Karakuri Circus

Karakuri Circus (Japanese: からくりサーカス, Hepburn: Karakuri Sākasu; lit. 'Mechanical Puppet Circus') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiro Fujita. It was serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from July 1997 to May 2006, with its chapters collected in 43 tankōbon volumes. The series follows Masaru Saiga, a young boy who inherits a vast fortune and dreams of becoming a puppeteer; Narumi Katō, a martial arts expert afflicted with Zonapha syndrome—a mysterious condition that halts his breathing unless he elicits laughter from others; and Shirogane, a silver-haired woman serving as Masaru's caretaker, who manipulates the puppet Harlequin. Together, they engage in combat against hostile Automatons (auto-mannequins) while striving to uncover a cure for Zonapha syndrome and prevent global catastrophe. Karakuri Circus was adapted into a 36-episode anime television series by Studio VOLN, broadcast from October 2018 to June 2019. A mobile game was launched in December 2018 and stage play ran in January 2019. By March 2018, the Karakuri Circus manga series had over 15 million copies in circulation.