The final three volumes of Shaman King coming to U.S. after a 16-year wait

(Image credit: Hiroyuki Takei (Kodansha Ltd.))

The never-before-translated final three volumes of Hiroyuki Takei's hit manga Shaman King will make their English language debut Tuesday, July 28 on Amazon's digital comics services.

"It’s been over 10 years since I've completed Shaman King. But finally – at last – I can deliver the true ending to the story to the fans in America," Takei said in the announcement. "It's a message from my heart, and I think it's a particularly important one in this day and age. I hope that it’ll reach the hearts of many comrades."

"In the world of Shaman King, shamans possess mysterious powers that allow them to commune with gods, spirits, and even the dead…," reads Kodansha USA's description of the series. "... And Manta Oyamada's about to learn all about them, because his class just welcomed a new transfer student: Yoh Asakura, a boy from way off in Izumo… and a shaman in training!"

Shaman King was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1998 to 2004, with American readers receiving English translations of the collected editions beginning in 2003 from VIZ Media. The company concluded its translation efforts with volume 32, leaving the three remaining volumes untranslated until now.

The complete Shonen King will go on sale July 28 on both Kindle and comiXology platforms. The 35 volumes will also be free for members of Amazon Prime via their Prime Reading benefit, Kindle Unlimited, and comiXology Unlimited.

If successful, this could lead the numerous sequels and spin-offs to Shaman King (which themselves have never been translated to English) to be added eventually. Those include Shaman King Zero, Shaman King: Flowers, Shaman King: Super Star, and Shaman King: Red Crimson.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)