A manga that ended after just five volumes is getting a surprising second life thanks to its anime adaptation. Tsuyoshi Takaki’s Black Torch was cancelled in 2018 after running for only 19 chapters, but the series has found a much larger audience after its anime debuted in July 2026.
The new attention has now reached the original manga. VIZ Media is preparing a complete English box set containing all five volumes, giving fans who discovered Jiro Azuma and Rago through the anime a chance to collect the entire story in one release.
The timing is particularly notable because Black Torch was never given the opportunity to expand its story in the manga. Its short run ended years before the anime introduced the supernatural action series to a new international audience.
The anime is currently streaming weekly on Crunchyroll, while the manga’s complete English collection is scheduled to arrive in September. The release gives Black Torch an unusual second chapter as a franchise, even though the original manga itself is already complete.
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How Black Torch Went From Cancelled Manga To Anime Success
Black Torch follows 17-year-old Jiro Azuma, a teenager descended from a long-running shinobi clan who has the unusual ability to communicate with animals. His life changes after he rescues an injured black cat and discovers that the animal is actually Rago, a powerful supernatural being known as a mononoke.
Rago is being hunted by other mononoke after refusing to help them unleash chaos on the human world. Jiro risks his life protecting the spirit and suffers a fatal injury during the encounter.
Rago saves him by using his own energy, leaving the two connected as they become involved in a much larger conflict involving supernatural creatures.
The manga debuted in Shueisha’s Jump Square in December 2016 before eventually moving to Shonen Jump+. Its run ended in 2018 after only 19 chapters, collected across five volumes. Like many cancelled manga, Black Torch simply did not have enough time to develop the larger story Takaki had created.
The anime changed the series’ reach considerably. Produced by 100studio, the adaptation premiered in July 2026 and has introduced the story to a much wider audience. The 12-episode season has been releasing weekly on Crunchyroll, giving international viewers a chance to discover a manga that had been largely overlooked after its cancellation.
That renewed interest has now translated into a physical release for collectors.
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What Comes In The Black Torch Complete Box Set
VIZ Media’s Black Torch Complete Box Set is scheduled to release on September 22, 2026. The collection brings together the entire five-volume manga run in paperback form, along with an exclusive piece of artwork.
The box set includes all five volumes, covering the complete 1,016-page manga. It will also come with an exclusive double-sided, full-color poster featuring artwork from Takaki. The collection is priced at $59.95, and VIZ Media has already made it available for preorder.
The release does not mean that the manga itself has been revived with new chapters. Black Torch remains a completed series, and there has been no announcement of a continuation or sequel.
What has changed is the audience around it. The anime has brought new attention to Takaki’s work years after the manga’s original run ended.
That makes the box set an interesting second chance for a series that never got one during its original publication. Black Torch may have been cancelled after only 19 chapters, but its anime has given Jiro and Rago a much larger audience, while Takaki’s complete story is finally getting a definitive English collection.