"But It Was Cancelled!": The Short-Run Jump Manga That Deserve English Release

Two weeks ago, Viz Media made a variety of new manga release announcements on Twitter, both for physical & digital-only. One that was interesting in both the announcement itself & the reaction to it was that The Hunters Guild: Red Hood by Yuki Kawaguchi would be receiving a physical release starting in the Fall. What makes this announcement interesting is the fact that Red Hood only ran for a scant 18 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump throughout late 2021 (not including the original one-shot), and will only total three volumes in length. However, while Red Hood seemingly failed to find an audience in its own home country of Japan, it looked to have found a bit of a rabid cult following with English-speaking readers, due to its initial simulpublishing. Viz looks to feel that Red Hood's fandom was enough to give the manga a physical release in North America, despite it getting canned quickly in Japan.

However, if you look at the responses to that announcement tweet, you'll also see a decent amount of people questioning the decision to give Red Hood this treatment. Aside from those who simply would have preferred other titles instead, a common complaint basically boils down to this thought: "But It Was Cancelled! Why Would Anyone Want to Buy a Cancelled Manga?".

(Also, please don't go sassing companies about the stuff they choose to release to the point of the publisher actually calling you out on such behavior. That's just messed up.)

Every single manga magazine has its own history of cancelled series, but there might not be one as notoriously cutthroat as Weekly Shonen Jump. On the one hand, one can argue that Shueisha's infamously strict cut-off point does result in (for the most part) only the strongest overall manga being allowed to survive or even thrive in Jump, which in turn helps create a long history of extremely strong and/or memorable titles. On the other hand, almost anyone who's followed Jump manga for any length of time can name at least a couple of series that they feel were unfairly cut short way too early & weren't allowed to truly live up to their potential, and there have been very few that were allowed second chances in some way (Rising Impact, Hareluya [II BØY], iShojo[+], Otoko Zaka [which took ~30 years to happen!], etc.). However, I'd argue that there is still merit in reading these kinds of short-run manga, & in turn there's value in manga publishers licensing these series for release outside of Japan.

In particular, I'd like to focus mostly on short-lived manga by successful mangaka, whether they came before their respective hit series, or if they were what had to follow-up what they're most iconic for, and since this piece was inspired by a Jump manga, let's focus on that magazine for now. We'll be splitting this up across five decades, so let's start at the most logical spot: The Beginning.

Shonen Jump got its start in 1968, so I think it's only fair to fuse the "60s & 70s" together; at one point, I called this the "Bronze Age of Jump". To be fair, this titles I chose from this 12-year stretch aren't really ones that were "cancelled", but they are at least notable. My first pick is a rather straightforward one: Kujira Daigo/Daigo the Whale by the late Sachio Uemoto. What's the relevance of this 2-volume series about a literal giant of a student who wishes to help make his school the most welcoming one there is? Simply put, Kujira Daigo is the very first Shonen Jump manga ever, debuting in the very first issue of Shonen Jump ever released, before it went "Weekly". It isn't the only serialization to debut in Issue #1, as the more successful baseball series Chichi no Tamashii also debuted in it (as well as an early Harenchi Gakuen story, back when it was still a series of one-shots), but Uemoto's manga is what opened that very first issue, and while it likely may not be anything special, I think it'd at least make for an interesting curio for its placement in Jump's history. Coincidentally enough, Kujira Daigo ended the same issue, #11, in which Harenchi Gakuen & Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daisho saw their serialized debuts. After that would be late 1972's Mazinger Z by Go Nagai, though its status as a "Jump manga" is debatable, since Nagai had created the series to be a multimedia creation from the start, and alongside the TV anime that debuted a couple of months later there were other manga takes done by other artists, most notably Gosaku Ota, that ran in other magazines while Nagai did his manga for Jump, which was a semi-regular thing for Nagai's works; also, it's technically unfinished in its original 4-volume Jump version. Still, considering the iconicity of the very first piloted giant robot, there's no denying that it'd be cool to see the original manga version released officially in English.

Two more from the 70s are early Jump-serialized titles form well celebrated & cult favorite mangaka. Up first is Yokai Hunter by Daijiro Morohoshi, which ran for just five chapters in mid-1974, but is important for what it represents. You see, Morohoshi today is a celebrated artist with a strong cult following, primarily for his manga revovling around sci-fi, allegory, horror, mystery, pseudohistory, & folklore; his art is so unique that even Osamu Tezuka allegedly admitted that he couldn't imitate it. Yokai Hunter marks Morohoshi's debut as a serialized mangaka, and would even make two more short series for the magazine throughout the 70s, The Dark Myth & The Dark Tale of Confucius, with the former even receiving both anime & video game adaptations; he's even returned to Yokai Hunter with numerous continuations. Without a doubt, Morohoshi might be one of the most important mangaka in Jump history with the smallest oeuvre of them all. The same can be said of the next work, Blue City by Yukinobu Hoshino, a two-volume manga than ran in early 1976. Just as with Yokai Hunter & Morohoshi, Blue City marked the serialized debut for Hoshino, who would go on to become renown for his SF & history-based titles, such as 2001 Nights & The Memoirs of Prof. Munakata. While Viz did release some of Hoshino's work during the 90s, Morohoshi's only mark in the English market was when Manga Entertainment released the OVA adaptation of The Dark Myth back in 2003, but today I think manga fandom has aged enough where both of their manga work can be more appreciated

