Kodama Tales Licenses Boichi’s Sun-Ken Rock and MAGICA
During a panel at New York Comic Con 2025, the publisher Kodama Tales announced that it has licensed two manga for English release: Boichi’s Sun-Ken Rock and Yuzuko Hoshimi’s MAGICA.
Sun-Ken Rock arrives first, on April 1, 2026, in a deluxe omnibus called the Perfect Edition. Each volume combines about two of the original Japanese books, features new covers made just for the English release, and carries revised dialogue drawn from both the Japanese editions and the newer Korean Perfect Editions.
The series is a gritty action drama from Boichi, the celebrated artist behind Dr. Stone. It follows Ken Kitano, a young man who has lost almost everything, including his first crush Yumin, who left for Korea to chase her dream of becoming a police officer.
When Ken learns that Yumin actually made it, he heads to Seoul hoping to follow her path. Instead of joining the force, though, he is swept up by a street gang and ends up its boss, forcing him to test his own values while desperately hiding his new life from the woman he admires.
Originally serialized from 2006 to 2016 across 25 volumes, Sun-Ken Rock has long been a cult favorite, and this marks its proper English debut. Kodama Tales is bringing over MAGICA as well, giving readers two very different titles to look forward to.
My take: Boichi’s art alone makes Sun-Ken Rock worth a look, and a polished Perfect Edition is the ideal way to finally read it in English. I am thrilled this cult classic is getting the treatment it deserves.
