Summary
- The manga industry is tough, leading many mangaka to overwork and end up on indefinite hiatus due to burnout or health issues.
- Bastard!! is an anime with music references and frequent hiatuses, possibly due to a lack of ideas.
- Nana, Vagabond, and others are on hiatus due to creator health issues, leaving fans uncertain about their completion.
Making comics professionally can be a hard business, and the manga industry is particularly hard. Even with assistants, getting enough chapters out regularly requires a lot of time. Some mangaka end up with schedules that barely give them enough time to sleep, let alone relax with friends and family.
Related
13 Amazing Anime That Will Likely Never Be Finished
Some incredible anime series and movies have been created but some have still yet to finish for a variety of reasons.
Posts
It’s often why many of them end up burnt out, running dry on creativity, or suffering health complications that slow down their work or stall it completely. They can take a while to recover physically and/or mentally enough to continue their story, so they end up pausing progress on their work until they can return to it if they’re even able to do so to begin with. For these reasons and more, these are the best manga stuck on indefinite hiatus.
9
Bastard!!
MyAnimeList Score: 7.20
- Creator: Kazushi Hagiwara.
- Published: October 1987-August 1989, January 1997-May 2010.
- 27 Volumes, 144 Chapters.
- 19 Volumes formerly available in English via Viz Media.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure isn’t the only series that can insert music references into its world. Bastard!! is a fantasy strip full of them. The evil wizard Dark Schneider (after Udo Dirkschneider from Accept) was sealed away by Lars Ul, the ruler of the kingdom of Metallicana. But when the Dark Rebel Army seeks to resurrect the demon Anthrasax, Lars needs someone to send it back to Hell. So, Dark Schneider is reincarnated in the form of teenager Lucien Renlen in the hopes he’ll play nice. Fat chance.
It’s as metal as a manga can get and inspired the equally metal 90s OVA series and the recent Netflix ONA series. It’s also frequently gone on hiatus, as it took a nearly decade-long pause in the 1990s before coming back in 1997. Then it went back on hiatus in 2010, where it’s remained ever since. No one knows why it’s been put on hold, though it’s been speculated that Kazushi Hagiwara simply ran out of ideas for the strip, and has been pursuing other interests until he feels inspired again.
8
Gangsta
MyAnimeList Score: 8.06
- Creator: Kohske.
- Published: January 2011-November 2015, May 2017-April 2019.
- 8 Volumes, 56 Chapters.
- Available in English via Viz Media’s Viz Signature imprint.
Given the name, Gangsta sounds like it’d be a straightforward crime manga. But there’s more to it than that, as its city of Ergastulum is home to super-humans called “Tags” (after the dogtags they wear), who are kept in control by their dependency on a drug called Cerebret. As such, they’re stuck in an uneasy alliance with non-powered humans.
But when “handymen” Nicholas and Worick are tasked with looking after Alex, a prostitute who knows more than she lets on, they all end up in a conspiracy that threatens to upset that balance for good. The creator, Kohske, sadly came down with lupus around 2015. Since then, she’s had to work around the condition, frequently putting the strip on hiatus. With the most recent one being its longest break, it’s likely Chapter 56 might be its last.
7
Me & the Devil Blues
MyAnimeList Score: 8.06
- Creator: Akira Hiramoto.
- Published: November 2003-March 2017.
- 5 Volumes, 34 Chapters.
- Formerly available in English via Del Ray Comics.
In life, Robert Johnson was a humble blues musician who died early at 27. Then, in death, his chords would inspire many of rock music’s pioneers. He even inspired an urban legend, that he got his skills by dealing with the devil at a crossroads, then died when Satan came to make good on it. A tale Akira Hiramoto found intriguing enough to turn into a horror manga.
Related
10 Best Historical Manga Without Anime
These manga, set in different periods throughout Earth’s history, deserve their own animated adaptations.
Posts
Me & the Devil Blues fictionalizes Johnson’s life by taking the urban legend as gospel and building on it. It went on hiatus in 2008, then came back briefly in 2015 before going back on the shelf in 2017. Hiramoto said he’d like to go back to it someday, but until then, he’s paying the bills with work on Super Ball Girls and Futari Switch.
6
xxxHOLiC: Rei
MyAnimeList Score: 8.18
- Creators: CLAMP.
- Published: March 2013-March 2017.
- 4 Volumes, 56 Chapters.
- Available in English via Kodansha Comics USA.
CLAMP is perhaps the most famous collective in manga, though they’re no strangers to putting works on hiatus. Clover ended abruptly when its magazine went out of business. X/1999 has been put on hold since March 2003. Then both Gate 7 and Drug & Drop got shelved in 2013, right when they began work on xxxHOLiC: Rei.
The sequel to the original xxxHOLiC saw Kimihiro continue his service under Yuko, a powerful witch who grants wishes for the right price, and she doesn’t take cash or credit. It went on hiatus in 2017 and has remained there since. However, CLAMP recently announced they’ll be resuming work on the strip in April 2025. Provided things go according to plan, xxxHOLiC fans will get their next fix soon enough.
