10. My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump since
July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected into 36 volumes as of
October 2022.
Set in a world where superpowers (called Quirks) have become commonplace, the story follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy who was born without a Quirk but still dreams of becoming a superhero himself. He is scouted by All Might, Japan's greatest hero, who bestows his Quirk to Midoriya after recognizing his potential, and helps to enroll him in a prestigious high school for superheroes in training UA High.
The manga spawned a media franchise, having inspired numerous spin-off manga, such as My Hero Academia: Smash!!, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes and My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions. Also, the series has expanded into light novels, stage plays, and various types of merchandise and media such as a trading card game and numerous video games.
It has been adapted into an anime television series produced by Bones spanning 6 seasons as up to now, while still pumping new episodes every week. It has also received three animated films, titled My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, and My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission, respectively. Additionally, it has developed eight original video animations (OVAs), and there are even plans for a live-action film by Legendary Entertainment.
My Hero Academia has become a large commercial success, appearing on The New York Times bestseller list several times. As of January 2022, the manga had over 65 million copies in circulation including sales of spin-offs, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.
Critical reception has also been positive, with reviewers praising the manga for its art, characters, story, fight scenes, and the use of pop culture references to Western superhero comics like Marvel and DC while the anime series has received additional praise for its animation, music, pacing, and voice performances in both Japanese and English. That’s why this has been such a popular series.
9. One-Punch Man
One-Punch Man is a Japanese superhero manga series created by One. It tells the story of Saitama, a superhero who, because he can defeat any opponent with a single punch, grows bored from a lack of challenge. One wrote the original webcomic manga version way back when in early 2009.
The series contains a number of fictional characters like Saitama and his disciple Genos who join the Hero Association so they can be recognized as such when they fight various monsters and villains while the Hero Association ranks all of its members by a Class and a ranking within that class and other things that happen.
As One Punch Man was originally a webcomic, a little info about them is they can be compared to self-published print comics in that anyone with an Internet connection can publish their own webcomic. Though readership levels vary widely; many are read only by the creator's immediate friends and family, while some of the largest claim audiences well over one million readers.
Webcomics range from traditional comic strips and graphic novels to Avant Garde comics, and cover many genres, styles, and subjects. They sometimes even take on the role of a comic blog. The term web cartoonist is sometimes used to refer to someone who creates Webcomics just like One.
A digital manga remake, illustrated by Yusuke Murata, began publication on Shueisha's Tonari no Young Jump website in June 2012. Its chapters were periodically compiled and published into individual volumes. As of January 2023, 28 volumes have been released. In North America, Viz Media has licensed the remake manga for English language release and has serialized it in its Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine.
An anime adaptation produced by Madhouse was broadcast in Japan from October to December 2015 while a second season, produced by J.C.Staff, was broadcast from April to July 2019. A third season has also been announced now. Licensed in North America by Viz Media, it premiered in the United States on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block in July 2016 while the second season premiered on the block in October of 2019.
As of June 2012, the original webcomic manga surpassed 7.9 million hits. As of April 2020, the manga remake had sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga series.
8. Cowboy Bebop
The series, which ran for twenty-six episodes is set in the year 2071 and follows the lives of a traveling bounty-hunting crew aboard a spaceship, the Bebop. Although it incorporates a wide variety of genres, the series draws most heavily from science fiction, Western, and noir films. Its most prominent themes are existential dread, loneliness, and the inability to escape one's past.
The series was dubbed into English by Animaze and ZRO Limit Productions, and was originally licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment and in Britain by Beez Entertainment; Madman Entertainment owns the license in Australia and New Zealand. And in 2001, it became the first anime title to be broadcast on Adult Swim.
Cowboy Bebop has been hailed as one of the greatest animated television series of all time. It was a critical and commercial success both in Japanese and international markets, most notably in the United States. It garnered several major anime and science-fiction awards upon its release, and received unanimous praise for its style, characters, story, voice acting, animation, and soundtrack.
The English dub was particularly lauded and is regarded as one of the best anime dubs. Credited with helping to introduce anime to a new wave of Western viewers in the early 2000s, Cowboy Bebop has also been called a gateway series for anime as a whole.
This series was also appreciated as it was a gamble if we are being totally honest and not only that but it had a recipe for disaster on its head, as it was one of the few anime series made without a prior manga being there, and as we’ve discussed earlier without manga even good and long running shows like Naruto and bleach suffer and people lose interest, but with this one, it was like a miracle waiting to happen, as the opposite happened.
People not only loved its story, but its music, backgrounds,
themes, and the overall freshness that was only brought because of no prior source
material being there. So inadvertently its greatest weakness became its unique strength.
That’s why it has stood the test of time and is still remembered fondly.
7. Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese anime television series loosely adapted from the original manga series of the same name by Hiromu Arakawa. Comprising 51 episodes, it was produced by the animation studio Bones for Aniplex, and directed by Seiji Mizushima.
