The Knight in the Area Soccer Manga Ends in 5 Chapters

This year's 12th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine revealed on Wednesday that Hiroaki Igano and Kaya Tsukiyama's The Knight in the Area (Area no Kishi) soccer manga will end in five more chapters. If serialization continues without breaks, the manga will end in this year's 17th issue on March 29.

Igano and Tsukiyama's original manga centers around Kakeru Aizawa, the younger brother of the Kamakura School soccer team captain Suguru. While Suguru is so talented in soccer that he has been made part of Japan's national under-15 team, Kakeru is so weak at the sport that he is nicknamed "Mr. No Goal." Kakeru's life changes however, after a tragic accident. (Igano is another name for Tadashi Agi, the story creator of Drops of God, GetBackers, Kindaichi Case Files, Bloody Monday, and several other popular manga titles.)

The series launched in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2006, and the 55th compiled book volume shipped on January 17. The spinoff manga Area no Kishi Bangai-hen: Enokō Early Days about the high school days of Coach Iwaki debuted in 2007, and Kodansha's Manga Box app released is releasing the series. The original manga also inspired a four-panel gag comedy manga.

A television anime adaptation premiered in 2012, and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.​