5
Historie
MyAnimeList Score: 8.19
- Creator: Hitoshi Iwaaki.
- Published: January 2003-October 2022.
- 12 Volumes, 124 Chapters.
- Available in English digitally via K-Manga.
Over a decade after horrifying readers with the grisly Parasyte, Hitoshi Iwaaki moved into ancient history with Historie. It tells a fictionalized account of the life and times of Eumenes, a rich boy turned slave who, after a series of trials and tribulations, went on to become a general under the command of Alexander the Great.
The manga began its run in 2003 and kept going until August 2022, when it went on an indefinite hiatus. On top of health concerns, Iwaaki cited that he needed to prepare for its 12th volume (released June 2024), and to “contemplate how to ensure that the entire story undoubtedly reaches a conclusion.” In other words, if it’s going to go out soon, it’s got to go out on a high note. Though when that high note will arrive is up in the air.
4
The Glass Mask
MyAnimeList Score: 8.43
- Creator: Suzue Miuchi.
- Published: January 1976-May 2012.
- 49 Volumes, 382 Chapters.
- Fan Translations only.
The Glass Mask is the oldest strip on this list, following the rivalry between prospective actresses Maya and Ayumi since 1976. Ayumi is gifted, beautiful, and has powerful connections. Maya is plain, and has average intelligence, but has a clear passion for acting. Which was enough to put her in contention for the lead role in the famous play “The Crimson Goddess.”
Related
8 Most Underrated Shoujo Anime
Everybody knows Sailor Moon and Fruits Basket, but there are plenty of other great shoujo anime that deserve to be watched.
Posts
It took infrequent breaks throughout the 1990s and 2000s, then switched from Hana to Yume to its supplementary sister magazine Bessatsu Hana to Yume in 2008. Suzue Miuchi considered ending the series soon after 2009 but ended up working further on it until it went on hiatus in 2012. If Miuchi does get to close it off, it’ll likely be back in Hana to Yume, as its Bessatsu edition ceased publication in 2018.
3
Nana
MyAnimeList Score: 8.80
- Creator: Ai Yazawa.
- Published: May 2000-May 2009.
- 21 Volumes, 84 Chapters.
- Available in English via Viz Media’s Shojo Beat imprint.
The lives and loves of Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu made Nana one of the most famous shojo strips in publication. Though it often reads more like a josei comic, the strip doesn’t shy away from mature themes and topics, be they racy and dramatic (addiction, pregnancy, death) or dry, grown-up stuff (politics in the music business).
Then it went on hiatus in 2009 when creator Ai Yazawa fell seriously ill. Her condition hasn’t been made public, but it left her hospitalized for nearly a year. Then her recovery has limited her work to smaller scale projects since 2010. She has said she’d like to complete Nana when she’s able to, though it’s doubtful anyone would blame her if she put her health first.
2
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
MyAnimeList Score: 8.83
- Creators: Kanehito Yamada (story), Tsukasa Abe (art).
- Published: April 2020-December 2024.
- 13+ Volumes, 140+ Chapters.
- Available in English via Viz Media’s Shōnen Sunday imprint.
What happens to fantasy hero parties when the adventure is over? What did they leave unsaid in their journey that they wish they had said? Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End caught on by answering those questions, as the elf Frieren laments her long lifespan. Her friends Himmel and Heiter age and die, leaving her with their memories and their legacy via their young successors, Fern and Stark.
It’s since grown in popularity thanks to its anime adaptation, which came in at a good time as the manga has gone through a few sudden hiatuses in the past two years. Usually, they’ve been brief, like its two-month break in 2023, and a three-month pause in 2024. As of this writing, the manga has been on an indefinite hiatus since December 2024.
1
Vagabond
MyAnimeList Score: 9.26
- Creator: Takehiko Inoue, from a novel by Eiji Yoshikawa.
- Published: September 1998-May 2015.
- 37 Volumes, 327 Chapters.
- Available in English via Viz Media’s Viz Signature imprint.
After revolutionizing sports manga with Slam Dunk, Takehiko Inoue switched to a historical epic in Vagabond. It’s an adaptation of the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, which shows how the antisocial brigand Takezo Shinmen became the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi and learned what it means to live, die, and be strong in his journeys across Japan.
Like Miuchi on The Glass Mask, Inoue figured he’d conclude the strip within 1–2 years back in 2009. Then he suffered health issues in 2010 that saw him put the manga on hiatus until he gained the will to continue. He did bring it back for a few chapters in 2014 and 2015 but went back on hiatus in May 2015, where it’s remained ever since. Fans can only hope Inoue will regain interest in the strip someday.
More
7 Seinen Manga That Will Likely Not Be Completed
Based on the current odds, there’s a very slim chance that these seinen stories will be completed.
Posts
Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime
