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Most read series by SJ members!
https://www.viz.com/shonenjump-year-in-review
Do you guys use the Shonen Jump app? Are there other manga/anime apps that do this? Out of all my services, I got the year in review for this, spotify, and twitch.
Here's my top 5 for the year from the SJ app. You can tell what I binged on in tears with this one. ;(
My readings in the current Jump lineup is rather low. I only read a few of them weekly and some others in batch but all in all it amount to only 1/3 of the series.
I read a few Jump+. Although it started in 2021, i only went into Dandadan this year and it is probably the best discovery of the year for me. Even if they have launched a lot of jump+ serie this year not a lot grabbed me.
I've read quite a few webtoon but most of them are casual readings. I have a soft spot for the High School slice of life After School lessons even if it is a bit slow.
In Jump titles, Dandadan is definitely the highlight of this year for me as well.
Then the second part of Chainsaw Man, of course.
Monster #8 is a very good take on Kaijus
Akane Banashi would be next, albeit in a very different genre.
Show-ha Shoten is in the same vein, focusing on a duo of humorists.
Sakamoto Days has been faring remakably well, I hope it keeps up its current standards.
Honorable mention for Magilumiere, an interesting high-tech view of magical girls (whom it treats as corporate employees from firms that specialize in magical pest damage control)
Will post later for non-Jump titles
My discoveries of the year were Magus of the Library, and Heavenly Delusion.
On the usual suspects, Dandadan, Chainsaw Man, Dungeon Meshi, JJK, HxH, Ranger Reject, Nagatoro, Kaguya, Sakamoto Days, Golden Kamuy, Shadow House, Akane-banashi, Takopoi's Sin, Arte, Witch Hat, Monster 8 and others (Berserk, OP, My Hero, Black Clover, Undead Unluck, Four Knights, Gash 2, YnT, Four Knights, Dai Dark, etc).
While My Hero Academia Vigilantes ended up in a real high note, damn Tokyo Revengers ended up in a train wreck that can be better described as the crossbreed between the ends of Naruto, Bleach and Fairy Tail. Since Ohtaka's flopping Magi's final arc and getting fed up with the setting and nuking Adventures of Sinbad I haven't seen such a fast and abrupt quality decrease.
I picked up Blood on the Tracks again, and oh boy it was worthy. Enjoyed a lot more than the first time. Oshimi is really good showing emotional distress in his expressions.
For stuff I've finished this year
Manga:
Anime:
Favorite manga of the above is probably Planetes, though Bokura wa Minna Kawai-sou was a nice surprise with how much I enjoyed it. Favorite anime was Doremi Dokkaan. Such a great franchise that managed to stay strong until the end. Das Finale was also great and I really enjoyed Healer Girl and I'm glad I was watching it weekly as it came out. I might have enough time to finish some more short manga, and some other anime I'm watching right now will end this week. I'm mostly just trying to cut down on my to read list, though it still keeps growing.
I'm also following a bunch of manga as they come out. Shimeji Simulation being my favorite. Several series I'm reading are winding down but because of their release schedules may still take a while. Hidamari Sketch, Houseki no Kuni, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, Dungeon Meshi, and Tengoku Daimakyou all seem to be in or near their ends. Then it'll be time for me to pick up more, though several manga I'd wanted to read while they were ongoing have since finished.
Shout out to Magu Chan which ended this year on a very high note.
My favorite manga discovery of the year is Touge Oni/Primal Gods in Ancient Times. Tengoku Daimakyou too, but it got confusing and then the anime got announced so I dropped the manga and will wait for the anime.
Manga that I enjoyed through the year: Sakamoto days (though the current arc is a low point for me), Undead Unluck, DanDaDan, Dr. Stone (the big reveal was a bit forced, but it was an interesting concept). One Piece has gotten better after Wano. Berserk post Miura has been good. CSM2 feels like it's still setting up, but has me hooked.
Anime: I started Spy x Family after dropping the manga near the beginning, and it's just ok. I Watched all available Demon Slayer and I plan to stay anime only. Made in Abyss was one of my favorite this year, despite the author's fetishes leaking through. I also rewatched all of pokemon until Ash lost the first league, and picked Pokémon Journeys. I enjoyed the formula of travelling the world, even if it felt unrealistic that they could just randomly go to another country for almost no reason, for free. Sadly everyone, even the official Pokémon media, decided to spoiler Journeys.
