As previously reported, the English release date for Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai volume 4 has been shifted quite a lot this year. Starting with an original placeholder date of February 6th, 2018, then it moved to June 12th, 2018, and now has moved even farther to a new September 11th, 2018 release date by Kodansha Comics. The placeholder dates for volume 5 have also been removed.
In American publishing, it’s typical and expected that release dates for books have at least a 6 month window before their release. This is done to better manage the number of books being purchased within a larger time period. These can still be a placeholder date that is subject to further change.
Typically, the English volumes of Nekogahara come out about 100 days after the Japanese releases. This would help point to a “late summer” release for the Japanese volume 4 of Nekogahara. As Hiroyuki Takei has been fairly consistent with Nekogahara chapter releases in Shonen Magazine Edge, there may be an expectation that some focus will be placed on his Shaman King manga series which enters it’s 20th anniversary in 2018 and has a website opening on January 1st by Kodansha.
Volume 4 of Nekogahara is expected to contain chapters 20 through 24, which totals to about 173 pages. The most recent chapter (25) featured a color page and spread, which has been the start of a new volume. So this delay in volume releases is less likely related to the series being on hiatus.
