Anime & Manga Release Dates Delayed Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic

Today we discuss the delay of Anime & manga release dates in Japan due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

With a heavy heart, we are here to update everyone about the effects of COVID-19 and how the worldwide quarantine has impacted the release dates of the ongoing or upcoming anime and manga titles.

The World is currently facing a global pandemic. The COVID-19 virus, which originated in Wuhan, China has spread throughout the globe. Due to its extremely harmful nature, multiple countries have initiated lockdowns, in order to prevent further spread of the virus.

Most countries are going through this quarantine phase until the problem is solved.

Japan, in particular, hasn’t been affected much. Compared to nations like the USA, China, Italy, and Spain, which have had an immense number of affected and dead people, Japan has had a much lesser spread, with less than 100 deaths at this moment.

Manga

This outbreak coupled with the quarantine has crippled multiple industries and the anime industry has suffered a huge blow. Let us take a look at the consequences.

Effect Of COVID-19 On The Manga Industry

The overall manga sales have dropped. Compared to normal numbers, the volumes are selling much less. For example, the latest One Piece volume 96 has been released; while One Piece sells about 1.5 million during its first week, the sales have gone down to 1.1 million.

Other manga titles like Black Clover and Boruto are facing the same problem. However, it doesn’t end here. Let’s take a look at the 2 most prominent manga companies – Shueisha and Kodansha.

Shueisha

An employee of the Weekly Shonen Jump department was diagnosed with COVID-19. Shueisha released this notice.

It roughly translates to –

An editor in his 40s was diagnosed with COVID-19. Thus, the company has vacated the floor and started its disinfection. They have also been monitoring the health of all employees and their contacts.

In addition, most of the employees have started to work from home, as of April 6th.

So, currently most Shueisha employees are working from home. It won’t cause a severe problem but there has been repercussions.

A decision was made to delay the release of Issue 21 of the magazine (print & digital) from April 20th to April 27th & rename it to Issue 21•22. The release of Issue 20 is still scheduled on April 13th.

While it will be a double issue, the different titles won’t be releasing double chapters. Every release will contain 1 chapter per title. This is basically a 1-week break.

So the final issue release stands so:
-Issue #20 will be out April 12, 2020
-Issue #21/22 will be out April 26, 2020
-Issue #23 will be out in May 10, 2020

KODANSHA

While Kodansha, the company behind Weekly Shonen Magazine, has not announced any immediate delay or effect, it has suffered too. The employees have been working from home, from the last week of March. They were instructed to self-quarantine until April 10 but it has been increased indefinitely.

The Weekly Shonen Magazine has not yet spoken of any delay or problems, it will release as planned. However, its sales have plummeted, just like Shueisha titles.

However, Kodansha has been giving out multiple discounts on its manga volumes so that people can be engaged during this quarantine period.

Anime Industry

Now let us look at the anime side of things. Multiple anime titles have been delayed. The Spring, 2020 season has taken a massive hit. Going by the present pattern, the Summer, 2020 season won’t be normal either.

List of Anime that been postponed indefinitely:

  • Re Zero Season 2 – The first one to be delayed. It has a huge fan following. It was scheduled to start on April 2. The new release date will be revealed before June.
  • Detective Conan Movie 17 – It has a moderate fan following. Its release date was pushed back from April 19.
  • Violet Evergarden Movie – It was scheduled to release in January. The first postponement put it on the April slot. The second postponement is due to this COVID-19 outbreak. The pre-purchased tickets will be valid.
  • Oregairu Season 3 – This was the second most anticipated title of this season. Fans have waited years for its release and now, they have to settle for a rebroadcast of its second season.
  • No Guns Life Season 2 – The first season got positive reviews and so they didn’t wait much to come up with the next season. Unfortunately, both the broadcast and the Blu-ray release of season 2 has been pushed back.
  • Dounika Naru Hibi – A new anime for this season. It had garnered moderate interest in views.
  • Ore Wo Suki – Its full name is ‘Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo: Oretachi no Game Set’. It’s the second newcomer of this season to be delayed.
  • Fate Heaven’s Feel Movie 3 – The final installment of the Fate/Stay Night Heaven’s Feel series and the conclusion movie of the 3rd route of the main storyline of Fate universe. Not only is it wildly famous among fans, but its prequels have also all been able to gather high ratings. The Fate franchise is a huge part of the anime fandom.
  • SAO Alicialization Season 2 – Sword Art Online is the anime that started the isekai trope in an anime universe. It was wild popularity back in 2016. Since then, it has released multiple sequels. Unfortunately, the fans will have to wait more for this new season. On April 10, it was announced that Sao is being postponed to July.

However, let us not end this on a bitter note. Here is a great news for people.

Kimetsu no Yaiba Movie: Mugen Ressha-Hen will be released on October 16, 2020. Its cast and staff have all been finalized.

The movie will be covering the Infinity Train Arc of the Demon Slayer Manga. Due to this release news, October 16 was trending on twitter with more than 20k tweets worldwide.

As we end our article here, we request all our readers to keep checking our site for more anime news and updates. We also request all our readers to stay at home and follow the quarantine rules.

  • STAY at home.
  • KEEP a safe distance from other people.
  • WASH hands whenever possible.
  • COVER your coughs with elbow region.
  • SICK? Call the helpline provided by the government.

We will be updating this article with the latest anime and manga news, make sure to check our articles on One Punch Man Season 3 and Darwin’s game season 2 while you are here.

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About the Author: Damngoodiam

Anime and Manga fanatic who loves sharing the latest news of the upcoming manga chapters and anime episodes.

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