Manga, Japanese comic books, is one of the symbols of Japanese pop culture, which has captured the heart of more and more international fans all over the world. Almost all new manga are published on manga magazines at first.
There are various weekly and monthly manga magazines for each age group, and Weekly Shonen Jump (週刊少年ジャンプ) is one of the most famous and popular manga magazines in Japan. Shonen Jump has led the Japanese manga industry since the first magazine was released in 1968. Lots of popular manga have published on Weekly Shonen Jump.
Over 6.5 million copies of Weekly Shonen Jump were published in 1994, which is the largest circulation of Japanese manga magazines of all time. There are over 700 manga titles published on Shonen Jump ever.
For those who wonder which Shonen Jump manga to read, here is the list of 15 best Shonen Jump manga of all time including the ongoing popular manga and the legendary classic books. Every Shonen Jump manga is based on at least one of the Shonen Jump concepts: friendship, effort and victory. If you like one, these manga are highly recommended to read in English!
15. Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw Man (チェンソーマン), which was serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump between 2018 and 2020, is one of the hottest and finest manga. The second part Academy Saga was just started on Shonen Jump+ from July, 2022.
The dark fantasy manga is set in the world where devils exist in the human society. The main character is a 16-year-old boy Denji, who is killed by a zombie devil and revives as a half-devil human. He fights devils as a devil hunter with his partner that is a dog-shaped chainsaw devil.
Serialized: 2018-2020/2022-
Manga Artist: Tatsuki Fujimoto
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14. Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma
Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma (食戟のソーマ), serialized between 2012 and 2019, is the most popular Shonen Jump manga with the theme of food and cooking. The setting is a famous culinary school named Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute, and a high schooler Soma Yukihira compete against elite chef students in the cooking battle. He delelops his cooking skill to make it into the top of the Council of Ten Masters.
The first season of the anime adaptation was released in 2015, followed by the other four seasons aired until 2020.
Serialized: 2012-2019
Manga Artist: Shun Saeki (Illustrator)/Yuto Tsukuda (Writer)
13. Yu-Gi-Oh
Yu-Gi-Oh (遊☆戯☆王) was published on Weekly Shonen Jump from 1996 to 2004. The fantasy manga is divided into seven parts and almost all of them are based on a trading card game.
The main character Yugi Muto fights against various characters using the cards to summon monsters. Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game is popular in the real world, which is played by players all over the world.
Serialized: 1996-2004
Manga Artist: Kazuki Takahashi
12. The Prince Of Tennis
Shonen Jump has offered lots of attractive sports manga, and The Prince Of Tennis (テニスの王子様) is a well-known tennis manga published between 1999 and 2008. The sequel title New Prince of Tennis has been serialized on the released magazine Jump Square from 2009.
It is set in a junior high school in Tokyo where a talented boy Ryoma Echizen enters. Ryoma makes it a goal to win the national junior high school tennis tournament with his teammates, developing his skills. Various character’s techniques are powerfully depicted in the manga.
Serialized: 1999-2008
Manga Artist: Takeshi Konomi
11. Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-) is a classic Samurai-themed manga serialized one the golden age of Weekly Shonen Jump in the late 1990s.
Rurouni Kenshin is set in the Meiji period (1868-1912), where the legendary Samurai named Kenshin Himura fights with his rivals seeking a new way to live without battles. The action manga is followed by the next title Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚・北海道編-) from 2017. Rurouni Kenshin was also made into an anime adaptation from 1996 and into a live action movie from 2021.
Serialized: 1994-1999
Manga Artist: Nobuhiro Watsuki
10. My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia (僕のヒーローアカデミア), published from 2014, is one of the most popular ongoing manga in Weekly Shonen Jump with the theme of superhero.
A young boy Izuku Midoriya with no special ability called Quirks tries hard to become a powerful hero fighting the Villains with other various heroes. Four seasons of the anime adaptation were released between 2016 and 2020, which is not completed yet.
Serialized: 2014
Manga Artist: Kohei Horikoshi
My Hero Academia (僕のヒーローアカデミア) is now one of the most famous and popular action manga and anime series in this modern ag[…]
9. Death Note
For manga fans all over the world, Death Note (デスノート) is the well-known mystery and horror manga. It was serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump from 2003 to 2006, which was followed by its anime adaptation in 2006-2007 and adapted into the movie series including the Netflix version in 2017.
One day, the protagonist Light Yagami finds a Death Note: when a name of a person is written on it, he or she dies. He and another main character L fight with each other as if they played a mind game.
Serialized: 2003-2006
Manga Artist: Takeshi Obata (Illustrator)/Tsugumi Ohba (Writer)
8. Dr. Stone
Dr. Stone, one of the most exciting manga with the unique manga theme “science”, started on Weekly Shonen Jump in 2017 and finally came to the end in Match, 2022. The first season of an anime adaptation was aired in 2019, followed by the season 2 in 2021 and the season 3 in 2023.
The setting is the apocalyptic world after about 3,700 years from the present where civilization and technologies are vanished. A high-school aged boy Senku survives in the world with his friends developing science from scratch. The spin-off Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya focusing on the story of Senku’s father was released with nice episodes in 2019.
