Is everyone else getting pumped for new batch season!?
Some of the developments this week have made me think about how soon the next batch could be starting, which series could be concluded to make room for that batch, and how big the batch could be. I've gone ahead and written out all the possibilities in my head in order to sort out what I think is most likely.
Confirmed/Implied to Be On Final Arc
The Promised Neverland - Shirai and Demizu have emphasized multiple times that we're nearing the end of Neverland, and after this week's development there are only a few things left to resolve. Granted they're pretty big things, and I could see each thing taking several chapters. Depending on how easy it'll be to fulfill the New Promise and how much time the author wants to spend on the resolution, I could see it ending in anywhere from 1 month to, like 4 months.
Dr. Stone reboot: Byakuya - More like only arc, but either way we know that this spinoff will only have a 9 chapter runtime. Accounting for that, and the two holiday double issues that'll run starting at the end of the year, that puts the conclusion of reboot around late January or early February. The question is whether this'll be replaced with a full series as part of a batch, or with more one-shots and Jump+ special chapters, or with Hunter x Hunter returning from hiatus.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - This is more on the "implied" side than confirmed ; there was that "Final Arc" image earlier in the year, and last week's color page called the current development the beginning of "the decisive battle". That said, the party is straight up at what should be the final boss right now. Demon Slayer fights take time, and we still have several flashbacks to go through, so I don't think this'll end for at least a few more months. But if this isn't the last arc, then I can't imagine a non-contrived explanation for why it isn't. I'm guessing this'll conclude Spring 2020-ish.
Haikyuu! - Furudate claims that this is the final arc... but Haikyuu arcs take forever. We probably don't have to worry about this leaving for at least the first half of 2020.
Climactic Story Developments
Yui Kamio Lets Loose - This week's chapter really nitro boosted the pace of the whole story. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing ended as soon as next week. Either way I think this series has a month or two left, tops.
Double Taisei - I'm getting pretty strong conclusion vibes from this chapter too. Either the next chapter starts an arc where Taisei takes on the Pro League, we get some filler stories like a couple of other series are doing currently, or it starts wrapping everything up over the course of no more than three chapters.
We Never Learn - We're quickly running out of high school and a lot of character arcs are wrapping up. I've heard a lot of theories that WNL might not conclude until the real life Japanese school year ends in March. That would be pretty cute, I hope they're right about that.
Status Unclear
Beast Children - Ended its last arc a couple issues ago and the most recent chapters have been pretty standalone. It'd be very anticlimactic if it suddenly ended without another arc, but I don't know how likely it is that BC will get to keep going. Maybe WSJ is keeping it alive so that they have a rugby manga during the Tokyo Summer Olympics, or maybe they'll end BC as soon as they have the opportunity. It feels like a coin toss right now.
Tokyo Shinobi Squad - Seems to be in more or less the same position as Beast Children. Fresh out of an arc, and twiddling its thumbs with standalone chapters till we find out whether or not its axed. I hope it survives through at least another batch, and it's worth noting that it's the most successful of the Reiwa Three and therefore could be given more of a chance than the other two, but... it hasn't been doing that much better.
Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs - Apparently the climax of this whole series could start at any moment, but we've just been getting filler chapters and filler arcs in the meantime. Yuuna appears to be stalling, and it's hard to say for how long.
--------------------
Wow, that's pretty much half of the magazine. Anyway, right now I think there's two potential ways this'll pan out in terms of when we get the new batch:
Outcome 1: A batch of two new series starting with Issue #1 2020. Double Taisei and Yui Kamio Lets Loose conclude in issues #52 and #1 respectively, but not necessarily in that order. Byakuya Reboot ends in late January 2020 and is replaced by one-shots or Hunter x Hunter. Another batch of anywhere from 3-6 series gets introduced in late February or early-mid March of 2020. We Never Learn, The Promised Neverland, and at least one of Beast Children / TSS end, possibly accompanied by other series like Demon Slayer.
Outcome 2: Current series keep running through the holiday double issues, and a new batch starts with the first single issue in the year 2020 (which would be Issue #7 or #8-ish). This batch will introduce 4-6 new series, and conclude several current series including Yui Kamio, Double Taisei, Byakuya Reboot, The Promised Neverland, and at least one of BC or TSS. We Never Learn and Demon Slayer end together in Spring for a two batch, and things are kind of quiet until Fall, while WSJ waits to see which of its pile of newcomers is a success.
Out of the two, I'm currently leaning towards Outcome 1, which means we will find out whether or not I'm wrong very soon! Though obviously I think Outcome 2 is a strong possibility as well, or I wouldn't bring it up.
Regardless of what happens, I'm looking forward to seeing what changes. I love batch season! It's exciting stuff.
). Tho I did expect they gave tensei 4 volumes so we can have a cover for rich boi and another for mad man Haga.
