# Guilty Circle
**Guilty Circle** (ギルティサークル) is a Japanese suspense manga written by Tsukasa Monma (門馬司) and illustrated by Yamii Yamamoto (山本やみー), serialized on Kodansha's web manga platform Magazine Pocket (Magapoke) since May 4, 2021.[1](https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/title/01367/episode/416091) The story follows a first-year university student who joins a flashy campus event circle and is drawn into its criminal underside, while the heroine secretly investigates the disappearance of her older sister two years earlier.[2](https://mangapedia.com/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AB-kvustgu2g) The series is ongoing and had reached 22 collected volumes as of September 2026.[3](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000039789)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Story by Tsukasa Monma, art by Yamii Yamamoto; published by Kodansha in the KC Deluxe imprint[4](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000355303) |
| Serialization | Magazine Pocket (Magapoke), from May 4, 2021; weekly Tuesday updates[1](https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/title/01367/episode/416091) |
| First volume | September 9, 2021; B6 format, 192 pages, ISBN 9784065248331, list price 759 yen[4](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000355303) |
| Story structure | Part 1 ran chapters 1–92 (ended May 9, 2023, collected in volume 9); Part 2 began June 13, 2023 with chapter 96[5](https://anichoice.com/guiltycircle-2nd/) |
| Collected volumes | 22 volumes as of September 9, 2026; volume 23 scheduled for December 9, 2026[3](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000039789) |
| Genre | Campus suspense with erotic and violent content; tagged horror, mystery, suspense, and revenge on Magapoke[1](https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/title/01367/episode/416091) |
| Reader rating | 3.9 out of 5 from about 125 reviews on the Comic Seymour store[6](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/0000227878/) |
## Premise and characters
Douji Sawa, a first-year student who has moved to Tokyo to attend the fictional Aoo University near [Shibuya Station](https://www.edgepedia.org/shibuya-station), meets the beautiful Kaede Hoshimi during club recruitment season and joins the event circle Euphoria for its welcome party.[2](https://mangapedia.com/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AB-kvustgu2g) • [4](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000355303) The circle presents a cheerful social face, but its real activities are those of a "yarisaa," a circle organized around sex, extending into violence and crime.[2](https://mangapedia.com/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AB-kvustgu2g)
Kaede has a hidden purpose: her older sister Chizuru (Tanaka Chizuru) disappeared during Euphoria's summer training camp two years before the story begins, and Kaede infiltrates the circle to find out what happened to her.[2](https://mangapedia.com/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AB-kvustgu2g) Sawa is pulled into her investigation, and the two make contact with figures who hold the key to the incident, including Yujiro Kawatani, Chizuru's former boyfriend, and Kajiwara, a circle founding member who retains influence after graduation.[2](https://mangapedia.com/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AB-kvustgu2g)
## Publication history
Serialization began on Magazine Pocket on May 4, 2021, and the first collected volume went on sale on September 9, 2021.[1](https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/title/01367/episode/416091) • [4](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000355303) The manga news site Comic Natalie covered the first volume at release, describing the series as an erotic suspense story set around a university circle.[7](https://natalie.mu/comic/news/444477)
**Part structure.** Part 1 concluded with chapter 92, updated on May 9, 2023, and is collected in volume 9.[5](https://anichoice.com/guiltycircle-2nd/) • [8](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/) Special chapters focused on the characters Takeda and Saori ran as chapters 93 to 95, and Part 2, a new school-year arc in which Sawa is a second-year student, began on June 13, 2023 with chapter 96.[5](https://anichoice.com/guiltycircle-2nd/) The series has continued with regular weekly Tuesday updates and almost no hiatuses; by October 2026 it had reached chapter 254.[1](https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/title/01367/episode/416091) • [9](https://utikiri-judge.com/guilty-circle/)
Volumes have appeared at a steady pace of roughly one every two to three months, with 19 volumes out by February 2026 and volume 22 released on September 9, 2026.[9](https://utikiri-judge.com/guilty-circle/) • [3](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000039789) Volume 23 is scheduled for December 9, 2026.[3](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000039789) On the Oricon sales chart, volume 11 sold 13,100 copies in the week of January 2, 2024.[10](https://mangacodex.com/2024%20Japanese%20New%20Volumes%20Releases%20Analysis.pdf)