Serialized: from 2017
Manga Artist: Boichi (Illustrator)/Riichiro Inagaki (Writer)
Dr. Stone is one of the hottest manga and anime series these days. The original manga series just came to the end in Mar[…]
7. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
The classic manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険) has lot of big fans all over the world, and the series has been not completed yet. There are eight parts in the adventure manga totally so far: Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency, Stardust Crusaders, Diamond Is Unbreakable, Golden Wind, Stone Ocean, Steel Ball Run and JoJolion. It was serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump until the middle of the part 7: Steel Ball Run and the rest has been published on Ultra Jump.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure depicts mysterious adventures of the Joestar family. A main character varies by part but they all are the Joestar family. They battle e against the family’s rivals for over a century.
Serialized: from 1987
Manga Artist: Hirohiko Araki
6. Hunter x Hunter
Hunter x Hunter is one of the most popular manga in Japan, which is written by Yoshihiro Togashi, who is the manga artist of Yu Yu Hakusho. The anime adaptation with two parts was broadcasted in 1999-2001 and 2011-2014.
The fantasy adventure manga centers on a young boy named Gon Freecss, who begins his journey to find his father Ging Freecss. Gon meets good friends Kurapika, Leorio and Killua during the Hunter Examination. Hunter x Hunter has been intermittently published and the serialization is stopped now for the author’s reasons.
Serialized: from 1998
Manga Artist: Yoshihiro Togashi
The living legend Hunter x Hunter has attracted a great number of fans of manga and anime all over the globe for a long […]
5. Slam Dunk
Slam Dunk (スラムダンク) is one the most popular Japanese sports manga of all time, which contributed to the prosperity of Shonen Jump in the 1990s. It was written by Takehiko Inou, the author of Vagabond and Real. An anime adaptation was released with 101 episodes between 1993 and 1996.
The delinquent high school guy Hanamichi Sakuragi who has not played basketball begins the sports in the school club to attract the attention of the heroine Haruko Akagi. He rapidly develops the basketball skills with unique team members such as his rival Kaede Rukawa and the captain Takenori Akagi.
Serialized: 1990-1996
Manga Artist: Takehiko Inou
4. Dragon Ball
Many manga fans pick up Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール) as the best Shonen Jump manga and anime series, which is the symbol of the golden age of the legendary manga magazine. The whole story consists of two major parts: so called Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball was adapted into over 150 episodes anime in 1986-1989 and Dragon Ball Z with 291 episodes was aired in 1989-1996. The remaster of Dragon Ball Z was released as Dragon Ball Kai after that.
Dragon Ball depicts the story of the main character Son Goku in his boyhood, who search the seven Dragon Balls. It is completed with the third Tenkaichi Budokai (a martial arts tournament), which corresponds to the middle of the manga’s volume 17. In Dragon Ball Z, the Saiyans attack the earth and Goku becomes aware of the fact that he is a Saiyan. His two sons Gohan and Goten are also featured.
The sequel Dragon Ball Super started on V Jump from 2015, which is written by Akira Toriyama (illustrated by Toyotaro).
Serialized: 1984-1995
Manga Artist: Akira Toriyama
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3. Naruto
Naruto, the typical and one of the best-selling Shonen Jump manga, is the most famous Japanese manga worldwide. The long anime series with about 700 episodes were aired from 2002 to 2017, which is also highly rated by both Japanese and international fans.
The Ninja manga follows a young boy Naruto, who has little aptitude for being a Ninja. He grows up little by little with support from his friends and teachers. Other main characters such as Sasuke and Sakura are also focused on in the whole story. The moving stories and powerful battle scenes are worth reading once and again.
Naruto is followed by his son’s story titled Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump from 2016 and V Jump from 2019.
Serialized: 1999-2014
Manga Artist: Masashi Kishimoto
Naruto, one of the most famous and popular manga and anime series of all time, has been an introductory anime title reco[…]
2. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba
As the greatest manga in the several years, quite a few manga fans recommend Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃), which started its publication on Weekly Shonen Jump in 2016 and ended its story in 2020. The first season of an anime adaptation was released in 2019, followed by the anime movie with the title of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba is set in the fictional Japan in the Taisho period (1912-1926), where demons exist threatening human peace. Selected demon slayers including Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu battle with demons. In addition to the powerful battle scenes, the moving background story of each character including even demons are depicted in the manga.
Serialized: 2016-2020
Manga Artist: Koyoharu Gotoge
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1. One Piece
The best shonen Jump manga is One Piece, serialized from 1997. The adventure manga has established a leading position in the manga industry all over the world for a long time while it is an ongoing comic book. Its anime adaptation has been loved by the fans since 1999.
The story of One Piece represents all of the Shonen Jump’s key concepts consisting of friendship, effort and victory. The protagonist Monkey D. Luffy goes on an adventurous voyage to become the King of the Pirates meeting unique reliable characters. They fight intense battles with various strong pirates and the navy.
One Piece makes you cry with the impressed stories, rough with comedy and get excited. Additionally, any type of people can enjoy One Piece since it includes a variety of world’s histories and modern social issues around the globe.
Serialized: from 1997
Manga Artist: Eiichiro Oda
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