Summary
Some manga go on to become big hits, leaving readers hooked on every chapter until their planned finale. A lucky few even get to become cultural icons, likeDragon Ball,Naruto, etc. Others get axed prematurely due to one reason or another. LikeU19, which inspiredShōnen Jump’s “Under 19 Club,” where the characters from manga that were canceled before they hit 19 chapters hang out.
Not even isekai strips are safe. The genre has been booming for over a decade and a half now, but that doesn’t mean all its entries were hits. Some justifiably got cut for not being good, but many others started strong, stood out from the crowd, and looked very promising, until they met their premature end. For one reason or another, these intriguing isekai manga got axed before they got going.
1Thanks To The Parallel World
No Thanks To The Publishers
Thanks to the Parallel Worldhas a rather standard setup. After decades, developers have finally managed to make VR gaming feel truly real. Jin, an old man who’s been looking forward to it since his youth, gives it a go and ends up making a life in a fantasy world with the tomboy explorer Elesa, the magic priest Rachel, and the merchant guild staff Aria and Samantha, among others.
The problem is, he notices something strange about the shopkeepers, and he’s unable to log out. However, readers never got to find out what became of Jin as the manga stopped after Chapter 14 for undisclosed reasons. Chances are, it didn’t take off as well as the publishers hoped. Luckily, the light novel it’s based on is still running, so curious readers can see where it continues.
2What Should I Do In A Different World?
Salaryman-Based Isekai’s First Manga Adaptation Ends Abruptly
Just because one manga adaptation of a light novel falters doesn’t mean it won’t get a fresh attempt later down the road.What Should I Do in a Different World(Isekai ni Kita Mitai Dakedo Dousureba Yoi no Darouin the more Google-friendly Japanese) was originally turned into a manga by Yukinatsu Mori, before switching to Kohitsuji Amano’s version,Shachiku SE no My Pace Boukenki(The Adventures of a Wage Slave Systems Engineer, at My Pace), in 2022.
Both follow Akihiro,a salaryman who gets ready for work, and ends up in a mysterious Interface dimension that sends him to a fantasy world. All he has to help him survive are the skills granted by the Interface and his communication skills. No reason was given why Mori’s attempt was shut down. The best guess is that it either didn’t do well in sales or there were creative differences behind the scenes.
3Ester De Valonia
Demon King Proves To Be Mortal After All
Overlord’s a good series, isn’t it? Its hero (of sorts), Ainz, must figure out how to escape the Full-Dive MMORPG “YGGDRASIL” before he fully becomes his Lich-based character. What if there was a story where everything was pretty much the same, except the lead isn’t an overpowered skeletal-looking monster? That’s basicallyEster De Valonia, though it does have a few differences.
Charon is not only trapped in his VR game, Apocaryspha, but a service maintenance issue takes away his power and makes him feel pain. He’s supposed to be an almighty demon king, but now that he’s reduced to being an ordinary guy, he’ll have to rely more on his wits and his minions. Still, the manga was ultimately shut down due to low sales, and its original webnovel eventually dried up too, leaving Charon in limbo.
4The Villainess Who Became A Nightingale
Only The Light Novel Has The Rest Of The Story
Strictly speaking,The Villainess Who Became a Nightingaleis a reference to Florence Nightingale, as the unfortunate woman who got reborn as her novel’s villainess, Leysritt, wants to help people withthe nursing skillsshe learned in her old life. But to do that, she has to go against the novel’s story, which isn’t as easy as it seems. Particularly when one of the princes of the kingdom has his eye on her.
Unlike most manga adaptations of light novels,Nightingale’s manga was made by its original creators. At least until the 22nd chapter, when the strip was put on hiatus. Suzuka Oda was ready to restart it, but both she and Sato ultimately agreed with the publishers to shut it down in December 2024. The light novel is still running to this day, but it’s a shame its manga ended so soon.
