Is the Drifters Manga Finished? No — And Here’s Why That’s Frustrating
Here’s the short answer one more time: Drifters is not finished. The manga is officially ongoing. New chapters still appear from time to time in Young King OURs, a monthly manga magazine published by Shonen Gahosha in Japan. If you’re new to how manga works, here’s the basic idea: manga stories are first published as individual chapters in magazines like this one, and those chapters are later collected and printed together as volumes — the paperback books you’d find in a store or online.
Author Kohta Hirano has been working on the series since it began in June 2009. In all that time, only 7 volumes have been released in Japan. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly one volume every two years on average, and sometimes the gaps stretch much longer than that.
The English edition, published by Dark Horse Manga (an American comic and manga publisher), currently sits at 6 volumes, putting it one behind the Japanese release.
So if you were hoping to read the entire story from start to finish in one go, that’s not possible yet. The story is still unfolding, and there’s no announced end in sight.
Why Drifters Takes So Long Between Volumes
If you’re new to Kohta Hirano’s work, the pace of Drifters might seem baffling. But this slow output is nothing new for Hirano — it’s how he has always worked.
Hirano’s Track Record
Kohta Hirano is also the creator of Hellsing, an earlier manga series about a secret organization fighting vampires. He built a reputation during that series for irregular output. Drifters has followed a similar pattern — chapters (the individual installments that eventually get collected into volumes) appear in Young King OURs, but new chapters don’t show up every month the way you might expect from a monthly magazine. Sometimes months pass between installments, and that silence can stretch on for what feels like ages.
The Volume Gap Tells the Story
The clearest way to understand the pace is to look at the Japanese volume releases:
- Volume 6 (JP) came out in December 2018
- Volume 7 (JP) didn’t arrive until August 2023
That’s a gap of nearly five years between two consecutive volumes. And that’s not an anomaly — it’s representative of how Drifters has always moved.
No Cancellation, No Official Hiatus
Here’s the important thing: despite the incredibly slow pace, there has been no cancellation announcement and no official hiatus declaration. The series is simply slow by nature. Hirano continues to work on it, and new chapters do eventually appear. It’s just that “eventually” can mean a very long time.
For readers who are used to weekly or even monthly manga that reliably puts out new volumes once or twice a year, Drifters requires a completely different kind of patience. It’s worth knowing that going in before you invest your time and money.
Does the Anime Cover the Full Manga Story?
A Drifters TV anime aired in 2016 and brought a portion of the manga’s story to the screen. If you watched it and loved it, you probably noticed that the ending didn’t exactly wrap things up neatly — and that’s because the manga it was based on was (and still is) far from complete.
How Much Did the Anime Cover?
The anime covered material from roughly the first three volumes of the manga. If you finished the anime and want to continue the story in manga form without re-reading what you’ve already seen, starting around Volume 4 will pick up close to where the anime left off. Still, there are details and scenes in the earlier volumes that the anime changed or skipped, so reading from Volume 1 gives you the fullest experience.
With the manga itself still ongoing and moving slowly, there simply isn’t enough new material beyond what was already covered to easily fuel another full season of anime.
Any Word on Season 2?
As of the latest available information, no second season of the Drifters anime has been officially confirmed. Given the manga’s extremely slow release schedule, this isn’t surprising — there may not be enough material yet beyond what the first season covered to justify a new season. That said, nothing has been formally ruled out either.
If you finished the anime and want to continue the story, the manga is currently the only way to do that.
Where to Buy Drifters Manga in English
Dark Horse Manga handles the English-language release of Drifters. Here’s what you need to know about the current state of the English edition — including an honest look at what you’re signing up for.
What You Should Know Before Buying
Buying into Drifters means accepting that the story is unfinished and will likely stay that way for a long time. Cliffhangers in this series can last years — not months, years. Volume 7 hasn’t been released in English yet, and there’s no announced date for it. If the idea of waiting indefinitely for the next part of a story sounds like it would frustrate you, that’s worth weighing seriously before you spend money on six volumes.
That said, the existing volumes are dense, rewarding, and full of the kind of high-energy storytelling that makes you understand why fans stick around despite the wait.
What’s Available Now
There are currently 6 volumes of Drifters available in English. These are standard single-volume paperback editions published by Dark Horse. You can find them through Amazon and most major manga retailers.
The English Volume 6 corresponds to Japanese Volume 6 — meaning English readers are still waiting for Volume 7 to be translated and published in English. As of now, an English release date for Volume 7 has not been announced by Dark Horse.
Is It Worth Starting?
With the caveat above firmly in mind — yes. Drifters is a wild, action-packed series that throws famous historical warriors into an alternate fantasy world and lets them clash in spectacular fashion. If that premise sounds fun to you, the six available English volumes offer a great time.
The series features Hirano’s distinctive art style — dynamic, detailed, and occasionally chaotic in the best way — and the storytelling mixes dark humor with genuinely tense battle sequences. It’s a unique reading experience that stands out even among other action manga.
If you want to start from the beginning, Volume 1 is easy to find and gives you a strong sense of whether the series is for you.
Drifters
FAQ
Is Drifters manga on hiatus?
Not officially. The series is listed as ongoing in Young King OURs magazine. However, the gaps between new chapters can stretch so long that it can feel indistinguishable from a hiatus in practice. If you came here hoping the manga was finished and you could read the whole thing — that frustration is completely understandable. There’s no formal hiatus announcement, though. Kohta Hirano simply works at his own pace, and that pace is very slow. New material does eventually arrive, but the wait between releases can be measured in years rather than months.
How many volumes of Drifters are there?
As of the most recent releases, there are 7 volumes in Japanese and 6 volumes in English (published by Dark Horse Manga). The English edition is one volume behind the Japanese release.
Is Drifters by the same author as Hellsing?
Yes. Both Drifters and Hellsing are created by Kohta Hirano. Hellsing is a manga about a secret organization battling vampires, and it’s known for intense action sequences, dark humor, and a bold visual style. If you’ve read or watched Hellsing, you’ll see a lot of similarities in tone and energy with Drifters. If you haven’t, don’t worry — you don’t need any familiarity with Hellsing to enjoy Drifters. They’re completely separate stories.
Will there be a Drifters season 2?
A full broadcast second season has not been announced. However, three OVA episodes (episodes 13, 14, and 15) were released on home video in December 2017 and November 2018, continuing the story beyond the original 12-episode TV series. A new broadcast season beyond those OVA episodes remains unconfirmed — the manga’s extremely slow publication pace is likely a factor. For story content beyond the OVAs, the manga is the way to go.
So — Is the Drifters Manga Finished?
Not yet, and there’s no telling when it will be. Kohta Hirano works at his own rhythm, and Drifters moves forward in unpredictable bursts separated by long stretches of silence. The story that’s available so far — seven volumes in Japanese, six in English — is well worth reading if the premise grabs you. Just go in with your eyes open about the wait. For now, the best thing you can do is pick up the existing volumes, enjoy what’s there, and settle in for the long haul alongside every other Drifters fan.