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While being on top always brings the fear of being unseated, SJ has managed to keep itself going through a regular influx of high-quality series. As a new year begins, it’s time to take a look at the best offerings SJ had in 2022, whether it be old series continuing to strut their stuff, or new ones making a name for themselves.
8 Mashle: Magic And Muscles
Mashle: Magic and Muscles is a fairly new series by Hajime Kōmoto that started in 2020. Fans of Black Clover will find its premise familiar, as the titular Mash shares Asta’s position of being devoid of magic in a world of magicians. While Asta solves this issue via his anti-magic however, Mash takes more of a Saitama approach to the situation by using his raw physical strength to outmatch the mages.
Mashle has a stronger comedy slant than most action series in Shounen Jump, and thankfully that comedy has kept going strong.
7 Jujutsu Kaisen
Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen is one of Shounen Jump’s middle children, having only begun serialization in 2018. The story follows Yuji Itadori, a young man who takes on the responsibility of finding and eating the 20 fingers of the cursed entity Ryomen Sukuna, in order to neutralize them with his following execution.
JJK is for action lovers. For most of 2022 it has been embroiled in the ‘culling game’ arc, a battle-royale-esque scenario with nonstop fights. It’s some of the best action in the magazine, but somewhat exhausting for anyone not into that style of story.
6 Witch Watch
Speaking of comedy, Witch Watch is one of the magazine’s ruling comedy series at the moment. It was created by Kenta Shinohara and started publication in 2021. The story follows a witch called Nico and her familiars who are tasked with guarding her against attacking warlocks.
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Despite their monstrous lineages, the familiars are teenagers just like Nico and regularly get into trouble in and around the house they all share. Especially since Nico has powerful magic, and little impulse control to stop her from using it to solve mundane problems, often to hilarious results.
5 My Hero Academia
Once the new kid on the block, My Hero Academia is now a seasoned veteran of Jump and is likely to see its conclusion within the next year. The series follows Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, a young hero fanatic who receives the powers and responsibilities of the country’s number one hero, All Might.
2022 has seen some big moments for MHA, especially the beginning of its final arc and all the climactic battles that entail. While many issues with the series are cropping up, it’s still one of the best series in Jump.
4 Sakamoto Days
Sakamoto Days was created by Yuto Suzuki and has been running in the magazine since 2020. The titular Sakamoto is a retired assassin, who has managed to make a peaceful life for himself by starting a family and running a small convenience store. However, his past soon comes back to haunt him.
Despite the serious premise, Sakamoto Days is quite the comedic series, drawing much comedy from Sakamoto’s barely-held-together killing instinct. Its action is also immaculately drawn, so there’s very little reason not to get into it.
3 Akane-banashi
In a magazine famous for its battle series, it’s good that there’s still room for more grounded stories to be told. Newly introduced in 2022, Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue’s Akane-banashi is a story about Akane, a young girl out to avenge her father by becoming a great rakugoka and proving his detractors wrong.
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Rakugo is an art form that is very specific to Japan, and rarely gets an entire series based on it. Akane-banashi is a great introduction to rakugo, with an appealing art style, fun character designs, and lots of potential.
2 One Piece
The undisputed King of Shounen Jump, One Piece is still sailing strong. Monkey D Luffy’s quest for the titular one piece has been ongoing for 25 years now, and Eiichiro Oda doesn’t seem to be running out of steam yet.
This year saw some big moments for the series, with the conclusion of the long-running ‘Wano’ arc, set on the island of the same name. The arc’s conclusion saw Luffy obtaining his newest form, ‘fifth gear,’ which not only gives him absurd powers but has some interesting lore implications for fans to salivate over.
1 Chainsaw Man
While the rest of this list is published in weekly Shounen Jump, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man moved over to Shounen Jump+ in 2022 for the beginning of its 2nd part. Chainsaw Man is a story about Denji, a young boy who gains demonic powers and is forced to become a devil hunter when his pet demon, Pochita, fuses with him to save his life.
However, Denji’s main story ended in 2020, with the manga’s 2nd part switching protagonist duties over to Asa Mitaka, a social outcast possessed by the War Devil. Despite the changes it’s gone through, the manga is still extremely strong, with stellar paneling, art, and character moments.
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