Hajime Komoto, the creator of Shonen Jump's Mashle: Magic and Muscles, reassures fans that the manga series will not be ending anytime soon.
In the afterword of the tenth volume of the Mashle: Magic and Muscles manga, Komoto takes back his previous statements that the popular fantasy-adventure parody series will be short, and apologizes to fans for his misleading words. He had stated in the manga's seventh volume that the story of Mashle: Magic and Muscles had only reached its halfway point.
In MASHLE's Volume 10 Afterword, it seems Hajime Komoto is retracting from previous statements regarding the length of the series, saying they apologize because when they said the series would be short, they were lying.
— Shonen Jump News - Unofficial (@WSJ_manga) March 3, 2022
In Volume 7, Komoto had stated the series was halfway done. pic.twitter.com/lAy5QlrZQt
Taking place in a world where spells and sorcery are the norm, Mashle: Magic and Muscles follows main character Mash Burnedead, a blunt young man who lacks the ability to wield magic. This becomes a problem when Mash is forced to attend the Easton Magic Academy and earn the title of "Divine Visionary," an honor bestowed upon the most exceptional students, in order to maintain the peaceful life he has with his adoptive grandfather. What Mash lacks in magic, however, he makes up in sheer physical strength. Thus, relying on his muscles, his friends and his uncanny ability to defy logic, Mash strives to become the very best that the Easton Magic Academy has to offer.
With over 2.1 million copies of the manga in circulation as of August 2021, Mashle: Magic and Muscles has enjoyed a great deal of popularity since it first began its serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shounen Jump magazine in January 2020. Mashle: Magic and Muscles placed 11th out of the 50 manga series nominated for the Next Manga Awards in 2021 with 12,894 votes, and it was nominated for the 67th Shogakukan Manga Award's shonen category that same year. The series also earned a place on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2021" list featured on the Honya Club website.
Many critics have described Mashle: Magic and Muscles as a parody of the staple fantasy series, Harry Potter, mixed with the dry and deadpan humor that One-Punch Man is so famous for. A total of ten volumes collecting 87 chapters of the manga have currently been released in Japanese, with Viz Media handling the physical and digital publication of the series in English. A series of preview videos promoting the manga series have been released, featuring well-known voice actors such as Natsuki Hanae of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba fame and Hunter x Hunter's Yuki Kaida.
The Mashle: Magic and Muscles manga is currently available to read in English on Shueisha's MANGA plus service.
Source: Twitter
