{"rewrite":{"id":"r_5cc6e85278c5d751b3b8e835","clusterId":"c_6b42fd2968534d1a49d3dd5f","slug":"hiroya-oku-confirms-he-wrote-thunder-3-as-yuki-ikeda","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Hiroya Oku Confirms He Wrote Thunder 3 as Yuki Ikeda","summary":"Hiroya Oku revealed on X that he is Yuki Ikeda, the pen name credited as the author of Thunder 3. He said the alias protected the twist in Episode 1, so first-time readers would be surprised. Oku thanked the anime staff and said he watches every episode. Thunder 3 ran in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine, concluded in June 2026, and its anime streams on Netflix.","whyItMatters":"The confirmation turns years of reader suspicion about shared art style into a stated fact, and it lands while Oku is telling interviewers he plans to retire after The Sweet Sixty Princess.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eThe pen name was not a mystery to everyone. Oku said readers had long speculated about who was behind Thunder 3, with the manga\u0026#39;s artwork and character designs repeatedly compared to Gantz, and some assumed the author was a former assistant or a dedicated fan. Oku has used an alias before: his debut manga Hen ran under the name Kuon Yahiro after placing as a runner-up in the 1988 Young Jump Youth Manga Awards. Thunder 3 follows Pyontaro and his friends Tsubame and Hiroshi as they try to rescue his younger sister Futaba from another world.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Hiroya Oku hid his name on Thunder 3 so the Episode 1 twist would land on readers who did not know Gantz's author was writing it.","twitterPost":"The Yuki Ikeda pen name existed to protect Thunder 3's Episode 1 twist from readers who knew Hiroya Oku was writing it.","threadsPost":"Hiroya Oku's Yuki Ikeda pen name existed for one reason: keeping the Thunder 3 Episode 1 twist intact for readers who would have seen it coming if Gantz's author was on the cover.","newsletterBlurb":"Hiroya Oku has confirmed he is Yuki Ikeda, the author credited on Thunder 3, a name he says he used to keep the Episode 1 twist from being weakened. He thanked the anime staff and said he watches each episode. The manga ended in June 2026 after running in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Animehunch\",\"url\":\"https://animehunch.com/gantz-creator-revealed-to-be-the-author-of-thunder-3-manga-yuki-ikeda-is-my-pen-name/\",\"title\":\"Gantz Creator Revealed To Be The Author Of Thunder 3 Manga: 'Yuki Ikeda Is My Pen Name'\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4550,"outputTokens":604,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1790287162,"createdAt":"2026-09-24T21:53:26.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-09-24T21:58:20.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-24T21:58:20.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_6b42fd2968534d1a49d3dd5f","canonicalTitle":"Gantz Creator Revealed To Be The Author Of Thunder 3 Manga: ‘Yuki Ikeda Is My Pen Name’","representativeArticleId":"a_d0af60aaf6d59f223c09786d","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[\"Gantz\",\"Thunder 3\"],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"Hiroya Oku\",\"Yuki Ikeda\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"manga\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-09-24T20:19:55.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-09-24T20:19:55.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-24T21:58:20.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Animehunch","url":"https://animehunch.com/gantz-creator-revealed-to-be-the-author-of-thunder-3-manga-yuki-ikeda-is-my-pen-name/","title":"Gantz Creator Revealed To Be The Author Of Thunder 3 Manga: ‘Yuki Ikeda Is My Pen Name’"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":["Gantz","Thunder 3"],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":["Hiroya Oku","Yuki Ikeda"],"type":"news","domain":"manga","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}