## Story development
Part 1 covers Sawa's first year, from the welcome party through a one-night, two-day new-member camp and a club-hosted event at which he and Kaede become a couple, to a three-night, four-day summer training camp in Izu where the circle's senior members, including the new head Hayashi and Takeda, show their true nature.[8](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/) The part ends with Kaede approaching Kajiwara for information about Chizuru and being drawn into the "devil's game" he sets up.[8](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/)
The final chapter of Part 1 reveals that Chizuru did not die: two years earlier she was cornered by Kajiwara and others during the summer camp and fell from a cliff, and she is now alive but held captive by someone whose identity has not been disclosed.[8](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/) This shifts the story's goal from uncovering the truth of her disappearance to rescuing her.[8](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/)
Part 2 (volumes 10 to 14) follows Sawa's second year and introduces the new student Fumika Jumonji.[8](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/) The confrontation with Kajiwara occupies volumes 15 to 19 and concludes in volume 19, when Kajiwara is taken into police custody, though Chizuru is not found in his building.[8](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/) Volumes 20 to 22 move to a camp arc and an "X-Day" plot in which Hayashi's faction targets the idol Fumika Jumonji at an underground live venue.[8](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/) • [3](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000039789)
## Creators
Tsukasa Monma writes the story while continuing a second serialization, *Manchuria Opium Squad* (満州アヘンスクワッド, with art by Shiko), which runs on Comic DAYS and Weekly Young Magazine and had surpassed 3 million copies in circulation as of April 2025.[9](https://utikiri-judge.com/guilty-circle/) Monma is known for suspense and crime storytelling; Magapoke bills Guilty Circle as the latest work by the author of *Stalker Koi ga Barete Jinsei Owari Otoko*.[1](https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/title/01367/episode/416091)
Yamii Yamamoto, whose previous serialization was *Dokuzakura* (story by MITA), has drawn Guilty Circle since its start, and the division of labor between the two creators has remained unchanged since 2021.[2](https://mangapedia.com/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AB-kvustgu2g) • [9](https://utikiri-judge.com/guilty-circle/)
## Reception and adaptation
Reader reviews on Comic Seymour average 3.9 out of 5 across about 125 reviews, with commenters frequently praising the artwork and noting that the series is more explicit than typical young-adult manga.[6](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/0000227878/) • [11](https://bangumi.tv/subject/334225/comments) The series carries mature-content themes on the database Comic Vine.[12](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/guilty-circle/4050-151098/)
No live-action drama or film had been announced as of September 2026, but a live-action commercial based on the first chapter's welcome-party scene, featuring the TikToker Hara-Shatsu Otoko, was released in March 2025.[13](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle/) The manga is available free-to-read in part on Magazine Pocket, with 27 chapters free at a time, and collected volumes are sold through major electronic book stores.[1](https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/title/01367/episode/416091) • [13](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle/)
## References
1. [ギルティサークル 第186話, マガジンポケット / Weekly Shonen Magazine official free manga app](https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/title/01367/episode/416091)
2. [ギルティサークル（漫画）, マンガペディア](https://mangapedia.com/%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AB-kvustgu2g)
3. [『ギルティサークル』既刊・関連作品一覧, 講談社](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000039789)
4. [『ギルティサークル（１）』, 講談社](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000355303)
5. [ギルティサークル第2部いつから＆新章・新学年・新学期、新キャラ概要, anichoice](https://anichoice.com/guiltycircle-2nd/)
6. [ギルティサークル（１）, コミックシーモア](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/0000227878/)
7. [大学サークルの闇に迫るエロティックサスペンス「ギルティサークル」1巻, コミックナタリー](https://natalie.mu/comic/news/444477)
8. [〖ギルティサークル〗ネタバレ｜千鶴は生きてる？, なまけものぐらし](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle-netabare/)
9. [ギルティサークルは完結した？2026年最新の連載状況と全巻情報, 打ち切りジャッジ](https://utikiri-judge.com/guilty-circle/)
10. [2024 Japanese New Volumes Releases Analysis, MangaCodex](https://mangacodex.com/2024%20Japanese%20New%20Volumes%20Releases%20Analysis.pdf)
11. [ギルティサークル的吐槽, Bangumi](https://bangumi.tv/subject/334225/comments)
12. [Guilty Circle (Volume), Comic Vine](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/guilty-circle/4050-151098/)
13. [〖ギルティサークル〗あらすじと登場人物・見どころ, なまけものぐらし](https://www.namakemonolife.tokyo/guiltycircle/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Graphic, illustrated, and Asian-format fiction › Graphic novels › Graphic novels by nationality and language*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license