Daiku no Hatō

• Type — manga • Author — Michiteru Kusaba • Publisher — Shogakukan • Imprint — Shōnen Sunday Comics • Magazine — Weekly Shōnen Sunday • First — April 19, 2017 • Last — April 26, 2023 • Volumes — 24

• Portal — yes Daiku no Hatō is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Michiteru Kusaba. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine from April 2017 to April 2023, with its chapters collected in 24 tankōbon volumes.

Minato Ebihara, a fashionable Tokyo-born boy with over 10,000 social media followers, visits the coastal town of Uki in Isahaya, Nagasaki Prefecture, for his late father's 17th memorial service. While dining at a local seafood restaurant called Iso Ryōri Taira, he discovers they have run out of fish—until a waitress, Nagiko Taira, swiftly catches an ají (horse mackerel) from the sea, prepares it as sashimi, and serves it to him. This encounter with Nagiko marks a turning point in Minato's life. After bonding with her and her brother over fishing, he falls in love with her. Determined to pursue her, he enrolls in the Fisheries Department at Nagasaki University, dreaming of a sweet campus life together. However, the department proves far more intense than he anticipated, filled with eccentric and strong-willed individuals. During orientation, Minato and the other freshmen endure a rough initiation at the hands of Nagiko's brother and the upperclassmen, setting the stage for his challenging yet transformative journey ahead.

Written and illustrated by Michiteru Kusaba, Daiku no Hatō was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from April 19, 2017, to April 26, 2023. Kusaba explained that the series' title was inspired by Ivan Aivazovsky's The Ninth Wave and that he aimed to create a work that evoked the same powerful impression as the painting had on him. Shogakukan collected its chapters in 24 tankōbon volumes, released from September 15, 2017, to July 18, 2023.