Manga creator matoba is returning with fresh material this summer. Square Enix announced that matoba's new series, Tower of Eden: Luluchikakunia and the Tower Labyrinth, will launch in Monthly Shonen Gangan's August 12 issue, making its debut on the magazine's front cover with a color opening page.

The new work combines "girl meets girl" romance with an apocalyptic setting—a fantasy world stripped of traditional fantasy tropes like heroes or demon lords. Instead, the story follows girls as they explore sprawling dungeon labyrinths. It's a departure from matoba's recent work but signals the creator's willingness to experiment within character-driven narratives.

matoba last made waves with Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included (also known as One Room, Hi Atari Futsū, Tenshi Tsuki), which ran in Monthly Shonen Gangan from September 2020 to March 2025. That series became popular enough to inspire a television anime adaptation, which premiered on Crunchyroll in March 2025 before airing on Japanese television the following month. Square Enix released the manga's eighth and final volume in April 2025, with Yen Press handling the English localization.

Before that, matoba created As Miss Beelzebub Likes, which ran in the same magazine from July 2015 to May 2025. That series also received an anime adaptation, premiering on Crunchyroll in October 2018.

With a track record of adaptations and a growing fanbase, Tower of Eden could follow a similar trajectory. Fans of matoba's character-focused storytelling will want to keep an eye on Monthly Shonen Gangan when the new series debuts next month. Whether the manga eventually receives an anime adaptation remains to be seen, but Square Enix clearly believes in the creator's potential—landing the front cover and a color opening page is a significant vote of confidence.