Manchuria Opium Squad

Manchuria Opium Squad (Japanese: 満州アヘンスクワッド, Hepburn: Manshū Ahen Sukuwaddo) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsukasa Monma and illustrated by Shikako. It was serialized on Kodansha's Comic Days app from April 2020 to September 2021, when it was transferred to Weekly Young Magazine.

Manchuria Opium Squad
First tankōbon volume cover
満州アヘンスクワッド (Manshū Ahen Sukuwaddo)
Genre	Crime[1] Historical[2] Suspense[1]
Manga
Written by	Tsukasa Monma
Illustrated by	Shikako
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	Kodansha (digital) NA: Kodansha USA (digital)
Magazine	Comic Days (April 9, 2020 – September 9, 2021) Weekly Young Magazine (September 18, 2021 – present)
Original run	April 9, 2020 – present
Volumes	20

Plot

Characters

Isamu Higata (日方 勇, Higata Isamu)

Originally a soldier for the Kwantung Army, Isamu becomes the breadwinner of his mother and two siblings. After his mother catches the plague, Isamu becomes a manufacturer of opium to afford medicine. Isamu has extensive knowledge on chemistry and plants, which gives him the skills to create pure opium. After the death of his mother, Isamu vows to give his siblings a better life. Isamu befriends Li Hua, a former member of the Green Gang, and begins his infiltration of the opium trade in Manchuria. After some obstacles and hardships, Isamu's morals change for the worse. His opium causes an increase in addiction and death, which Isamu claims is a necessary cost for a better life. Eventually, Isamu becomes the Emperor of the criminal underworld, a complete change to the man he was in the past.

Publication

Written by Tsukasa Monma and illustrated by Shikako, Manchuria Opium Squad started on Kodansha's app Comic Days on April 9, 2020.^[3] Its latest exclusive chapter on the platform was published on September 9, 2021,^[4] and the series was transferred to Weekly Young Magazine on September 18 of the same year.^[5] Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on August 11, 2020.^[1] As of April 4, 2025, 20 volumes have been released.^[6]

Kodansha publishes the series digitally in English on its K Manga service.^[7] Kodansha USA started publishing the volumes digitally on September 10, 2024.^[8]

Volumes

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	August 11, 2020[9]	978-4-06-520467-2	September 10, 2024[8]	979-8-88-933482-8
2	November 11, 2020[10]	978-4-06-521342-1	October 15, 2024[11]	979-8-88-933483-5
3	February 10, 2021[12]	978-4-06-522292-8	November 12, 2024[13]	979-8-88-933484-2
4	May 12, 2021[14]	978-4-06-523340-5	January 14, 2025[15]	979-8-88-933655-6
5	August 11, 2021[16]	978-4-06-524339-8	March 11, 2025[17]	979-8-88-933656-3
6	November 5, 2021[18]	978-4-06-525875-0	May 13, 2025[19]	979-8-88-933657-0
7	February 4, 2022[20]	978-4-06-526827-8	July 8, 2025[21]	979-8-89-478282-9
8	April 6, 2022[22]	978-4-06-527477-4	—	—
9	June 6, 2022[23]	978-4-06-528107-9	—	—
10	September 6, 2022[24]	978-4-06-529116-0	—	—
11	December 6, 2022[25]	978-4-06-530032-9	—	—
12	March 6, 2023[26]	978-4-06-531057-1	—	—
13	June 6, 2023[27]	978-4-06-532030-3	—	—
14	September 6, 2023[28]	978-4-06-533013-5	—	—
15	January 9, 2024[29]	978-4-06-534301-2	—	—
16	April 5, 2024[30]	978-4-06-535242-7	—	—
17	July 5, 2024[31]	978-4-06-536270-9	—	—
18	October 4, 2024[32]	978-4-06-537261-6	—	—
19	January 6, 2025[33]	978-4-06-538177-9	—	—
20	April 4, 2025[6]	978-4-06-539223-2	—	—

Reception

The manga was nominated for the 47th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category in 2023.^[34] It was nominated for the 70th Shogakukan Manga Award in 2024.^[35]

See also

• Guilty Circle, another manga series by the same writer