While Shonen Jump magazine often carries a stigma for snuffing out new series before they truly get a chance to shine, Takeru Hokazono’s Kagurabachi has managed to not only survive in Shueisha’s competitive climate but thrive. Having begun serializing in September 2023, the manga had surpassed having 1 million copies in circulation by its one-year anniversary. Now, it seems the action shonen will reportedly get an anime adaptation from the team behind another modern masterpiece.
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Kagurabachi follows Chihiro Rokuhira, the son of Kunishige Rokuhira, a famous swordsmith known for forging six enchanted blades crucial in bringing the Seitei War to an end. After spending years living in hiding, the family was apprehended by a group of criminal sorcerers and, in the ensuing battle, managed to kill Kunishige and steal the enchanted blades. Set on a journey fueled by vengeance, Chihiro sets out with an elusive seventh blade, called “Enten,” to avenge his father’s death and retrieve the legendary swords.
[RELATED: Kagurabachi Takes Home New Popularity Award That Tees Up an Anime]
Kagurabachi Anime Reportedly Produced by CygamesPictures
Though it’s yet to be officially confirmed by Shueisha and Shonen Jump, Toyo Keizai has reported that Kagurabachi will be receiving an anime adaptation by CygamesPictures, being labeled as a “Cyberagent x Shochiku Production.” With Cyberagent being on the committee for the recent cultural phenomenon Oshi no Ko, this is an exciting possibility. That said, both refrained from answering when Toyo Keizai reached out to Cygames and Shochiku for further comment or an actual confirmation. While the news is all but confirmed, it seems inevitable that Kagurabachi would receive an anime due to the series’ rapidly growing fanbase worldwide.
Kagurabachi Has Solidified Itself as the Future of Weekly Shonen Jump
It’s been a tough year for Shueisha’s biggest imprint, Shonen Jump. 2024 alone has waved goodbye to My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen – two of the magazine’s biggest series. Plus, other heavy-hitters, like One Piece, have their final chapters constantly looming over readers’ heads. Given the magazine’s history, brand-new series often struggle to survive in the imprint’s current climate, especially for action-oriented series. When Kagurabachi originally launched, it was met with quite a bit of concern and apprehension from potential fans. Not necessarily due to the writing or artwork featured in its first chapters – rather, new readers were worried the manga wouldn’t survive.
To the shock – and delight – of many, Kagurabachi began to thrive thanks to the power of memes. Readers online immediately started poking light-hearted fun at the manga, including some fans calling it the “inheritor of Shonen Jump‘s “Big 3” (One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach). The positive, admittedly silly press around the series led the first chapter to surpass 99 million views on Manga Plus by April 2024.
Following its launch, Kagurabachi has managed to surpass Shonen Jump and Shueisha’s other modern lineup, including Spy x Family, Dragon Ball Super, and Boruto in various Manga Plus popularity polls. It seems that the momentum behind the series isn’t going to slow down anytime soon, and with the release of the anime adaptation, the title “Big 3 Inheritor” might not be such a meme after all.
H/T Toyo Keizai