Lycoris Recoil: Friends are thieves of time. is getting a manga adaptation, with Yasunori Bizen returning to familiar territory as its artist. Bizen already draws the main Lycoris Recoil manga adaptation, making this another connection between the franchise’s animated and printed stories.
Anime News Network reports the development, citing Monthly Comic Flapper magazine’s X account. The supplied report does not specify when the new adaptation will begin or provide an English-release announcement.
The café downtime is the main attraction
Friends are thieves of time. consists of six anime shorts focused on everyday moments involving the characters at Café LycoReco. That makes the material being adapted quite specific: this is a manga version of those shorts, rather than an announcement of a new television anime season.
The shorts first appeared on Aniplex’s official YouTube channel in April 2025. They were also streamed through Aniplex USA’s YouTube channel and Crunchyroll.
Those platforms describe how the shorts were distributed, but they should not be treated as confirmation of current viewing access in Malaysia or elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The report does not establish region-by-region availability.
An artist who already knows the series
Bizen’s existing Lycoris Recoil manga began in Monthly Comic Flapper in September 2022. Kadokawa released its ninth collected volume on August 21, while Yen Press released the fifth volume of its edition on June 23.
For readers following that adaptation, the new project has an immediately recognisable creative link. However, the announcement does not detail the new manga’s chapter count or how it will translate the six shorts into print.
The franchise has also expanded beyond that main manga. Asaura’s spinoff novel, Lycoris Recoil: Ordinary Days, had exceeded 250,000 copies in circulation in 2022. That figure concerns the novel specifically—not sales of the upcoming shorts adaptation.
A quick refresher on the original anime
The Lycoris Recoil television series debuted in July 2022. A-1 Pictures produced it, with Shingo Adachi making his debut as a director. Before that, Adachi’s credits included character design and chief animation direction on Sword Art Online and Wagnaria!!, also known as Working!!.
Imigimuru handled character design for Lycoris Recoil, while Ben-To author Asaura developed the story. Kimika Onai, whose work includes outfits for Nogizaka46 and Sakurazaka46, designed the characters’ uniforms.
Crunchyroll streamed the television anime during its Japanese broadcast and also offered an English dub. The series later aired on Adult Swim’s Toonami programming block in January 2024.
Why Malaysia and SEA fans may care
Our take: If the Café LycoReco character interactions are what keep you invested, this adaptation is worth tracking. Its appeal is the opportunity to revisit the shorts’ everyday-life material in a different format, with an artist already working on the franchise.
For Malaysian and SEA readers deciding whether to add it to their reading list, the missing practical details matter more than hype. A publication start date and any English-edition plans would help clarify when and how to follow it; neither is specified in the supplied report.
For now, the confirmed news is straightforward: the six-short project is moving into manga, and Bizen is drawing it. Treat it as another way to spend time with the Café LycoReco cast—not evidence of a new anime season or a confirmed local release.