Rafal Jaki, Executive Producer of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Launches New Manga BRAIN ALIVE

Rafal Jaki, the executive producer of the anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, is launching a new dark fantasy manga. BRAIN ALIVE, with art by MACHINE GAMU, will release its first collected volume on December 7, 2026 through publisher Kadokawa.

The story follows Daniel, a man who loses his wife Yui in a traffic accident while his son Hiro falls into a coma. While caring for Hiro, Daniel falls asleep and is pulled into an alternate reality. There, he confronts monsters and encounters the soul of his deceased wife, who guides him on a quest to save their son.

Jaki stated the story is drawn from his personal experiences as a parent, exploring the fear of loss and the drive to protect one's child. The manga's world blends Japanese yokai with Slavic mythology, a fusion influenced by Jaki's Polish heritage and his studies in Japanese culture at the University of Warsaw.

In a creator comment, Jaki cited Christopher Nolan's film Inception and Soulsborne video games as influences on the worldbuilding. The narrative is set within the dream world of Hiro, who is of mixed Polish and Japanese descent.

Artist MACHINE GAMU thanked readers for their interest. The first volume, priced at 979 yen, will be 192 pages. The series is currently serialized on Kadokawa's manga site, Comic Walker.

Source: PR Times via 株式会社KADOKAWA