Masakuni Igarashi’s Tune In to the Midnight Heart will skip a chapter this week. The 45th issue of Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine announced on Wednesday that the manga does not have a new chapter in the issue as originally planned, because Igarashi has fallen ill.
The author is currently focused on recovering, and the series is planned to resume in the magazine’s next issue on October 14. That makes this a one-week break rather than an open-ended hiatus — good news for readers, given how many manga pauses in recent months have run longer than initially announced.
What Tune In to the Midnight Heart is
The manga, known in Japan as Mayonaka Heart Tune, is published digitally in English by Kodansha’s K MANGA service. It is a romantic comedy, and its popularity has already carried it into other media.
Igarashi launched the series in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in September 2023. Kodansha published the 14th compiled volume on August 17, and Kodansha USA Publishing released the ninth volume in English on September 1 — a gap that reflects the usual lag between the Japanese and English print editions.
The creator is not a newcomer. Igarashi previously wrote Senryū Girl and Detectives These Days Are Crazy!, both of which established the comedic, character-first register that Tune In to the Midnight Heart continues.
The anime and a second season
The manga inspired a television anime that debuted on January 6. Crunchyroll streamed the series and also produced an English dub, and the adaptation has been renewed for a second season that will premiere in 2027.
That matters for the pacing of the manga. With a second anime season already scheduled, the source material has a clear runway of content and an English-reading audience arriving through both K MANGA and the anime simulcast. A single missed chapter is unlikely to disrupt that pipeline.
Why it matters
Creator health is the most common reason a weekly manga takes a break, and it is worth treating these announcements matter-of-factly rather than as drama. Weekly serialisation is a punishing schedule, and a one-week pause to recover is a routine part of keeping a long-running series viable.
Still, it is a reminder of how condensed the current wave of health-related breaks has been. Chained Soldier went on hiatus over artist Yohei Takemura’s health, and Go! Go! Loser Ranger! has only just returned from its own health-related break. Several high-profile titles, including Hunter x Hunter, have likewise adjusted their schedules around their creators’ wellbeing in recent weeks.
The practical takeaway for readers is straightforward: Tune In to the Midnight Heart is expected back in Weekly Shōnen Magazine on October 14, with the anime’s second season still on track for 2027. No change to the volume release schedule has been announced.
Source: Anime News Network, citing Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine.
Featured image: Art from Masakuni Igarashi’s Tune In to the Midnight Heart, via Anime News Network / Kodansha.
