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Captain Tsubasa Manga's Story to Continue in Storyboard Form (Updated)
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Shueisha confirmed on Wednesday that the Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun manga will have a "new arc" serializing in the form of storyboards on the new Captain Tsubasa World website. The website will post the 27-page first chapter of the new arc, titled Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun Finals (not to be confused with the previous Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun The Final arc), on Thursday. Shueisha previewed the storyboards on Wednesday.
The 20th and final volume of Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun and the third and final volume of Captain Tsubasa Memories 4: Saikyō! Meiwa FC Densetsu will both ship simultaneously on June 4. To commemorate the releases, Takahashi will hold an autograph session at the Books Kinokuniya chain's Shinjuku Main Store in Tokyo on June 8, and Tokyo's Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store will host an exhibition of the original manga art this summer.
Youichi Takahashi is retiring from serializing his long-running manga franchise. The Captain Tsubasa Magazine magazine's issue that released on April 4 was the last one. The 20th and final issue of the magazine features the final chapters of the Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun The Final and Captain Tsubasa Memories 4: Saikyō! Meiwa FC Densetsu manga.
Takahashi explained that he had been thinking over the past few years about whether he would continue or finish drawing the manga. He calculated that it may take over 40 years to finish the story. As such, instead of pushing his body to the limit, he concluded that it would be better to stop serialization. Takahashi is over 60 years old, and he considers himself to be in good health. However, due to presbyopia, the gradual loss of the eyes' ability to focus on nearby objects, he is experiencing poorer eyesight and dizziness. The combination of his condition, COVID-19 affecting staff structure, the switch to digital methods for drawing manga, and the death of Dokaben baseball manga creator Shinji Mizushima in January 2022 all factored into his decision.
Takahashi's original 37-volume Captain Tsubasa manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1981 to 1988, and it inspired four television anime series, four anime films, several OVAs, and a stage play. The manga is available in about 20 countries.
The original soccer manga revolves around 11-year-old Tsubasa Ōzora, a boy who loves soccer and is recognized by his coach Roberto due to his skill of the sport. Tsubasa goes with his coach to Brazil in order to train for the World Cup.
Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun revolves around Tsubasa as he aims to participate in the Olympics as a representative from Japan. Takahashi launched the manga in Shueisha's Grand Jump magazine in December 2013. The manga then moved to Captain Tsubasa Magazine, Grand Jump's spinoff magazine that focuses on the franchise, when it launched in April 2020.
Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun The Final, the "final saga" of the overall Captain Tsubasa series, launched in the magazine's 16th issue in April 2023. The manga is a new arc and renaming of the Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun manga.
Update: Takahashi posted a thread on X/Twitter on April 5 in English discussing his decision to retire as a manga creator, and about the freedom he will have now without worrying about deadlines, number of pages, or set manuscript size, adding, "I think this will let me deliver entertainment to you in a more creative way." He also said, "The story of 'Captain Tsubasa' is not over yet! This is for sure."
Source: Comic Natalie
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history