On Tuesday November 3rd, 2026, publisher Crossed Hearts announced via a Twitter post that two of its print titles releases have been postponed. In a detailed graphic, the publisher explained that two of its titles under their BLUSH CLUB imprint, The King of Owls and His Troubled Attendant by Chikuwabu Tanno and The Bird in the Cage Dreams by Yakei Hiragai will be delayed.
Crossed Hearts
Crossed Hearts launched in August of 2025 and has steadily been expanding their catalogue since. They announced a Girls’ Love focused imprint, GLAM BEAT! in January 2026, and announced a Boys’ Love imprint, BLUSH CLUB, on Valentine’s Day this year. They focus on publishing manga, manhua, manhwa, and Asian novels.
Per Crossed Hearts, they were informed by their printing partner in China that the two manga did not receive censorship approval and thus could not be printed. They were able to secure a new printing partner in India. These titles will now be expected to in February and March of 2027.
Crossed Hearts announcement reads:
Dear Readers,
We would like to share an important update regarding the upcoming launch of BLUSH CLUB, along with our sincerest apologies for an unexpected change to our inaugural release schedule.
Our inaugural lineup, featuring ‘Until We Fall in Love’, ‘A Gaze Like Lightning’ ‘The King of Owls and His Troubled Attendant’, and ‘The Bird in the Cage Dreams’, was originally scheduled for release in December 2026. We have been working diligently to bring these four manga titles to you in time for the holiday season. Unfortunately, we have encountered an unforeseen obstacle affecting the print publication of two of these titles.
Last month, our printing partner in China, who had previously accepted the production orders for these books, informed us that ‘The King of Owls and His Troubled Attendant’ and ‘The Bird in the Cage Dreams’ had not received the necessary censorship approval and that they would therefore be unable to proceed with printing them.
This came as an unexpected development for us, as we had not anticipated that local content restrictions would prevent these titles from being manufactured in China for export to international markets.
Upon receiving this news, we immediately approached our other printing partners to explore alternative arrangements. Unfortunately, each confirmed that the same restrictions would apply.
This has been an important learning experience for us as a new imprint.
We now understand that while our non-mature titles can continue to be manufactured through our existing printing arrangements in China, our mature publications will require an alternative production location.
Full announcement below:
Concerning Censorship Approvals
This is not the first time there have been printing issues in China due to censorship approvals.
In an article by Publishers Weekly, Comics Beat’s own Dean Simons notes that comic publisher Fantagraphics previously faced publishing issues for two of their books. As a result, they had to change printers.
Last year, GAPP flagged two Fantagraphics titles in line for the printer. One, Emil Ferris’s graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Book 2, was taken to task for snatches of philosophical dialogue GAPP considered problematic. Another, Atsushi Kaneko’s manga title Search and Destroy, Vol. 1, was criticized for “improper” use of Soviet-style architecture. In both cases, the books were printed elsewhere.
China offers a lot of cost-effective printing, which is why it makes the most sense for a new publisher to decide to print there. However, in the business of manga and printing stories with adult themes, it seems publishers are better off spending a bit more elsewhere and ensuring they do not face censorship.
