Author Kazue Katō has updated fans that she will be taking a break from creating her Blue Exorcist manga until she recovers from COVID-19.
Katō made an official announcement through his X (formerly Twitter) account, informing fans that the Blue Exorcist manga sequel will be delayed. The author confirmed that she has COVID-19 and needs to focus on recovery. However, Anime News Network said the series’ break will be relatively short, with the manga expected to resume in the December issue of Shueisha’s Jump SQ magazine. magazine. Katō also confirmed that the scheduled autograph signing will be postponed until January.
Fans of Katō’s manga will have to wait about a month for the next issue, but it’s worth noting that this is only a short pause compared to the series’ previous hiatuses. The manga took a two-month hiatus from February to March 2021, with Katō deciding to take a break after 12 grueling years. Blue Exorcist was also paused for 8 months from August 2021 to April 2022 so that Katō could focus on adapting Strange Tales from the horror novel Handy Shop Karukaya by author Fuyumi Ono. The latter manga’s most recent hiatus ran from January to April this year, before volume 29 was released in July.
Blue Exorcist is a unique heroic story
Blue Exorcist offers a change of pace with its unlikely heroic storytelling. According to the English synopsis, “Raised by Father Fujimoto, a famous exorcist, Rin Okumura never knew her real father. One day, a fateful argument with Father Fujimoto forces Rin to face a terrible truth—the blood of the demon king Satan flows through Rin’s veins! Rin vows to defeat Satan, but doing so means entering the mysterious True Cross Academy and becoming an exorcist herself. Can Rin fight the demons and keep her hellish bloodline a secret? It won’t be easy, especially drawing out his father’s sword to unleash the demonic power within him!”
Blue Exorcist has garnered quite a following since it debuted in 2009 on Jump SQ. magazine and Viz Media produced an English version of the manga starting in 2011. The manga inspired a 25-episode anime television adaptation in 2011, along with the spin-off OVA Blue Exorcist : Kuro Runs Away From Home that same year and a feature-length film adaptation in December 2012. The second anime season titled Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga aired 12 episodes in 2017. The manga is a successful franchise so much so that it has also inspired several other adaptations, including a light novel, a stage play. and two video games.
Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga, the latest anime television adaptation of the manga, is scheduled for release in 2024.
Source: Anime News Network
