The end of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga is coming sooner than many fans expected. in a interview With Mando Kobayashi on February 27, 2021, manga creator Gege Akutami stated that he plans to complete the manga in less than 2 years, meaning the final chapter should be released in 2023.
READ: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Release Date Confirmed for Winter 2023
Akutami has long discussed his plans for the manga series. In a 2020 interview, Akutami said that he had already planned the end of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga.
He had even mapped out the main plot points of the story, although he admits that the “path between the two remains fairly clear.”
In the February 2021 interview, Akutami updated his progress by saying that he was more than halfway through the manga series as planned. He estimates that it is currently about 60 to 70 percent ready, hence it will be ready in 2023.
In making these statements, Akutami was careful to say that he will “probably” finish in 2023, indicating that he is not 100 percent confident in his own estimate. He also compared his progress to the trail to the top of Mount Fuji, stating that he is near station 6 or 7 of the station’s nine checkpoints that lead to the top of the mountain.
The overall ending is still going as planned, but the only question is how to deal with the ending of the individual character arcs. He’s already decided on the endings for Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro, but he’s not sure yet what he’ll do with the primary antagonist, the King of Curses Sukuna.
The respective histories of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were planned from the start.
(More detailed spoilers from the interview are at the end of this news story.)
Akutami Gege’s health problems a factor
The elephant in the room is that Akutami was not healthy in 2021. Early in the year, the JJK author took a short break from an unspecified sudden illness.
A second weeklong hiatus was announced in March 2021. Then in June 2021, an extended break in Jujutsu Kaisen was announced.
In the past, Akutami had no history of taking breaks and this was the first time health issues were mentioned publicly.
It was revealed that Akutami was asked by the editors of Weekly Shonen Jump to take a break from the manga series. But the creator did not want to delay the weekly serialization so that the end of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga could be drawn as soon as possible.
Hopefully the JJK break schedule won’t be too bad. But if history is any guide, then it’s likely that the manga artist will take a series of breaks in the future, which will of course affect the creator’s plans to release the ending.
Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 25 ending the manga series?
Note: This news item will be updated over time with new information and analysis.
Akutami has not mentioned the number of volumes or chapters he intends for the end. †VIZ Media published an “interview” where he said it was about 21 parts/200 chapters, but that was an April Fools’ Day joke.)
However, we can estimate the estimated ending based on his recent progress.
As of Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 12, 2021 (February 22, 2021), he was just a few chapters in the next major storyline, with Chapter 139 being the last. Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 140 was published shortly after this news story was originally written (it has been updated several times since).
On January 25, 2021, Akutami finally completed the long-running storyline of Shibuya Incident with Chapter 136, which will be released as part of Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 16 (Chapters 134 through 142). After part 2, each book has consistently 9 chapters.
Assuming Akutami ends in two years, that’s less than 100 chapters, bringing the total to less than Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 240. That means Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 27 could contain the final chapter if the manga is longer than expected
Since Akutami talks about ending the series in less than 2 years, it’s possible that Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 25 could contain the final chapter.
How the Manga Ending Affects Jujutsu Kaisen’s Anime Sequel(s)
The anime TV series Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 was inevitable given the popularity of Studio MAPPA’s first season around the world. It won Crunchyroll’s Anime of the Year award, so it was a matter of when, not if.
When Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 24 was released on March 26, 2021, the anime’s first season ended in Chapter 63 of Part 8.
Based on the pace of the manga’s storylines, Studio MAPPA is predicted to adapt the story by following up the prequel Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie with the next flashback storyline in an extra-long single season that sets up the very long Shibuya. Incident arc is being adapted as a third two-course anime season. Adjusting JJK 0 made sense for the first time since Suguru Geto is in both.
Then Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 will end the storyline of Shibuya Incident with two courses and 26 episodes. It’s probably not the best option as the flashback and prequel tie in with the overall Shibuya Incident arc.
Anyway, based on the anime’s pace of adaptation, it looks like there will be a maximum of five to six courses. If the entire manga has been adapted, that could mean Jujutsu Kaisen season 4 or 5 will feature the final episode.
Interview with Gege Akutami Sequel: The Aftermath of the Shibuya Incident
Warning: The following five paragraphs contain spoilers. Names have been redacted to avoid major spoilers for fans of anime only.
In the interview, Akutami also delved into explaining recent story events in the manga. The author says that the Shibuya incident was so serious that the characters are absolutely unable to return to their daily lives.
He even explained why Sukuna didn’t kill a certain main character, but that gets into big spoiler territory. This character’s suffering, including the loss of an eye, was intended to drive Yuji to despair. Whether this character is alive or dead remains to be seen.
Akutami also explained that he originally only planned for another character to lose an arm, but decided to take a different path and kill that character. Needless to say, this character isn’t coming back.
Akutami wants to reveal a 3rd Year character and he expects his plans for the character to cause a backlash regarding the character’s name.
The creator chose a love story between Mechamaru and Kasumi Miwa because she is the only female character where a romantic storyline made sense.
Jujutsu Kaisen manga sequel probably?
Thanks to the anime TV series Jujutsu Kaisen, the manga’s popularity skyrocketed, with manga sales increasing by hundreds of percent in just a few months. By October 4, 2021, the manga had reached 55 million copies in circulation. The anime’s October 2020 premiere boosted the manga’s circulation by 650 percent.
If the Jujutsu Kaisen manga continues to be popular by the time Akutami reaches its originally planned stopping point, it’s possible he’ll find a way to continue the story. On the other hand, Akutami may choose to follow the route of the Demon Slayer manga and end up in such a way that a continuation is unlikely.
But the jujutsu world is much more open when compared to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, who relied on the villain’s existence to maintain a plausible continuity. So, even if the first series ends in 2023, let’s hope Akutami plans a sequel to Jujutsu Kaisen.
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