As in the manga, the series follows the adventures of brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are searching for the Philosopher's Stone so they can regain the bodies they lost in a failed attempt to bring their dead mother back to life. During production, Arakawa requested an original ending for the anime that differed from the manga, which was still ongoing at the time. This led to the series deviating into an entirely original storyline direction halfway through its run.
The first anime series concluded with a direct sequel film, Conqueror of Shamballa, released in 2005, while a second anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which faithfully adapted the entire storyline of the original manga, was broadcast in 2009.
The second series, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was conceived in order to create a faithful adaptation that directly follows the entire storyline of the original manga, after 2003's Fullmetal Alchemist anime series strayed away from it to tell its own story after running out of published manga material to adapt.
The production began in 2008 and the series was broadcast for sixty-four episodes on MBS–TBS from April 2009 to July 2010. The series was first licensed in North America by Funimation and was broadcast English-dubbed on Adult Swim from February 2010 to September 2011. In 2016, Funimation lost the rights to the series, and it was transferred to Aniplex of America.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood earned acclaim from critics and audiences and is
considered one of the best anime series of all time. Reviewers noted its
faithfulness to the manga and its introduction of characters and plot details
that were not present in the 2003 anime; the climactic episodes were also
lauded for both its action scenes and moral messages.
6. Death Note
Death Note is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006, with its 108 chapters collected in 12 volumes. The story follows Light Yagami, a teen genius who discovers a mysterious notebook: the "Death Note", which belonged to the Shinigami Ryuk, and grants the user the supernatural ability to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages.
The series centres around Light's subsequent attempts to use the Death Note to carry out a worldwide massacre of individuals whom he deems immoral and to create a crime-free society, using the alias of a god-like vigilante named "Kira", and the subsequent efforts of an elite Japanese police task force, led by enigmatic detective L, to apprehend him.
A 37-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Madhouse and directed by Tetsurō Araki, was broadcast on Nippon Television from October 2006 to June 2007. A light novel based on the series, written by Nisio Isin, was also released in 2006. Additionally, various video games have been published by Konami for the Nintendo DS.
The series was adapted into three live action films released in Japan in June, November 2006, and February 2008, and a television drama in 2015. A miniseries titled Death Note: New Generation and a fourth film were released in 2016. An American film adaptation was also released exclusively on Netflix in August 2017 which received a lot of hate as it totally mishandled the story and the characters and though a sequel is reportedly in the works the likelihood of it being actually made is close to none.
Death Note media, except for video games and soundtracks, is licensed and released in North America by Viz Media. The episodes from the anime first appeared in North America as downloadable from IGN before Viz Media licensed it. As of April 2015, the Death Note manga had over 30 million copies in circulation, and despite ended over a long time, it’s still talked about to this day, and has created a cult following of sorts.
5. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly Seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump in 2005.
The series is divided into nine story arcs, each following a new protagonist bearing the "JoJo" nickname. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is Shueisha's largest ongoing manga series by volume count, with its chapters collected in 131 volumes as of September 2021.
The universe of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a reflection of the real world with the added existence of supernatural forces and beings. In this setting, some people are capable of transforming their inner spiritual power into a Stand or capable of using a powerful ability known as Hamon.
The narrative of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is split into parts with independent stories and different characters. Each of the series' protagonists is a member of the Joestar family, whose mainline descendants possess a star-shaped birthmark above their left shoulder blade and a name that can be abbreviated to the titular "JoJo". The first six parts take place within a single continuity whose generational conflict stems from the rivalry between Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando, while the latter two parts take place in an alternate universe where the Joestar family tree is heavily altered, and is something else entirely.
A 13-episode original video animation series adapting the manga's third part, Stardust Crusaders, was produced by A.P.P.P. and released from 1993 to 2002. The studio later produced an anime film adapting the first part, Phantom Blood, which was released in theatres in Japan in 2007. In October 2012, an anime television series produced by David Production adapting Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency began. As of January 2023, the studio has produced five seasons consisting of 190 total episodes adapting through the manga's sixth part, Stone Ocean. A live-action film based on the fourth part, Diamond Is Unbreakable, was also released in Japan in 2017.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is well-known for its art style and poses; frequent
references to Western popular music and fashion; and battles centred around Stands, psycho-spiritual
manifestations with unique supernatural abilities. The series had over 120
million copies in circulation as of December 2021, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history, and it has spawned a media franchise including one-shot manga, light novels, and video games. So, it’s fair to say it has been really influential
and still is to this day.
4. Bleach
Bleach is a Japanese anime television series based on Tite Kubo's original manga series of the same name. It was produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Noriyuki Abe. The series aired on TV Tokyo from October 2004 to March 2012, spanning 366 episodes.
The story follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper—a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki. His newfound powers force him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife, and all the crazy adventures that follow.
