Hundreds of chapters of manga are released every year, with all of them vying for the attention of the masses. Some bring the series they are attached to massive fame, even becoming international mega-hits. Manga like Naruto and Dragon Ball Z, for example, have taken on lives of their own, delving into every manner of medium a person could think of.
Some manga go in the complete opposite direction, though. For some, a project might’ve been cut short for one reason or another. Alternatively, maybe the story just ran its course, leading to its natural end. Either way, fans may come to the conclusion that it wasn’t a manga’s time to go. What follows is a list of manga that just ended way too soon.
6 Vagabond
An Extremely Detailed Work Of Historical Fiction
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Author and Illustrator |
Takehiko Inoue |
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Date Started |
September 3, 1998 |
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Number of Volumes |
37 |
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Status |
Hiatus |
While not canceled, it’s been years (nine to be exact) since this incredible series has been updated. While Takehiko Inoue has promised a return to the story sometime in the future, many fans seem hesitant to get their hopes up.
That’s probably due to the fact that each panel of Vagabond is meticulously gone over, with Inoue using tools like a menso brush and paint to bring his incredibly detailed panels to life. It may be hard to believe a mangaka who has been away from this particular story for so long could get themselves back to the solitary lifestyle that such work must require.
5 Act-Age
Learn About The Hard Work Of An Actor
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Author and Illustrator |
Tatsuya Matsuki & Shiro Usazaki |
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Date Started |
January 22, 2018 |
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Number of Volumes |
12 |
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Status |
Canceled |
Act-Age followed an incredibly good method actor on her journey to stardom. Accompany that with an educational angle, that taught readers about the often mystified acting profession, and Shōnen Jump had another fresh hit on their hands.
However, tragedy struck when the mangaka, Matsuki Tatsuya, was arrested for some extremely unacceptable behavior. This led to the abrupt cancelation of the manga, which was a completely understandable outcome to the whole ordeal.
4 Sweat and Soap
A Fresh Angle In The Romance Genre
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Author and Illustrator |
Kintetsu Yamada |
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Date Started |
June 21, 2018 |
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Number of Volumes |
11 |
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Status |
Completed |
Sweat and Soap indulges in one of the more unique workplace romances in manga, with the main character Asako’s smell being the driving force behind it. What’s more, it ditches the classic “will they, won’t they” romance trope and focuses on a full-fledged relationship, and the life that the two leads are building together.
From dating to moving in together, things move kind of quickly for the two love birds. So much so that fans might wish that the series slowed down a bit just so they could spend more time with this oddball couple.
3 Fire Punch
Short But Brutal Action Manga
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Author and Illustrator |
Tatsuki Fujimoto |
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Date Started |
April 18, 2016 |
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Number of Volumes |
8 |
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Status |
Completed |
Amid an apocalyptic winter, Agni’s home village is laid to waste, and his sister is burned alive in front of him. However, his regenerative powers make it so that the flames that engulf his body live on forever, setting Agni on a burning quest for revenge.
Being the first serialized manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Fire Punch showcases the mangaka’s many idiosyncrasies that would be refined in the wildly popular Chainsaw Man manga. Here, though, an incredibly messed up world is established that could have done with a bit more exploration, that the manga’s short eight-volume run just didn’t have the time to provide.
2 High School Of The Dead
Horror That’s Easy On The Eyes
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Author and Illustrator |
Daisuki Sato & Shoji Sato |
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Date Started |
August 9, 2006 |
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Number of Volumes |
7 |
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Status |
Canceled |
In the time that it was taking for new chapters of High School of the Dead to be written, an entire season of a slickly animated television show was produced. That anime was then dubbed, sending the series into the stratosphere, with fans clamoring for more of the manga’s unique blend of gore and sex-appeal.
Tragically, the author of the acclaimed manga passed away after a battle with coronary artery disease, leaving the manga never to be completed. Of course, lovers of the manga’s art would find solace in illustrator Shōji Satō’s Triage X. But readers of HOTD will always be left wondering what harrowing situation Komuro and the crew would find themselves in next.
1 All You Need Is Kill
Kill, Die, Reread
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Author and Illustrator |
Hiroshi Sakurazaka & Yoshitoshi Abe |
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Date Started |
January 9, 2014 |
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Number of Volumes |
2 |
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Status |
Completed |
Having gone through several iterations, from a Light Novel to an American live-action film starring Tom Cruise, All You Need Is Kill is a story that was never meant to last long. This is a shame, because the “Groundhog Day, but in the middle of a war” idea is just too cool not to do more with.
For instance, eventually in the story, it’s discovered that the time loop is caused by a particular unit within the alien horde that the United Defense Force is up against. So why not continue the story, maybe following other, unrelated soldiers, as they come to similar realizations, or otherwise try to combat such a powerful foe?
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