When talking about iconic shonen manga in 2026, I often think of things like One Piece, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. While these are well-established series in the shonen demographic, there are many legendary shonen manga that have faded due to poor anime adaptations or long hiatuses, and Blue Exorcist is one such series. Blue Exorcist was at one point one of the most popular and iconic shonen stories and now her creator officially confirms that her story is coming to an end.
The Blue Exorcist is a legendary Shonen Manga
Blue Exorcist is a shonen manga series that first began serialization in 2009. This manga series is created by Kazue Kato, who is involved in both writing and illustration. Blue Exorcist follows the popular story of Rin Okumura and his twin brother Yukio Okumura. When Rin's adoptive father is killed, he unlocks his powers as the son of Satan. With that, he sets out to become an exorcist and grow in power to achieve his ultimate goal of killing Satan.
During its long run, Blue Exorcist it has accumulated 33 volumes with more than 160 chapters. Unfortunately, the series has faced many problems over the years. At one point the anime changed studios and the quality dropped significantly. In addition the creator of Kazue is dealing with serious health problemswhich slowed down the manga to the point that even now, 17 years later, it's still going.
Blue Exorcist creator Kazue Kato reveals that the manga is coming to an end
In 2010, Blue Exorcist was easily one of the highlights of shonen manga and anime. Back then, the series had a very large fan base. Although it has definitely shrunk due to slow release, it is still a fan favorite of many dedicated readers, and its quality is such that it can easily be called a legendary shonen series.
Sadly, now, after 17 years of slow serialization, the story is finally coming to an end. Creator Kazue Kato has officially confirmed to fans on her X platform that her manga series is coming to an end very soon. She stated that she will do her best with the final chapter to bring something that fans would enjoy.
“Thank you all for your warm replies – they really help. Thank you so much!
Since it's a monthly serialization, it'll probably end up being quite a bit ahead anyway, but I'll do my best to make the final chapter as enjoyable as possible for everyone.” — Kazue Kato (@katohhhhhh on X)
Fans are obviously unhappy with her decision to end the manga so suddenly. Even after 17 years of serialization, readers do not believe that this is the right time in the manga for the story to end, with some stating that this ending will be very rushed and that the story could have taken one more arc.
There is also some confusion among readers regarding the author's message. Some fans believe that Kato is talking about the final chapter of the current ongoing arc and not the Blue Exorcist story in general. However, from her report, that does not appear to be the case. It is quite obvious that the author is talking about the very end of the story, which is supposed to come in the summer of 2026.
The blue Exorcist anime is still ongoing
Unfortunately, the Blue Exorcist manga is coming to an end in the next few months. However, the franchise does not end there as the anime still exists and fans are already looking forward to it. The Blue Exorcist anime has dealt with a lot of trouble. Since the anime changed studios, going from A-1 Pictures for Seasons 1 and 2 to Studio VOLN for Seasons 3 and 4, it's clear that the quality has dropped significantly.
This means that with the right amount of time and good staff, all of these issues can be easily resolved. There is hope that a new studio will pick up Blue Exorcist in the future, or at least that VOLN studio will do an adequate job of adapting this series properly and fix it when it returns.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
