Shonen Jump Is Getting Ready to End Even More Long Running Series Soon

It looks like Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is getting ready to end even more long running series soon thanks to the latest updates from their respective manga runs. The start of the year marks a new turning point for the magazine as while there are a number of series that have already been cancelled, it seems there are plans to end even more as new manga creators hope to get attention for their respective works in the coming weeks and months. That means even more works need to end in order to make room in the magazine.

Last year, Shonen Jump saw a few of its longest running series come to their ends, and saw even more announce that they were in the midst of their final arcs. As another generation of Shonen Jump series prepares to ride into the sunset, the most recent batch of chapters for both Yusei Matsui’s The Elusive Samurai and Kouji Miura’s Blue Box seems to tease that the end of both of these long running hits are preparing to come to an end much sooner than fans might be ready for.

Shonen Jump Prepares for The Elusive Samurai and Blue Box Endings

While there are some franchises like Yuto Suzuki’s Sakamoto Days that properly announced that the manga was going to be entering its final arc, it’s not exactly the same for others. The Elusive Samurai’s ending was just as elusive as the title of the series suggests as it was noted how the series was going to be readying for its end, but would last just a little longer. With the release of Chapter 236 seemingly killing its main character, it would seem like the end for the series really is at hand sans any kind of epilogue moving it further than that.

It’s the same case for Blue Box as the manga seemed like it could go on for a much longer time. The sports series had been focused on telling the romance between its two lead characters, and following the confirmation of their relationship it was clear that there was still much more story to tell. But with the release of Chapter 228 officially bringing the Hina thread to its end, it’s now clearer than ever that it really only has a little more to resolve. Miura even revealed during Jump Festa 2026 last December that the series was nearing its conclusion too.

What Does This Mean for Shonen Jump?

Shonen Jump is sunsetting yet another era of the magazine as these early 2020s series are reaching their respective ends, and that further reflects how much the magazine has changed in recent years. You used to see these manga stories go on for much longer with franchises crossing over 300-400 chapters before coming to an end. That’s no longer really the case as many of the most recent finales have come well into the 200s, and sometimes not even making 200 chapters at all.

Shonen Jump series are speeding up overall, and that’s because of how much entertainment has changed. There’s no longer the same demand for weekly anime releases, nor is there a demand for a franchise that runs for multiple seasons. There is just too much competition from everything else that fans no longer need a story to go on for decades. Stories can end, and Shonen Jump is just keeping up with the times. It’s no longer forcing creators to keep their manga going just because.

We’ll just have to see what this means for The Elusive Samurai and Blue Box as they reach their own natural endpoints, but what do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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