Quite a few manga magazines are published every week in Japan, and numerous trendy manga titles are serialized on them. Notably, Weekly Shonen Magazine has been one of the most popular manga magazines for a long time.
Many smash-hit manga series are created on Weekly Shonen Magazine and some of them are adapted into successful anime series these days. Today, I’d like to introduce 10 best Weekly Shonen Magazine manga series of all time that you should read now. The best Weekly Shonen Magazine manga list contains both the latest popular series and the classic comic books.
Weekly Shonen Magazine
Weekly Shonen Magazine (週刊少年マガジン) is a representative Japanese manga magazine published by a Japanese publishing company Kodansha. It has been released on Wednesdays since 1959.
From the 1960s, Weekly Shonen Magazine thrived dynamically, led by two major sports manga titles Star of the Giants (1966-1971) and Ashita no Joe (1968-1973). Many popular manga series are serialized on it continually, which results in their anime adaptations.
Over 20 manga titles are simultaneously serialized on Weekly Shonen Magazine. It is also distinguished by a front cover with trendy female models and actresses printed on it.
1. Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人), one of the most popular modern manga and anime series, is the best Shonen Magazine manga of all time, which was precisely serialized on its spin-off magazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. The shocking action and dark-fantasy manga series started in 2009 and came to the end in 2021, finally. There are four seasons of the anime adaptations airing from 2013.
In the story, human beings live inside the three walls that protect humanity from Titans outside the walls. A protagonist Eren Yeager and his childhood friend Mikasa Ackerman enter the Survey Corps to fight against the gigantic humanoid enemies and investigate what they are. In addition to the human dramas of the attractive characters, Attack on Titan tells lots of mysteries related to the Titans.
Recommendation: ★★★★★
Manga Artist: Hajime Isayama
Published: 2009-2021
Volumes: 34
2. Bakemonogatari
Bakemonogatari (化物語) is one of the most recommended manga to read now, serialized on Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2018. The popular franchise Monogatari Series started as a light novel series written by Nisio Isin from 2006, adapted into anime series from 2009 and manga series later with the title of Bakemonogatari.
Bakemonogatari is set in a modern Japanese rural area, revolving around a third-grade high school boy Koyomi Araragi. He meets various apparitions called Kaii caused around heroines including his classmates, little sisters, and so on. On the other hand, he is transformed into a half-vampire, half-human by the king of Kaii called Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade.
Recommendation: ★★★★★
Manga Artist: Written by Nisio Isin/Illustrated by Oh! great
Published: from 2018
Volumes: 14 (As of August, 2021)
3. The Quintessential Quintuplets
The Quintessential Quintuplets (五等分の花嫁) is a recent romantic comedy manga series serialized on Weekly Shonen Magazine between 2017 and 2020. The first season of its anime adaptation aired with 12 episodes in 2019, followed by the second season with another 12 episodes in 2021.
The Quintessential Quintuplets follows a poor but smart high school boy Futaro Uesugi, who is hired as a private tutor for the rich Nakano family’s quintuplets. It depicts the differences between the five unique girls and their relationships with him.
Recommendation: ★★★★★
Manga Artist: Negi Haruba
Published: 2017-2020
Volumes: 14
4. Fairy Tail
Fairy Tail is one of the best Weekly Shonen Magazine manga series of all time, serialized for over a decade. The 63-volume fantasy adventure manga series is a masterpiece of Hiro Mashima. There are three seasons of its anime adaptation consisting of over 300 episodes broadcasted from 2009 to 2019.
The story begins when a young wizard Lucy Heartfilia meets a Dragon Slayer wizard named Natsu Dragneel. She comes to join Fairy Tail, the most powerful guild in the Kingdom of Fiore, which Natsu belongs to.
Recommendation: ★★★★★
Manga Artist: Hiro Mashima
Published: 2006-2017
Volumes: 63
5 Rave Master
Rave Master (RAVE) is a famous fantasy adventure manga written by Hiro Mashima, who is also appraised as the manga artist of Fairy Tail. The 35 volumes were punblished between 1999 and 2005, and its anime adaptation was released with 51 episodes in 2001-2002. Rave Master tells the story about the conflict between the sacred stone Rave and the devil stone Dark Bring following a 17-year-old boy Haru Glory and his friends.
Recommendation: ★★★★☆
Manga Artist: Hiro Mashima
Published: 1999-2005
Volumes: 35
6. The Seven Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins (七つの大罪) is one of the greatest Weekly Shonen Magazine manga, serialized between 2012 and 2020. An anime adaptation started airing with 24 episodes in 2014-2015, and there are four seasons in the anime series until 2021. From Junaury, 2021, the sequel manga Four Knights of the Apocalypse (黙示録の四騎士) began.
The setting of The Seven Deadly Sins is the land of Britannia, and it centers on a legendary knight Meliodas, the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins. As the sinner of Wrath, Meliodas sets out on an adventure in search of other members of the Seven Deadly Sins to save his country.
Recommendation: ★★★★☆
Manga Artist: Nakaba Suzuki
Published: 2012-2020
Volumes: 41
7. Fire Force
Fire Force (炎炎ノ消防隊) is a popular ongoing dark-fantasy manga serialized on Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2015. It was made into the first season of an anime adaptation in 2019, which was followed by the second season in 2020. Fire Force revolves around a 17-year-old fire fighter Shinra Kusakabe, who fights against dangerous beings called Infernals using the ability to ignite his feet with other Special Fire Force Company 8 members.
Recommendation: ★★★★☆
Manga Artist: Atsushi Okubo
Published: from 2015
Volumes: 30 (As of August, 2021)
There are many popular anime series that have unique themes and settings, and the action dark-fantasy anime Fire Force i[…]
8. Tokyo Revengers
Tokyo Revengers (東京卍リベンジャーズ) is one of the hottest action fantasy manga series serialized on Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2017. An anime series started in 2021, and a live-action movie adaptation was released in the same year. Tokyo Revengers has the theme of Yanki, which means delinquent youth in Japanese, focuses on a protagonist Takemichi Hanagaki. He goes back and forth in time with his special ability to change the undesirable past and present.
Recommendation: ★★★★☆
Manga Artist: Ken Wakui
Published: 2017-2022
Volumes: 31
Tokyo Revengers is undoubtedly one of the hit franchises in recent years. It uniquely fuses the science fiction genre of[…]
9. GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka
GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka, which is abbreviated to just GTO, is a classic comedy Weekly Shonen Magazine manga seires written by Tooru Fujisawa. It was made into an anime adaptation consisting of 43 episodes broadcasted in 1999-2000 and into a live-action TV series in 1998. The Yanki-themed manga was followed by GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (2009-2011) and GTO: Paradise Lost (from 2014). A 22-year-old teacher Eikichi Onizuka, an ex-bosozoku (Japanese biker gangs) man, tackles a variety of problems caused by delinquent middle school students.
Recommendation: ★★★☆☆
Manga Artist: Tooru Fujisawa
Published: 1996-2002
Volumes: 25
10. Hajime no Ippo
Hajime no Ippo (はじめの一歩) is a legendary long-running sports manga serialized on Weekly Shonen Magazine since 1989, which reached the 100th volume in 2012. The popular anime series also started in 2000, followed by the second part in 2009 and the third part in 2013-2014. Hajime no Ippo, set in Tokyo in the 1990s, focuses on the growing-up story of a young boy Ippo Makunouchi as a boxer.
Recommendation: ★★★☆☆
Manga Artist: George Morikawa
Published: from 1989
Volumes: 132 (As of September, 2021)
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