After nearly a decade in publication, the dark fantasy mystery manga Kemono Jihen is nearing its end. The recently released 25th collected volume included an announcement confirming that Volume 26 will be the final installment in the series.
The publisher has not announced when the final chapter will appear or when the last collected volume will go on sale. More details about the publication schedule, including a possible release window for Volume 26, will likely be shared as the manga gets closer to its conclusion.
Created by Sho Aimoto, Kemono Jihen began serialization in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine in December 2016. Since then, the series has developed its own style by blending supernatural detective fiction with folklore-inspired creatures, action, horror, and coming-of-age drama. Along the way, it explores themes of family, identity, loneliness, and the often difficult relationship between humans and beings known as kemono.
The manga was adapted into a television anime in 2021. Produced by animation studio Ajiado, the anime ran for 12 episodes and introduced viewers to the main characters and the series' early supernatural cases. The manga continued well beyond the events covered in the adaptation, giving more attention to its world, larger conflicts, and the relationships between its characters.
The story centers on Kohachi Inugami, a Tokyo detective who specializes in paranormal cases. He travels to a remote village to investigate a troubling series of incidents involving dead animals whose bodies decay at an unnatural rate. While looking into the deaths, he meets Kabane, a quiet and unusual boy who has been rejected and mistreated by the other villagers.
As Kabane helps Inugami discover what is really behind the animal deaths, the investigation begins to connect with a much larger supernatural mystery. Meeting the detective also pushes Kabane to face the truth about his own origins. After leaving the village, he becomes part of a hidden world inhabited by kemono, powerful beings whose existence remains largely unknown to ordinary people.
What starts as an investigation in a small village slowly grows into a much wider story involving supernatural societies, dangerous powers, missing family members, and the difficult question of whether kemono and humans can live alongside one another. Now that the final volume has been confirmed, the remaining chapters should address the manga's biggest unanswered questions and bring Kabane's long journey to a clear and lasting conclusion.
