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Captain Tsubasa Creator Youichi Takahashi to Retire from Serializing Manga
posted on by Alex Mateo
Takahashi explained that he had been thinking over the past few years about whether he would continue or finish drawing the manga. He calculated that it may take over 40 years to finish the story. As such, instead of pushing his body to the limit, he concluded that it would be better to stop serialization. Takahashi is over 60 years old, and he considers himself to be in good health. However, due to presbyopia, the gradual loss of the eyes' ability to focus on nearby objects, he is experiencing poorer eyesight and dizziness. The combination of his condition, COVID-19 affecting staff structure, the switch to digital methods for drawing manga, and the death of Dokaben baseball manga creator Shinji Mizushima in January 2022 all factored into his decision. Takahashi is considering drafting storyboards that continue the story past the manga's final chapters.
Takahashi's original 37-volume Captain Tsubasa manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1981 to 1988, and it inspired four television anime series, four anime films, several OVAs, and a stage play. The manga is available in about 20 countries.
The original soccer manga revolves around 11-year-old Tsubasa Ōzora, a boy who loves soccer and is recognized by his coach Roberto due to his skill of the sport. Tsubasa goes with his coach to Brazil in order to train for the World Cup.
Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun revolves around Tsubasa as he aims to participate in the Olympics as a representative from Japan. Takahashi launched the manga in Shueisha's Grand Jump magazine in December 2013. The manga then moved to Captain Tsubasa Magazine, Grand Jump's spinoff magazine that focuses on the franchise, when it launched in April 2020.
Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun The Final, the "final saga" of the overall Captain Tsubasa series, launched in the magazine's 16th issue last April. The manga is a new arc and renaming of the Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun manga.
Update: The 19th volume of Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun revealed on Friday that the 20th volume will ship in June 2024. The second volume of Captain Tsubasa Memories will ship in April 2024.
Update 2: The final issue of Captain Tsubasa Magazine will ship on April 4.
Source: Comic Natalie
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history