Two shonen manga, Full Drive and Golem Hearts met their end today in the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. The former centered on competitive ping pong while the latter was a formulaic shonen title with Pinnochio motifs. Both series conclude after just 13 chapters having begun publication in the magazine in October. Fans of both series were dismayed by the news citing that 13 chapters simply weren't enough for the titles to find their footing.
Cancellations in Weekly Shonen Jump are predominantly decided by where titles rank in the poll of its subscribers. Repeatedly placing in the last few slots is a guaranteed method for cancellation.
Shonen Jump uses the polling method because of its structure - with the magazine containing anywhere between 14-15 different titles in each issue (there are 23 titles in serialization but there are always a few titles on hiatus), the publication doesn't want to carry an unpopular title just because its readers are all buying for the latest One Piece chapter. Jump editors would like the magazine to have nothing but "One Pieces," or at least a repeat of one of its more successful runs when Naruto, Bleach and One Piece anchored the magazine.
The final volumes for both series will ship in Japan on April 4.
Full Drive Synopsis:
There was once an ingenious German athlete who had been the only person in the world that could not be copied by the table tennis nation of China. A few decades later, present day, the tale begins with a small-framed, quarter German boy who crosses over from Germany to Japan where he meets the Japanese, genius table tennis beauty. A passionate, mainstream table tennis tale shoots off!!
Golem Hearts Synopsis:
There was a world where "Golems," magical humanoids, were created to obey their owners' commands to help people. Lemmeck, the arcanist, and his son, Noah, were always being shunned by the townspeople in their small town for a certain reason... A kind, passionate, and heartwarming golem fantasy is born!!