Fantagraphics’ imprint Takumigraphics, in partnership with MSX: Mangasplaining Extra, has published the highly anticipated science fiction manga Wandering Cat’s Cage by Akane Torikai. The 334 page hardcover was released on October 27 and is translated by Jocelyne Allen.
Publication Date: October 27, 2026
Format: Hardback
Color: Black and white
Dimensions: 7.3″ × 10.3″
ISBN-13: 9798875002397
According to the press release:
“Master manga-ka Akane Torikai’s Wandering Cat’s Cage takes place in a near-future, where only a few women are still able to menstruate, and even fewer men will be born to them. Reproduction is limited to medical intervention controlled from on high, and the structures and lives of the past are only hinted at through scraps of a world that no longer exists. Life can be good, though, if you fall in line. The women of The City live bright, happy, tightly controlled lives. But complete obedience isn’t for everyone. For the women across the river, who live in a rundown shantytown, life is different. It is humble, and often dangerous, but it is free.
Sanada, a young acupuncturist, lives across the river with the mysterious Reiho, the only male she’s ever met who sells himself to the rich women who sneak across the river for something they’ve never experienced. The two form a small “family,” taking in other young women ousted from the city. But when Reiho is kidnapped at gunpoint and taken to the breeding program in The City, Sanada must join the other outcasts to rescue him and learn the difficult truths of love, self-actualization, society, safety, and humanity’s future.”
Wandering Cat’s Cage joins Lovers of the Empire and On Their Frontlines: The Lives of Japanese War Brides as the latest manga published by Fantagraphics in partnership with MSX: Mangasplaining Extra. As you may recall, MSG: Mangasplaining Extra is a publishing initiative that is the spinoff of the popular podcast Mangasplaining run by Deb Aoki and Christopher and Andrew Woodrow-Butcher.
Deb Aoki provided a statement in the press release about the print:
“All of us at Mangasplaining are thrilled to help bring Akane Torikai’s Wandering Cat’s Cage to English readers, both through digital serialization via our Mangasplaining Extra newsletter and in a gorgeous 2-in-1 hardcover with our publishing partners at Fantagraphics,” says Deb Aoki. “Originally published in Da Vinci, a Japanese literary magazine, Wandering Cat’s Cage asks tough questions about how current events, cultural, economic, and political decisions might lead us to the world of haves and have-nots, the powerful and the powerless depicted in this story. Told from a feminine and Asian perspective, Wandering Cat’s Cage is a thought-provoking read that feels only a few steps away from the world we live in today. The contrast between Torikai’s elegant linework and the intense drama that unfolds in this story is just one reason why we think she’s an author who deserves to be seen and read by all kinds of readers.”
Check out an exclusive preview of Wandering Cat’s Cage below:
Wandering Cat’s Cage is available for purchase from Fantagraphics here.
Source: Press Release
