Things were looking grim for Shonen Jump‘s three latest manga, but it seems the future might be bright for Kagurabachi now. Although Mamayuyu and Two On Ice still seem to be in hot water, the dark sorcery manga has proved that it deserves to continue being published after much speculation and rumors that it was next on the chopping block.
As part of an initiative to replace their biggest manga such as One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, and My Hero Academia coming to an end, Shonen Jump put their bets on three new manga. Still, they did not get the results they wanted. While Kagurabachi was off to an incredible start, enthusiasm for the new series quickly started to die down, making the threat of cancellation loom closer.
Volume sales are one of the main metrics used by Shueisha to judge the performance of a series. Luckily, as the February 2, 2024, release date of Kagurabachi‘s volume 1 looms closer, it is being reported that 4 major retailers in Japan have sold out of pre-orders. This is a major and positive turn of events given the dire situation the series was in.
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Kagurabachi Has A Future At Shonen Jump
Kagurabachi by Takeru Hokazono
Kagurabachi blew up on social media and became a hit with overseas readers. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very popular with the Japanese audience, which led to speculation that it might be canceled soon. These rumors do have merit, as Shonen Jump is notorious for axing series prematurely. From ranking low on the Table Of Contents to the meme-backed hype slowly dying down, Kagurabachi looked like it would fall victim to the publisher’s brutal practice, but fortunately, pre-order sales figures seem to be making a case for the series.
Pre-orders are very important in the world of publishing. Fans can reserve a book or comic before the official release date, and if pre-orders are high, the publisher can allocate more marketing resources to the product. Furthermore, it alerts retailers to order more books as the early buzz indicates that there will be high demand when the book is released. It shows how popular the series is and contributes to first-week sales, further giving momentum to the sales. This is all to say that Kagurabachi might not be canceled after all.
Another indicator that the series will survive is that manga is becoming more accessible worldwide, and the opinions of the global fandom will also be considered in the decision-making. Kagurabachi is one of the most viewed manga on Shueisha’s Manga Plus app, the publisher’s global manga reading app. With the backing of people from around the world and increasing popularity in Japan, there is no reason to conclude that Kagurabachi will be canceled anymore. While it’s too early to say that this is a worthy heir to Shonen Jump‘s biggest series, at least Kagurabachi will have a chance to prove its worth.
Sources: brkagurabachi (X), AniNewsAndFacts (X).
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