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'86' Manga Adaptations of 1st 2 Light Novels Arcs Canceled

The official website for Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine announced on Wednsday that Motoki Yoshihara's manga adaptation of Asato Asato's 86 light novel series has been canceled. Square Enix's Manga UP! digital manga service also announced on Wednesday that Hakuya Yamasaki's 86: Run Through the Battlefront manga has been canceled. Both announcements cited the respective creator's continued health issues.

Yoshihara's manga has been on hiatus since July 2021, and Yamasaki's manga has been on hiatus since September 2021, both due to the creators' health. After consultation with Kadokawa's Dengeki Bunko label (which publishes the original light novel), Square Enix decided to cancel the two manga.

Yoshihara launched the 86—EIGHTY-SIX manga in Young Gangan magazine in 2018. The manga adapts the novels' first story arc. The manga's third compiled book volume shipped in Japan in June 2021. Yen Press is publishing the manga in English, and it released the second volume in March 2021.

Yamasaki launched the 86: Run Through the Battlefront manga in Manga UP! in January 2021. Square Enix published the manga's first volume in June 2021. The manga adapts the novels' second story arc.

Yen Press is publishing the light novel series in English, and it describes the story:

The San Magnolia Republic has long been under attack by unmanned weapons from the neighboring Empire. Against this onslaught, the Republic has also deployed similar weapons, narrowly avoiding great loss of life and impending disaster-or at least that's how it seemed.

The truth is that it has never been possible to have no casualties. Young men and women drawn from the Republic's supposedly non-existent 86th district are organized into the "86 unit" and then ordered to pilot the "unmanned weapons" before heading to battle.

The television anime of the novels premiered in April 2021, and it aired for two cours (quarters of the year). Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan, and it also streamed an English dub. The anime's second cours premiered in October 2021. The anime's 22nd and 23rd episodes had been delayed to March 2022 to "ensure quality." The 22nd episode aired on March 12, and the 23rd episode premiered on March 19.

Sources: Young Gangan website, Manga UP!