The January issue of Kodansha's Shonen Sirius magazine revealed on Saturday that manga creator Tsutomu Nihei (Knights of Sidonia, Blame!) will launch a new series titled Ningyō no Kuni (Country of Dolls) in the magazine's April issue, which will ship on February 25. This is the first time Nihei will publish a manga in a shōnen magazine.

Nihei launched his Knights of Sidonia manga in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine in 2009 and ended the series in September 2015. Kodansha published 15 compiled volumes for the series. Vertical published the entire series in North America from 2013 to April 2016.

The sci-fi fiction manga inspired a 12-episode anime series in 2014, a compilation film for the first series in March 2015, and the 12-episode Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine sequel series, which premiered in April 2015 in Japan. Netflix premiered the English version streaming for the first series in July 2014, and streamed the second season in July 2015. Sentai Filmworks released the first series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in June 2015 and has licensed the second season for Blu-ray Disc and DVD.

Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine also published Nihei's Blame! manga from 1997 to 2003. Tokyopop published the 10-volume sci-fi action manga in North America. Vertical relicensed the series earlier this year and released the first volume in September. The series is inspiring a Netflix Original anime film that will premiere in 2017.

Viz Media published Nihei's Biomega manga in 2010-2011.

Earlier this year, Nihei received the Comic-Con International Inkpot award, which awards "individuals for their contributions to the worlds of comics, science fiction/fantasy, film, television, animation, and fandom services." Other Japanese recipients of the award include Osamu Tezuka, Hayao Miyazaki, Monkey Punch, and Moto Hagio, among others.

Update: Added preview image. Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web