Weekly Shonen Jump, the legendary shonen manga magazine, adds so many new series to its catalog on a regular basis that it can be hard for fans to keep up. Complicating things even further is the fact that it also cancels titles equally regularly due to a perceived lack of interest from readers. Many of these titles are canceled after they fill just one collected volume, and even those from esteemed creators, like Naruto's Masashi Kishimoto, are not safe from getting axed if they don't perform well enough -- which can be disappointing if a new series shows great promise.
Naturally, frontrunners for the next beloved Shonen Jump title also emerge each year. Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family and Jujutsu Kaisen are all increasingly popular manga that have gained fans all over the world in recent years and months, but there are several other lesser-known titles running in Shonen Jump right now that not enough people are talking about -- which could attract the cancellation guillotine. Here are just seven of them.
Agravity Boys
Agravity Boys is a sci-fi story centered around four boys who travel through space and land on a habitable planet known as α-Jumbro. Shortly after take-off, Earth is swallowed up in a black hole, effectively ending humanity as they knew it. To make matters worse, upon landing on this new planet, they encounter a "Higher Being" who sadistically tries to test the boys' loyalty to one another through a series of difficult hardships -- including a strange gender-bending twist.
Agravity Boys, despite its cosmic themes and apocalyptic origin, is effectively a comedy about the bonds between people. The manga has been picking up steam since December 2019, in part due to its appeal to yaoi fans who suspect that the dynamics between the characters may not be as wholesome as they appear...
Undead Unluck
Based on a one-shot called Undead + Unluck, Undead Unluck started serialization in January. It is the story of Fuuko, a girl with the power to inflict bad luck on anyone she touches and has cursed her family to an early grave as a result. After finishing her favorite shojo manga, she sets out to end her life, only for "bad luck" to intervene when a muscular man intercepts her knife and falls into an oncoming train... But he doesn't die. That man is Andy, a man who has the ability to regenerate from every injury and, seemingly, never die. He comes to the conclusion that Fuuko may be the only person who can end his life.
From there, the series moves on to focus on superpowered individuals trying to study Andy and eliminate Fuuko, only to end up being caught up in a conflict against a God who may hold the keys to reality. It's an epic of surrealist proportions that needs to be read to be believed.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles
In a world where everyone is able to harness incredible magical abilities lives a young boy named Mash Vandead, who is extraordinarily unextraordinary. After being raised in the privacy of the forest for most of his adolescence, the magic-less Mash is sent to Easton Magic Academy in order to gain some normalcy in his life. However, what Mash lacks in magic he makes up for in pure physical power, and every spell he learns only furthers his strength and endurance.
Another series that started this January, Mashle: Magic and Muscles is essentially Harry Potter mixed with How Heavy are Those Dumbells You Lift? It might also be good for fans of manga like My Hero Academia and Black Clover wherein the main heroes are the sole individuals born without power in a world filled with it. (Only Mash -- unlike Deku or Asta -- doesn't gain that secret ability: he's just really strong.)
Moriking
Beginning in April, Moriking is a comedy manga that combines the shonen format with the inspiration behind Pokémon: bug collecting. Shoto is delighted when his father brings home a rhinoceros beetle larva from the pet store. Shoto takes care of the larva, only for it to enter its pupa phase. However, when it emerges, it becomes a muscular pretty boy. It turns out that Shoto's dad just happened to find the larva for the future King of the Forest -- or, at least, one of five candidates to assume the role. The prince, named Moriking, swears to repay Shoto and the family's kindness by assuming power. The only person who thinks anything about this is beyond belief is Shoko, Shoto's sister, who is baffled and repulsed by these turn of events.
Moriking's humor is created by taking the typical shonen template and putting it through the microlens of the insect world. For fans of Mob Psycho 100 or Assassination Classroom, this might be the title you're looking for.
Magu-chan: God of Destruction
Magu Menueku was a glorious God of Chaos and Destruction, worshipped for centuries by underground cultists. That was until holy knights interrupted a summoning ritual designed to conjure Magu's eldritch essence into reality. After being sealed away in a crystal, Magu eventually washed ashore in front of a modern-day middle school student, Ruru, who accidentally releases the god. But time in prison has not been kind to Magu -- he's now an adorable little tentacled god. So, he seeks to return to his glorious nature by using the good-natured Ruru as his pawn.
This cosmic horror-comedy started in June. It is reminiscent of other similar stories, like Sgt. Frog, where world-conquerors depend on innocent spirited kids to survive in a brand new world, and packs equal charm.
Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin
When a hard-boiled cop is fired for repeatedly going too far, he is sent on a trip to the country, where he is brought to investigate an enigmatic girl captured by the Cult of the Sea and raised by a dolphin. Said dolphin is now a... police officer.
Starting in July, Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin is, as its title gives away, an absurdist police comedy series, meshing a realistic setting with the casual addition of elements that otherwise don't belong, like a dolphin with hands who is also a cop. It's a dry, mature comedy by Ryuhei Tamura of Beelzebub fame.
Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono
In Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono, a young boy named Sota is entranced by his new neighbor, a photographer named Saburo Kono. Kono has moved into the haunted apartment next to him -- a place no human being should stay in. Saburo claims his camera can capture the spirits of the dead. Sota obviously has some doubts; however, he seems all too eager to bury them.
Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono is a recently published one-shot that might end up spawning into something bigger if it gains traction -- which is the way that a lot of Jump titles often begin. Written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu, the same creative team behind The Promised Neverland, if expanded upon, this might be the next big sensation in the world of horror manga.