Despite being one of the hottest titles for the summer of 2022, Shonen Jump has announced that the hit manga RuriDragon will be going on indefinite hiatus. While the announcement suggests the manga will return at a later date, more than a few fans are wondering if this is the last they will see of Ruri Aoki.
RuriDragon is the first solo manga series from experienced manga illustrator Masaoshi Shindo. It tells the story of junior high school student Ruri Aoki who one day wakes up to find that a pair of dragon horns have grown out of the sides of her forehead. She's initially scared by the change, as well as shocked by the discovery that her mom knew this would happen one day because her father is a dragon. However, Ruri slowly warms to the idea of being half-dragon, and the benefits it bestows on a teenage girl who previously wasn't the most popular girl in her class but now, as a result of her dragon traits, has become the "big woman on campus."
Despite its somewhat non-traditional storyline, since its debut in the June 12, 2022 publication of Weekly Shonen Jump #28, the series has been one of Shonen Jump publisher Shueisha's most popular manga titles. Indeed, since its first issue, the manga has consistently ranked within Shonen Jump's weekly Top Ten manga. At times, it has scored higher in popularity than such top manga mainstays as Kaiju No.8 and Dandadan. This past week, it even placed higher than Boruto. In other words, RuriDragon was looking every bit like the next Shonen Jump big hit. However, signs that all was not going according to plan with the series began to surface shortly after the publication of Chapter 5. Just before the publication of Chapter 6, Shindo posted a message on social media stating that publication would take a short break while he attended to some health-related issues. For many manga fans, news of breaks in publication are common enough that they do not, in and of themselves, generate much worry. This was especially true of RuriDragon since the announced break was only to last a week. Indeed, all seemed back to normal when Chapter 6 was published, as announced, in Shonen Jump #34. But then a few days later, in a shock announcement posted by the Shonen Jump News - Unofficial account, it was revealed that manga would be going on indefinite hiatus beginning after the publication of its next issues
While a popular manga going on a hiatus is generally neither new nor cause for worry, announcements for indefinite breaks such as the one announced for RuriDragon certainly get fans to wonder. This is even more true when the reason given for the break is health-related. Fans understand that a healthy and happy creator can generate legendary content if given the opportunity and means to produce, so they can understand when creators take time off for mental and physical issues. However, in this case, the indefiniteness of the duration of the break, combined with the newness of the manga suggests the possibility that it might not return. It's one thing for a manga like Dragon Ball or One Piece to take a long hiatus, but a completely new situation when the manga is as young as RuriDragon.
Indeed, unlike its manga brethren, RuriDragon simply has not built up enough story or manga "cred" to keep old fans interested and new fans excited. Naturally, the first hope is that Shindo can overcome and conquer whatever health issues he is facing. Once this is accomplished, the second hope is that he will be able to return to RuriDragon with all the promise and potential that he engendered in the first six chapters of the Shonen Jump series.
Source: Shonen Jump News - Unofficial