Weekly Shonen Jump's Post-Golden Era: The Rise and Fall of Manga Titans and the Search for New Heavy Hitters

Shonen Jump faces a challenge replacing popular manga like *My Hero Academia* and *Jujutsu Kaisen*.

### Shonen Jump's Shifting Landscape: From Golden Age Titans to a New Generation
* ⏳ **Naruto** and **Bleach**, pillars of *Shonen Jump*'s Golden Age, concluded their runs in 2014 and 2016 respectively, leaving a significant void.  *Naruto* sold 250 million copies, while *Bleach* reached 120 million.
* ✨ **My Hero Academia** and **Black Clover** emerged as successors, with contrasting anime adaptations.  *My Hero Academia*'s seasonal approach proved successful, while *Black Clover*'s weekly release struggled.
* 🔥 **Demon Slayer** unexpectedly rose to prominence, achieving massive success with its anime adaptation and wholesome themes, becoming a generational hit.
* 💥 **Jujutsu Kaisen** and **Chainsaw Man** further solidified the new era, showcasing darker themes and expanding the *shonen* formula, with both achieving global popularity.
* 📉  The new generation also saw shorter manga serializations compared to the Golden Age, highlighting a shift in creative approaches and industry demands.  *My Hero Academia* ended its 10-year run in August 2024.
* 🤔  With *Jujutsu Kaisen* nearing its conclusion, *Shonen Jump* faces the challenge of finding new heavy hitters, especially with *One Piece* also approaching its end.  The success of *My Hero Academia* and *Jujutsu Kaisen* sets a high bar for future series.
* 🌱 Several promising new series like *Sakamoto Days*, *Undead Unluck*, and *Kagerou Daichi* are emerging, but their ability to fill the void left by the previous generation remains to be seen.  *Kagerou Daichi*, in particular, shows promise due to its positive reception and Horikoshi's recommendation.
* ⚠️ The author expresses concern about *Shonen Jump*'s future, highlighting the need for new successful series to maintain the magazine's position in the industry.  The absence of a new sports manga to replace *Hajime no Ippo* is also noted.

On October 10th, 2014, a *shonen* manga named *Naruto* completed serialization after an extremely successful 15-year

run in the staple *shonen* magazine, *Weekly Shonen Jump*. This run resulted in an anime that was one of the most popular

in the world, shaping childhoods globally. The manga had 250 million copies in circulation, making it one of the most

successful serializations of all time. Two years after *Naruto* concluded, another long-running titan of *Shonen Jump* and

member of the famous Big Three, *Bleach*, ended its run as well after a 15-year run of its own that resulted in an

extremely popular anime and the manga having 120 million copies in circulation. These two manga were *Shonen Jump* staples for over a decade and a half; they were reliable when it came to sales and, along with *One Piece*, they presided

over what many consider *Shonen Jump*'s Golden Era. This era is seen as 'old gen' or 'old generation' in these days

and also included notable manga such as *Gintama*, *Death Note*, *Kuroko's Basketball*, etc. But today, I'm just going to be talking

about battle *shonen*, since those are the series that always headline *Weekly Shonen Jump* and are usually the most

popular. Following *Naruto* and *Bleach*'s departure, *Shonen Jump* found themselves in an extremely rough position: how would

they fill the void left behind by two of their biggest manga ever? It's not like manga that sell over 100 million copies

grow on trees and could be plucked by *Shonen Jump* whenever they feel like it. Was it time to press the panic button?

That is what *Shonen Jump* would be thinking if two other manga with extremely promising Volume 1 sales

didn't immediately come out afterwards and were well-received by the general public. These two manga were *My Hero Academia*

Academia and Black Clover. Shonen Jump had big aspirations for these two manga, hoping they'd replace Bleach and Naruto

in terms of popularity, and they went with two entirely different approaches for their anime adaptations. Black Clover would be going the weekly route, like

Naruto and Bleach did, resulting in a horrible adaptation that made everyone's head hurt and thus resulted in Shonen

Jump colossally fumbling Black Clover. However, My Hero Academia went with a new approach that involved yearly seasons of

My Hero Academia that would have a much better schedule and product due to being seasonal instead of weekly. My Hero

Academia exploded in Japan and in the West, getting a slight boost from the superhero craze brought on by Marvel and

becoming the new stable anime for this new era of Shonen. Especially after season 2 dropped, everyone was talking about

My Hero Academia, and with its popularity, it felt like Shonen anime was back. Shonen Jump didn't even have to sweat that much

because of Black Clover not living up to expectations, as another manga started a year afterwards that would one day get

an anime adaptation that would change the industry. The manga in question is written by the same hand that wrote

