‘Overwatch’ Art Director Arnold Tsang Launches Original Manga ‘Azuki’

Azuki Labs has unveiled “Azuki,” an original manga written and illustrated by Arnold Tsang, the former character art director at Blizzard Entertainment who shaped the visual identity of “Overwatch,” the studio’s blockbuster team-based shooter game.

The manga will have its world premiere at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, running July 2–5, before a public rollout on Azuki.com in September.

Attendees at Anime Expo will be able to read the first chapter exclusively at Azuki Labs’ booth, where Tsang will also appear for live drawing sessions throughout the event. From September onward, new chapters will drop monthly on Azuki.com at no cost, via a mobile-first reading platform.

The series centers on Shao, a girl from a place called the Alley whose world unravels when her sister Rei goes missing during a relic-smuggling operation in the Garden – a sacred realm accessible only through rare red beans. Cornered and without allies, Shao strikes a deal with crime boss Zero and takes up work as a relic hunter, using an ancient water blade as she confronts mercenaries, zealots, and warriors in a land she was never meant to enter. The deeper she travels, the more she learns that Rei has been altered beyond recognition, and that the forces responsible intend to permanently sever the connection between the two worlds.

“Manga has always been my first love. I was very fortunate to work on comics early in my career, but my path eventually led me on a long journey through the games industry,” Tsang said. “Working on games like ‘Overwatch’ taught me how to build captivating worlds filled with characters that people genuinely care about. Now I’ve come full circle, returning to the place that first inspired me, while bringing everything I’ve learned along the way. The more time I spent with Shao and the world of ‘Azuki,’ the more I realized manga was the medium her story was always meant for.”

“Azuki” marks Tsang’s first work in comics since he contributed to Udon Entertainment’s “Street Fighter” series. The universe built for the manga – its characters, factions, and lore – also underpins Azuki TCG, the company’s trading card game, which topped $1 million in direct-to-player presales before its retail release.