Yugo Ishikawa took to Twitter on March 27 to announce that the Kotei no Himawari (Sunflowers on the Lakebed) manga will conclude in just three more chapters. Additionally, the fourth volume of the series showeed that the fifth and final compiled volume is scheduled to be released in July.
The story follows Takurō, a magazine journalist, who returns to his former residence, now submerged under a lake due to the construction of a nearby dam. However, an extended period of drought causes the lake to recede, revealing Takurō’s old home.
Ishikawa debuted the series in Shogakukan’s Big Comic magazine in September 2022, with the fourth volume hitting shelves on March 29.
Prior to Kotei no Himawari, Ishikawa concluded the BABEL manga in August 2021. Originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior starting in December 2017, the series transitioned exclusively to the digital version of the magazine in September 2019. Its tenth and final compiled volume was published by Shogakukan in October 2021.
Ishikawa’s previous works include the Yoiko manga, which inspired a television anime adaptation airing from 1998 to 1999. Additionally, his Kappa no Kaikata manga served as the basis for a television anime series of shorts in 2004, while the Fighting Beauty Wulong manga inspired a full-length anime series airing from 2005 to 2006.
In 2015, Ishikawa introduced the Wonderland manga in Big Comic Superior, immediately following the epilogue of his Sprite serialization after six years. Wonderland wrapped up in October 2017, just two months before Ishikawa launched BABEL. The series spanned six compiled volumes, with Seven Seas Entertainment handling its English release.