Jujutsu Kaisen will take a short break and return in May.
According to Shonen Jump News (@/WSJ_manga), Jujutsu Kaisen will be taking a break after the release of Chapter 221 on April 23. Redbeanime has provided more details on the Jujutsu Kaisen hiatus. Jujutsu Kaisen is technically taking a two-week break as all Weekly Shōnen Jump works won’t be releasing any new chapters during the week of April 29 to May 5 due to Japan’s Golden Week. The manga will return to publication on May 14 in Weekly Shōnen Jump Issue 24.
The previous Jujutsu Kaisen was on hiatus in March 2022 due to mangaka Gege Akutami’s ill health. At the time of announcement, Akutami was in the process of recovering. Manga is on hiatus for a week. Last year, JJK announced an indefinite hiatus in June 2021 due to Akutami’s health. In a statement, Akutami assured fans that their mental health is fine and that their condition is not serious. They admitted that they wanted to focus on finishing the series, writing, “I have been asked by the editor to pause the series, but I don’t want to slow down the weekly publication of Jujutsu Kaisen since I want to pull out the end of the series as soon as possible, and just keep my answer.”
The Stressful Conditions of the Manga Industry
The stressful industry conditions in Japan have negatively affected many manga authors, with many suffering from debilitating health conditions, forcing them to take frequent breaks. Hunter x Hunter creator Yoshihiro Togashi has been out of action several times due to poor health. Although Togashi attempted to return in October 2022 as Hunter x Hunter continued serialization, after two months the manga went on an indefinite hiatus. My Hero Academia’s Mangaka Kōhei Horikoshi has been on hiatus three times since early 2023 due to his health, with One-Punch Man’s artist Yusuke Murata begging Horikoshi to “take care of yourself.”
Launched in Weekly Shōnen Jump in March 2018, Jujutsu Kaisen has quickly risen to become one of the most popular shounen series. The manga follows an ordinary high school student named Yuji Itadori who, in an attempt to save his friends, swallows a rotten finger talisman. What he didn’t realize was that by eating his finger, he was essentially marking himself for death because the finger belonged to Sukuna, the King of Curses, which led to the sorcerer’s call execute him. Thanks to Satoru Gojo, the sorcerers agreed to postpone Yuji’s death sentence until he trained his body enough to swallow the rest of Sukuna’s finger, allowing the sorcerers to eliminate his world. Sukuna and Yuji forever.
Chapter 221 of Jujutsu Kaisen is out on April 23, and can be read by fans on Viz Media and Manga Plus.
Source: Twitter, Redbeanime