In general I'm quite happy as most of the series that I read, with some exceptions, have maintained their quality
Some quick notes focusing on Jump series:
++
Love the developments in PPPPPP, Sakamoto Days and Undead Unluck
+
Great series continue to be great: Dandadan, SpyxFamily
The return of Heart Gear (although it is on hiatus again)
·
Good endings for Dr. Stone and Magu-chan
Some interesting new mangas: The Game Devil, Magielumiere, and some other
-
Super Smarphone: I know it wasn't the best out there, but I liked it
--
Some dissapointments: the ending of the arcs of One Piece and OnePunchMan, Boku no Hero in general
I haven't been reading much lately but,
Manga:
Akane-banashi is great and will surely be a hit once the anime comes out. It's like SnS with all the extra fat cut out and with a really interesting craft to explore.
Ongoing early days but easy 4/5.
I picked up Oshimi's works and man, the characterization + expressions has to be one of the best, ever. Flowers of Evil and Innocence are both really great stories, fantastic for a binge. But you start to realize there is a formula there, like there's always a jump forward which is to be expected and natural because life does goes on.
Flowers of Evil: 3.5/5, Innocence: 4/5
Dandadan: Said to death, but it is really fucking good. You are really missing out if you skip it.
4.5/5
Dr.Stone: Love the ending, I don't have any complains. There's good highs but ultimately you will never recommend it to others for anything particularly excellent about the series. 4/5
Blue Box : Love and hate relationship, the author should just stick to his guns and land the ending already. Good if you want a throwback to your summer romance but at the end of the day, it's a shounen romance series.
3/5
Chihayafuru: I think the anime might make it easier to understand, I find myself...just reading at times. Definelty not something you want to read with your brain off. But when you do give it a shot, it's pretty fun. Great main character, great cast all around. Awesome niche sport. Enjoyable if you have the patience, not everyone's cup of tea.
3.5/5
Blue Orchestra: Underrated but also difficult to put a finger on. It's great but also have a bunch of tropes that drags it down. There's drama and some darker moments you wouldn't expect in a series like this but it does add to the story, I'm just not sure what exactly it is trying to do at times. Still a good read, but just expect some drama that you might or might not like, especially if you are going in for the sports/passion/craft aspect.
3.5/5
Welcome to the Ballroom: I have nothing but extreme praise for this series. The author is a master of dynamism and has done excellent research on the skill of ballroom dancing. I do think it is a must-read, even if you are not into dance, solely because of how great the art is. The plot is well-written and the character drama is intertwined nicely with the sport. Will recommend.
4.5/5
Fire Force: I don't know how the author does it. Interesting premise, great characters, lovable art....all at the very start. And then it becomes a mess, a trainwreck. Soul Eater is somehow better than Fire Force despite a lackluster last arc. This series was definitely way better at the start.
2.5/5
Witch Hat Atelier: Peak Manga, Panelling, Art, Composition, and World design. Story might be a little generic so it isn't exactly special but it stands at the epitome of what you can do with the medium.
4/5
Ayashimon: The entire series got axed because of a terrible main character. Everything else was great, Yakuza + Oni premise had so much potential. Female lead had a really good design. It was like the Editors saw CSM's Denji (or maybe the author, based on his previous work with Fujimoto) and decided to shoehorn a Denji-esque protagonist to try and grab a hold of that fame. Of course it is going to come crashing down. A series dragged down to hell by its main character.
3/5.
Kengan Ashura: You don't read it for the plot (not that it is bad), but damn it...it is just so satisfying to read. From the art, the way the fights develop, the action scenes, the grittiness of the fights... did I mention the art? This series is actually insane. Have you ever read something and you can actually feel the sound effects? This is Kengan Ashura at multiple times.