In addition to adapting the manga series it is based on, the anime periodically includes original self-contained storylines and characters not found in the manga, which is known as filler by the way, as such content is usually made for anime to give the manga the space it needs to stay ahead to maintain a smooth flow of the main story. Though it can feel annoying to some people as they see it is as nothing more than a waste of their time, and more often than not the content in these fillers is also not on the same quality as the main story. The sad part about this is that Bleach has a lot of it which angers a lot of fans, but as the main plot more than makes up for it, it’s forgiven.
Viz Media obtained foreign television and home video distribution rights to the Bleach anime in March 2006. Bleach was broadcast in the United States on Adult Swim from September 2006 to November 2014. Also, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, a sequel series covering the manga's final story arc, also animated by Pierrot and directed by Tomohisa Taguchi, premiered in October 2022.
Also, Bleach was
one of the Big 3 of Anime, while the other two being Naruto and One Piece,
which meant they were the three most popular running series during their golden
age in Jump. All three series got their common title due to their
worldwide popularity and length. With that they were always featured in front
of the shared Shonen Jump covers with bigger images for their main characters
Luffy, Naruto and Ichigo, than the rest of the current line-up of series.
3. One Piece
One Piece is a Japanese manga series
written and illustrated by Eiichiro
Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Shonen manga magazine Weekly
Shōnen Jump since July 1997, with its individual chapters compiled into
104 volumes as of November 2022.
The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his pirate crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line in search of the deceased King of the Pirates Gol D. Roger's ultimate treasure known as the "One Piece" in order to become the next King of the Pirates.
The manga spawned a media franchise, having been adapted into a festival film produced by Production I.G, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in 1999. Additionally, Toei has developed fourteen animated feature films, one original video animation, and thirteen television specials.
One Piece has received praise for its storytelling, world-building, art, characterization, and humour. It has received many awards and is ranked by critics, reviewers, and readers as one of the best manga of all time. Several volumes of the manga have broken publishing records, including the highest initial print run of any book in Japan.
In 2015 and 2022, One Piece set the Guinness World Record for "the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author". It was the best-selling manga for eleven consecutive years from 2008 to 2018 and is the only manga that had an initial print of volumes of above 3 million continuously for more than 10 years, as well as the only that had achieved more than 1 million copies sold in all of its over 100 published volumes.
As of August 2022, One Piece had over 516.6 million copies in circulation
in 61 countries and regions worldwide, making it the best-selling manga series in history, and the best-selling comic series printed in book volume. It is also one of the highest-grossing media
franchises of all time.
2. Naruto
Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two parts – the first set in Naruto's pre-teen years, and the second in his teens. The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri, which earned him an honorable mention in Shueisha's monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto the one we’re all talking about.
Naruto was serialized in Shueisha's magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to 2014, and released in book form in 72 volumes. The manga was adapted into an anime television series produced by Pierrot and Aniplex, which broadcast 220 episodes in Japan from 2002 to 2007; the English dub of the series aired on Cartoon Network from 2005 to 2009 while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, premiered in Japan in 2007, and ended in 2017, after 500 episodes. Besides the anime series, Pierrot has developed eleven movies and twelve original video animations (OVAs). Other Naruto-related merchandise includes light novels, video games, and trading cards developed by several companies.
The films and most OVAs from the series were released by Viz, with the first film premiering in movie theatres. Also, the story of Naruto continues with Naruto's son, Boruto Uzumaki, in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Boruto wishes to create his own ninja way instead of following his father's.
Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series in history having 250 million copies in circulation
worldwide in 47 countries and regions, with 153 million copies in Japan alone
and remaining 97 million copies elsewhere. It has become one of Viz Media's
best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have
appeared on USA Today and The New York Times bestseller
list several times. Reviewers praised the manga's character development, strong
storylines, and well-executed fight scenes as they were inspired by the
one and only dragon ball, so they had to be good as they were.
1. Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters collected into 42 book volumes by its publisher Shueisha. Dragon Ball was originally inspired by the classical 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, combined with elements of Hong Kong martial arts films.
The series follows the adventures of protagonist Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts. He spends his childhood far from civilization until he meets a teen girl named Bulma, who encourages him to join her quest in exploring the world in search of the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several other friends, becomes a family man, discovers his alien heritage, and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls.
Toriyama's manga was adapted and divided into two anime series produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. Additionally, the studio has developed 21 animated feature films and three television specials, as well as two anime sequel series titled Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super.
Several companies have developed various types of merchandising based on the series leading to a large media franchise that includes films, both animated and live-action, collectible trading card games, numerous action figures, along with several collections of soundtracks and numerous video games. Dragon Ball has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Since its release, Dragon
Ball has become one of the most successful manga
and anime series of all time, with the manga sold in over 40 countries and the anime broadcast in more than 80 countries. Also, It is widely regarded as
one of the greatest and most influential manga series ever made, with many manga artists citing Dragon Ball as a source of inspiration for their own now-popular
works. The anime, particularly Dragon Ball Z, is also highly popular around the world and is
considered one of the most influential in boosting the popularity of Japanese
animation in Western culture.
