TOKYO Japanese publisher Shueisha Inc. announced on August 15 that the 18th volume of the popular Chibi Maruko-chan Little Maruko manga series by late author Momoko Sakura will be published on October 25.
In August 2018, Sakura passed away and a total of four years have passed since the release of the last collection.
The series is centered on elementary school third grader Maruko-chan, depicting her daily life with family and friends. The TV anime version, which was released in 1990, aired its 1,500th episode in May this year.
Sakura Production Co. and others said that Sakura's longtime assistant Botan Kohagi turned scripts that Sakura wrote for the TV series into the new seven-chapter manga.
After the author's death, what was originally intended to be the last volume of the manga was published in December 2018. Shueisha and Sakura Production decided to do an 18th installment as the latter wanted to carry on Sakura's will and deliver it in a new form, while Shueisha's Ribon editorial department wanted to publish a manga using works left by Sakura.