Taku Kawamura’s ‘False Child‘ Releases English Version

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Nick Davis

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Taku Kawamura’s False Child just got its official English manga release via Square Enix’s Manga UP! platform.

Taku Kawamura is a new face in the anime and manga scene. But he already made a big splash with his debut creation My Clueless First Friend. False Child is the follow-up to that, but hadn’t made an appearance for English readers until just recently.  The story is very much a tonal shift from Kawamura’s other work. Will it be a hit in the US, or something nobody pays any mind to? And will there be an anime adaptation any time soon?

False Child

False Child just got its official English translation on Square Enix’s Manga UP! manga platform. The manga has been coming out in Japan since back in November of 2022 and already has more than its first volume fully out.

The synopsis for False Child reads, “Imagine if a child who had passed away suddenly reappeared, looking exactly as she did before. But what if it was all the doing of a shapeshifting tanuki? This isn’t a reunion. She isn’t real. And yet, her parents cling to the bittersweet lie.”

So the story is a tragedy, and maybe even a little creepy. A very different type of story than Kawamura’s first, My Clueless First Friend, which is more light-hearted and sweet. False Child, by contrast, feels far more bleak and heartbreaking. It’s also rooted in Japanese folklore with the use of the tanuki, AKA the Japanese raccoon dog. The tanuki is a real species living in Japan that has a mystical lore surrounding it.

My Clueless First Friend is still actively publishing in Manga UP! as well, and also now has its own anime. False Child could very well get its own anime adaptation, but it will likely be at least another year or two before an announcement comes. The series just began publication, and it’s uncommon for an anime adaptation to begin production before there are at least 3 or 4 volumes out in print.

Square Enix Manga

Square Enix’s Manga UP! platform is one of the biggest competitors to the dominant Shonen Jump. Both have a number of highly-successful manga stories. Square Enix has Fullmetal Alchemist and My Dress-up Darling. Shonen Jump has many of the biggest stories like Jujutsu Kaisen and Hunter x Hunter. Manga Up! has been around for a while, but only got its official global release last year, heavily expanding the West’s access to weekly manga content. As of right now, it’s the only place to access all of Taku Kawamura’s written content.

False Child is out on Square Enix’s Manga UP! platform right now.