The past year and half has been one of the more notable time periods for the manga industry. During this period from 2024 and beginning of 2025 we saw many notable mangas coming to an end. For Shonen Jump alone that the series that concluded include My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Mission: Yozakura Family, Undead Unlock, Komi Can’t Communicate, and Twin Star Exorcists. That is not even listing all the manga Shonen Jump launched at the end of 2023 and throughout 2024 that ended after several months.
With so many major mangas ending within the last year there is a question what to read next? Thankfully the answer is that there are many great mangas that Shonen Jump is currently publishing that hit on every genre. On that note, I’ve put together a list of ten Shonen Jump manga as part of the Shonen Jump or VIZ subscription, $2.99/month and $1.99/month respectively.
10) ZOM 100: BUCKET LIST OF THE DEAD
Writer: Haro Aso
Artist: Kotaro Takata
Where To Read: VIZ Manga App
From the top level ZOM 100: Bucket List of the Dead is very similar to The Walking Dead with how it starts. One day the world is taken over by a zombie apocalypse by its unexpected society. But it is there where the similarities stop. Because ZOM 100 is a series that embraces tackling multiple genres. That includes horror, sci-fi, and comedy.
Taking that mix of genres have made the cast of characters shine more. The cast were who everyday people before the zombie apocalypse hit the world. That is symbolized by the lead character in Akira Tendou, an office worker who has been severely burnt out by his bosses and company. Immediately that gave Akira a Peter Parker-esque relatability that extended to the rest of the cast as we get introduced to them. The wide variety of personalities leads to different paths being taken as the cast tries their best to survive you grow a great investment in.
9) HIMA-TEN
Writer & Artist: Genki Ono
Where To Read: Shonen Jump App
Genki Ono’s Hima-Ten centers around a 16-year-old named Tenichi Iemori, who works part-time as a house cleaner, taking a job to clean his classmates, Himari Yoshino, house, who also happens to be the CEO of her own beauty company. Hima-Ten is a relatively new series debuting last summer and is one of the few new Shonen Jump series that debuted in 2024 that is still publishing. Hima-Ten is also one of the rare pure romance-comedies that is being published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump.
This connection comes down to the cast. Yes, Ono does tap into many harem tropes that is certainly provides fanservice to the reader. But like his mentors Kenta Shinohara, creator of Witch Watch, and Kouji Miura, creator of Blue Box, the magic of Hima-Ten is that Ono doesn’t rely simply on these tropes. He provides genuine depth to the entire cast. Tenichi and Himari, as the title characters obviously get the bulk of development early on. Ono gives an equal amount of depth to Honoka Kanai and Kanna Aizawa so they aren’t simply part of the harem. This development gets you invested in each main character finding success personally as much as you want to ship each romance option. The character first approach helps Hima-Ten break away from just being another harem manga.
8) KAGURABACHI
Writer & Artist: Takeru Hokazono
Where To Read: Shonen Jump App
When looking for a manga that is replacing the hole left by Bleach, Naruto, and My Hero Academia, look no further than Takeru Hokazono’s Kagurabachi. From the moment it debuted Hokazono delivered a revenge story that instantly captured fans interest. That is thanks to how Chihiro’s backstory is presented as his father is killed with his killers stealing the swords he created. This quickly creates the mission statement for the series as Chihiro hunts down his father’s killers and reclaims his father’s work.
No doubt what makes Kagurabachi is the style of the action. Hokazono does an excellent job at creating high energy action sequences for all the epic fights in this series. Most impressively, Hokazono finds a way to make sure Kagurabachi’s action never tips over to being violent for violence sake. The action fits with the pacing of the story to make Chihiro a compelling character even if he doesn’t say as much as other series leads.
7) AKANE-BANASHI
Writer: Yuki Suenaga
Artist: Takamasa Moue
Where To Read: Shonen Jump App
Akane-Banashi is a strong example of how to take the battle manga concept that has made Shonen Jump so popular without physical fights. Rather the battles take place around the competitive world of Rakugoka, a Japanese improve form of storytelling where the performer narrates and acts out all the roles of the story they are telling. In this competitive world the teenage Akane enters the Rakugoka world that expelled her father.
Akane’s pure determination to enter the world that broke her father immediately gets you too cheer for her. That immediate investment turns into a fascination to see how Akane navigates the competitive world of Rakugoka and how she continuously develops her craft. Yuki Suenaga writing gets over how she is constantly adapting to every challenge thrown her way. And Takamasa Moue delivers some of the best artwork you’ll find in any manga series that gets you into what it means to be a successful Rakugoka performer, even if you didn’t know anything about the craft before this series.
6) SAKAMOTO DAYS
Writer & Artist: Yuto Suzuki
Where To Read: Shonen Jump App
What happens when the world’s greatest assassin decides to retire in order to marry the love of his life and start a family? Well, that assassin becomes an overweight owner of the neighborhood corner store. Unfortunately for Taro Sakamoto he is forced back into his old life when someone clairvoyant hitman Shin Asakura finds him that ends up snowballing to him returning to his assassin life. But this time he has to do so protecting his family, blood and found, without most knowing.
Yuto Suzuki takes that entire premise to a new level as he doesn’t have Sakomoto simply get back to his old form. Sakomoto maintains his overweight look and leads to a lot more fun seeing how he uses all the skills that made him the world’s greatest assassin in his present day form. The choreography is really outstanding with the characters on the protagonist and antagonist side are filled with so much personality.
