Variety has reported that multimedia company N LITE and Kodansha are partnering to serialize MFINDA: The Manga series in the Japanese publisher’s Biblio Sirius Magazine in 2026. It will be available in both Japan and the U.S.
MFINDA: The Manga, which serves as a prequel to N LITE’s upcoming MFINDA “afro-anime” feature film, is written by the company’s founder Christiano Terry and drawn by art director Tom Lintern. Japanese storyboard artist Koma Warita is collaborating with the two on the manga. N LITE and Kodansha are jointly supervising the project, which will have multiple volumes published. The manga will feature the characters Nasambi and Odi as its dual protagonists.
Plans to release MFINDA: The Manga was first announced in December 2024 and it was initially set to be published in 2025, but no reasons were given regarding its delay.
The upcoming MFINDA animated film is directed by Gisaburo Sugii (Night on the Galactic Railroad, The Life of Budori Gusuko) and Arthell Isom (The Weeknd “Snowchild” music video director and producer). Donald H. Hewitt, Patience Lekien, and Mika Abe (Forest of Piano co-series composer) are writing the film’s screenplay, with Shigeru Fujita (Pluto) as character designer. GKIDS announced in April 2023 that the film would be an N LITE and Studio M2 co-production.
Masao Maruyama (Studio M2 and MAPPA founder, Madhouse co-founder), Shin Koyamada, and Shigeru Igari are credited as producers on the animated film. Some of the executive producers on the project include actress Viola Davis, NBA basketball player Joel Embiid, actor Jaden Smith, and GKIDS founder and CEO Eric Beckman.
Jaden Smith was also announced as a voice cast member for the film in July 2025, playing the character Kozo. His character is described by N LITE as “an ancient spirit warrior who protects humans and spirits of the forest during a time of great conflict in the Kingdom of Kongo.”
N LITE describes the main synopsis of MFINDA on its website as:
A 13-year-old Congolese girl is transported to the Mfinda, a primordial forest of spirits, gods, and ancestors. There she joins another young girl from a different time and embarks on a journey to find her way back home during a time of conflict between humans and the spirits of nature.
Sources: Variety (Naman Ramachandran), N LITE Official Twitter (2) (3)
