USA publishes the manga in English.
Hiroya Oku confirmed on social media Thursday that he created the Thunder 3 manga under the pen name Yuki Ikeda. He said the pen name kept a first-chapter surprise intact for new readers, one that the Oku name would have lessened. The series launched in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine in May 2022, entered its climax in January 2025, went on hiatus that March over Ikeda's health, returned in February, and ended on June 5.
Hiroya Oku, the manga artist behind GANTZ, stated on September 24, 2026 that Yuki Ikeda, the credited author of Thunder 3, is his own pen name. Oku posted the confirmation on his X account. He said the pen name existed because a chapter 1 twist would have been weakened if his real name had been attached, and he wanted first-time readers to be surprised. Thunder 3 began serialization in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine in May 2022 and reached its final chapter in the July 2026 issue, released on June 5, 2026. The collected volumes total 10, with the last volume released on August 17. The TV anime adaptation premiered on July 8, 2026 and its final episode, Episode 12, is set to air on September 30. Online speculation about the art style resembling GANTZ had circulated for some time before Oku's post.
Hiroya Oku revealed on X that he is Yuki Ikeda, the pen name credited as the author of Thunder 3. He said the alias protected the twist in Episode 1, so first-time readers would be surprised. Oku thanked the anime staff and said he watches every episode. Thunder 3 ran in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine, concluded in June 2026, and its anime streams on Netflix.
Hiroya Oku, creator of Gantz, Inuyashiki, and GIGANT, said in an interview with Courrier Japon that he plans to retire after finishing his current manga Kanrekihime. He cited a lack of energy and stamina for drawing as the reason, calling the series his end-of-life preparation.