Mag Talk Weekly Shonen Jump (2026) - News and Discussion!

[Shinuki no Reborn]

Moderator Notice:

WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP THREAD RULES​

#1. No fights or personal insults.
#2. No bait or troll comments with the intention of being annoying or starting serious heated discussions, if i notice it's a continuous behavior, i will warn the user or delete the comment.
#3. No toxic attitude towards series, no one is obligated to enjoy any series and it's totally fine to criticize what you don't like, just avoid posting gratuitous hateful or toxic comments about X or Y series, if i notice this behavior, comments will be deleted.
#4. Don't bring politics or off-topic stuff to the thread, this is about Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and mangas, so keep any conversation about topics that aren't related about anime & manga outside the thread.
#5. Don't post news about series from other magazine or publishers in the WSJ thread, post in the series own thread, but it's fine if you're mentioning other series or magazine to express a opinion or reflection about Shonen Jump.
#6. Any tweet, specially japanese, about news, update or some interesting thing about the magazine or series has to come with a text of what that tweet means and also be on topic, if not it's going to be either deleted or i will edit the post.
#7. Refrain from self advertising or advertising Youtubers videos in the comments.
#8. Constant fanart posts just for the sake of praising a favorite series is prohibited, this rule doesn't apply for official art by Jump artists posted on social media, they're fine to post.
#9. Don't discuss or hype chapter spoilers before Sunday release, only comment if is related to a series surviving status and do it only inside the spoiler tag.
#10. Regarding rule #9, an exception will be made for when we have new series, in this case, spoilers will be allowed only for the first 3 chapters of a new series for the users who are interested in knowing informations and details about the new series, these spoilers will obviously be kept under tags to protect anyone that doesn't want to be spoiled, so don't worry about it.
~ Shinuki

I hope everyone reads the rules and use it as a guide to behave well in the thread, thanks!

 

[Stivie]

@Xanji06 deleted but he's talking about this:

"Shuten Touji

First appeared in Volume 2. The character design was already set, but when the series got canceled, everything got shelved. Good for you, Shuten!!!"

Spoiler

So yeah, apparently the series was supposed to be axed, but is easy to see what happened, Touji was introduced on chapter 15 (Vol 2), published in October of 2024, Volume 1 was finally released 1 month later in November 2024, sold nearly 13k copies in the month, and "Kiyoshi vs Asuta Roth" started on ch19 published on November 4 days after vol 1 released, so basically Usui was able to struck gold with the decent sales and introducing a great character which saved the series!

In other words, the author of Kyoshi doesn't have anything planned for the long term, because he put everything he had into the black parade.

 

[echo]

June releases are up on Amazon but please don't take these rankings too at face value, it's only like the first 24 hours, i'm only posting because of Kinato:

AMAZON (PHYSICAL / DIGITAL)

95,069. Under Doctor #1
93,297. The Mage Next Door #3
93,296. The Mage Next Door #2
87,649. Gonron Egg #2
87,648. Gonron Egg #3
62,863. Hero Girl and Demon Lord Call It Quits #3
62,862. Hero Girl and Demon Lord Call It Quits #2
40,706 / 23,428. Kinato's Magic #1
334 / 124. Shinobi Undercover #8
91 / 56. Nue's Exorcist #15
48 / 46. Witch Watch #26
46 / 43. Akane-banashi #22

From UD to JK the digital ranking isn't available yet for some reason, and yeah, there's no way Under Doctor is going to perform worse than TMND so we have to wait for more time to have a better idea of how will probably perform but i'm surprised with Kinato already charting like this, i pray this is a good sign for the sales

Looks like one person preordered Kinato while the rest are still at 0 preorders lol

 

[defensor_de_boruto]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

The Black Parade

 

[Lord Anubis]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

Probably the Rakuzaichi

 

[Stivie]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

Rakuzaichi

 

[BelTL]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

tbh, I only remember France arc of Akane so I cant really say about favorite...

 

[Wookitake]

I mean, the idea sounds nice at first, but where is the profit in that? Why print an entire magazine for series that will mostly be unpopular and sell less than 3k, just for the hope that some of them may get popular after a year or so? Only to move it to another magazine after where a huge chunk of the new audience won't be caught up. Sounds like a death sentence for these series if they did finally gain an audience.
Like sure, other magazines tend to have series that don't sell very well, but Shueshia has enough magazines as is, alongside Jump+ which already is the "second tier" Weekly Shonen Jump to an extent.
I honestly feel modern Jump is too lenient by allowing series like Otr to run for over half a year.

Yeap, there is this small caveat

One could argue that the financial benefit would be on the aggregate/long run, thanks to some series that would normally be axed becoming huge hits.

Regarding WSJ, I think they are lenient with some garbage that they allow to begin serialization. Gonron and Nice Prison are some of the recent ones. Actually, these last few round (from 3/2 years to now) have lot of hot garbage in them.

--- Double Post Merged, May 2, 2026, Original Post Date: May 2, 2026 ---

It is very insulting to label them "2nd tier"

It isn't because there is no magazine like this, yet. Can't insult what does not exist.

