The tragic transformation of a chemist into a criminal emperor
In short: In the puppet state of Manchukuo, a young soldier uses botanical expertise to manufacture opium. What begins as a desperate attempt to fund medical care for his plague-stricken mother spirals into a dark rise through the criminal underworld.
The manga series Manchuria Opium Squad, written by Tsukasa Monma, follows the moral decay of Isamu Higata. Originally a soldier for the Kwantung Army, Isamu possesses extensive knowledge of chemistry and plants. When his mother contracts the plague, he utilizes these skills to produce pure opium to afford her medicine. This pursuit of survival eventually leads him to infiltrate the Manchurian opium trade alongside Li Hua, a former member of the Green Gang. The story is set against the backdrop of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The narrative tracks Isamu's descent from a provider for his two siblings to the Emperor of the criminal underworld. He justifies the resulting increase in addiction and death as a necessary cost for a better life. The series, which began its serialization on Kodansha's Comic Days platform on April 9, 2020, has achieved significant commercial success, with over 3.5 million copies in circulation as of October 2026. The series has earned prestigious recognition, earning nominations for both the 47th Kodansha Manga Award in 2023 and the 70th Shogakukan Manga Award in 2024. Additionally, Kodansha USA began releasing the volumes digitally on September 10, 2024.
Behind the fiction lies a poignant real-world story of the series' production. The original illustrator, Shikako, passed away on November 8, 2025, due to choroidal melanoma. Following her wishes, the series was continued by Tsurushima, a former assistant on the series Kingdom, starting from Chapter 217 in October 2026. The transition was a collaborative effort; for Chapter 216, Monma arranged a single page of art while assistants handled the backgrounds, honoring Shikako's final contributions. Tsurushima was a senior colleague of the late artist, having previously worked as an assistant on Yasuhisa Hara's Kingdom. The transition was marked by a shift in publication, as the series moved from the Comic Days online platform to the Weekly Young Magazine.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Manchuria Opium Squad
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