Phenomenon X emerged from an unlikely source of the drawing board of Nakaya Onsen, an action animator known for bringing explosive sequences to life in Jujutsu Kaisen. Instead of drawing fighters battling through their martial arts moves, he draws pictures of houses with dead people in them and burning buildings.Phenomenon X is about a cop named Anan, who has cat-like features, and a secret agent named Kanai, who is very mysterious, chasing after mysteries. Even though it has only been out a short time, Phenomenon X is getting tons of attention because of Gege Akutami, the creator of Jujutsu Kaisen. Since Gege and Nakaya both worked on Jujutsu Kaisen, his comments about the series made it very popular.Nakaya Onsen made a name for himself as an animator and has worked on stuff such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia, Mob Psycho 100 Season 2, and The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls. His speciality is making animated action scenes, and because of this, he has been in high demand.Besides his background in animation, Onsen was responsible for working on the storyboard's direction and overseeing the entire project as its director. He worked on directing the opening video for Fate/Samurai Remnant, as well as co-character design for both Fate/Grand Order Camelot Movies. He worked on co-creating the design of cursed spirits in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and had a unique take on Gege Akutami's Universe through his designs.What Makes Phenomenon X DifferentPhenomenon X breaks away from Onsen's usual style of Action Animation. In a recent post, he explained that most of his anime work is based on action, but the manga he is creating does not feature any sort of action and rather tells a quieter Detective Story.The plot follows several unique cases that have a supernatural aspect associated with them, such as fires that are started without any apparent source or reason, a mummy wandering through the quiet neighbourhood, and sunflowers blooming in the dead of winter. While there is no direct connection between these different cases, they each represent a different side of something that is potentially malicious.In addition to being the centrepiece of the investigative story, the relationship dynamic between the two main characters is also very important. Anan is depicted as a demi-human cat-eared detective who has dealt with a variety of typical detective cases, while Kanai is a suli who has spiked hair, dark sunglasses, and secrets of his own.Publication History and English ReleaseKADOKAWA’s Harta magazine first published Phenomenon X in October 2024, and in June 2025, they released the first volume. Readers who enjoy reading mysteries or supernatural-themed books, or both, began reading this series.The author, Onsen, announced the English edition himself. He stated on X (formerly Twitter) that he received a publication offer from an English publisher for an English edition of Phenomenon X. He accepted the offer, and when he had more details, he would publish more information.Seven Seas Entertainment announced it had licensed the series and will publish it as Phenomenon X: Paranormal Crime Files. They announced that the first volume of the English version would be released in October 2026. Seven Seas has promoted this as a supernatural crime drama featuring an unlikely duo solving strange cases.What Readers Can ExpectPhenomenon X offers something different in the supernatural manga landscape. The focus on investigation over action distinguishes it from similar titles. Readers seeking atmospheric mystery with paranormal elements will find appeal here.Also, the dynamics of two very distinct characters should be fun to see play out, especially since one of them is a demihuman detective and the other is a closely guarded federal agent. These differences and how they handle investigations will make for some interesting character interactions.Phenomenon X gained a lot of fans after Gege Akutami's recommendation. The popularity of this series has shown that readers enjoy something quieter from the talented creator of Jujutsu Kaisen. It will not only provide new readers with an interesting way to get into reading supernatural mystery stories, but it will also show fans of Onsen's creations a different way.