It's time we move on to the 80s, the transition from the "Bronze Age" to the "Golden Age of Jump", where we start seeing names that I'm sure most anime & manga fans should be familiar with, at least on a "Oh, I've heard of them!" level; also, we now truly enter "But It Was Cancelled!" territory. We start off with Iron Don Quixote, the late 1982 debut of one Tetsuo Hara & a two-volume series about something you still don't see covered much at all in manga, motocross. Also of note with this series is that when Hara's debut work was eventually compiled, included with it were the original two one-shot prototypes for his next work, Fist of the North Star, back before Buronson was brought in to help with the writing (which, in turn, led to the Mad Max-influenced post-apocalyptic world). Yes, Iron Don Quixote is indeed a cancelled series, the first proper one here, but I'd argue that there's always worth in seeing how a successful artist first failed, especially when they tackled a subject you wouldn't expect from them. The same is true of Cool Shock B.T. by Hirohiko Araki, the late 1983 serialized debut of the man behind JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Though only lasting one volume, B.T. still shows early signs of some of Araki's usual penchants, namely his love of the mysterious & bizarre, though his artwork still doesn't quite go to the same wild levels of even what he did after this, Baoh the Vistor. Also, there would be added worth in also including Cool Shock Old B.T., a one-shot sequel from just last year that shows a new adventure featuring a B.T. that's now 40 years older. Then, to bring things back to Hara, we have late 1988's Cyber Blue, a collaboration with writers Ryuichi Mitsui & "BOB", and the follow-up to Fist of the North Star that's essentially that series, only with a strong SF aesthetic replacing Fist's martial arts style. Still, it lasted four volumes, & even received a re-imagining in 2011 & sequel in 2012, both by artist Motoki Yoshihara (86 [manga]), that totaled 7 volumes.

After that, let's acknowledge a trio of failed debuts by three of the all-time greats, which coincidentally all came out in 1989! Up first is Cyborg Grandpa G by Shigeru Hijikata, which in reality was Takeshi Obata making his serialized debut. This four-volume series that ran throughout the second half of 1989 is a comedy series about a brilliant but aged scientist turning himself into a 2,000 horsepower cyborg so that he can take care of his family & tend his farm... because of course. To this day this remains the only serialized work that Obata both drew & wrote on his own, while keen-eyed fans of Obata's later works can find "G" himself making cameo appearances in other titles. Running alongside Obata's debut, for the most part, was Ten de Showaru Cupid/An Extremely Ill-Natured Cupid, the debut manga for Yoshihiro Togashi, a romantic comedy with an interesting twist to the concept. Namely, this four-volume series is all about a demonic cupid of a girl trying to make "pure-hearted" boy Ryuji Koinobori into a full-on lewd, so that his soul follows the lineage that his family is renown for in the demon world; also, considering what people know Togashi for, this definitely is a unique change of pace. Finally, we end the 80s with yet another short-lived debut series that ran alongside the previous two, Chameleon Jail by writer Kazuhiko Watanabe & artist Takehiko Nariai, the latter of which would later switch over to a pen last name, becoming Takehiko Inoue; yes, this is what Inoue did before making Slam Dunk. This two-volume series follows the path of City Hunter (which Inoue was an assistant on), but the eponymous Jail has something that Ryo Saeba doesn't: The ability to temporarily change his physical appearance.

While all six of these manga from the 80s are undeniable failures in one regard, just about all of them offer something notably different from what people normally expect from their respective mangaka, which I feel is what makes them worth being able to read.

So now we move into the 90s, the second half of Jump's "Golden Age", a decade from which I actually managed to find eight titles of note, so we'll have to split these up three ways. We start off with mid-1992's Hareluya by Haruto Umezawa, which only lasted 10 chapters before being cancelled & then completely reimagined into Hareluya II BØY just a few months later. While BØY is the more notable series, & is finally seeing some official English release via Hidive & Sentai Filmworks bringing over the anime adaptation, the original version starring a lazy & pompous soon-to-be-God being cast down to live as a mere human still manages to be a surprisingly fun read, considering how short it wound up being. Coincidentally enough, the same issue that Hareluya ended on saw the debut of my next pick, Silent Knight Sho by Masami Kurumada, which I'd argue remains one of the most infamously cancelled manga in Jump history. The follow-up to Saint Seiya, Sho would wind up not just being a very similar series in many ways (allegedly at the request of Shueisha), but also Kurumada's final Weekly Shonen Jump manga ever, and it wouldn't be until Otoko Zaka's revival in 2014 & eventual move to Shonen Jump+ in 2017 that Kurumada would ever be remotely associated with that magazine again. Only lasting 13 chapters across two volumes, Silent Knight Sho's final chapter concluded with Kurumada declaring that the manga would "NEVER END"... To be perfectly honest, I think that alone makes this a series that'd be worth buying.

