The Summer 2026 season is also coming to an end, which means three-quarters of the year has already passed, and the majority of the anime that were set to debut on Crunchyroll have already premiered. This year has also been a very productive one for the anime industry, providing a variety of anime. However, one genre that continues to stand out is shonen. While several great shonen anime debuted this year, one that caught more attention than the others was Black Torch, which debuted in Summer 2026.
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As an anime adaptation of a cancelled manga, it was intriguing to see where its run would lead. It is not an overstatement to say that Black Torch blew everyone’s minds with its 12-episode run. That said, being an anime adaptation of a cancelled manga, it was unable to provide many answers. However, it should have answered three of the biggest questions about its main character, yet it fails to give them a proper conclusion.
3) Jiro Azuma’s Father
As the main character of the series, Jiro Azuma naturally gets the most spotlight, with many details about his character, from his nonchalant attitude shaped by his grandfather’s upbringing to other nuances, being very enjoyable. However, the series fails to answer who Jiro’s father is. This wouldn’t have been a problem had the series never addressed the situation, but in its early episodes, the series introduces the mystery of the shonen protagonist’s father having a major involvement.
This notion is constantly repeated in the shonen anime genre, and it was nice to see Jiro also being crafted with this idea. However, after its early mention, which made it sound very important, the series simply forgets about it and never mentions it again. It is a classic shortcoming and lingering question that many shonen anime series have failed to answer, and it is oddly comical to see Black Torch also becoming its victim.
2) Ichika Kishimojin Diminishes To Just Another Side Female Character
Ichika Kishimojin’s involvement in the main trio as the female lead was a perfect element that made the anime feel similar to many great shonen series. However, Ichika having her own solid reason, which involves saving her mother after she was turned to stone, was the perfect elevation for her character. It gave her the definition that most shonen anime fail to provide their female characters. This implied that major moments would be given to her near the end of the series as she achieved this goal.
But as the series moves forward, it relegates her to that of a female character in the worst way possible. It eventually has her acting like a stereotypical female character, relying on her charm rather than being driven by this motive. Much like Jiro’s father, the series never mentions it again and instead leaves it as a background motivation. It is a major shortcoming that Ichika never got this moment, which could have helped address the big issue of shonen anime series never giving their female characters their defining moments.
1) Reiji Kirihara’s Conflict With His Brother
While Jiro and Ichika’s questions never being addressed is the series’ major shortcoming, the biggest one is how it never gave its second male character, Reiji, the moment to address his own question. Reiji’s situation was there in front of us all along, revealing that he had a complicated history with his brother, Shinji, who had massacred their family. Their confrontation was needed to bring Reiji’s character arc full circle. The inspiration for Reiji’s situation as a second leading male was clearly Naruto’s Sasuke and his situation with his brother, Itachi, and therefore, never addressing it after only a single encounter feels like Naruto never addressing Sasuke and Itachi’s situation.
However, the blame lies with the manga’s run. Considering the manga was cancelled midway, there were bound to be shortcomings, as the author never got to fully realize their vision. Maybe the anime adaptation of Black Torch could have expanded on the narrative and emerged as a completely new series, giving it the run it originally deserved, but it is still great to see the anime completing its run and, despite all the odds, emerging as the hottest shonen anime of 2026 on Crunchyroll, which was a miracle.
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