Weekly Shonen Jump's overreliance on Kagurabachi and Ichi the Witch may backfire on the magazine

As manga fans would know by now, a recent announcement in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine revealed that Yuto Suzuki's Sakamoto Days is set to launch its "Final Battle" with its next chapter. While the manga still has quite some time before concluding, its progression into its "Final Battle" is a clear sign that the series is inching towards its inevitable end.

Amidst this, there is a growing belief amongst fans that Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine may soon fall off. While they have series like Kagurabachi and Ichi the Witch holding the fort, Shueisha's overreliance on them could backfire on the shonen manga magazine.

Weekly Shonen Jump needs more successful manga quickl

Itadori, Deku, and Asta as seen in Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, and Black Clover (Image via Shueisha)

As manga readers must have noticed, Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine no longer has the same number of "big series" as it did in the past.

With popular manga like Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia and Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen having ended, and Yuki Tabata's Black Clover having moved to Jump GIGA, the magazine has been falling back on its ever-reliant crown jewel series, One Piece. However, as one would know, with One Piece in its final saga, the Eiichiro Oda series could also end soon.

Amidst this, two of the most popular series in Weekly Shonen Jump were Sakamoto Days and Blue Box. However, as things stand, neither series is going to last for more than two years. This is because Sakamoto Days is already set to begin its "Final Battle," while Blue Box is in its last legs storywise.

Tarou Sakamoto as seen in the Sakamoto Days anime series (Image via TMS Entertainment)

Amidst this, only two Jump series have gained popularity in Japan and worldwide, namely Takeru Kohazono's Kagurabachi and Osamu Nishi's Ichi the Witch. This is especially evident from the magazine's decision to launch figures for the two series. While the representatives of Shueisha may have confidence in the two series, they have some big shoes to fill. Otherwise, the magazine could fall off.

In comparison to Weekly Shonen Jump, Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine has several ongoing manga series, such as Gachiakuta, Blue Lock, and Shangri-La Frontier, that could very well continue serialization for years and help the magazine grow more popular.

Akane Osaki as seen in the Akane Banashi manga series (Image via Shueisha)

Meanwhile, while Kagurabachi is very popular worldwide, it does not have an anime yet. As for Ichi the Witch, despite being popular, it has yet to reach the Kagurabachi level of hype. Amidst this, while Akane Banashi is fairly popular, its story is quite inconsistent, leaving Shueisha overreliant on Kagurabachi and Ichi the Witch.

Unfortunately, as one could predict, the two series would not be able to save Weekly Shonen Jump themselves. Hence, Shueisha soon needs to launch one or more new hit series that could help Weekly Shonen Jump to reach the same level of popularity as before.

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About the author

Gokul has been an anime writer in Pop Culture division at Sportskeeda since 2022. His love for watching anime and his interest in the ever-growing anime industry inspire Gokul to produce insightful content about the genre on a daily basis. He holds a Master's degree in Communication & Journalism, and has worked for close to 3.5 years in the field.

Gokul likes to thoroughly research about the anime he is writing about and only credits a source after verifying its credibility. He loves the popular Shonen anime, Black Clover, for its memorable characters and their development throughout the story.

When not racking his brain behind his next anime story, Gokul likes to play video games, read manga, and play football.

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Edited by Gokul Chettiyar