After twelve long years, Attack on Titan finally finished up its manga run. It began in 2009 and ended with a hundred thirty-nine chapters which may not seem like a lot but they are double the amount of a typical manga chapter. The anime won’t be done until next year so the choice is a hard one for anime fans.
Should they keep watching the anime and wait patiently, or should they catch up in the manga to avoid inevitable spoilers? Regardless of which choice fans make, there are several other long-running mangas they can sink their teeth into now that their favorite series is coming to an end.
10 Attack On Titan
Attack on Titan started as a manga in 2009 and finished with 139 chapters just this year. The anime is close to being done as well but won’t officially wrap up until the anime winter 2022 season. So it’s a good of a time as ever to catch up with the anime and then keep reading from there in the manga so as to best to avoid spoilers for a whole year. As for the series itself, a twelve-year run is pretty good for something like this plus it had several spinoffs as well along with plenty of video games.
9 Naruto
Naruto started as a manga in 1999 and finished with 700 chapters in 2014. The anime started a little later in 2002 and ended in 2017, giving both the manga and anime a fifteen-year run. Just before the anime wrapped up, Naruto got a sequel series, Boruto, in 2016.
Technically one could argue then that this series still isn’t over, but Naruto, as the main character, is done with his major arc so it counts. Without knowing Boruto existed, the ending is a complete journey wrapped up.
8 Bleach
Bleach started as a manga in 2001 and finished with 686 chapters in 2016. That also gives it a fifteen-year run just like Naruto, which was published in the same magazine in Japan, Shonen Jump. The anime started in 2004 and ended in 2012, but didn’t truly end the story.
The final arc from the manga was never giving the anime fans a less complete narrative. That said, the final arc, at long last, is supposed to start by the end of 2021 in anime form.
7 Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball started as a manga in 1984 and finished with 520 chapters in 1995. That includes Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. The anime started in 1986 and ended ten years later in 1996. Except for a continued string of movies, this series was pretty much wrapped up in Japan.
Then, in 2015, both the manga and anime of Dragon Ball Super started. The anime stopped in 2018 but the manga is still going on. Like Naruto, the point is the original series of adventures is complete and Dragon Ball Super is just extra.
6 Fairy Tail
Fairy Tail started as a manga in 2006 and finished with 545 chapters in 2017. There have been sequels and spinoffs since, but the core arc was more or less finished to a satisfying degree if one wanted to jump in. For some more context, the anime started in 2009 and ended in 2019. That gave it ten years of run time as opposed to the manga’s eleven-year run.
5 Gintama
Gintama started as a manga in 2003 and finished with 704 chapters in 2019. That is 16 years of service with 77 complete volumes. The anime started in 2006 and the first arc ended in 2010. However, it has had multiple sequels since to keep up with the manga. Why they keep changing the name instead of being one thing is beyond anyone’s guess but it happens all the time in both manga and anime. It’s just a Japanese thing.
4 Inuyasha
Inuyasha started as a manga in 1996 and finished with 559 chapters in 2008. That is a span of 12 years. The anime didn’t start until 2000 and ended in 2004 as it was having trouble waiting for the manga. The rest was then adapted into what was called Inuyasha: The Final Act starting in 2009 and lasting until 2010. Both mediums are ready to fully enjoy them. However, it should be mentioned a sequel anime, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, started in 2020 and is still going on.
3 Oishinbo
Oishinbo started as a manga in 1983 and currently has 111 volumes. It has been on hiatus since 2014 with the last statement being made by the author Tetsu Kariya in 2016 saying it was time to end the manga. He meant to give it a final last arc but as it has been five years since that statement and seven since any publication, this story can more or less be enjoyed.
That is if one can find translations online because only seven volumes were localized into English officially. It is worth seeking out though because one can learn so much about Japanese cuisine and culture from it. It’s not exciting, but it is valuable in that way.
2 Initial D
Initial D started as a manga in 1995 and finished with 719 chapters in 2013. That was 48 volumes altogether over 18 years. The anime started in 1998 and like other anime adaptations, were separated by new names each season, the last of which was in 2014. Initial D is the more mature go-to manga about racing cars at least in the West as opposed to the perhaps more well-known Speed Racer which is goofier.
1 Reborn
Reborn, or Katekyo Hitman Reborn, started as a manga in 2004 and finished with 409 chapters in 2012. That is just a span of 8 years over 42 volumes. The anime had an even shorter run between 2006 and 2010. Despite the manga being a shonen series, the anime was never dubbed into English but it has been officially translated along with the manga so that’s something at the very least.