5) SPY X FAMILY
Writer & Artist: Tatsuya Endo
Where To Read: Shonen Jump App
Spy x Family has been one of the breakout hits that has become a mainstream hit thanks to both the manga and anime adaptations. That is no surprise to the fans as Tatsuya Endo has crafted a wonderful spy world based around a Mr. & Mrs. Smith concept in a Cold War-style setting.
The magic of this series comes from the dynamic of the Forger Family. The family is brought together because Loid Forger, who works for a secret spy organization, latest mission requires him to create a family to infiltrate an elite school where the children of the opposing country’s leaders are attending. To do that he adopts a young girl Anya, who secretly has psychic powers, and convinces Yor, secretly an top-level assassin, act as his wife. Add to that the only one that knows the everyone’s secrets is Anya.
Endo takes the concept to blend comedy, drama, action, and thrills that combine to continuously deliver stories with a lot of heart. That heart allows the world to be slowly built out in fun, intriguing ways as things open up more. Specifically, with how each chapter of Spy x Family gives us more information about Loid, Yor, and Anya that gets you even more invested in them as a family. That’s all led up to the most recent chapters that has been really delving into the characters’ backstories and stakes in this world.
4) ONE PIECE
Writer & Artist: Eiichiro Oda
Where To Read: Shonen Jump App
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece has had a long reign as the King of Shonen Jump and it is not ending anytime soon. The longevity of the series is made even more impressive with how its achieved publishing over 1100 chapters and anime episodes, 11 animated movies, a successful Netflix live-action series, and countless other media success. That success has been well earned by the compelling story Oda has created with Luffy’s journey to become the King of the Pirates alongside his Straw Hat crew.
Yes, hearing how there are over 1,000 manga chapters and anime episodes to catch up on is intimidating. But to Oda’s credit once you begin One Piece it quickly becomes a series you want to continue reading. Every member of the Straw Hats has a story of their own that makes their collective journey even stronger. The same goes for just about every character introduced as they have their own stories that feed into how things escalate with each story arc getting grander and grander. And this is the best time to get into One Piece as Oda has started the final act of the story, though how long this last act will be is anyone’s guess.
3) DANDADAN
Writer & Artist: Yukinobu Tatsu
Where To Read: Shonen Jump App
Yukinobu Tatsu’s Dandadan takes so many elements of great mangas and turns them up to 11. The series is about Momo, who believes in ghost and Okarun, a believer of aliens, clashing over their respective interests. When they challenge one another in order to show what they believe is real and disprove the other things go south very quickly as both are proven true. This leads to creating a series that combines sci-fi and supernatural in fun ways.
More than the story itself it is Tatsu’s artwork that makes this a stand out series. Tatsu fills the story with so much imagination and creativity that does a great job blending all the supernatural elements while somehow keeping things grounded, at least as grounded as they can be. It all helps further the coming-of-age story that is told with Momo and Okarun as their bond genuinely grows as their time together progress. The rest of the cast introduce is equally as fun as they all enhance the different crazy directions Tatsu takes the story in.
2) KAIJU NO 8
Writer & Artist: Naoya Matsumoto
Where To Read: Shonen Jump App
Kaiju No. 8 has one of the best kaiju stories centered around the humans rather than the kaiju. That comes down to how Naoya Matsumoto crafts the story around Kafka Hibino and his transformation into the title character, Kaiju No. 8. Early on it looks like this was going to follow the superhero tropes of Kafka keeping his kaiju secret while trying to be part of the Japan Defense Force. Luckily that is done away with quickly to transform the series in much more compelling ways.
As with any good kaiju story, Kaiju No. 8 has some of the biggest, most epic battles around simply because of the scale of the fights. And while Kafka certainly gets plenty of time to shine like any good lead, what makes Kaiju No. 8 is the rest of the cast of the series. Mina Ashiro, Reno Ichikawa, Kikoru Shinomiya, and many others are given plenty of time to shine as they grow as much as Kafka the longer the series goes. The character development adds to the weight of the epic battles that unfold in every story arc.
1) FRIEREN: BEYOND JOURNEY’S END
Writer: Kanehito Yamada
Artist: Tsubasa Abe
Where To Read: VIZ Manga App
Frieren truly lives up to its subtitle “Beyond Journey’s End” as Kanehito Yamada and Tsubasa explores the status quo after the heroes save the world from the big bad. The entire narrative is told through the perspective of elven mage Frieren, who was part of the heroes party that defeated the Demon King.
Yamada and Tsubasa maximize the fact Frieren is an elf, so her perception of time is not the same as everyone else in this world. What was a ten-year journey for the rest of the hero’s party was perceived as a no more than a few weeks in Frieren’s lifespan as an elf. Seeing how that perception of the journey Frieren took be broken as she reunites with her hero party members fifty years later leads to a really touching story.
At the core of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a story of the power of bonds. No matter how much time you think you spent with someone, that time can be precious. Whether it is the impact you leave on each other or the world around you. There is a powerful message in the journey Freiren and her new adventure party takes as they explore a world that’s been saved. The heartfelt storytelling makes you want to continue to learn more about the characters and world, and what developments this leads to.
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