The official app for Hideaki Sorachi 's Gintama franchise revealed on Wednesday that the manga will continue in the app starting on May 13 with the 702nd chapter. The app stated that the manga is "finally, truly, truly starting its countdown to its climax."

The manga ended its run in Weekly Shonen Jump in last year's 42nd issue on September 15 as planned, but Shueisha announced on September 15 that the manga would continue "for a little while longer" in Shueisha 's Jump Giga magazine. The manga's run in Jump Giga launched with a 54-page chapter in the magazine's first winter issue on December 28. Gintama ran in Jump Giga for three consecutive issues, and the manga featured on the covers of all three of those issues. The third chapter in Jump Giga announced in February that the manga would continue in the free app.

Sorachi began the manga in 2004, and the manga has more than 55 million copies in print in Japan as of February. Viz Media published the first 23 volumes in English.

The manga has inspired several anime series including the latest one that started airing last July, two anime films, various OVAs and event anime, two live-action films, and two live-action net spinoff series. A new anime is "probably" in production.

Update: The new Gintama chapter on May 13 revealed that the next chapter will be available in the app on May 27. Source: Gintama app