The Mashle: Magic and Muscles manga’s ending is coming up now that Mashle manga creator Hajime Komoto has officially confirmed that the series is entering its final arc starting with Mashle Volume 12. The announcement was made in the Afterword section of Mashle Volume 11.
(Coincidentally, the Mashle anime TV show was officially confirmed by promotional materials for manga Volume 12.)
We’ll just have to wait and see what this means for the total length of the series. The longest story arc was only 31 chapters and the Mashle climax hasn’t been announced by recent magazine issues. But assuming that the final arc isn’t unusually longer by comparison that would mean the Mashle manga’s ending will come out in late 2022 or early 2023.
But, wait, didn’t Komoto just finish telling everyone in early 2022 that there was more to Mash Burnedead’s story and the ending is NOT coming soon?!
Back in August 2021, the Shonen Jump’s Harry Potter parody was once thought to be nearing its final arc and chapter. The author’s notes in the Afterword section of Mashle Volume 7 claimed that the entire story was about halfway done.
Volume 7 ended with Chapter 72, which would have meant Mashle’s final chapter would have been around Chapters 140 to 150 of Mashle Volume 14. To put that information in perspective, the Mashle manga was up to Chapter 105 by April 25, 2022.
Fast-forward to March 2022 and the Afterword of Mashle Volume 10 retracted that claim. The author’s wording seemed to be pushing the Mashle manga’s ending further over the horizon. Komoto even apologized for “lying” about the series being that short.
“To all my readers who have supported me,
Thank you so very much for buying Volume 10 of Mashle! We finally made it to Volume 10, huh… it’s really due to all of your support…
I said in the beginning that the series would end quick and fast, so I apologize!! I lied.
SORRY!!
Please don’t throw rocks at me!!
Ow…!! Don’t hit me with cans, either!! Or oranges!! I’m apologizing…!! I’m really sorry!!
Being an adult is all about lying, y’know…
When someone gives you a red packet for New Year’s [see explanation below], you don’t put all of it in your bank account, do you…
This is the same thing, so… I’ll be careful from now on!!!
PS: Thank you so much for all of the fan letters! It brings me so, so much joy inside! I can’t help but be grateful!!!! I made it as a mangaka!!!!”
Hajime Komoto
Note: Translation provided by Julia Kroeper. A red packet is an Asian tradition where you get a little envelope with some pocket money with the expectation that it all goes towards your future. But many kids blow it on candy and games.
On May 2, 2022, Mashle Volume 11 was released in Japan and the manga creator essentially re-retracted himself.
To everyone who’s supported me,
Thank you so much for buying Volume 11 of Mashle!!
Hajime Komoto
And to think the next arc will be the final one..!!
This took so long… so frickin’ long… my gosh…
And so, because those of you that buy and read my works, I’ve worked hard to match your efforts, and now we’ve made it here!
The fact that you guys have read all the way up to this point is the sort of happiness that I can’t even begin to describe!!
Huh? Did some weird guy work on this every day till he felt like he could die? Huh…
Yeah, yeah… If someone like that existed for all this time, well, at a time like this… I’d beat him up!
For all those sleepless nights!! For his own good! Let’s go!!!!
PS: Thank you so much for all the fan letters. And I really loved the chocolates, too! I was so happy! Go forever!!!
Although Mashle’s final arc is confirmed, it’s possible the manga series could continue to live on in a new format.
Mashle anime TV announced by manga Volume 12
In June 2022, the Mashle: Magic and Muscles anime TV show was confirmed to be in production. The announcement was initially leaked via pics of promotional cards for manga Volume 12.
Serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since January 2020, the series was up to Mashle: Magic and Muscles Volume 11 as of May 2, 2022. The Mashle Volume 12 release date was on July 4, 2022.
VIZ Media is publishing the Mashle manga’s English translation in North America and by November 2022 it will be caught up with Volume 9.
By 2021, the Mashle manga was 11 out of 50 for manga series nominated for the Next Manga Awards. It was also nominated for the 67th Shogakukan Manga Award’s shonen category and was listed on the Nationwide Bookstore Employees’ Recommended Comics of 2021.