5Isekai Nation Alchimaira: The Weakest King And Matchless Army
Health Issues Led To A Promising Manga’s Sudden End
So far, the reasons for these manga’s cancellations have been rather straightforward. If the sales are low, they’ve got to go. It’s a different story forIsekai Nation Alchimaira. It followed Helian, the top-rated player of the game “Tactics Chronicles,” as he gets sucked into the game’s world and has to command his troops in person to save a tribe of elves from a horde of demons.
Many readers compared it toOverlordandEster de Valonia, hoping it wouldn’t get cut short like the latter. It didn’t suffer low sales, but the artist, BARZ, did suffer from health complications during its run. Their condition got so bad that the strip was officially discontinued to let them recover. As good as Helian’s adventures were, not even the best manga are worth pushing one’s health to the brink.
6Kujonin
A Promising Manga Gets Cut Short By Escalating Disputes
As much as cancellation sucks, it can’t be helped if the strip didn’t get much momentum or was putting its creator’s health at risk. But other times, things can get a little too personal behind the scenes. Like inKujonin, akaExterminator, where a humble pest control worker called Naoki got crushed by some falling garbage. He ends up in another world, where he now must use his extermination skills against bigger threats than bugs.
It’s a unique premise, as Naoki is probably the first heroic exterminator sinceJohn Goodman inArachnophobia. But then Hanabokuro had business issues with the publisher Kadokawa and creative differences with Keiji Asakawa. This escalated into accusations of shady deals, which were taken as slander, so the manga was canceled and Hanabokuro’s contract was ended prematurely. At least its light novel equivalent is still going on.
7I Want To Become The Hero’s Bride
Lovesick Woman’s Hopes Get Dashed By A Sudden End
Many isekai follow people who became stalwart warriors or had the smarts/overpowered abilities to turn the fantasy world into their own personal playground.I Want to Become the Hero’s Bridewas different, as its reincarnated lead, Berlina, was struck hard by Cupid’s arrow when she saw Chris, the “Hero of the East.”
Since then, she’s done her best to find her way into his heart, traveling through the dingiest dungeons in the hopes she’d become his bride someday. A day which sadly won’t ever come, as the manga was canceled after 13 chapters for undisclosed reasons. There is a webnovel, but unless readers know Japanese, they won’t get much out of it, as its fan translations have stopped too.
8I Won’t Become A Villainess. I’m Just A “Normal” Duke’s Daughter!
A Villainess Striving For A Normal Life Can’t Save Her From The Axe
There are a lot of manga, light novels, web novels, etc., about people getting reborn into otome games as villainesses. It doesn’t matter if they’re young girls, office ladies,or middle-aged bureaucrats; they’ll either have to live up to their role or try to defy it, like Rosalind inI Won’t Become a Villainess. I’m Just a “Normal” Duke’s Daughter!
In her case, it’s because being bad will lead her to one of the many death flags her game offers. But by being normal (or as normal as things can be), she unlocks a new journey. Unfortunately, the first manga adaptation hit a flag as it got canceled. No reason was officially given, but it was assumed that Yuhazu might’ve had health issues, as Shun Akira took over art duty for its reboot,IWBV-IJNDD: New Route, which is still running today.
9The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess To Savior
Villainess Isekai Reincarnates After Cancellation
Most of the strips on this list usually have a light novel or the like for readers to fall back on if things go awry. Though in the case ofThe Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior, fans might not even have noticed its manga got canceled, as its light novel caught on well enough without it, even gettinga 12-episode animeback in 2023. It saw a Japanese high schooler get reincarnated as Pride Royal Ivy, the last boss of the otome game “Our Ray of Light.”
Usually, she’s responsible for all sorts of reprehensible deeds, but the new Pride would rather do good, turning the once-feared Princess into a heroine. The manga was cut short when Bunko Matsura suffered health issues. Akiko Kawano would later carry on where they left off with a sequel a year later, but its cancellation was still a bump in the road for the series.
