It looks like another Weekly Shonen Jump magazine series is preparing for its upcoming cancellation with the latest chapters, and fans aren’t ready to see it end. Shueisha has been going through a major change these last few years as the publisher has been trying to find their next big hits as many of their longer running franchises have reached their ends one after another. But it’s meant that a lot of other attempts have failed and quickly been cancelled within their first 20 or so weeks of release.
Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine has cancelled four series through the year thus far, and is far from done as it prepares to introduce even more new serializations through the rest of the year. But these cancellations hit hard for those fans who wanted to see more from these hidden gems, and that’s already looking to be the case with one of the more promising new hits, Akira Inui’s Alien Headbutt as it has already given its main character what looks to be a final form.
Akira Inui’s Alien Headbutt is currently only 13 chapters into its run, but it seems like it’s already preparing for its final wave of battles. The series introduces fans to Ouga Shirokiba, a kid who dreams of becoming a wrestler so that he could win the championship title and bring it home to his family. After his leaving his island home for years and accomplishing his dream, he returns to find out that his home had been invaded by mysterious aliens that have kidnapped or killed all the humans. Using his wrestling prowess, Ouga has been fighting back.
To eventually match the pace of his increasingly stronger alien opponents, Ouga implants an alien parasite within himself that heals his body and increases his strength. He then finds out that this was actually a deadly weapon that could make him go berserk, and the invading aliens have been experimenting with the humans to successfully create a whole army of parasite infected fighters. As Ouga races to rescue his family, he’s gotten to the point in the latest chapter where he’s implanted to many parasites it’s given him a new armored form.
But despite Alien Headbutt‘s appeal to fans outside of Japan thanks to its wrestling based action and unique hero, the increased pace of the series at Chapter 13 is having fans feeling like a cancellation is quickly coming within the next few chapters. That’s even more of a concern with the reveal that the manga has been doing terribly within Shonen Jump thus far, and isn’t really finding its audience just yet. Despite its wider appeal outside of the region, the immediate feedback it gets in Japan is more important in this case.
If a series isn’t doing well with readers in the magazine, then it’s even more likely than any volume sales in Japan won’t do well either. And a lack of sales will not generate any more interest in the series. Forget any potential for any anime adaptation, it won’t even get to sniff at such an idea if it doesn’t do better soon. It’s not impossible for Alien Headbutt to turn things around as it gets more intense with this (possible) final few slate of chapters, but it’s not looking like that’s going to be the case.
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