If you’ve followed any number of manga under the Jump umbrella for the past couple of years, chances are you’ve read something involving Shihei Lin. He’s the superstar editor behind such mega-hits as Jigokuraku, Chainsaw Man, SPY x FAMILY, and Dandadan, as well as many others. So impressive was his record that many called him the “hit-maker” of Jump Plus, but it recently came out that he left publisher Shueisha… as of two years ago.
Shihei Lin made the surprise announcement via his X account on September 29, stating: “I, Shihei Lin, left Shueisha at the end of August 2022.” He went on to clarify that “While I’m now working as a freelance manga editor, I continue to carry out my editorial duties at the Jump Plus editorial department as normal.” Finally, he announced that he had formed his own company following his separation from Shueisha and is currently involved in a variety of different projects.
For someone with such a successful track record as Lin to leave Shueisha might seem like a big loss, but his work over at Jump Plus has continued interrupted and with no conceivable dip in quality. In addition, the signs were already there: back in July, Lin started a podcast called Lin Shihei no Inazuma Flash in collaboration with Amazon Music, and he currently oversees a “manga apartment” in collaboration with Cyber Agent. This kind of business freedom isn’t something that Japanese companies usually allow their employees, especially at the staff level.
Aside from clarifying the current relationship between him and Shueisha, what’s particularly noteworthy about this announcement is Lin’s promises for the future. In the original post, he states that “With my own company, I’m currently working with talented editorial and production assistants on new projects for anime and live action. We’re currently working on a lot of new characters and stories. We’ll announce these when the time is right, so please stay tuned!”
You heard it here first: Jump Plus’ superstar editor wants to expand beyond manga. To be clear, the original Japanese doesn’t necessarily preclude manga, but Shihei Lin has been involved in a whole lot of anime projects as of late: most recently the Dandadan anime by Science Saru, which is airing on Netflix now. Is his appetite whet for more? Only time will tell.
