New Manga “Brain Alive” From Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Creator Blends Dreamscapes with Mythical Monsters
Rafał Jaki, the executive producer behind Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, has teamed up with artist MACHINE GAMU to launch a brand-new manga titled Brain Alive. The series debuted on Kadokawa’s KadoComi digital platform, with the Japanese serialization rolling out immediately alongside a free English pilot chapter shared by the creators.
An official digital English serialization is scheduled to follow this coming fall.
According to Jaki, Brain Alive follows a desperate father named Daniel who uses mystical means to enter the dreams of his comatose son, who was left unresponsive following an accident. To wake him up before time runs out, Daniel must battle a terrifying mix of Slavic beasts and Japanese yokai. Jaki describes the project as his personal "love letter to Inception and Soulsborne games."
Kadokawa has released an official Japanese trailer for the manga, and Jaki has also shared an English-subtitled version online.
This project follows Jaki and MACHINE GAMU’s previous collaboration, No\Name, which initially launched as a one-shot on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ and MANGA Plus in January 2024 before receiving a full serialization that concluded in February 2025.
Meanwhile, Jaki is also known for his work on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the acclaimed Studio Trigger anime adaptation of CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, which premiered on Netflix in September 2022. The franchise is set to expand further with a 10-episode follow-up series, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, slated for a Netflix release this fall.