For my next pick, let's go with late 1994's Mind Assassin, the debut work for Hajime Kazu. The five-volume manga follows Kazui Okumori, the grandson of a psychic assassin created by the Nazis during World War II, though Kazui prefers to use his inherited psychic skills to help those in need; however, Kazui also has no qualms dealing with evildoers using his skills. Despite Kazu's debut work only lasting 27 chapters before getting cancelled, while her next series (late 1997's Meiryoutei Goto Seijuro) lasted 95 chapters across 10 volumes, Mind Assassin seems to be the one that best defines her Weekly Shonen Jump career, with Kazu even doing a shitajiki drawing of Kazui Okumori for Jump's 50th Anniversary in 2018, not Seijuro Goto. Next we return to Takeshi Obata with the last short-lived series he drew before finally hitting it big with Hikaru no Go, mid-1995's Karakuri Zoushi Ayatsuri Sakon/The Written Tales of Sakon, The Puppeteer, which was written by Maro Sharaku. Sakon is a mystery series starring the titular Sakon, a shy & generally quiet bunraku puppeteer who always has with him Ukon, a 100-year old child puppet who's the complete opposite of Sakon (i.e. brash, talkative, etc.) & together they keep finding themselves caught up in murder mysteries. Unfortunately, it was cancelled after only 32 chapters (telling 7 stories) & four volumes, though Hikaru no Go's quick success would result in it getting an anime adaptation by TMS in late 1999. Finally, while I'm not totally surprised that Yoshihiro Togashi's debut work has yet to be released in English, I am quite shocked that we have yet to receive late 1995's Level E, especially after it received an anime adaptation in 2011. Essentially, Level E is Togashi doing his best to mess with any & all expectations anyone could have of him, from defying expectations as to what the series is about to even taking full advantage of the apparent special treatment he received (a.k.a. "Togashi-ism"), as while it only ran for 15 chapters across three volumes, it essentially only saw one chapter per month (not ending until early 1997), with the entire latter half all receiving color opening pages!

Moving on into what I once called the "Dark/Heroic Age of Jump" (i.e. the time between Slam Dunk's finale in mid-1996 & Naruto's debut in late 1999), we start the last third of our look at the 90s with mid-1997's Kajika by Akira Toriyama, which at this point is literally the only remaining serialized work by the creator of Dragon Ball that Viz Media has yet to release in English in any way, as even Neko Majin (Z) had a single chapter published in English, at some point; not much else to say here, since this is more a "'When', not 'If'" scenario. Next is early 1997's Butsu Zone, the serialized debut for Hiroyuki Takei & spiritual precursor to Shaman King, which only lasted 17 chapters & three volumes. Based heavily on Buddhism, Butsu Zone details the battles between Senju, the Thousand-Hand Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, as he fights to protect a young girl named Sachi from the demonic Mara, until she reaches India & achieves enlightenment, as she's the apparent reincarnation of the Buddha Miroku. To be honest, considering how Kodansha USA, the current English publisher for Takei's works, has released many of the Shaman King spin-offs digitally, I'm a bit surprised that Butsu Zone hasn't been released yet; in fact, Dainichi Nyorai in Shaman King: The Super Star is based on Senju. Also, each volume of Butsu Zone included Takei's original three one-shots (Anna the Itako, Death Zero, & the Butsu Zone prototype). We end the 90s with late 1997's Cool - Rental Bodyguard, the serialized debut for Takeshi Konomi, better known for The Prince of Tennis. This series about Cool, a "Tricky"-level bodyguard for rent, only ran for 19 chapters across three volumes, but I must admit that I have a curiosity for a series of this ilk by someone known more for over-the-top sports action. Also, Konomi would later make a two-volume spin-off, Lady Cool, for digital manga app Jump Live (the precursor to Shonen Jump+) in 2013, so it's not totally forgotten.

