Cancelled Shonen Jump Series’ Creator Returns in Spring With a New Manga

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2025 proved to be a difficult year for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, with a number of manga series being canceled, some before they even had a chance to be published in book form. Since its debut in 1968, Weekly Shonen Jump has published many legendary titles, including Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach. It eventually became the best-selling manga magazine ever, and continues to lead the industry today with popular series like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia that are shaping modern shonen manga. While a select few series have become truly iconic, many others were discontinued due to poor performance and have been largely forgotten. Despite the growth of the manga market, Weekly Shonen Jump frequently faces challenges, with far more cancellations than successful titles.

Nono Daiki’s sports manga, Ekiden Bros, launched last June but was unfortunately cancelled in October after just 17 chapters. While it started strong as the creator’s first serialized work, it struggled to maintain reader interest. The manga currently has a low score of 5.13 on MyAnimeList with limited engagement. However, the creator has surprisingly announced a return to the series this spring.

Ekiden Bros’ Creator Is Returning With Another Shonen Jump Manga

A trusted source, @WSJ_manga, has confirmed that the manga creator will be returning in the Spring 2026 issue of Jump GIGA. This news appeared in the Winter 2026 issue of Jump GIGA, released on January 5th, 2026. While new chapters of series like Black Clover were added to platforms like Manga Plus, the announcement itself was only found in the Japanese magazine. Although details about the new work are scarce, it’s likely to be a one-shot, as this is a common way for creators to try out new ideas.

We could see a story very different from Ekiden Bros, a manga about a young student named Nobunaga who was raised around long-distance running. His mother managed a dormitory for marathon trainees, and Nobunaga grew up watching the famous Tokyo–Hakone college race. The story follows his return to running after a disagreement with a childhood friend leads him to sign up for a 10-kilometer race and rediscover his passion.

Shonen Jump frequently publishes short, standalone manga stories, which is a win-win for the magazine and the artists. These one-shot stories allow creators to showcase their skills, develop their work, and get noticed by editors. If a story is popular, it could even be developed into a full-length series, though that doesn’t happen often. The fact that this creator is returning next year is great news, suggesting we’ll likely see more of their work in the future. Their current manga, Ekiden Bros, is available to read on the official Manga Plus app.

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2026-01-06 03:10