[GRADUATION] Five Mangas That Should Have "Graduated" By Now

In Japan, March is the period of graduations, where students say goodbye to the middle schools or high schools they have stayed in, and go on with their lives as they move on to either higher education or directly to work. However, much like any culture in the world, there will always be those students who get left behind and not graduate.

The manga industry also mirrors school life, as there are mangas which are ending or “graduating” this month, like ERASED/ Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi and Assassination Classroom, while there are also titles which have dragged on for so long, with most fans losing touch and just begging the series to end. These mangas are the titles which should have ended or “graduated” by now, however, they are still ongoing, and more often plagued by hiatuses than usual mangas.

We take a look at five of these mangas, starting with the one that fans have been begging to end for a long time now…

Hunter x Hunter

Saying that readers have been begging for the Hunter x Hunter manga to end may be a bit of an understatement, as the hiatus-ridden manga has its mangaka, Yoshihiro Togashi, experiencing all sorts of “ailments.”

Launched back in 1998, the manga has been a huge financial success, inspiring two TV anime, OVAs, and anime films, as well as video games and musicals. However, its mangaka has shown that he can’t keep up with all the workload, even if there is high demand for it, and often goes on hiatuses which last for a few years. Yes, folks, years!

While some hiatuses last for a couple of weeks, or even a couple of months, Yoshihiro Togashi has managed to get into hiatuses for years on end. The manga is currently on hiatus, with its latest return only lasting two months, which came after Togashi went on a 2-year hiatus. The manga has frustrated fans so much that they have called Togashi as one of the laziest mangaka out there, with his latest excuse for going on one is that he is “suffering from back problems.” Frustrated fans have even nicknamed the series as “Hiatus x Hiatus.”

BERSERK

There are two mangaka who are vying for the title of “hiatus king.” One of them is Hunter x Hunter’s Yoshihiro Togashi, and the other is Kentaro Miura, the mangaka behind Berserk. Miura launched Berserk back in 1989, and yes, it’s older than many of you and it’s still going on!

The manga is getting a new TV anime adaptation this year, however, the announcement came with news that Miura is going on hiatus… AGAIN. The mangaka has been known to go on hiatuses which last for years. Most of the time, he goes on hiatuses whenever a new iDOLM@STER game comes out, and there are reports that he has gotten quite addicted to a few other games as well.

The mangaka has made many fans want to go Berserk (pun intended), and like all the titles in this list, has fans begging for the series to end.

D. Gray-man

Much like Hunter x Hunter’s Togashi and Berserk’s Miura, D. Gray-man’s Katsura Hoshino has been on long and frequent hiatuses which have lasted for years. Hoshino has fallen ill and even injured her wrist, and even had her manga bounce around some of Shueisha’s other magazines. However, the mangaka has returned last year, but her frequent ailments have now frustrated many fans, who are also begging to have the manga ended.

D.Gray-Man was relaunched as part of Shueisha’s new quarterly manga magazine, Jump Sq. Crown. This latest return came after her last hiatus, which started back in 2013 and lasted more than a year.

Bleach

To those thinking that Bleach ended with the defeat of Aizen, SURPRISE!

It’s still going on! Sure, Tite Kubo’s manga is now in its final arc, but the manga has dragged on for so long that many fans have already lost interest, with many thinking that the manga ended with Aizen finally being defeated.

Unlike the three titles above, Bleach is not suffering from long and frequent hiatuses, but Shonen Jump has made the series drag on for so long that the manga went from one of Jump’s hottest titles and rivaling One Piece and Naruto, to “hey, it’s still going on?! I thought it already ended.” Many fans and critics have felt that Bleach should have ended with Aizen’s defeat, but Jump just had to let it drag on. Most of us know that it’s in the final arc, but please, just let it end already!

Detective Conan

Gosho Aoyama has been writing and illustrating Detective Conan for more than 20 years now, and much like Bleach’s Kubo, he hasn’t gone on too many hiatuses. Like One Piece’s Eiichirou Oda, he has been hard at work, and it seems that there is still no end in sight for his manga. However, there are readers who are feeling that his manga might go on the road that Bleach has taken.

Writing a mystery manga day in and day out is difficult, especially if its full of twists and turns like Detective Conan. For that reason, many fans are praying that he would end Conan before the manga “jumps the shark” and fans begin losing interest.

Above is our list manga that we think has gone on for too long. So, which manga series do you think should have “graduated” by now? Tell us in the comments below!