Are Your Favorite Jump Series at Risk of Being Dropped?

In 2024, Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia, two big Shonen Jump (SJ) hits, ended. While One Piece, one of the biggest hits in the magazine’s history, is still ongoing, it’s also on the way to its climax. It will still take a few years for One Piece to end, but many have been claiming Shonen Jump is heading to its “weakest” lineup in years, without a manga that could “carry the magazine on its shoulders” (but Kagurabachi is seemingly becoming an interesting promise).

In the last few years, many titles started and quickly ended in the magazine (which is, to some extent, quite normal). SJ usually cancels titles within the first three volumes. It’s like the first test: if you can’t attract enough readers in three volumes, you’re out. A series doesn’t need to become a hit in its first volumes, it just needs to hit a “minimum score” (we don’t know how many readers are “enough readers” though). Despite that, some might end before the third volume in some cases.

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Of course, if a title is going well and then suddenly starts dropping in popularity, it is likely the author will be pressed to end the story fast. So which Jump titles are likely to be canceled or not in the next few months? We are not considering Shonen Jump+ titles in this analysis.

Likely to be Canceled

Since the most recent series are the ones most likely to be canceled, it is natural that titles that started in 2024 would figure in this list. So let’s dive into each of them and the reasons they might not make it.

Astro Royale (2024 —)

Astro Royale is a new manga by Ken Wakui, creator of Tokyo Revengers. For this reason, there has probably been a huge expectation it would quickly become a hit. Things don’t seem to be going that way. It’s not that bad, but it’s not good considering Wakui has created a massive hit before.

Honestly, Tokyo Revengers was probably a highlight in Shonen Magazine because Shonen Magazine is not Shonen Jump. Readers’ niches are different across different magazines. It will hit the 3-volume bar, but sales are declining, so there’s a good chance this will end up canceled soon.

Hakutaku (2024—)

Hakutaku is one of the most recent titles in the magazine, and that makes it very hard to know its future. It doesn’t seem to be getting much attention, though. I’m putting it here, but there’s a good chance this ends up being wrong.

The story is about two high school students who want to create a video game to impress their school peers. And everything changes when their classmates play it.

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi (2024—)

This one seemingly didn’t start well, but it recently got a reprint of the first volume, which is usually a good sign. It is still in the make-it-or-break-it, and it hasn’t garnered that much attention so far. It seems to be getting more readers now, but will that be enough? I’m skeptical about this one, although I think it can still make it.

Maybe the plot sounds uninteresting to most people — it’s about a guy who is the most powerful exorcist in history. This kind of premise can turn many people off. The catch is that he has a secret.

Fair Chances of Surviving

These are the titles that are generally not performing bad, but also not performing great. Some of them might have been dropping in sales numbers despite an average performance.

Shinobi Undercover (2024—)

This one is new. The first volume came out last month. It’s hard to analyze a series that just started, but it seems it’s been able to grow its readership. If you’re old enough to know what Fullmetal Panic? Fumoffu! is, the premise is somewhat similar (if you’re not, it’s a good show, as far as I remember, you can watch it without even knowing what Fullmetal Panic is, but it might not have aged that well). I think it will be able to make it.

Anyway, this takes place in contemporary Japan, but there are ninjas out there, working in the shadows. Yodaka is one of them, and he must protect a high school girl. But to do that, he needs to enroll in high school, and that can be quite problematic.

Hima-Ten! (2024—)

Another rookie title. The second volume is releasing in January, and the first one had a decent performance. Honestly, I think this one is boring, but people tend to like this kind of story, so I’m betting it will make it into a niche big enough to keep it going.

It’s about a high school guy who works cleaning houses for his part-time job. So he’s the average not-actually rich Japanese boy. For some reason, a popular teenage model who is also a successful businesswoman transfers to his school. And you can guess who just hired the agency our protagonist works for to request a house cleaner for her apartment.

Syd Craft: Love Is a Mystery (2024—)

This one hasn’t started very well, to be honest. It’s about a gifted detective who can solve mostly anything, but what he truly wants is romance, and his love interests are usually the culprits of the crimes he investigates. We could call it a rom-com.

Despite a seemingly bad start with the public, I’m putting this here because I believe Taishi Tsutsui, creator of We Never Learn, will be able to make this succeed.

