News
The Promised Neverland Manga Enters Final Arc (Updated)
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Manga creators Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu revealed in the comments section of this year's 41st issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on Monday that their The Promised Neverland manga has entered its final arc.
Shirai had stated in an interview posted on the Franceinfo French news website on August 21 that Shirai would like the story to "not extend too much" in accordance with the story's editor, adding that the length of the manga should be "ideally 20 to 30 volumes long."
The supervising editor for the manga said in an interview with Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web news website in February that the manga had reached its "turnaround point." The term "turnaround point" (折り返し地点) refers to a halfway point (as in a race, where the runner turns around on a track), although the editor did not clarify whether the manga is half done in terms of length or if it has simply reached the second of two major parts to the story.
Viz Media is serializing the manga in its digital English edition of Shonen Jump, and is also publishing the volumes in print. Viz Media describes the story:
Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean clothes and the perfect environment to learn—what more could an orphan ask for? One day, though, Emma and Norman uncover the dark truth of the outside world they are forbidden from seeing.
Shirai and Demizu launched the manga in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in August 2016, and Shueisha shipped the manga's 10th compiled volume on August 3. The manga has more than 5 million copies in print worldwide as of May 28.
The manga won the Best Shōnen Manga award at the 63rd Shogakukan Manga Awards in January, was nominated for the 11th Manga Taisho awards in January, and was nominated for the 22nd Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in February. The series also topped the 2018 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook's list of manga for male readers in December.
The manga is inspiring a television anime adaptation that will premiere in January 2019. The anime will have an advanced screening at this year's Jump Special Anime Festa event on November 25 in Tokyo and on December 2 in Sapporo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka.
The manga has also inspired a spinoff novel about Norman that shipped in June.
Update: Added in details from French interview with Shirai posted last month. Thanks to Animeland for the French translation assistance, and thanks to 64BitRatchet and Shinuki for the news tip.
Source: Weekly Shonen Jump issue 41
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history