Manga 'Hourou Musuko' to End Next Chapter

by symbv
Jun 12, 2013 1:07 AM | 23 Comments

It was announced that in the next issue of "Gekkan Comic Beam", to be published on July 12th, manga "Hourou Musuko" will have its last chapter. The manga started serialization from late 2002 and has continued for over 10 years. So far 14 volumes have been published. In 2011 it was adapted into a TV anime series.

Source: Mainichi

20 of 23 Comments Recent Comments

Crikey. I think Takako is giving up.

Jun 22, 2013 6:47 PM by Kaliov

why it end so quickly, the same time many anime are too too too long to prolong its end. But it is time to reading it :)

Jun 17, 2013 7:32 PM by teribithia

Damn! After Gakuen Alice's last chapter on June 20, now you tell me Hourou Musuko too?? A shame, real shame.. :((

Jun 17, 2013 7:21 AM by -eUreka

katenosh said:

New_Username said:

GarLogan78 said:

New_Username said:
It's a shame the English printing is in limbo. Two volumes a year at £10 seemed like a great idea to someone.

It isn't in limbo...Volume 4 was just released by Fantagraphics Books, and volumes 5 and 6 are available for pre-order.

http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/wandering-son.html

I know.

It shouldn't be the price it is and it shouldn't need 6 months to translate a manga volume when they're 8~ behind. Relatively speaking, for me that's limbo. It inspires little confidence and I hesitate to pick up the volumes if I don't think it will be finished.

Fantagraphics do make really lovely good quality books though. Considering it's hardcover and your average paperback manga will set you back ~£8 it's not really that steep in comparison?
Especially when you think about the difference in price between normal books in hardcover and paperback (Usually £18 and ~£7 respectively)

The scanlation has been varying degrees of passable throughout so I'm curious to see how the official version compares

My average manga volume is more around the £6 mark I find. I've no experience with Fantagraphics (which was another source of concern), but I may have to pick one up at some point to see how they justify that price.

There's stock issues where I would typically order my stuff for volume 5 which released on the 13/6;

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Wandering-Son-5-Shimura-Takako/9781606996478 - "Currently unavailable"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wandering-Son-Book-Shimura-Takako/dp/1606996479/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371262844&sr=8-1&keywords=wandering+son - "10 - 12 days" @ £13.99

Alarm bells ringing in my head, it's just a bit odd.

Amazon.com have the release date as September and volume 5 is 3-4~USD more expensive than the other volumes.

EDIT:

GarLogan78 said:
To me "limbo" seems like a state of nothing happening or something. Like a purgatory.

I personally think the books are worth it though. At rightstuf you can buy each one for ~15 dollars instead of ~20, and like katenosh said they are hardcover. They are also larger than normal manga releases.

I do understand your concerns though. At the rate they are going it will be like 2018 or something when they release the last volume, which is ridiculous if it ends in Japan in 2013.

Didn't notice the 2nd page.

I will purchase a volume at some point to see if it's worth the price tag.

Admittedly I didn't check the release date on the fantagraphics site you linked before until just now, and they're putting it down as August for volume 5 which is going to make it 7~ months between volume 4 to 5, and retailers don't have consistent dates.

It's all a bit weird, but I really do want them to finish it. It was always going to be a hard sell.

Jun 14, 2013 7:25 PM by TOFFEECRISP

katenosh said:

New_Username said:

GarLogan78 said:

New_Username said:
It's a shame the English printing is in limbo. Two volumes a year at £10 seemed like a great idea to someone.

It isn't in limbo...Volume 4 was just released by Fantagraphics Books, and volumes 5 and 6 are available for pre-order.

http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/wandering-son.html

To me "limbo" seems like a state of nothing happening or something. Like a purgatory.

I personally think the books are worth it though. At rightstuf you can buy each one for ~15 dollars instead of ~20, and like katenosh said they are hardcover. They are also larger than normal manga releases.

I do understand your concerns though. At the rate they are going it will be like 2018 or something when they release the last volume, which is ridiculous if it ends in Japan in 2013.

Jun 14, 2013 1:07 AM by Gar_Logan

New_Username said:

GarLogan78 said:

New_Username said:
It's a shame the English printing is in limbo. Two volumes a year at £10 seemed like a great idea to someone.

It isn't in limbo...Volume 4 was just released by Fantagraphics Books, and volumes 5 and 6 are available for pre-order.

http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/wandering-son.html

Jun 13, 2013 3:16 PM by katenosh

GarLogan78 said:

New_Username said:
It's a shame the English printing is in limbo. Two volumes a year at £10 seemed like a great idea to someone.

It isn't in limbo...Volume 4 was just released by Fantagraphics Books, and volumes 5 and 6 are available for pre-order.

http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/wandering-son.html

Jun 13, 2013 2:53 PM by TOFFEECRISP

I had original watched the anime and decided to read the manga to see more of the story (because I enjoyed the anime). Unfortunately, the last few chapters have been disappointing to me and I can't imagine how this ending is going to be satisfying.

Jun 13, 2013 2:59 AM by saxophone15

Well this is rather horribly underwhelming. I always wondered how it would end, but never did I expect it to end soon, nor do I expect a satisfying ending considering how things are in chapter 119. I'd certainly like some reasoning behind this.

EDIT: And after reading 120 and 121, I can see that yeah, the ending pretty much is coming. But alas, it is a story about life, and the only way such a story can end is in death. The manga may no longer go on, but the story will never truly end... Still, I feel an emptiness, knowing that I won't be looking for new chapters anymore.

Jun 13, 2013 12:12 AM by Damonashu

New_Username said:
It's a shame the English printing is in limbo. Two volumes a year at £10 seemed like a great idea to someone.

It isn't in limbo...Volume 4 was just released by Fantagraphics Books, and volumes 5 and 6 are available for pre-order.

http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/wandering-son.html

Jun 12, 2013 10:13 PM by Gar_Logan

It's a shame the English printing is in limbo. Two volumes a year at £10 seemed like a great idea to someone.

Jun 12, 2013 7:38 PM by TOFFEECRISP

The pacing of the actually chapters is that bad imo, but I do think that are still something the mangaka can develop, I really wonder where the ending is going...

Jun 12, 2013 5:02 PM by Kurini

I guess it's time to start reading and watching it

Jun 12, 2013 2:53 PM by Mr_Gutts

anime was really good one.
i hope she'll pull off some good ending.

Jun 12, 2013 2:25 PM by underoath777

I love Hourou Musuko and I love Shimura Takako, but I just can't see her pulling off a satisfying ending like this. Between this and Aoi Hana, something must be going on in her personal life. Both have been kind of lackluster lately as well, so I think she's struggling with being a mangaka.

Jun 12, 2013 11:59 AM by wingless

Yeah it really seemed that author wanted to end it, I'm not liking the pace of the latest chapters.

I heard that aoi hana is also having a rushed ending, i wonder if they forced shimura to end both manga or if she is just tired of them?

Anyway what a shame.

Jun 12, 2013 9:30 AM by Vanisher

Shame, I kinda liked the anime.

Haven't given the manga a shot yet but also interested.

Jun 12, 2013 9:01 AM by Stark700

while I do like the fact that they deal with alot of social issue, I found this series extremely boring.

Jun 12, 2013 8:17 AM by komic

I kept wondering how long it'd run, but I didn't expect it to end this soon... o.o

Jun 12, 2013 3:30 AM by Face_Faith

What? Aw.. so soon. I was expecting it to go for a little longer, but then again it is about children dealing with their sexuality and the time is running out.

Jun 12, 2013 3:27 AM by figuette

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