Shonen Jump to publish Demon Slayer spin-off manga

Last May 18, the manga Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, concluded after 205 chapters and 23 volumes. Its 26-episode animated series also wrapped up exactly a year ago. Given these facts, fans must now face the stark reality that there are no more Demon Slayer chapters to read or anime episodes to watch. 

Or so we thought.

Shueisha, publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump (WSJ), has just confirmed the release of a short spin-off manga titled Kimetsu no Yaiba: Rengoku Gaiden. 

The manga will have two chapters and will focus on the adventures of Kyōjurō Rengoku, the Flame Pillar/Hashira who is one of the nine most powerful swordsmen in the Demon Slayer universe.

Creator Koyoharu Gotouge did not make this gaiden edition. Rather, mangaka Ryoji Hirano took over writing and drawing duties. The spin-off will be published in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine’s issue no. 45 and 46 scheduled for Oct. 12 and 17.

The release date coincides with the upcoming full-length anime film Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha-Hen) that premieres in Japan on Oct. 16. Theatergoers who will see the movie in Japan will receive a copy of Rengoku Volume 0, a 19-page one-shot manga revolving around Rengoku's first mission as a demon slayer.

Rengoku is the second Hashira to have his own gaiden. In April last year, Weekly Shonen Jump published a two-part spin-off about the adventures of Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka. Hirano also penned this one.

Including various spin-offs and light novels, the entire Demon Slayer franchise boasts over 100 million copies in circulation worldwide, counting both printed and digital copies. It is the second best-selling manga of 2019, behind only to Eiichiro Oda's One Piece.