Manga 'Orient' Concludes Six-Year Serialization

by Vindstot
Oct 9, 10:56 PM | 13 Comments

Shinobu Ohtaka's Orient manga ended in Bessatsu Shounen Magazine's November issue on Wednesday. The 156th and final chapter marked the conclusion of the manga's six-year run.

Ohtaka originally began drawing the fantasy action manga in Weekly Shounen Magazine in May 2018, approximately seven months after ending Magi (Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic). The manga switched to Bessatsu Shounen Magazine in February 2021. Kodansha published the 21st volume on May 9, with the 22nd volume scheduled for a November 8 release.

A.C.G.T adapted the manga into a television anime that aired in split cours in Winter and Summer 2022. Crunchyroll simulcast the anime with subtitles and and English dub.

Kodansha USA licensed the manga in English in March 2020 and released the 19th volume digitally on April 16. The 20th volume is set to be released on July 1 next year. Kodansha's K Manga service also simulpubs the manga in English.

Synopsis
Five years ago, Musashi made a promise with his friend Kojirou Kanemaki that once they grew up, they would become samurai, form a league, and go on demon-slaying quests. But since then, things have changed. With demons now being praised and worshiped by society, the samurai are shunned and disgraced.

Afraid of revealing his dream of becoming a samurai, Musashi blends into the town's dogma by becoming a miner while secretly polishing his swordsmanship. Meanwhile, despite being a direct descendant of a samurai, Kojirou gives up on his promise to his old friend. However, after saving Musashi from a near-death experience, his perspective shifts. Although still conflicted, Kojirou embarks on a journey with Musashi in the hopes of figuring out his true feelings.

Fighting against all odds, the duo dives headfirst into the unknown world of beast-slaying, not knowing what life has in store for them. Now astride iron horses, the fifteen-year-old heroes plan to restore the tarnished reputation of the samurai and purge the world of demons. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Magazine Pocket page: https://pocket.shonenmagazine.com/episode/10834108156630993874
Manga official Twitter: @orient_magazine

Source: PR Times

Series End

13 Comments Recent Comments

@Playcool I honestly never checked the manga, from the few things I saw from it I can say the art is way better there.
Also it was never going to reach the popularity of Magi, that one was on a whole different level.

Oct 13, 3:08 AM by Illyricus

@Illyricus And was the manga much better? I mean ratings here vs Magi speak a lot, this is well below average.

Oct 12, 6:39 PM by Playcool

@Catalano So, she's like a battle shonen version of Rumiko Takahashi?

Oct 10, 2:18 PM by RobertBobert

@RobertBobert
SumoMomo is a very good show and manga, there is no debate but she said in an interview that Ishibashi (her editor) helped her a lot with it because she didn't even know how to write romcoms, she only knew action, she actually read weekly shounen jump in high school like crazy and submitted one shots. Magi is where she shines and we can see her skill. Anyways, this was a roundabout way to show that Ohtaka can't write BL when she can barely write romance.

Oct 10, 2:08 PM by Catalano

@Catalano I don't know, I loved the intentional silliness of the romance in SumoMomo in the '00s. It was even one of my favorite shows at the time.

Oct 10, 1:50 PM by RobertBobert

@RobertBobert
Ohtaka is not even as talented to write romance, she could only make SumoMomo because of her editor but she always hated romcoms. Where she does excel is in action and comedy, neither of Magi or Orient have powerful romance side stories, it's all about action and super powers. She's not skilled enough and she lacks the incentive to write BL and no one reads battle shounen for BL anyways.

Oct 10, 1:47 PM by Catalano

@Catalano That's all? I've seen Orient in various "implied BL" stacks so often that I started to think it was really something like Banana Fish.

Oct 10, 1:07 PM by RobertBobert

Man this one went completely unnoticed despite the success of Magi. A shame the anime was so mediocre and never took off.

Oct 10, 8:49 AM by Illyricus

@RobertBobert
it's very easy to explain, ohtaka readers are mostly girls and we all know that lots of girls are into BL. Then we get ohtaka being a pervert and we see that in her manga, all the guys are bishounen while the girls are beauties but few in number. The two main guys aren't gay for each other, it's the usual nakama thingy but because we get lots of horny scenes people jump to serious conclusions when there's no need. There are also other guy x guy funny scenes that are interpreted as BL but in the end it's just for fun.

Oct 10, 6:55 AM by Catalano

the anime never became popular damn

Oct 10, 4:21 AM by deg

@Catalano Could you explain to me why so many people unironically, without joking, claim that Orient is supposedly canon BL? I thought this was a normal shipping debate, but a lot of people seem pretty serious about it.

Oct 10, 4:05 AM by RobertBobert

I hope for a third season!

Oct 10, 3:58 AM by Memore

one of the best modern battle shounen this was. I hope ohtaka switches back to action romcom though because nothing can top Magi, she reached the peak.

Oct 10, 1:55 AM by Catalano