Major publisher HarperCollins is launching the KAZÉ manga imprint in the United States, according to comics industry news source ICv2. The new imprint will debut with an initial lineup of seven titles, which are scheduled to be fully announced later this year.
KAZÉ will host an industry panel at Anime NYC on Saturday, August 22. The panel features KAZÉ US editors Josh Sippie and Emilia Sowersby, and the official description promises a sneak peek at titles slated for a 2027 release. According to ICv2, the upcoming imprint's catalog will cater to a broad demographic, featuring titles spanning all age ranges from children to adults.
This U.S. expansion follows HarperCollins' acquisition in July 2025 of Crunchyroll's manga publishing operations in France and Germany, which successfully restored the Crunchyroll Manga brand to its original historical name, KAZÉ. Ongoing series from that transition have continued without interruption or design alterations, with new releases officially bearing the KAZÉ branding as of April 2026.
KAZÉ was originally founded in France in 1994. In 2009, Shogakukan and Shueisha jointly acquired the company and integrated it into Viz Media Europe. Crunchyroll and Viz Media Europe subsequently finalized an agreement in December 2019 (announced that September) making Crunchyroll the majority owner of the Viz Media Europe Group. That corporate umbrella historically included Viz Media Europe Group, AV Visionen, Anime Versand, VIZ Media Switzerland, KAZÉ, KAZÉ Manga, Anime on Demand, and Anime Digital Network.
HarperCollins' literary imprint HarperVia has previously ventured into Japanese literature and media tie-ins, having released Shion Miura's Run with the Wind (Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru) novel in October 2024, alongside English editions of The Tatami Galaxy, The Tatami Time Machine Blues, and Park Seolyeon's A Magical Girl Retires. Furthermore, HarperCollins has scheduled an English-language release for the late Saeko Himuro's Ocean Waves novel in March 2027.