4/5
Bakuman - I finally got around to finishing Bakuman (I re-read it from the start). My feelings are mixed as an artist myself. I don't support Shueisha's cutthroat culture of making you work like a zombie with 4 hours of sleep and I do get the criticisms that says that it reads like a propaganda piece for the company. There's little to none that goes into explaining what makes a manga good: not much about story-telling, composition, panelling, marketing, techniques but a lot of it was ratings, ratings, ratings. I get it, it's business. But I still find it hilarious when in retrospect, with Chainsawman, a huge chunk of what Bakuman was preaching was blown out of the water. However, credit where credit is due, the series did try to point out the flaws in Jump's system and how the system can be rigged. But it never did go deeper than it should and with the recent BnHA's editor being shit and dismissed, it is hard to believe that, in Bakuman's representation, all editors are competent. It's a good insight into the industry but its closer to fiction than truth with how many variables they are and how sleeping for 4 hours a day should still not be romanticized.
Also, i will never forgive the reduced Kaya's screentime because of ratings. Screw that bullshit.
3.5/5
Anime:
86 - It's really good. Slow start with some cliques but eventually (if you binge) it becomes a rollercoaster ride. I think this show has one of the best FeMC in Ani-manga this year. Don't get put off by the Mechas if you dont' like mechas, the plot goes further than robot shooting each other.
4/5
Ranking of Kings - Amazing. But becomes abit too shounen-ny at the end. Has a very strong start but starts to drag a little and has way too many shounen tropes at the end. I get it, it's a shounen but the start was anything but your typical shounen. Still, a really great ride.
3.5/5
Also, if you've read this far please read or watch Golden Kamuy. I'm a huge fan and see it as the true successor of FullMetal Alchemist of this generation.
There's like a dozen more anime series and manga that are gold this year (Lycoris, Summer rendering) but time is not on my side.
HxH came back! It's still great in all the ways that I remember it being (we'll see if that continues once the previously written chapters end). 5/5, one of my favorite manga of all time.
Kengan Omega is good, exactly what you want it to be, and it delivers 100% of the time. 4/5, fantastic and knows exactly what it is.
Kaiju 8 is solid, great art and paneling, the sense of action and space are really well conveyed. The pacing is... fine. 4/5
Dandadan is really hyped but I think the paneling and art overall are fantastic, so the stuff I find less appealing really can't outweigh the excellent bits. 4/5
Sakamoto Days and The Elusive Samurai are both good and well drawn and have okay premises, but never seem to deliver. I keep waiting for them to 'start', if that makes any sense. 3/5 because I like them a lot anyway.
The Boxer bad, just the same manupulative arc over and over. Art is whatever. 2/5
Tengoku Daimakyou not really this year but yeah, it's good still. I wish it came out faster as I have to reread the last 5 every time 1 new one comes out. 4/5 though, love the premise and the setting, lots of great vibes.
Dai Dark it's good... I think? 3/5
Magus of the Library is good - also wish it came out faster, also wish it would 'get started', if that makes sense again. Hard to give it a rating, so I won't. I like it.
Witch Hat Atelier is so well drawn and careful and charming that I love it way more than its technical merits suggest I should, 4.5/5
Sousou no Frieren is a standout, 5/5 for me. One of the few things I can week-to-week and just enjoy. Lush worlds, conjured with just enough penstrokes. Characters who are fun and cool without falling too far into tropes. Lovely manga, and really sad in a lot of ways.
I've been taking a break from Shadows House for a while but it's great too, and I hope to catch up soon. I think I said this in the thread for it, but it feels like it delivers on the promise that The Promised Neverland made, and then some. I hope it doesn't go to shit. I put this in the same genre as TPN and even Tengoku Daimakyou.
Ranger Reject has been an oddly satisfying romp through a weird world with lots of mystery and wonder and like - thinly veiled extreme violence. The premise is very seinnen, reminds me of... something, I can't recall what. Not Billy Bat, but... shit, idk. Good tho, 4/5.
I've tried to read a lot of other stuff and it's hard, I don't care for it. Please recommend me stuff, the world is a wasteland these days.
My extended list for manga
Good Time 
Enjoyed 
Casual 
I can never remember what I read, especially in spring but let's go.
Having a great time
Dandadan, Ranger Reject
Enjoyable reads
One Piece, Sakamoto Days, PPPPPP, Dr.Stone, A Trail of Blood
Okay reads
My Hero Academia, Shadows House
I skim them from time to time but haven't committed and can't really rank them
HxH, Gash Bell 2, Spy x Family
Meh
Fire Force, Blue Exorcist
