Kemono Jihen Nears Its Climax Ahead of Final Volume

Shueisha's Jump SQ. magazine confirmed Wednesday in its December issue that Shō Aimoto's Kemono Jihen manga is approaching its story climax.

The 25th collected volume, released on August 4, previously revealed that the next volume would end the series.

Seven Seas Entertainment publishes the manga in English. It released the 22nd English volume on October 6.

The manga paused for one issue in September after Aimoto's brother died in August.

An earlier one-issue break came in February. Aimoto said she had gastroenteritis at the start of the year. She added that she was feeling better and would soon undergo an endoscopy.

The story follows Inugami, a Tokyo detective specializing in occult cases. A call brings him to a remote village, where he meets Dorotabo, an unusual boy named after a yokai associated with muddy rice paddies.

Dorotabo has no parents, unsettles others and gives off a foul smell that makes people resent him. Inugami soon recognizes something more monstrous about him than his nickname suggests.

That becomes clear as they investigate an inhuman creature attacking local livestock. Inugami may take the mistreated boy into his care, teaching him to confront the world's hidden supernatural beasts through his own body's eerie powers.

Aimoto began Kemono Jihen in Jump SQ. in December 2016. Its television anime adaptation debuted in January 2021.

Source: Jump SQ. December issue