 

[Kiaida]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

1. Shiroha Fujino (Nue's Exorcist)

Spoiler: IMG

2. Soranaki (Nue's Exorcist)

Spoiler: IMG

3. Sports Festival (Ruri Dragon)

Spoiler: IMG

4. Day of the Disaster (Witch Watch)

Spoiler: IMG

5. Changing Time (Akanebanashi)

Spoiler: IMG

6. Suzaku (Nue's Exorcist)

Spoiler: IMG

 

[Wookitake]

As for why they didn't take series from like Jump+ or SQ or something. Well aside from the fact that most of those authors would have to get used to a new schedule that they may not be able to keep up with, they're not meant to be "second tier Jump". They're supposed to be their own brand that stands on their own. If you just take the most popular Jump+ series that's able to run weekly every two years and transfer it, why should I care about Plus? It's just going to keep losing a lot of their best series.

Just to be clear, I did not ask for Jump+ or SQ to "be promoted to WSJ". I asked for something new entirely.

I agree with the points you made, though. I was just making it clear.

 

[Nuesmoker]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

1. Soranaki
2. Fujino Estate
3. Ritual Blade
4. Shiroha
5. Suzaku

 

[KrenKren]

New interview with Hokazono's editor and Jesus Christ, I know it's a business but surely a break wouldn't have hurt

 

[Pedroland17]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

The Bakugami and Demonic Ocean arcs in Ichi the Witch pushed the manga to a whole new level above the others.

 

[Minsel]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

ill post a top 10 list just for funsies
1. Kagurabachi - SBAA
2. Akane Banashi - Shiguma Solo Event
3. Kagurabachi - vs Sojo
4. Shinobi Undercover - Fort Port
5. Nue's Exorcist - Vs Rido arc/Raisei?
6. Sakamoto Days - Lab Arc
7. Akane Banashi - Karaku Cup
8. Kagurabachi - Rakuzaichi Arc
9. Witch Watch - The Day of Disaster
10. Sakamoto Days - JCC Exams

I am really looking forward to current ichi arc and akane banashi arc finishing, same with kagurabachi arc

 

[Pedroland17]

I know the original idea was to consider manga from 2020 onward, but thinking about arcs that both started and finished after 2020, I’d definitely put Egghead at least in my top 3.

At least among the ones I follow, of course. One Piece is still one of the best in the magazine.

 

[Shockzz1234]

On that note, what's everyone's favourite story arc of the current ongoing WSJ series? Specifically the 2020s generation ie excluding One Piece and HxH.

Not in any order but:

Rakuzaichi Arc (Kagurabachi)
Zuiun Prize Arc (Akane)
Bakugami Arc (Ichi the Witch)
Day of Disaster Arc (Witch Watch)
Fort Port Arc (Shinobi Undercover)
Egghead Arc (One Piece, I know you said excluding but I can't ignore it lol, and it's a 2020 onwards arc)

Not ongoing series but still 2020 onwards:

Ragnarok Arc (Undead Unluck)
Untruth Arc (Undead Unluck)
Language Arc (Undead Unluck)
Internal Strife Arc (The Elusive Samurai)
Final Arc (The Elusive Samurai)

Ongoing Arcs that I'll wait to see how they finish before putting on the list, but they're very good so far:

Isshokai Arc (Akane)
Bone Crisis Arc (Witch Watch)
Elbaf Arc (One Piece, tbh this has gone on so long that I can say with near confidence it's on the list lol)
Infiltration Mission Arc (Shinobi Undercover)
Irishima Invasion/Seitei War Arc (Kagurabachi)

 

[Satuuuuuuurn]

It seems like Kinato’s voice comic has more than doubled in views from a few days ago where it was closer to alien, I don’t think that necessarily means anything but it’s probably not a good sign that far less people seem interested in alien headbutt

 

[Shinuki no Reborn]

In other words, the author of Kyoshi doesn't have anything planned for the long term, because he put everything he had into the black parade.

Pretty sure is the opposite, in the moment Kiyoshi became pretty popular in the rankings, got a anniversary cover and he knew the manga was there to stay is when he started planning the series for the longer term, or you really think he and his editor have been doing nothing during this whole last year? Author & editors are always discussing about the furure of the story.