Naruto and was named Samurai 8. It would go on to dominate the magazine, selling a whopping three copies and flopping

miserably. The dark horse that eventually became the manga to headline this generation of Shonen in Japan, achieving

the most volumes in circulation is Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer blew up tremendously thanks to its incredible anime adaptation, along with being an anime

that any age group could enjoy due to the strong themes about family and the main character being the most wholesome

guy ever. A few years after, in 2018, a young criminal named Gege Akutami was

inspired by Bleach and My Hero Academia and decided to create the worldwide sensation known as Jujutsu Kaisen, which

seems like it's been the biggest anime in the world over the past few years. Nipping at its heels was another

psychopath named Tatsuki Fujimoto with his masterpiece, Chainsaw Man. This modern era of Shonen Jump was finally here, along

with more traditional battle shonen in the magazine like My Hero Academia. There were new manga that had darker themes

and ventured outside of the shonen formula to give us anime that were truly special, like Chainsaw Man. Shonen Jump

was back, stronger than ever, with refreshing manga cycling in and out of the magazine. As one of the major

differences in this generation of Weekly Shonen Jump, manga in general were becoming a lot shorter. Looking back

at it, it's insane that Kubo, Kishimoto, and Oda were able to sustain weekly manga for so long, especially considering

how hellish a job being a mangaka is. This wasn't a cause for concern, anyways. It's not like My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen

were ending in 100 chapters. Shonen Jump was poised for a brand new era, and now it's finally kicked off. My Hero Academia

has ended serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump on August 5th, 2024, after an extremely successful 10 years. Well, 10

years is a long time, and Horikoshi's a beast for sticking with My Hero Academia for so

long, delivering amazing art every single week. Shonen Jump had enough time to find replacements; they'll be fine.

Jujutsu Kaisen is in its final arc, with the manga hinting at it not being

present at the yearly Jump Festa, which happens at the end of every year, which means Jujutsu Kaisen is most likely

Wrapping up in 2024? I mean, fine, this was expected. What about Demon Slayer? They can just milk it for more money.

Demon Slayer's been over since 2020. Do you live under a rock? Uh, Black Clover? What about Black Clover? It's in its final arc

and is in Jump Giga, hell, releasing four chapters a year and having no momentum whatsoever, with no anime in sight even

after the movie did well. Even after that. What about Boruto? Are you serious? The Promised Neverland? Ha! We still have that

I bet rushed ending, horrible season 2. It's well known in the anime community to never mention anything about the

series after season 1, even though it was a huge seller in Weekly Shonen Jump and was an incredible season by itself. Dr.

Stone, Dr. Stone, Chainsaw Man. It...it has a part two, right? Serialized in Jump Plus and seems like it might be wrapping up

soon. Pretty great stuff though. Wasn't there that other manga, the one about acting? I heard that one was doing well.

Seems like a pretty refreshing premise too, something to rival Oshi no Ko. I don't have the heart to tell you what happened.

Okay, maybe Shonen Jump is in trouble. Obviously, My Hero Academia can't go on forever, and after such a good run

that saw multiple movies and seasons that generated worldwide hype consistently, it's earned its rest. But what about Jujutsu Kaisen? What will

happen after it ends? Currently, it's one of the strongest pillars of anime's vast popularity, and the memes generated from

JJK have infiltrated every corner of the internet. I've seen people make "I've won" memes over routers. It's everywhere.

Especially after the Shibuya incident in season 2. Losing such an insanely popular series like that is sure to hit Shonen

Jump hard in a negative way. As for Demon Slayer, it has 150 million copies in circulation and is basically a household

The necessity of *Hajime no Ippo* retaining insane popularity all these years after the manga ended is something you can't really question.

You can't ask for much more from it. Not to mention Shonen Jump lost *Hajime no Ippo* a while ago, and ever since then, no other sports manga has taken on

the mantle to carry on the tradition in Shonen Jump. I guess *Blue Lock* does involve soccer, but it's more of a

romance, anyways. And to be fair, living up to the insane bar set by *Hajime no Ippo* is indeed extremely difficult. As for the

new faces of Shonen Jump, what will they be? Manga like *Sakamoto Days* hold promise, with its adaptation coming out in 2025,

and is sure to be a hit for Jump. It's got the swagger needed for every big battle shonen. It has arguably the best

