One of Shueisha’s long running franchises is going to be ending its run in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine after five years with the release of its next chapter. As Shonen Jump makes it through the first few months of 2026, fans have already seen the start of the new era for the magazine as a couple of series have been cancelled due to not performing well with fans. New serializations have begun to make their debut, and a third new series just made its debut this week as well. That meant that something else needed to end in order to make room for it.
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Yusei Matsui’s The Elusive Samurai has been in the midst of its final arc since last year, so fans have been ready for the manga to end. With the release of its latest chapter confirming it has officially begun the epilogue to its story, it’s now revealed that the series is going to be ending with its next chapter as it prepares to say a rather unique goodbye to Tokiyuki and his retainers with its grand finale.
The Elusive Samurai to End With Shonen Jump in Next Chapter
The Elusive Samurai seemed to be getting ready for its grand finale while Shonen Jump was introducing its newest wave of series, so fans have been on edge waiting for the actual end to come. This started taking shape with Chapter 236 that saw Tokiyuki Hojo die, and it really seemed like the series could not go on for much longer as a result. With the release of The Elusive Samurai Chapter 237 titled “Epilogue, Part 1 of 2,” it’s now been confirmed that the series has kicked off the final epilogue to its story.
This is even more the case as the first half of this epilogue revealed the legends that those around Tokiyuki carved throughout Japan’s (very real) history following his legendary death, but the final moments of the penultimate chapter tease that the series is going to reveal what the afterlife was like for Tokiyuki and his retainers. As this long running series comes to an end and makes room for what’s coming in Shonen Jump next, it’s time to say goodbye.
The Elusive Samurai Season 2 Announced
Although The Elusive Samurai has revealed that it’s going to be ending the manga release with its next chapter, it’s far from the end of the franchise overall. The Elusive Samurai has announced that the TV anime will be returning for a second season, and will be making its debut in Japan sometime this July as part of the Summer 2026 anime schedule. The series has yet to confirm a concrete release date for the new episodes as of this time, but it’s something exciting to look forward to.
The second season is going to feature a returning cast, and likely a returning staff and that should be an exciting prospect. The Elusive Samurai might not have had the most explosive anime debut compared to other Shonen Jump hits, but it often went viral for many of its biggest action sequences thanks to how the team brought it all to life. There’s a hope that the second season will follow suit.
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