Kill Blue (2023—)

Kill Blue usually sells around 25,000 copies when new volumes are out, but some might be a bit worried sales seem to be dropping a little. Honestly, I think this one will likely keep selling fair enough, so canceling it doesn’t sound likely. It’s even been included as part of the “Next Power Generation”.

Jugo Ogami is one of the best hitmen around. He’s in his 40s. But during a job working for a pharmaceutical company that manipulates genes, he is stung by a wasp and turns 12 once again. Now he’s too short to work as a hitman, and while his company tries to find a cure for him, he is assigned a special job: enroll at the school the head’s daughter is applying to in order to know if it’s safe.

RuriDragon (2022—)

RuriDragon started well in 2022, and the first volume sold around 75,000 copies in its first week. Maybe this one should be on the “safe section”, but it went through a very long hiatus, and the second volume just came out this year, and that can impact a series a lot. It seems it’s still performing well, but we’ll put it here and wait and see.

In the story, Ruri Aoki wakes up one day and… now there’s horns on her head. Then she learns she’s actually a half-dragon. She tries to keep living normally, but it’s not that easy anymore.

Titles That Are Definitely Safe

These are titles that definitely seem safe. As the performance of the first three volumes is key to deciding if a series can continue, manga that have been running for over a year are generally safe. Also, series with anime adaptations tend to be safer, because they need to be successful enough to receive an adaptation. So Undead Unluck, Mission: Yozakura Family, Me & Roboco, Blue Box, and The Elusive Samurai are definitely safe.

Sakamoto Days has been performing well and will probably have sales boosted by the upcoming anime, so this one is also safe. Witch Watch is also getting an anime this year, so we can consider it safe too. Thus, let’s talk about series that have no anime officially confirmed yet.

Akane-banashi (2022—)

Akane-banashi shouldn’t even be mentioned. It will likely get an anime adaptation soon and has been quite a hit. It’s safer than any other title. But since nothing has been officially announced, I’m listing it here.

The plot revolves around rakugo, a traditional Japanese form of theater in which a single performer depicts a story (usually with comedy tones) involving multiple characters. The performer plays all the characters, and does it while sitting in place. Akane’s father was a rakugo actor, until he is expelled from the school during the promotional test to obtain the highest rank. But that won’t stop Akane from trying to become a rakugo actress and avenge him.

Nue’s Exorcist (2023—)

Despite the localized title that might make people, spell checkers, and search engines confuse this one with Blue Exorcist (that can have a huge impact in a world where most people shop online), Nue’s Exorcist has been performing good enough and will likely keep going.

Gakuro Yajima has always been able to see spirits, but doesn’t want to interact with them. At least up until he meets Nue, a spirit that takes the form of a young girl living in a secret room in his school. He ends up making a contract with her, but she will only lend him her power if he helps her to vanquish evil spirits.

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo (2024—)

This one hasn’t been performing well, but also hasn’t been performing that badly. Since this is a comedy gag manga, a genre that usually doesn’t need to perform ultra well to keep going, it’s likely to keep going, especially after hitting the 3-volume bar.

The story is about a rookie police officer who is assigned to work with an officer that everyone hates. He can use super psychic powers, though. Then they have to solve crimes.

Ichi the Witch (2024—)

A story created by Osamu Nishi (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun) and Shiro Usazaki (Act-Age illustrator) has honestly tiny chances of going wrong. It has just dropped the first volume and major authors, like Kohei Horikoshi, are recommending it. So despite being super new, this one seems definitely safe.

As for the plot, it takes place in a world in which monsters made of magic exist. They are hunted by “witches”, and supposedly only women can become a witch. At least that’s what everyone believes until a boy called Ichi becomes a witch.

Kagurabachi (2023—)

Safe as safe can be. An anime adaptation is likely to be officially announced soon. Like Akane-banashi, this one is just here because there has been no anime announced so far.

Chihiro Rokuhira’s father is a renowned blacksmith, and the boy aims to be like him. But one day, his family is discovered, after living in hiding for years. Sorcerers kill Chihiro’s father and steal the six Enchanted Blades he had forged. But there was a seventh blade, which Chihiro would wielded to avenge his family and take the blades back.

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