When people read Weekly Shonen Jump, they tend to expect nothing but hits. And for the most part, that's generally true. Most series in Shonen Jump are along the lines of Dragon Ball Z or Naruto. Often, more than half of the manga series in the magazine are so popular that they have their own anime series.
Of course, that can't always be the case. Sometimes there are series that simply aren't as popular. Perhaps the creator will go on to create something else that will be a success, or perhaps the series will do better as a J-Drama. Sometimes the series was intended to be short-lived, and making an anime would be pointless.
10 Stealth Symphony Was Canceled After 21 Chapters & Didn't Have Time To Expand
The writer of Baccano and Durarara decided to do a manga for Weekly Shonen Jump, and it didn’t work out too well. The story is set in a magical world where the main character is looking for a way to get rid of a curse placed on him, leading him to the city of Jinbocho. The problem with this series is that it was simply too dense, and the series was canceled after only 21 chapters, which is likely long before the writer got far enough story-wise to make things clear.
9 Rookies
Rookies is a sports series set at Futagotamaga high, where the lead character is a teacher who's become the head of a baseball team that was suspended for a year after they got into a fight during a game. These days, the team is made up of people who couldn’t care about baseball at all, and it’s up to the teacher to rekindle their passion for the sport. Rookies is one of those series that was never made into an anime but ran for a lengthy period of time and was adapted into a drama series and a film no problem.
8 Butsu Zone Was Only Intended To Be A Short Series
A short series from the creator of Shaman King, Hiroyuki Takei, Butsu Zone ran for 22 chapters. It was about a young man who was chosen by Kannon to protect the reincarnation of the Buddha Miroko. Senju, granted the powers of the armor with a thousand arms, ends up protecting the girl as soon as he comes to Earth. What made this series stand out is it has Anna from Shaman King before Shaman King existed, likely because Anna is amazing.
7 Sand Land Only Lasted 6 Months
Sand Land was a manga from Akira Toriyama, made after he’d long been done with Dragon Ball. It was set in a world where there was only one way to get water-- a single river that dried up out of nowhere. As society breaks down because of the lack of water, one sheriff goes to find a source of water the humans can rely on and asks help from a demon named Beelzebub, as they go looking for the Phantom Lake. Though people thought this might led to another epic, the series only lasted around six months before he wrapped up his story.
6 Mr. Fullswing Had A Good 5-Year Run But Never Received Any TV Adaptations
Another baseball manga, this story was about Amakuni Saruno. Saruno is a total pervert with no talent for getting women to like him, likely because he’s such a shameless pervert. Saruno eventually develops a crush on his high school baseball team’s manager, Nagi Torii.
He joins the baseball team to try and impress her, and slowly starts to develop as a character. This series was surprisingly popular, running for five years and 24 volumes before coming to a close, never getting an anime or a live-action series.
5 Anedoki Was A Shorter Romance Series In 3 Volumes
Creator Mizuki Kawashita has created a number of romantic comedy series in the past, including Strawberry 100% and First Love Limited. In 2009 they worked on Anedoki, another cute romantic series that ran for three volumes. The story centers around Kouta and Natsuki, a pair who wind up living together after Kouta’s father leaves on a business trip. Though they initially get off to a bad start because Natsuki accuses Kouta of being a creep, they gradually bond and become closer.
4 Tokyo Shinobi Squad Had Potential But Wasn't Given The Opportunity
Tokyo Shinobi Squad had all the potential to turn into a mega-hit, but it was never given the opportunity to grow. The series was set 30 years into the future in Tokyo, in a world where multiple countries are connected by railway. Because of this globalization, Tokyo deals with a massive rise in crime and only one thing is able to help them: shinobi. In this new era, shinobi have to maintain their skills while also continuing to use technology as well.
3 Mahou X Zero Had The Best Aspects Of Black Clover & My Hero Academia
Mx0 had a unique premise for the era it released in--Taiga Kuzumi was a young man who was admitted to Seinagi Private High School after “defeating” one of the teachers there, where it’s revealed the school is actually about learning how to use magic.
Taiga has no magical ability, but once in school, he has to pretend as if he does or risk being kicked out of high school! It combines the best parts of Black Clover with My Hero Academia, but unfortunately only ran for four years.
2 St&rs Was A Rare Sci-Fi Shonen Series That Took Place In Space
This is a rare case of a sci-fi shonen manga that takes place in space. After humanity was informed by aliens that they should meet on Mars in the year 2035, they began working together to create an organization that would allow them to reach March. The result was St&rs, which not only got humans back on the moon but created a Space Academy for new astronauts. St&rs followed the story of Shirafune Maho, who made his goal reaching Mars, and set out to join the Space Academy, despite only having one percent chance of making it in.
1 Samurai 8 Never Got The Anime Adaptation Like Kishimoto's Other Work, Naruto
Samurai 8 had a ton of potential—a unique new protagonist in Hachimaru, a disabled kid who has to learn how to fight to protect the galaxy, a vast expansive mythology, and most importantly it had Masashi Kishimoto, best known for his work on Naruto, working on it. The only problem was that no one seemed interested. Perhaps because it wasn’t his art. Perhaps it was because the storyline was too complex going in. Whatever the reason, the series hit record low numbers but went on for nearly a year before Shonen Jump pulled the plug.