Manga 'Bocchi the Rock!' Enters Hiatus

by DatRandomDude
Jan 18, 11:39 AM | 9 Comments

The Bocchi the Rock! manga will be going on hiatus due to health issues affecting its creator, Aki Hamaji, according to an announcement made by the editorial department of Manga Time Kirara MAX. The notice was posted on the magazine's official X (formerly Twitter) account, confirming that the manga will go on break beginning with the March issue, released on Sunday.

In its statement, the editorial department explained that the manga has previously taken a one-issue break last month, with plans to resume serialization in March. However, following further discussions with Hamaji, the decision was made to extend the break to allow the author sufficient time to recover and return under stable conditions.

Hamaji also released a personal statement addressing the situation. She revealed that she has been experiencing health issues for several months and confirmed that the hiatus is due to physical health concerns rather than mental health-related reasons. She explained that prioritizing recovery would allow her to resume the manga in full form.

Hamaji began serializing the 4-koma music comedy manga in Manga Time Kirara MAX in December 2017. Houbunsha published the eighth volume on November 27.

Yen Press licensed the manga in English in April 2023 and released the seventh volume on November 11.

CloverWorks adapted the manga into a 12-episode television anime in Fall 2022. Crunchyroll simulcast the anime with multiple subtitles and dubs. A two-part compilation movie premiered in Japan in June and August 2024. A second season is currently in production.

Source: Oricon News

Hiatus

9 Comments Recent Comments

@anen0me it certainly affects monthly series too, since those can have page counts in forties or even more, but, again, that's not really relevant here. A Kirara 4koma chapter is just standard 8 pages, and while 4komas are more "dense" than a regular manga chapter, still, there's only so much work that 8 pages can demand.

And as for the workload which that entails, I would note that many Kirara authors with a serialised title in there are not even doing it as a full-time job. While I don't have hard numbers for that, math strongly suggests that unless it's a really popular series that sells a lot of tankoubons, producing a single volume per year (at best) simply doesn't foot the bills. And not many series in a niche magazine sell a lot of tankoubons.

(Which is why people flock to Weekly Shounen Dump and the like, despite having an idea how hard it is to get in, and how harder it would be once you're in. Because you simply outproduce something like Kirara by an order of magnitude per year, and even if your series is not a smash hit, unless it's a complete dud, you know you're walking away from this affair with your pockets loaded.)

Jan 20, 2:03 AM by Nanaca

@Nanaca definitely the case for weekly release series, I've argued in the past that the crunch even affects those on a monthly schedule. They're releasing work that's held to a higher standard, and the chapters are appropriately longer, so it's not like their workload is small. Also, just because you're "allowed" to take a break doesn't mean you can't feel pressured not to take that break.
every editor is different, every mangaka is different. It does no one any good for me to speculate on what may or may not have happened. I hope Bocchi's author makes a swift and full recovery

Jan 19, 7:43 AM by anen0me

@anen0me does it now? Well, it does when it comes to Weekly Shounen Dump and its ilk, but that's not quite relevant here.
Bocchi, like other Kirara publications, is a monthly series (and most of those series, including Bocchi, take breaks regularly), and all it outputs per month is one 8-page chapter.

Jan 19, 2:12 AM by Nanaca

For me this isn't the worst news, I still need to play catch up with it. 😅

Jan 18, 6:24 PM by Retro8bit

why does this industry push people to work themselves to death

i liked the anime i hope she will recover soon

Jan 18, 4:35 PM by anen0me

Hopefully she'll make a swift recovery. It's quite distressing how common it is for mangakas to have such problems as everyone else pointed out. Glad the editorial's reasonable enough to give her all the time she needs.

Jan 18, 4:24 PM by YoshiKiller01

Seems to be a regular occurrence when it comes to being a mangaka.