The illustrated tale Bonolon (森の戦士ボノロン, “Bonolon, the Forest Warrior”), created and produced by Tetsuo Hara, is back with its summer 2026 issue, distributed free of charge in Japan since July 15.
“The Yamawaro and the Flute”
Titled Yamawaro to Fue no Maki (山わろと笛の巻), this new episode features Kaitsu, a young boy who loves playing the flute and who is crying by a lake because his precious instrument has gone missing. Bonolon, appearing at his side, then questions a giant tree, which reveals that the culprit is a yamawaro, a creature from Japanese folklore living in the waters of the lake.
As with each quarterly release, the booklet is distributed free of charge in limited quantities at partner stores in Japan (Seven-Eleven, Denny’s, Akachan Honpo) on the 15th of April, July, October, and January. The series, sponsored by Seven Bank, is also available as an illustrated web version on the official website.
Shimazaki Nobunaga on reading duty
For this edition, the read-aloud narration of the web version is performed by voice actor Shimazaki Nobunaga, known for his roles as Nanase Haruka in Free!, Nagi Seishirō in Blue Lock, and Mahito in Jujutsu Kaisen. A special interview with the seiyū accompanies the publication on the Bonolon website.
The role of Tetsuo Hara
Launched in 2005, Bonolon was born from a desire of Tetsuo Hara: to put his manga artist expertise to work for a much younger audience than that of Weekly Shōnen Jump. He is the one who conceived the project and drew the character design of the orange giant, whose silhouette blends influences from American painter Frank Frazetta and that of a sumo wrestler (the shape of his head evokes the ōichō topknot, and what he wears around his waist is a mawashi). However, he does not handle the illustration of the episodes. The text is written by Kitahara Seibō (pen name of Horie Nobuhiko, his former editor on Hokuto no Ken and founder of Coamix), and the illustration is done by a female artist, currently Hōseki after Nagayama Gō and then Hikarin. Hara serves as producer and continues to fuel the series with his ideas.
Sources: Bonolon (official website), official website of Tetsuo Hara. © Coamix Inc.
