Captain Tsubasa is lacing up again. The official X account for Yōichi Takahashi’s long-running soccer franchise announced on Monday, September 28, 2026, that Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun Finals will resume serialization on October 6, with new chapters arriving on Tuesdays.
The series had been on hiatus since its 100th chapter, which ran in May 2026.
How the return works
Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun Finals launched in July 2024 as a storyboard-format serial on the new Captain Tsubasa World website, rather than in a print magazine. That makes the October 6 resumption a continuation of the franchise’s digital home base, with a weekly Tuesday schedule for readers to follow.
A franchise that keeps finding a way to continue
The timing is notable because Takahashi announced in 2024 that he was retiring from serializing the franchise. The April 2024 issue of Captain Tsubasa Magazine was the last one, and its 20th and final issue carried the closing chapters of Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun The Final and Captain Tsubasa Memories 4: Saikyō! Meiwa FC Densetsu. The 20th and final compiled volume of Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun, along with the third and final volume of Memories 4, both shipped in June 2024.
The Finals serial then picked things up on the official website, giving the story a venue that does not depend on a magazine schedule. A pause after chapter 100 in May is now followed by a return on October 6.
The road that led here
Takahashi’s original Captain Tsubasa ran for 37 volumes in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump from 1981 to 1988, and it grew into one of Japan’s most widely exported manga. The series follows Tsubasa Ōzora, an 11-year-old who loves soccer, is spotted by his coach Roberto and travels to Brazil to train for the World Cup. It has been translated into around 20 countries and inspired four television anime series, four anime films, several OVAs and a stage play.
Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun launched in Shueisha’s Grand Jump in December 2013 and moved to Captain Tsubasa Magazine, a dedicated spinoff magazine, when that launched in April 2020. The “final saga,” Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun The Final, began in the magazine’s 16th issue in April 2023 as a new arc and a renaming of the ongoing series.
Why it matters
Very few manga keep publishing for more than four decades, and even fewer manage it after their author has stepped away from magazine serialization. The return of Rising Sun Finals matters for two reasons: fans get a confirmed date rather than an open-ended wait, and the weekly Tuesday schedule gives the digital serial a predictable rhythm. It also shows how Japanese publishers are increasingly using official websites to keep long-running franchises alive outside the constraints of print page counts and magazine calendars.
Hiatus returns have been a recurring theme in our recent manga coverage. Earlier, Go! Go! Loser Ranger! came back from its health hiatus, and Manchuria Opium Squad resumed with a new artist after the death of its illustrator. We also looked at Tetsuya Chiba’s latest hiatus and keep a running list of endings and returns in our manga hub.
Source: Anime News Network, citing the Captain Tsubasa World official X account
Featured image: Promotional artwork for the Captain Tsubasa franchise, via Anime News Network.
