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The story
An article introducing works like Otokozaka and Rising Impact — series that were cancelled early in Weekly Shonen Jump, only to be revived years later and finally brought to a proper conclusion — sparked discussion on 5ch’s Geinou/Sports News+ board. The thread was full of nostalgic memories about the original cancellations and how the revivals came about, with reactions ranging from “sequels never beat the original” to the more forgiving “at least it got finished.” Posters also debated the merits of each ending, and noted a recurring pattern in how Masami Kurumada’s sequels tend to turn out.
2026.08.30
Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) at its peak ran countless legendary manga, an era often called the “Jump Golden Age.” While many masterpieces emerged that went on to influence generations, quite a few series were unfortunately cancelled early.
Even so, some of these series were kept alive by die-hard fan support, and despite being left unfinished, made a miraculous comeback and reached a proper conclusion. This time, let’s look at some hidden gems that overcame such hardships to finally reach completion.
Source: futaman.futabanet.jp / Original article here
What people said
Losing the fight to his rival and then smiling while drifting out to sea on a boat — what a brutal way to end it.
And everyone around him is crying and sending him off with some line about how the hero came from the sea and returns to the sea.
Well, setting aside the old-school fans, people online these days were probably just having fun with that image as a meme symbolizing the cancellation.
So even if you announce 'it's back!', nobody's actually going to follow it seriously.
Wait, it really got revived the same year?
I thought it was a miracle.
And then there was a second one…
Rushing into crazy power inflation is this author's signature move lol
In his other works too, the hero usually starts with some broken cheat skill, and the moment a rival shows up he 'awakens' even further and instantly goes superhuman lol
Fuma no Kojiro
Well, they did at least settle things with the western Japan boss.
Wait, that's what happens in it?
Sounds like some fujoshi's twisted Hikaru Genji Plan~ (a trope, from The Tale of Genji, of raising a child to become one's ideal future spouse)
Wasn't the heroine in Ganbare Genki also his elementary school teacher?
And what happened next is well known.
No, after that it was Sunday.
Blizzard Accel and Kongou Banchou.
Bouncing around from Shueisha to Shogakukan to Kodansha and still making it work — the guy must be pretty sharp and good at playing the politics.
He also drew something for Champion, though I forget the title.
It predicted the planet would be destroyed in 40 years due to ozone layer depletion — given the crazy weather lately, that's not entirely off base.
Extreme weather aside, apparently we did manage to avoid the ozone layer collapse, so that part's fine.
Both Otokozaka 2 and Ring ni Kakero 2 were bad enough to feel like entirely different series.
Honestly, there's barely any manga out there where the sequel is actually good.
If we're working from the premise that sequels almost never surpass the original, then I can personally give a pass to Boruto, Kinnikuman, Worst, Baki, and Tokyo Ghoul…
Can't think of one, honestly…
Setting aside whether it even counts as a 'sequel,' maybe JoJo is the exception?
just didn't really feel like they fit in Weekly Shonen Jump.
Fun fact, Daijiro Morohoshi's Confucius Ankokuden ran in Jump too.
Kojiro's my favorite.
The Ring ni Kakero we loved is gone now…
'Ring ni Kakero' became 'Ring ni Kakero 1' and turned into garbage.
That whole 'Fuh' smug laugh becoming a cliché
is definitely Kurumada's fault.
Thinking about it now, with Dragon Ball and Fist of the North Star too, I don't think I actually liked the story — I think I just liked the characters.
Bet by chapter 3 Matsuda-san would show up, quietly take over as the main character, and then it'd get cancelled.
Kurumada-sensei could probably draw 46 distinct characters, no problem.
Throw in like 5 guys with the exact same face as the hero but different hair, plus a fat guy with blank white eyes.
Like in Saint Seiya, just put masks on them and black out their eyes — you could churn out as many as you want.
Ashcroft's Pride Snatch move was pretty cool though.
They brought in long-range, mid-range, and short-range 'ability users' and just ran out of ideas.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Otokozaka is known for being cancelled by Masami Kurumada in the 1980s and later getting a conclusion released on YouTube around 2015. Rising Impact ran as a golf manga but was cancelled early, later being revived in a different magazine. The main point of disagreement in the thread was whether the revivals and conclusions should be welcomed — while longtime fans were happy, some pointed out a gap in tone compared to online reactions that had mainly just been feeding off the shock value of the original cancellation. It’s also worth noting that the recurring complaint about Kurumada’s sequels stalling out due to power inflation and broken balance wasn’t just a one-off comment — it reflects a broader assessment of his overall style across multiple works.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread ‘Otokozaka and Rising Impact — An Unexpected Revival After Early Cancellation: Hidden Gems of the Jump Golden Age That Overcame Hardship to Reach Completion.’
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