And in a scenario where Usui is just writing things without planning? Well, congratulations so, he is a very good writer because the transition from the Black Parade to the current arc was really well done and made the story even better lol

 

[NeeNeen]

M+ comments on the last chapter of:

Alien (143):
1) Mei the GOAT (58)
2) please don't get axed (27)
3) this is good (21)
4) I like Needle Boy (5)

Kinato (120):
1) that was good/looking forward to the next arc (20)
2) nurse (14)
3) why did he Deku, a support hero would've been so much more original/interesting (12)
4) please don't get axed (8)
5) this is so gonna get axed (6)

Destroyerz (96):
1) good/funny (36)
2) comments on 4th grader appearance (15)
3) not funny/meh (5)

Roku (80):
1) good/cute chapter (19)
2) comments/speculation about the curse (14)
3) I love Sachiko (13)
4) mentions of Glass Mask (9)
5) please don't get axed (5)
6) I ship them (4)

UnderDoctor (74):
- the last chapter is almost universally liked
- quite a few comments on Maxell's three wives

Drawn to the Fire (49):
1) that was good/looking forward to the next chapter (27)
2) comparisons to Kuroko (4)
3) comparisons to other series (4)
4) anime when (2)


- Alien fans REALLY like Mei.
- The Kinato fandom is quite divided.
- Destroyerz is liked by its current readers, but judging by the drop in comments compared to the first chapter (328) it's possible those who didn't feel it have already left.
- Roku has a surprisingly involved fanbase for the series that had the least amount of comments on chapter 1. Sachiko is very popular all of a sudden.
- UnderDoctor seems to have stabilised, though this chapter received much higher praise than the ones before.
- Drawn to the Fire has the lowest number of chapter 3 comments since Ekiden. They are more positive though.

Lastly, to get people a bit excited for next week's one-shot made by Takahata Yuu, here is a previous one shots he has made:

Jump Plus's The Dragon Remains of Edo (2025)

Edo no Ryuugai Manga, Chapter 0 | Read Online on MangaFire

Read Edo no Ryuugai Chapter 0 manga online. You can also read all the chapters of Edo no Ryuugai here for free! READ NOW!!

mangafire.to

That was really good. I hope we'll see him do a series.

Since no one asked, I'm gonna share my Roster for the Smash 64 equivalent anyways now and my reasonings when applicable:
First game (2001-02)
BASE ROSTER:
1. Son Goku (Dragon Ball) [The face of Shōnen Jump and defined Shōnen manga for years to come]
2. Arale Norimaki (Dr. Slump) [From Jump's most legendary name's first series]
3. Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece) [Rising star and one of the big pillars of Jump]
4. Jotaro Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) [Most iconic JoJo protagonist from the most popular part that introduces a power system that separates itself from the crowd]
5. Himura Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin) [I know you guys would prefer having no RuroKen, but I added him here because he is a significant part of Jump's History, for better or for worse and Shueisha would still include him. Plus, the series helped kept the series afloat and the author behind Jump's best selling series was a very notable assistant for him]
6. Yusuke Urameshi (YuYu Hakusho) [One of the 90s most defining series and popularized the Supernatural/Exorcism subgenre for years to come]
7. Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter) [Another iconic Togashi protagonist of a newly popular work, in spite of several hiatuses]
8. Yugi Muto (Yu-Gi-Oh) [Main protagonist of a manga with a famous TCG tie-in, many Western players would be familiar with him thanks to the anime]
9. Yoh Asakura (Shaman King) [Would have just gotten an anime]
10. Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto) [Another rising star that would become one of the 3 faces of Jump, would be added to celebrate the then recent anime]
UNLOCKABLES:
11. Vegeta (Dragon Ball) [The most iconic rival from the most iconic series]
12. Nami (One Piece) [Was originally gonna be the 2nd Straw Hat before Oda decided to go with Zoro]
13. Kenshiro (Fist of the North Star) [The OG Battle Shōnen protagonist that would shape Shōnen Jump alongside Dragon Ball]
14. Kankichi Ryotsu (KochiKame) [The protagonist of Jump's longest running series]
15. Pegasus Seiya (Saint Seiya) [Would define the Magical Boy & Bishonen parts of Shōnen for years to come, plus would add some gameplay variety]
16. Kuriboh (Yu-Gi-Oh) [Thought it would make for a fun Jigglypuff equivalent]
What do you guys think?

What about Slam Dunk? Or are sport series not included?

9. Witch Watch (Wholesome… eldritch horror?)

It sounds silly, but then you realise this would actually be a totally fitting description for Ichi's chapter.

In other words, the author of Kyoshi doesn't have anything planned for the long term, because he put everything he had into the black parade.

Neither had Akira Toriyama. You don't have to plan years in advance to write a good manga.

 

[Stivie]

Neither had Akira Toriyama. You don't have to plan years in advance to write a good manga.

Akira Toriyama always seemed to want to end Dragon Ball since the Frieza arc, but the editor always insisted on continuing the story.

--- Double Post Merged, May 3, 2026, Original Post Date: May 3, 2026 ---

Pretty sure is the opposite, in the moment Kiyoshi became pretty popular in the rankings, got a anniversary cover and he knew the manga was there to stay is when he started planning the series for the longer term, or you really think he and his editor have been doing nothing during this whole last year? Author & editors are always discussing about the furure of the story.

And in a scenario where Usui is just writing things without planning? Well, congratulations so, he is a very good writer because the transition from the Black Parade to the current arc was really well done and made the story even better lol

The author simply eliminated almost all the main villains from the work; there's almost nothing left to sustain the story in the long term, and I think having an anniversary cover is the bare minimum.

 

[Lord Anubis]

What about Slam Dunk? Or are sport series not included?

Sports aren't included