In the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, published on August 21, an unusual situation surrounding the main work of the publishing house has been reported. The transition of the popular manga Black Clover has sparked much discussion, especially since it is considered a flagship title of Weekly Shonen Jump.
The manga Black Clover has been published since 2015 and is well-known for its large fan base. Recently, this work has undergone a significant shift as it will no longer be published weekly.
In the most recent chapter of the series, Chapter 368, it was announced that many chapters will be transferred to another magazine after this chapter. Currently, the publication of Black Clover has been moved to “Jump GIGA”, meaning that the next chapter will not be available until the autumn of next year.
Regarding the reason behind this decision, author Yuki Tabata stated that the weekly manga production schedule was no longer compatible with his circumstances as a writer. This has sparked discussions across various platforms about the impact of such changes on the work’s development.
In fact, author Tabata has mentioned several times about his physical condition. In 2022, the manga was on hiatus for two weeks due to the author’s health issues. A few weeks later, the work was again delayed for two weeks. Even further back in mid-2020, the author revealed that he was “frequently unable to concentrate while at the drawing board.” From this, it can be concluded that the author was struggling to maintain a weekly publishing schedule.
As for the decision to transition the manga, Tabata wrote in his column on Weekly Shonen Jump: “Thank you for your support! I appreciate everyone very much!”
Additionally, in the same issue, there was another issue regarding a different flagship title. It turns out that the new chapter of Kohei Horikoshi’s Boku no Hero Academia only has seven pages. Since 2022, this manga has faced numerous issues related to its publication frequency. There have been many instances recently where the publication has decreased significantly.
Prior to this situation, many fans were concerned about the weekly publication frequency, as it relates to a common work schedule that seems increasingly difficult to maintain. One commenter noted: “I think this only highlights that the weekly serialization system is becoming too tough for many authors.” Another user remarked: “There are more and more manga ‘escaping’ from the weekly serialization system in Weekly Shonen Jump. Popular works like World Trigger and Hunter x Hunter no longer publish new chapters weekly. What will happen to weekly publications in the future?”
