Summary
Making comics professionally can be a hard business, and the manga industry is particularly hard. Even with assistants, getting enough chapters out regularly requires a lot of time. Some mangaka end up with schedules that barely give them enough time to sleep, let alone relax with friends and family.
It’s often why many of them end up burnt out, running dry on creativity, or suffering health complications that slow down their work or stall it completely. They can take a while to recover physically and/or mentally enough to continue their story, so they end up pausing progress on their work until they can return to it if they’re even able to do so to begin with. For these reasons and more, these are the best manga stuck on indefinite hiatus.
9Bastard!!
MyAnimeList Score: 7.20
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventureisn’t the only series that can insert music references into its world.Bastard!!is a fantasy strip full of them. The evil wizard Dark Schneider (after Udo Dirkschneider from Accept) was sealed away by Lars Ul, the ruler of the kingdom of Metallicana. But when the Dark Rebel Army seeks to resurrect the demon Anthrasax, Lars needs someone to send it back to Hell. So, Dark Schneider is reincarnated in the form of teenager Lucien Renlen in the hopes he’ll play nice. Fat chance.
It’s as metal as a manga can get and inspired the equally metal 90s OVA series and the recent Netflix ONA series. It’s also frequently gone on hiatus, as it took a nearly decade-long pause in the 1990s before coming back in 1997. Then it went back on hiatus in 2010, where it’s remained ever since. No one knows why it’s been put on hold, though it’s been speculated that Kazushi Hagiwara simply ran out of ideas for the strip, and has been pursuing other interests until he feels inspired again.
8Gangsta
MyAnimeList Score: 8.06
Given the name,Gangstasounds like it’d bea straightforward crime manga. But there’s more to it than that, as its city of Ergastulum is home to super-humans called “Tags” (after the dogtags they wear), who are kept in control by their dependency on a drug called Cerebret. As such, they’re stuck in an uneasy alliance with non-powered humans.
But when “handymen” Nicholas and Worick are tasked with looking after Alex, a prostitute who knows more than she lets on, they all end up in a conspiracy that threatens to upset that balance for good. The creator, Kohske, sadly came down with lupus around 2015. Since then, she’s had to work around the condition, frequently putting the strip on hiatus. With the most recent one being its longest break, it’s likely Chapter 56 might be its last.
7Me & the Devil Blues
In life, Robert Johnson was a humble blues musician who died early at 27. Then, in death, his chords would inspire many of rock music’s pioneers. He even inspired an urban legend, that he got his skills by dealing with the devil at a crossroads, then died when Satan came to make good on it. A tale Akira Hiramoto found intriguing enough to turn into a horror manga.
Me & the Devil Bluesfictionalizes Johnson’s life by taking the urban legend as gospel and building on it. It went on hiatus in 2008, then came back briefly in 2015 before going back on the shelf in 2017. Hiramoto said he’d like to go back to it someday, but until then, he’s paying the bills with work onSuper Ball GirlsandFutari Switch.
6xxxHOLiC: Rei
MyAnimeList Score: 8.18
CLAMP is perhaps the most famous collective in manga, though they’re no strangers to putting works on hiatus.Cloverended abruptly when its magazine went out of business.X/1999has been put on hold since March 2003. Then bothGate 7andDrug & Dropgot shelved in 2013, right when they began work onxxxHOLiC: Rei.
The sequel to the originalxxxHOLiCsaw Kimihiro continue his service under Yuko, a powerful witch who grants wishes for the right price, and she doesn’t take cash or credit. It went on hiatus in 2017 and has remained there since. However, CLAMP recently announced they’ll be resuming work on the strip in April 2025. Provided things go according to plan,xxxHOLiCfans will get their next fix soon enough.
5Historie
MyAnimeList Score: 8.19
Over a decade after horrifying readers withthe grislyParasyte, Hitoshi Iwaaki moved into ancient history withHistorie. It tells a fictionalized account of the life and times of Eumenes, a rich boy turned slave who, after a series of trials and tribulations, went on to become a general under the command of Alexander the Great.
The manga began its run in 2003 and kept going until August 2022, when it went on an indefinite hiatus. On top of health concerns, Iwaaki cited that he needed to prepare for its 12th volume (released June 2024), and to “contemplate how to ensure that the entire story undoubtedly reaches a conclusion.” In other words, if it’s going to go out soon, it’s got to go out on a high note. Though when that high note will arrive is up in the air.
4The Glass Mask
MyAnimeList Score: 8.43
The Glass Maskis the oldest strip on this list, following the rivalry between prospective actresses Maya and Ayumi since 1976. Ayumi is gifted, beautiful, and has powerful connections. Maya is plain, and has average intelligence, but has a clear passion for acting. Which was enough to put her in contention for the lead role in the famous play “The Crimson Goddess.”
It took infrequent breaks throughout the 1990s and 2000s, then switched fromHana to Yumeto its supplementary sister magazineBessatsu Hana to Yumein 2008. Suzue Miuchi considered ending the series soon after 2009 but ended up working further on it until it went on hiatus in 2012. If Miuchi does get to close it off, it’ll likely be back inHana to Yume, as itsBessatsuedition ceased publication in 2018.
3Nana
MyAnimeList Score: 8.80
The lives and loves of Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu madeNanaone of the most famous shojo strips in publication. Though it often reads more likea josei comic, the strip doesn’t shy away from mature themes and topics, be they racy and dramatic (addiction, pregnancy, death) or dry, grown-up stuff (politics in the music business).
Then it went on hiatus in 2009 when creator Ai Yazawa fell seriously ill. Her condition hasn’t been made public, but it left her hospitalized for nearly a year. Then her recovery has limited her work to smaller scale projects since 2010. She has said she’d like to completeNanawhen she’s able to, though it’s doubtful anyone would blame her if she put her health first.
2Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
MyAnimeList Score: 8.83
What happens to fantasy hero parties when the adventure is over? What did they leave unsaid in their journey that they wish they had said?Frieren: Beyond Journey’s Endcaught on by answering those questions, as the elf Frierenlaments her long lifespan. Her friends Himmel and Heiter age and die, leaving her with their memories and their legacy via their young successors, Fern and Stark.
It’s since grown in popularity thanks to its anime adaptation, which came in at a good time as the manga has gone through a few sudden hiatuses in the past two years. Usually, they’ve been brief, like its two-month break in 2023, and a three-month pause in 2024. As of this writing, the manga has been on an indefinite hiatus since December 2024.
1Vagabond
MyAnimeList Score: 9.26
After revolutionizingsports manga withSlam Dunk, Takehiko Inoue switched to a historical epic inVagabond. It’s an adaptation of the novelMusashiby Eiji Yoshikawa, which shows how the antisocial brigand Takezo Shinmen became the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi and learned what it means to live, die, and be strong in his journeys across Japan.
Like Miuchi onThe Glass Mask, Inoue figured he’d conclude the strip within 1–2 years back in 2009. Then he suffered health issues in 2010 that saw him put the manga on hiatus until he gained the will to continue. He did bring it back for a few chapters in 2014 and 2015 but went back on hiatus in May 2015, where it’s remained ever since. Fans can only hope Inoue will regain interest in the strip someday.
