Final Fantasy Lost Stranger

Final Fantasy Lost Stranger^[a] is a Japanese manga series written by Hazuki Minase and illustrated by Itsuki Kameya. It began serialization in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan in July 2017. The series features an original story set in the world of Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy Lost Stranger
First tankōbon volume cover
Genre	Adventure[1] Isekai[2] Sword and sorcery[3]
Manga
Written by	Hazuki Minase
Illustrated by	Itsuki Kameya
Published by	Square Enix
English publisher	NA: Yen Press
Magazine	Monthly Shōnen Gangan
Original run	July 12, 2017 – present
Volumes	13

Synopsis

The series focuses on Square Enix employee Shogo Sasaki, who has been a fan of Final Fantasy since his childhood and dreams of one day making his own game in the franchise. One day, he and his sister Yuko were killed in a collision with a truck. They later woke up in another world reminiscent of that of Final Fantasy.

Production

Final Fantasy Lost Stranger is written by Hazuki Minase and illustrated by Itsuki Kameya and is based on the Final Fantasy video game franchise from Square Enix. The manga was announced during the 30th anniversary of the series as an original story combining elements from the Final Fantasy universe with the popular isekai genre.^[4] Minase previously wrote the light novel series C³ and penned scripts for the Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya television adaptations.^[5] Kameya previously authored the manga Kaidan Tochuu no Big Noise and was an illustrator on the mobile game Star Ocean: Anamnesis, also published by Square Enix.^[6] She was told about her former managing editor about a contest held by Square Enix to illustrate for the new manga. Kameya is large fan of the games with her favorites being Final Fantasy V, VII and X.^[4][6][7] Kameya entered the competition and won first place.^[4][6]

The monthly production of Lost Stranger involves Minase and Kameya working remotely from one another with their managing editor acting as a liaison.^[7] Dropbox and Skype are used for their communication.^[8] Minase sends the script to the editor who next forwards it to Kameya. The artist then drafts storyboards and adds its manga elements for about ten days. After ensuring the story looks proper in manga format, Kameya corresponds with the editor until it is delivered back to Minase. If the writers agrees, the work is put through a validation process by Naoki Yoshida and other staff at Square Enix for about five days before Kameya then finalizes it at the end of the month.^[4][6]

According to Kameya, most of her storyboards are accepted by Yoshida, but he will sometimes ask her to specify certain elements for readers who may be unfamiliar with the games. Kameya largely has free rein on the character designs, although the publisher has requested she revise some of them.^[6] She largely completes the designs herself and delegates the drawing to assistants.^[8] She references Final Fantasy XIV for monster designs and to ensure character jobs have the appropriate equipment and costumes.^[6][7] Kameya stated that the manga's protagonist Shogo is based on the default male Hyur avatar from Final Fantasy XIV to make him more identifiable to readers.^[4] She has used the manga Fullmetal Alchemist as a reference for both character and set designs as well as for alternating between serious and comedic tones in Lost Stranger.^[4][6] Other sources of inspiration outside the franchise include Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, natural landscapes, and European cities such as Paris.^[6] She exclusively utilizes digital tools, notably Clip Studio Paint, for both black-and-white and color illustrations.^[7][8]

Publication

Final Fantasy Lost Stranger was first announced during the 30th anniversary event of the Final Fantasy franchise on January 31, 2017. The series was announced to be the first manga of the franchise to have an original story not connected to previous games.^[5] It began serialization in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan on July 12, 2017.^[9] Its chapters have been compiled into thirteen tankōbon volumes as of August 2025.^[10]

During Anime Expo 2017, Yen Press announced at their panel that they would begin simultaneously publishing its chapters in English.^[11] Crunchyroll later announced at their panel that they would also begin simultaneously publishing its chapters in English.^[12]

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	North American release date	North American ISBN
1	November 22, 2017[13]	978-4-7575-5520-4	August 28, 2018[3]	978-1-9753-8090-8
2	May 22, 2018[14]	978-4-7575-5719-2	March 5, 2019[15]	978-1-9753-0307-5
3	January 22, 2019[16]	978-4-7575-5975-2	September 3, 2019[17]	978-1-9753-8498-2
4	June 12, 2019[18]	978-4-7575-6155-7	January 28, 2020[19]	978-1-9753-3293-8
5	January 11, 2020[20]	978-4-7575-6463-3	November 3, 2020[21]	978-1-9753-1679-2
6	November 12, 2020[22]	978-4-7575-6891-4	December 7, 2021[23]	978-1-9753-3575-5
7	May 12, 2021[24]	978-4-7575-7149-5	May 24, 2022[25]	978-1-9753-4481-8
8	December 12, 2021[26]	978-4-7575-7624-7	February 21, 2023[27]	978-1-9753-6125-9
9	July 12, 2022[28]	978-4-7575-8025-1	July 18, 2023[29]	978-1-9753-7159-3
10	March 10, 2023[30]	978-4-7575-8466-2	October 15, 2024[31]	979-8-8554-0211-7
11	January 12, 2024[32]	978-4-7575-9002-1	December 24, 2024[33]	979-8-8554-0213-1
12	November 12, 2024[34]	978-4-7575-9510-1	September 23, 2025[35]	979-8-8554-2049-4
13	August 8, 2025[10]	978-4-3010-0002-0	—	—

See also

• C3, a light novel series also written by Hazuki Minase

Notes

1. Japanese: ファイナルファンタジー ロスト・ストレンジャー, Hepburn: Fainaru Fantajī Rosuto Sutorenjā