Black Torch is getting one last big manga push
Black Torch is having the kind of comeback every cancelled manga dreams of.
The supernatural action series by Tsuyoshi Takaki originally ran in Shueisha’s Jump Square from 2016 to 2018, but because it was a monthly title, it only reached 19 chapters before being cancelled. That could have been the end of the story. Instead, the anime adaptation has pushed Black Torch back into the conversation this summer season.
Now, Viz Media has confirmed an official U.S. manga box set for Black Torch, scheduled for release on September 22, 2026. The set will collect all five paperback volumes of the manga and include an exclusive double-sided poster. According to the source, it is already available for pre-order on Amazon through Viz Media’s link.
No, this does not mean the manga is continuing. The reported box set is positioned as the final collected release, and there is currently no word of a sequel or revival for the manga.
What is Black Torch about?
Black Torch follows Jiro Azuma, a 17-year-old descended from a shinobi clan. His unusual gift is that he can speak to animals, which already sounds like shonen protagonist material — but things go sideways when he rescues an injured cat.
That cat turns out to be Rago, a mononoke, or demonic spirit. Rago is being hunted by other spirits because he refuses to join their plan to cause chaos in the world. Jiro tries to protect him, gets fatally wounded, and Rago uses his own power to save Jiro’s life.
From there, Jiro gets dragged into a messy supernatural world full of dangerous beings, spirit battles, and classic shonen chaos.
The anime is planned for 12 episodes and is streaming weekly on Crunchyroll, according to the source.
Why this matters for Malaysia and SEA anime fans
Analysis: For Malaysia and SEA fans who follow seasonal anime closely, Black Torch is a good reminder that anime adaptations can completely change a title’s reputation. A manga that once disappeared after cancellation can suddenly feel relevant again once the anime audience finds it.
That matters because a lot of fans in our region discover manga through anime first. If the adaptation hits, people start asking where the original came from, how much was adapted, and whether the manga goes further. In Black Torch’s case, the answer is bittersweet: the manga is short, complete, and apparently not getting a second run.
There is also a bigger industry angle here. Jump Square and other Shueisha magazines have limited space, so underperforming titles often get cut even if the premise has potential. Black Torch seems to be one of those cases where the concept still had fans waiting for the right format to bring it back.
So if the anime has you curious, the upcoming box set sounds like the cleanest way to own the full original story — just don’t expect a long-running shonen epic. This is a compact, cancelled-but-complete series getting a final victory lap after its anime glow-up.