Crunchyroll has had to offer a lot of different anime over the past year, but the one genre that has constantly thrived more than the others is no doubt shonen. There have been a lot of shonen anime this year, with earlier this year proving the return of great ones, including Jujutsu Kaisen with Season 3 and Fire Force with its final season. However, the debut of new shonen anime is met with even greater anticipation, as new things are always exciting. This is what the Summer of 2026 had to offer with the release of Black Torch, based on the manga of the same name that came to an end in 2018.
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Black Torch‘s anime adaptation was actually a miracle, as the manga was cancelled rather than concluding. Cancelled manga rarely get the chance for an anime adaptation, but fans’ dedication to the series actually brought the anime adaptation to life, and the anime has proven to be one of the best, as every new episode continues to reference the best elements of the shonen genre. However, the great run for the anime is coming to an end, as the series is scheduled for its grand finale on September 19, 2026, covering all the material from the manga and coming to an end without ever returning.
Crunchyroll’s Summer 2026 Shonen Anime Will End With Just 12 Episodes With No Return
Black Torch‘s source material, the manga series, has a total of 19 chapters spread across five volumes. As of this writing, a total of 10 episodes have been released, covering 15 chapters across the first four volumes of the manga. Though it was evident that the anime would be ending soon without expanding beyond the original run, as the anime never diverged from the manga, there was still hope for Studio EEK to expand the narrative. However, VIZ Media, which has been a major distributor of the anime, shared a final trailer for Black Torch, confirming that the anime will end with its finale scheduled for September 19, 2026, with the 12th episode.
The remaining two episodes of the anime are going to cover the final volume of the series, consisting of four chapters and depicting the all-out war between the Mononoke and humans. The final trailer emphasizes what is at stake, with the main trio of the Black Torch unit reflecting on what they have to do, while the main hero, Jiro, emphasizes his bond with Rago and discusses the possibility of humans and Mononoke living together in companionship. It seems like this is the notion that the anime is going to feature in the end, as Amagi, who wants the Mononoke to become the leading entity above humans, is willing to sacrifice Mononoke and even consume them to become more powerful.
With many Mononoke having realized how selfish Amagi’s goal has become, harmony could emerge to take down Amagi as the final common threat. This is the perfect notion for Black Torch to come to an end with just 12 episodes, as it will also embody the core of what most shonen series represent, allowing the short run of Crunchyroll’s best new shonen anime of 2026 to land its ending despite never returning for a new season, because it couldn’t have ended in a better way.
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