Omoi is bringing a major piece of classic shōjo manga history to English readers. During its Otakon 2026 panel on July 31, the digital manga service announced an English license for Shinji Wada’s Delinquent Detective: Sukeban Deka, which will launch exclusively on Omoi this fall.
The release marks the manga’s first official English edition and gives longtime fans a chance to experience the work that inspired the long-running live-action Sukeban Deka franchise. Omoi also revealed that 54 Kodansha series are being added to its catalog with purchasable digital volumes, expanding the service’s selection well beyond its subscription library.
Disclosure: Three former Crunchyroll employees are among Omoi’s founders.
Sukeban Deka finally comes to English
Originally serialized in Hakusensha’s Hana to Yume magazine from 1975 to 1982, Delinquent Detective: Sukeban Deka follows Saki Asamiya, a notorious high school delinquent who is offered an unusual path out of juvenile detention.
Saki agrees to work undercover for the police, investigating crimes inside Japan’s elite schools—cases that authorities cannot openly pursue. In exchange, she hopes to save her mother from execution. Disguised as an ordinary student, Saki is pulled into conspiracies involving corrupt teachers, dangerous students, and criminal networks operating behind polished school facades.
Her signature weapon is an equally memorable part of the series: a customized steel yo-yo that turns schoolyard confrontations into full-on action sequences. The combination of hard-boiled crime storytelling, undercover drama, and shōjo melodrama helped make Sukeban Deka one of Shinji Wada’s defining works.
Omoi describes the series as a classic shōjo crime thriller and notes its influence on later anime and manga, including Kill la Kill. The manga also served as the foundation for the popular live-action Sukeban Deka adaptations, making this English release notable for both manga readers and fans of Japanese television history.
What Omoi has confirmed so far
The English edition will be available as a digital exclusive through Omoi Premium beginning this fall. The service has not announced a more specific release date or detailed how many volumes will launch at once, so readers will need to keep an eye on Omoi for additional publication information.
The announcement arrives as Omoi continues to broaden its digital manga strategy. The service originally launched under the name Azuki in 2021 before adopting the Omoi name in November 2025. Its current model combines subscription reading with individual digital volume purchases, giving readers another option when a title is not fully included in the Premium catalog.
Premium members also receive 20 percent off volume purchases. That discount will apply to the newly available Kodansha books, making the expanded catalog particularly relevant to readers who prefer to build a permanent digital collection rather than rely solely on a rotating subscription selection.
54 Kodansha series expand the digital catalog
Alongside the Sukeban Deka news, Omoi announced purchasable volumes from 54 Kodansha manga series. The first volumes of six titles are already available digitally: After the Rain, Blood on the Tracks, Dororo, nichijou, Paradise Kiss, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun.
The broader lineup covers a wide range of genres and eras. Readers can look forward to works such as Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack, Buddha, Ayako, and Princess Knight; acclaimed josei titles including Helter Skelter, Paradise Kiss, River’s Edge, and Sakuran; and modern favorites such as Tokyo ESP, Twin Spica, Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun: IruMafia Edition.
The additions also include 7 Billion Needles, A Girl on the Shore, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Emma, Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest, My Boy, nichijou, No Longer Human Complete Edition, Pop Team Epic, Prophecy, Virgin Love, and Wicked Spot. Other announced titles range from the literary drama of Message to Adolf and MW to the offbeat comedy of The Daily Lives of High School Boys and The Delinquent Housewife.
Kodansha has been steadily increasing the number of digital volumes available through subscription and manga platforms, and Omoi’s latest update fits into that larger push. For readers, the key distinction is that these titles are not simply being added as a temporary reading selection: Omoi is also making volumes available for individual purchase.
The bigger surprise remains Delinquent Detective: Sukeban Deka. With its first English release arriving this fall, the series could introduce Saki Asamiya’s steel yo-yo justice to an entirely new generation. Fans should watch for Omoi to reveal the launch date, volume details, and additional information about the digital edition in the months ahead.
Sources
omoi.com
kodansha.us
otakon.com