action weekly Shonen Jump has ever seen, which kind of makes it difficult to adapt perfectly. But there's hope. *Undead Unluck*'s anime just aired and it didn't get that big of a boost in terms of manga sales, but there's an amazing

season 2 on the way. Although I don't see it increasing sales by that much. *Mission: Yozakura Family* is more of the same. The

elusive samurai written by veteran mangaka, and author of *Assassination Classroom*, *Matsui Yuusei*, got its anime

adaptation as well, along with a decent boost in sales, but nothing insane. *Blue Box*'s anime is going to come out soon

and will definitely do well, but it's not going to be the face of Weekly Shonen Jump. At least it's a pretty good romance

though. Shonen Jump's been missing that. *Rui Dragon* is also a hit, along with *Ayakashi Triangle*, but again, those aren't going to

be the massive battle shonen sellers that Shonen Jump is looking for to helm the magazine. *Ayakashi Triangle*, despite being

stellar, is about rakugo, and I don't see an anime about rakugo having widespread mainstream appeal outside of Japan, even

Me and RoboCo somehow got an anime that literally no one watched, which leaves us with Kagerou Daichi, Kill Blue, News Exorcist,

and Ken Wakui's next, *Burning Car Crash* Astro Royale. Maybe I'm exaggerating about Astro, but I'm still extremely

salty about what happened to Tokyo Revengers. Kagerou Daichi, in my opinion, is the most promising of the bunch and is

poised to take the mantle from My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen, as it was

recommended by Horikoshi himself, along with Kishimoto. The first few volumes have sold wonderfully; the writing and art

is fantastic. This manga is basically set up to become the next perfect modern battle shonen. It also has the advantage

when it comes to memes, since its first chapter turned it into an internet sensation. So I can see it taking JJK's

spot in that aspect. People who don't even read manga have probably seen this picture of Chihiro. As for the others, KBL

is a little under the radar, and honestly, I haven't read it in a while, and I don't

really see anyone talking about it. Honestly, I saw more people talking about Mashle and that got asked. News

Exorcist is yet another exorcist manga, because we obviously hadn't had enough of them. I don't blame authors for

chasing the bag by going with the exorcist route since Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer did so well, but it does get tiresome to

see more exorcist entries in Shonen Jump right now. It's looking like Kagerou Daichi is going to be the next big shonen manga,

but again, that's only one manga. Shonen Jump needs new heavy hitters and fast, especially since the god of Shonen Jump,

One Piece, is heading towards its end. We're only left with one option: Ken Wakui, save Weekly Shonen Jump! Who am I

Kidding, this magazine is screwed, at least for a little while.

The Death of Shonen Jump's New Generation

Veridian

The End of an Era: Naruto and Bleach's Impact on Shonen Jump

Naruto's completion in 2014 after a 15-year run and massive global popularity.

Bleach's conclusion two years later, also after a 15-year run and significant success.

Both manga were key to Shonen Jump's Golden Era, alongside One Piece.

This era is now considered the 'old generation'.

Focus on battle shonen as the magazine's headliners.

Shonen Jump's Search for Successors: My Hero Academia and Black Clover

Shonen Jump's challenge in replacing Naruto and Bleach.

The emergence of My Hero Academia and Black Clover with promising initial sales.

Different anime adaptation approaches for the two manga.

My Hero Academia's success with its seasonal anime release.

Samurai 8's failure despite being written by Naruto's author.

The Rise of the New Generation: Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man

Demon Slayer's unexpected success due to its anime adaptation and broad appeal.

Chainsaw Man's success and darker themes.

The arrival of a new era with diverse manga.

Shorter manga runs compared to the previous generation.

The Future of Shonen Jump: Challenges and Potential Successors

My Hero Academia's end and the need for replacements.

Discussion of other manga's performance and future prospects (Demon Slayer, Black Clover, Boruto, The Promised Neverland, Dr. Stone, Chainsaw Man).

Concerns about the future after Jujutsu Kaisen's conclusion.

The long-term success of Hajime no Ippo and the lack of a successor in the sports manga genre.

Potential successors like Sakamoto Days, Undead Unluck, Mission: Yozakura Family, Blue Box, Rui Dragon, Ayakashi Triangle, and others.

Promising New Titles and the Future of Shonen Jump

Discussion of several new manga, including Kagerou Daichi, Kill Blue, News Exorcist, and Ken Wakui's next work.

Kagerou Daichi's potential as the next big shonen manga, recommended by Horikoshi and Kishimoto.

Concerns about the oversaturation of exorcist manga.

The need for more successful manga, especially with One Piece nearing its end.