As 2016 has just started I thought it would be fun to take a couple minutes to make some bold predictions on what news headlines could happen this year coming from Hiroyuki Takei! So all of these are just a guess on what could happen. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the exact thing or something similar might happen! If so, then you can say we called it first!

Note: These are just guesses. They are not real news stories. (unless reported here later)

New Shaman King Toys/Figures via a cross-promotion campaign

If you are viewing this site, you probably have read and enjoyed some amount of the Shaman King manga. As it stands right now, we don’t know when or what form we will get some more of the manga series. But sometime in 2016, probably during the summer time, it will be announced that there will be a limited run of Shaman King toys/figures. I’m guessing it’s going to be with a smaller manufacturer and have 5 to 8 figures in the complete collection. They may even be some weird mashup with some other brand. But I think they will be based on the “classic” Shaman King characters, NOT on Flowers. So characters like Yoh, Hao, Ren, Anna, and such. They will all be small figures with a limited run, but probably not very expensive.

With this limited run of these toys/figures I’m also predicting that the original anime will also return to Nico Nico Douga for a limited streaming event. The last time this happened was back in 2013, so it’s been a long enough time that it could happen again. This would be timed with the toys/figures release to help cash in.

Jumbor concludes… in light novel form

For those following the Jumbor manga, at the start of 2016 it’s currently in a status of hiatus. With Shaman King Flowers cancelled and Ultimo concluded, this series is currently held in a weird limbo. It’s consistently referred to it being on hiatus/break/paused, and not concluded. However, after a year of being on hiatus… the Jumbor series concludes with a release of the light novel! Hiroyuki Takei will draw the cover art and some insert images, but the final story for Jumbor wouldn’t actually be in manga form. However to help bridge the gap, Takei will have a couple “special” chapters that will finish up the last manga volume. I’m predicting these chapters will run in the Ultra Jump magazine as short release, and the last chapter may also contain some excepts from the upcoming novel release.

Previously, there were 2 Shaman King light novels that were created which does set a precedent for this. Additionally, Takei is not the author for Jumbor, instead it’s Hiromasa Mikami who could have been working on this novel for the last couple of months. It’s an interesting way for the Jumbor series to help wrap up and make it more Mikami’s series more than Takei’s by giving him the platform to shine.

Hiroyuki Takei creates new Gundam manga series

Towards the fall of 2016 Takei will still be hard at work with Nekogahara, the once-in-a-while chapter of Hyper Dash! Yonkuro, would have finished up Jumbor by summer… but this leads all up to his new manga series… using the Mobile Suit Gundam series property! It will be a full Gundam series that will run in a non-Shueisha monthly magazine. Like with all of Takei’s recent series, it will have a bunch of fanfare in the magazine with some heavy promotion. It’s not the continuation of Shaman King that everyone wants, but it’s a strong property that will generate some news buzz.

Takei’s artstyle is so perfect with what’s needed in a Gundam series. The ability to draw realistic, complex, large-scale fluid machinery that is mirrored with a clash of ideals between groups of likeable characters is the key to all of his series. Shaman King with the oversouls, especially with the X-Laws’. Jumbor with the Earth Movers (EMs) and Ultimo with the Dojis. Hiroyuki Takei hasn’t really done a “space” manga yet, but I’m sure he’s up to the challenge. He’s a known Gundam-fan, with his own Gunpla collection and has previously drawn images of Gundams. Then down the road, he has also worked as a Character Designer for anime so if it ever gets an anime in the future he would be a perfect fit to assist on that!

So that’s it for our predictions on what news headlines could happen in 2016! I think that could give alot to look forward to and keep Hiroyuki Takei busy all year long. Happy New Year, and we look forward to you visiting our site through 2016 and beyond!