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The hit sports manga Real by Takehiko Inoue is returning to the basketball court after a two-year hiatus. Real chapter 91 is set to debut in the April 17 edition of the Japanese manga anthology magazine Weekly Young Jump. It will not only be in the book, but will be featured as the cover story and get feature placement with colored pages. And in a turn of events pulled from the pages of American comics, this issue of Weekly Young Jump will also have a variant Jump cover as well.

This is the end of the latest hiatus for Real by Inoue, and the announcement of its return comes with a simple message on his website saying "Thank you for your patience." There's no word on a release date for these new chapters of Real. VIZ Media has the license for Real in North America.

Inoue's Real follows three teenagers who form a bond playing wheelchair basketball. Inoue, who was captain of his basketball team in his school years, has been able to balance amazing accuracy in the depiction of basketball and its community in manga along with a stunning depiction of the human condition.

Real is the second of two foundational basketball manga series that Takehiko Inoue has done in his career, following the mega-hit Slam Dunk. In 2022, Inoue wrote and directed an anime movie adaptation of that series titled The First Slam Dunk. It was the top-grossing Japanese film in his home country in 2023, also earning him 'Animation of the Year' at the 46th Japan Academy Film Prize — that country's version of the Academy Awards..

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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