Warning: Contains spoilers for Undead Unluck’s final arc.Undead Unluckis inarguably one of the most popularShōnen Jumpmanga to come out of the 2020s. While it’s never reached the same heights as other manga from this period likeSakamoto Days,Blue Box, and especially notJujutsu Kaisen, the great character writing and creative writing have nonetheless made it a hit with fans and critics alike, especially after the anime helped it reach a wider audience.
Undead Unluckhas been an excellent addition to theShōnen Jumplineup for years, but its time in the magazine is slowly ending. Anyone who’s been caught up with the manga will know that it’s been heading toward its finale for quite some time now, but according to recent reports,Undead Unluck’s final chapter might be happening sooner than anyone could have predicted. That sort of premature ending would only heighten the problems with the current arc, and unfortunately, it’s unlikely that that will not be the case.
According to various manga news reporters, most notably Shonen Jump News onX,Undead Unluckwill receive a color page for its “super climax” in the issue ofShōnen Jumpafter the upcoming one, set for release on December 22 in the United States. While a climax traditionally refers to a story reaching the point of highest tension, in Japan, a climax refers to the end of the story, soUndead Unluckreaching its “super climax”, combined with getting a color page, all but says that it’s ending in two weeks.
This, of course, isn’t the first timeShōnen Jumphas done something like this.Mashle: Magic and MusclesandThe Promised Neverland, for example, both advertised their final chapters as a “super climax”, and evenMy Hero AcademiaandJujutsu Kaisen’s endingsused that terminology, it just wasn’t reported because their end dates were already advertised at that point.The use of “super climax” for numerous manga beforeUndead Unluckmakes it clear thatUndead Unluckis ending, and that shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who’s been caught up with the manga.
The worst part aboutUndead Unluck’s imminent finale is how much it emphasizes the already divisive nature of its current arc. Recent chapters have been criticized for how much they’ve sped through the story without allowing any meaningful development, most notably in how the Master Rules were defeated in a single chapter after so much build-up as the biggest threat to the Union.Undead Unluckall but confirmed to be ending soon makes the rushed pacing of recent chapters even worse by eliminating any chance of a fleshed-out conclusion, and that makes it even harder to remain invested in things.
With how demanding the schedules of a weekly serialization can be and how even popular manga often have to plan their endings well in advance, the pacing issues ofUndead Unluckaren’t entirely the fault of series creator Yoshifumi Tozuka, but even so,the stellar writing and action ofUndead Unluckmade it a series that deserved better thana typical rushed and lackluster manga ending. There’s still a chance thatUndead Unluckcan end on a satisfying note, but as is the case with manga in and out ofShōnen Jump, that’s very unlikely, at this point.