As of late February 2022, the Mashle manga reportedly had over 3 million copies in circulation. As a comparison, the Spy x Family manga reached that milestone by Volume 4, but that level of popularity is very unusual for any manga series that didn’t have an anime adaptation yet.
A Mashle anime was rumored for a long time for good reason. During Jump Festa 2022, Shueisha celebrated the Mashle manga series by releasing a promotional video (PV) trailer for Mashle Volume 9.
The Mashle trailer animated certain manga scenes using art from the comic. The theme song was “Even If The World Turns Against Us” as performed by Tenipuri All Stars.
It even seemed to tease the upcoming Mashle: Magic and Muscles anime since it featured Japanese voice actors Natsuki Hanae as Mash Burnedead and Yuki Kaida as Abyss. Hanae is known for voicing Tanjiro Kamado in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Ken Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul, Vanitas in The Case Study of Vanitas, and Falco in Attack On Titan: Final Season. Kaida was Shuusuke Fuji in Prince of Tennis and Kurapika in Hunter x Hunter.
Hajime Komoto changing his mind isn’t that unusual
Mashle is Komoto’s first series so it’s not surprising that he originally planned out for it to end relatively quickly but then realized the story was popular needed more to finish properly only to realize that he needed to clarify to the public what he really intended. It’s also not that unusual for manga creators to drastically change their plans.
For example, Black Clover manga creator Yuki Tabata had originally discussed making his series as long as Naruto’s 700 chapters. But then in April 2022 he announced that the march toward the Black Clover manga’s ending would begin with a final arc that begins in Summer 2022.
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece has been planned to end “within the next 5 years” for the past 20 years. The Chainsaw Man manga’s ending was supposed to be within 100 chapters, yet the Chainsaw Man Part 2 release date was in Summer 2022. The My Hero Academia manga’s ending was supposed to be in Volume 30 (and the anime series wasn’t supposed to have multiple MHA movies), but instead that series entered the final arc/saga.
Why the Mashle manga’s story needs to be longer
In Japanese narratives, there is a four-act structure known as Kishōtenketsu.
- Ki : Introduction
- Shō : Development
- Ten : Twist (complication)
- Ketsu : Conclusion (reconciliation)
During the Twist phase, the story turns toward an unexpected development, and it contains the yama, or climax, of the story. For long-running manga series, it’s possible for the story to cycle back through the Development and Twist phases multiple times, especially if the plot is designed around multiple Sagas.
The Mashle manga’s story is seemingly still in the Development phase as of May 2022. It started off as a gag comedy twist on the Harry Potter premise where Mash beat up wizards with overwhelming One Punch Man-like might and obsessed over creambuffs.
But the premise also contains a kernel for an epic Shonen adventure. In order to survive in a magical world despite being born without magic, the beginning of the manga states that Mash needs to become a Divine Visionary at the Easton Magic Academy. This is a necessity for survival, not merely a life dream or goal like many a Shonen protagonist.
In Harry Potter, the wizarding world largely looks down upon muggles, but very few were like Grindelwald or Voldemort. Similarly, Asta’s lack of magic at the beginning of Black Clover initially held him back, but he was not ostracized from society.
In Mashle’s world, the prevailing magical society literally deems it necessary to exterminate those born without magic. Deemed a blight on the world, Mash simply wants to live in peace with his family, but he’s forced to fight in order keep his simple life.
The Mashle plot can be developed much further now that he has risen up against the elite society and the system they support by faking a magical mark and infiltrating the school. He’s already avoided execution by the Bureau of Magic and the Divine Visionary Selection Exam Arc ended in Chapter 74.
Despite the revelation about Mash’s father, Mashle manga readers have yet to see Mash’s other siblings and more of to the Divine Visionaries. The gods have been summoned, but they can take more of a role since they bestow magic to humans. It’d be a cheap move but the manga could also introduce Four-Liners.
The end goal for the Mashle series could be the restoration of the current magic society as envisioned by Adam Jobs. He was the teacher of Wahlberg and Innocent Zero and the founder of the Bureau of Magic. Before his death, Adam pushed for the public assistance of those unable to use magic, so Mash could fight this corrupted society and even the gods themselves to restore what was lost.
We’ll just have to wait and see where the Mashle manga’s ending takes readers. Let’s also hope a Mashle anime release date is just around the corner. Stay tuned!