News

Keijo!!!!!!!! Manga Creator Explains Cancellation

Manga creator Daichi Sorayomi posted details regarding the ending of his Keijo!!!!!!!! manga series on his blog on Sunday. He began by saying that he was told even before the anime aired that he should finish the manga after the anime finished. He denied rumors that the manga was cancelled due to poor sales of the anime's home video volumes.

He specifically addressed the rumors that the anime's first home video volume only sold 715 units. Upon seeing the rumors, he immediately contacted the anime staff to confirm the number. The anime staff informed him that the figure was incorrect, and that the first volume had sold more than that. He said that the figure had "the number of digits wrong."

He admitted that the manga's cancellation was due to his own lack of skill and the circumstances between him and the publisher. He wrote with some hesitation that the manga's publisher Shogakukan could have given him more support. He claimed that there was a period of time where he had asked Shogakukan for more assistants for a year and a half, but the publisher told him they could not find him one. He worked on the manga with only one assistant, and at one point ended up doing too much work that he passed out for an hour.

He had also previously been told that if the anime had one more sponsor, it could have also been broadcast in western Japan. He claimed that Shogakukan did not sponsor the anime, but admitted that he cannot confirm if this is true.

Sorayomi also regretted that the manga was placed towards the back of Weekly Shonen Sunday even as the anime was airing. Manga magazines usually put the least popular manga in the magazine near the last pages. He would have liked to portray more of the planned story, and admitted that he sped up the story, but said that in the end, half a year wasn't enough.

He revealed that he will put extra chapters in the 16th, 17th, and 18th volumes of the manga.

In the end Sorayomi thanked Weekly Shonen Sunday for giving him the chance to serialize the manga, the readers, the staff of the television anime, the people in charge of marketing, and the voice actors for the anime. He says that their hard work made him able to last half a year before the manga was cancelled.

Weekly Shonen Sunday published the manga's final chapter in this year's combined 22nd and 23rd issue on Wednesday. The manga's 16th volume will ship in May, the 17th volume will ship in June, and the 18th volume will ship in July.

Sorayomi launched the manga in Weekly Shonen Sunday in 2013, and Shogakukan published the 15th compiled volume on March 31.

The manga takes place in an alternate Japan where a sport called "Keijo" by law in 2003 became a sport alongside horse racing, boat racing, and cycling that allows for gambling. In the sport, contestants stand on platforms floating on the water and must use their butts and chests to fight against each other to push each other off the platform. Nozomi Kaminashi, a high school student, aims to join the sport after she graduates. Nozomi was raised in a poor family and hopes to make lots of money by playing Keijo. She grew up training in gymnastics, and she has good balance and flexibility. After high school, Nozomi joins a training boarding school and enters the world of Keijo.

The manga inspired 12-episode anime series that premiered in October, and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it airs. Funimation also streamed the series with an English dub.

All six Japanese Blu-ray Disc and DVD home video releases for the series are bundling a "completely new bonus anime."