Moving on we have the 00s, a time I had labeled the "Silver Age of Jump", and it's at this point where some of the more notable short-run manga actually already received some sort of official English release, as seen by the likes of Gun Blaze West, Sand Land, Pretty Face, Waq Waq, & Blue Dragon: RalΩGrad. However, there were still five that I think are worth bringing up, starting with late 2002's Ultra Red by Nakaba Suzuki... yes, the creator of The Seven Deadly Sins for Kodansha. Over a decade prior to truly hitting it big, Suzuki had gotten his start in manga over with Shonen Jump, with his first series, golf manga Rising Impact in late 1998, managing to survive an early cancellation & have a respectable four-year run; Suzuki's love of Arthurian mythos is actually first seen here. He followed that up a few months later with Ultra Red, an MMA-influenced action series, but that would only last 34 chapters across 4 volumes, after which Suzuki would leave Shonen Jump, though Shueisha still has the publication rights to Suzuki's oldest works, as seen with digital re-releases. We had featured Takeshi Obata two times already, but what about Yumi Hotta, the female writer he worked with on Hikaru no Go? Well, turns out she did have a follow-up manga of her own with mid-2005's Yuto, featuring artwork by Kei Kawano, which foucsed on the sport of speed skating. Unfortunately, it only lasted 21 chapters across three volumes, but considering how people love Hikaru no Go for more than just its artwork, I am curious to see how Hotta's failed follow-up fared. After that there's late 2007's Hatsukoi Limited by Mizuki Kawashita, which I already covered the anime adaptation of recently for Valentine's Day, so I'll let that review speak for itself. However, I did enjoy the anime, so I'd love to read the original four-volume manga version, if only to read the stories that didn't make the transition to anime; it even received a colorized version.

The next one I noticed is actually one that managed to find itself a cult following back in the day, mid-2008's Double Arts by Naoshi Komi, who'd reach greater success with Nisekoi. Unlike the romantic comedy Komi would became famous for, though, Double Arts is instead an action series with an interesting twist, namely that the main character pair of Kiri & Elraine are trying to find a cure of a mysterious disease called Troy, one that Kiri is seemingly immune to & can help keep the disease at bay by holding hands with those infected, like Elraine. Unfortunately, Double Arts would get cancelled after only 23 chapters across 3 volumes, and personally it's one of the first times I can recall English-speaking fans (who read the scanlations) bemoaning Shonen Jump for cancelling a series that they all felt had great potential that was never reached. Finally, we end the 00s with late 2008's Chagecha by Yoshio Sawai, the follow-up to the memorably absurd Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. Focusing on a gathering a bizarre delinquents in the city of Gure Tokyo, Chagecha's inclusion is honestly more for its infamy, as it only ran for a mere eight chapters (barely a single volume) before getting cancelled, which to this day remains the all-time record, not including the rare series that was intended to be super short from the start, like 2020's Burn the Witch by Tite Kubo.

Hey, Silent Knight Sho is far from the only infamous cancellation Jump's history.

Finally, we reach the decade we had only finished up a few years ago, the 10s, which not too far in (2012, to be exact) would begin the slow roll-out of Viz's simulpublishing endeavor, which today results in literally every Shonen Jump manga currently running in the Japanese magazine being published in English, effectively at the same time as in Japan. Because of that, there's really only one short-lived manga of note that I feel is truly worth bringing up, and that would be mid-2010's Oumagadoki Zoo, the debut serialization for Kohei Horikoshi, who would later make his mark in English fandom by having his second serialization, 2012's Barrage, be the first simulpublished Jump manga, before becoming a gigantic success story with his third serialization, 2014's My Hero Academia. However, it all started with the story of Hana Aoi, a clumsy girl who winds up working at a cursed zoo. Lasting only 38 chapters across 5 volumes, Horikoshi's debut serialization still has managed to find itself a cult following, and the final volume has a neat bonus in the form of My Hero, the 2008 one-shot that today is the original prototype for My Hero Academia. Beyond that, I just want to give a shout-out to late 2012's Cross Manage by Kaito, another early simulpublishing effort & a lacrosse manga about a young man becoming the manager for an all-girls team that found itself in a similar situation as that of Red Hood most recently, i.e. it seemingly found itself a much stronger English-speaking fanbase than in Japan, so it ended after 43 chapters. While Viz does offer all five volumes of Cross Manage digitally, there are still those who feel that it deserves a physical release, even a decade later.

-----

On the one hand, I understand why some people questioned Viz Media's decision to give The Hunters Guild: Red Hood a physical release, as it is an unfinished story that was cancelled early (& infamously decided to address that fact in its own final chapters), and people generally prefer to read something that will give them some sort of proper finality to it. On the other hand, however, I feel that there is always some merit in seeing more than just the biggest successes be given a spotlight, especially if they come from creators who are otherwise known as legends. You get to see them experiment outside their wheelhouse, showcase an early version of something they might use in their more successful work, and it's just reading more of someone's catalog, in general.

Hell, there's even Shonen Flop, a podcast that's literally all about examining short-lived & cancelled manga! If that's not at least a decent indicator that people like to learn about more than just the major successes, then I don't know what is.