Natsume Ono is going back to the Dowa Kingdom. The official X account for Square Enix’s Monthly Big Gangan announced on Monday that Ono will launch a new manga called KORORE in the magazine’s third 2027 issue, out February 25, 2027.
KORORE is a spinoff of two Ono series, ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department and BADON. The title is the name of one of the thirteen territories in the Dowa Kingdom, the shared setting that started with ACCA. BADON worked the same way, so this is the third series set in that world.
The announcement came as part of Big Gangan’s fifteenth anniversary plans, which the magazine is marking with five new serializations, a run of one-shots from its regular artists, and a giveaway of QUO cards featuring all 23 series currently running.
What ACCA was
ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department ran in Monthly Big Gangan from June 2013 to October 2016, and Square Enix collected it in six volumes. Yen Press released it in English.
The 2017 television anime was directed by Shingo Natsume and streamed by Crunchyroll. An OVA sequel, ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. Regards, followed in February 2020, also on Crunchyroll.
The story is a slow political piece about a federation of thirteen districts and an inspections department that is supposed to be boring. Mostly people talk in rooms, which is exactly the kind of material Ono writes well.
BADON ran from January 2019 to March 2024, and Square Enix published the ninth volume in April 2024. It shares the setting but not the cast.
Ono’s wider catalog
She debuted in 2003 with La Quinta Camera – 5 Banme no Heya. Since then she has published House of Five Leaves, Ristorante Paradiso, Gente – Ristorante no Hitobito, Tesoro and Not Simple, all of which Viz Media has released in North America. Kodansha USA published Danza in English.
Her current work includes Lady and Oldman in Shueisha’s Ultra Jump and Have a Great Sunday in Kodansha’s Morning two.
Four of her series have been adapted into television anime: ACCA, House of Five Leaves, Ristorante Paradiso and Gente. She also designed the characters for Shingo Natsume’s ghost – end of night, which opens in theaters on February 11. Natsume directed the ACCA anime, so the two have worked together before.
Why a spinoff makes sense now
ACCA finished a decade ago and BADON wrapped in 2024, which leaves the Dowa Kingdom sitting unused while the anime side of the franchise stays alive through streaming. A new series in that setting costs little and lands with readers who already know the map.
It also puts Ono back in a magazine she helped define. Big Gangan’s anniversary lineup is built around familiar names, and a spinoff from one of its most recognizable authors fits that plan better than a fresh title from a newcomer would.
There is a practical side too. Ono’s books are short, finished, and easy to find in English, which makes her one of the few manga artists whose back catalog a new reader can actually work through. A spinoff gives that audience somewhere to go next.
The catch is that KORORE will be read by people who remember ACCA fondly, and fond memory is a demanding audience. A series that leans on the old setting without the old tension will not last long, no matter whose name is on the cover.
For more on Ono’s character design work, see our report on the ghost – end of night cast announcements.
Source: Anime News Network, citing Monthly Big Gangan‘s X/Twitter account.
Featured image: KORORE announcement art from Monthly Big Gangan, via Square Enix / Anime News Network.
