One of the most beloved new-gen anime and manga series to have come out in recent years is none other than author and illustrator Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen. In both mediums, the series has garnered a massive following of loyal supporters, thanks to quality fights, a fantastic power system, and an engaging story to pull it all together.
Without a doubt, the Jujutsu Kaisen series is one of the best that contemporary anime and manga have to offer, even going beyond the scope of other battle shonen series. Thus, fans were naturally disappointed to hear that the series was set to end sometime this year, according to Akutami’s message at Shueisha’s Jump Festa ‘23 convention in December 2022.
While all good things must certainly come to an end, fans are seemingly not quite ready to say goodbye to the Jujutsu Kaisen manga series yet, especially given the series’ current storyline. However, in a recent interview shared at the Anime Expo 2023 panel for the series, it seems Gege Akutami may have offered fans some hope for the series’ continuation.
Jujutsu Kaisen mangaka Akutami gives fans hope for series’ continuation beyond the 2023 calendar year
Akutami’s comments, explained
While Akutami was unfortunately not present at Anime Expo 2023, his presence was substituted via the sharing of excerpts from a recent Q&A session with the Jujutsu Kaisen mangaka. Highlights from these excerpts, beyond the manga’s completion status, comprised his appreciation for the Hunter x Hunter series and Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, as well as Jennifer Lawrence’s performance in Don’t Look Up.
Next, getting into the manga, Akutami noted that he’ll do his best to meet fans’ expectations while the series’ manga is wrapping up. Ryota Ikeda, who has been working as an editor on the series since 2020, clarified that while the manga won’t be “ending anytime soon,” it is beginning to “wind down.”
While these comments from Akutami and Ikeda are obviously very ambiguous in terms of timelines, there are a few safe assumptions Jujutsu Kaisen fans can draw from their comments. The first and most significant obviously stems from Ikeda’s comments, which would suggest that the series is set to continue serialization well throughout the end of the year.
Likewise, Ikeda’s specification that the series is “beginning” to wind down likely suggests that Satoru Gojo versus Ryomen Sukuna will not be the series’ final fight. Obviously, it’s impossible to tell how the series would follow this fight up, but the involvement of the Tokyo Jujutsu High student group and Kenjaku can possibly be a major factor.
Akutami’s comments about doing his best to meet Jujutsu Kaisen fans’ expectations on the series’ ending is also exciting, suggesting a potentially bright and hopeful conclusion coming up. While fans shouldn’t necessarily get their hopes up about this, Akutami sharing his devotion to meeting fans’ expectations implies such an ending at least being currently considered.
All in all, the future seems much brighter for fans of the smash-hit manga series than it did this time last week. With the series now being implied to continue beyond the 2023 calendar year, truly anything is possible for the story. Furthermore, while the actual events of the series are impossible to predict with full accuracy, it seems that Akutami is considering a happier ending than fans may have thought.
Be sure to keep up with all Jujutsu Kaisen anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
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