Shōnen Jump is the magazine with the most readership and popularity in Japan, in which only a few mangas manage to make a big impact, while those that don't are axed quickly regardless of the potential of their stories. Although some popular titles have experienced a sort of subtle cancellation once they lose some of their initial drive, being forced to a rushed final arc and ending like Hitman Reborn! or Beelzebub, other mangas haven’t even had time to take off by not having the expected results, with the publisher deciding not to continue with the serialization.

In recent years, it has been expected for works in Shōnen Jump to succeed from the beginning, so mangas that require more chapters to establish their story are often relegated and cut short. Whether due to a period of low readership, problems among mangakas, low volume sales, readings in the official app, their position in the weekly polls, or to give space for a more promising work, these mangas had incredible potential but were canceled without allowing them to finish their story in the way they intended.

10 Tenmaku Cinema

Manga By Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki and Yuki Morisaki; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump April 2023-September 2023

The creators of the popular Food Wars manga, Shun Saeki and Yuuto Tsukuda, decided to start Tenmaku Cinema a couple of years after wrapping up Souma's story, which was compiled in 32 volumes and adapted into anime. With the same incredible art that characterized Food Wars, as well as references to real films, showing another perspective on the world of cinema and everything that goes into creating an amateur film, Tenmaku Cinema could have been the next Hikaru no Go.

Sadly, the manga lacks conflict that would keep readers invested and focuses too much on the technical aspects of filmmaking. Despite being from veteran authors, the Jump executives didn't let go of the low sales of the first volume and its bottom spot in the ToC ranking, being canceled before the release of the second volume. However, the series could have grabbed readers' attention if it had only introduced a rival or given more impact to the characters to make them easier to in the long term.

9 Green Green Greens

Manga By Kento Terasaka; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump November 2023-June 2024

After his previous sports series about rugby, Beast Children, didn't have the success or reception he was looking for, Kento Terasaka went on to create Green Green Greens, a unique take on golf which is a sport that hasn't been explored as much in the anime and manga medium. With well-constructed character relationships and art that exalted the beauty of finding one's ion, making golf look inspiring, Green Green Greens had everything to be a hit sports series like Hikaru no Go or Blue Box.

Unfortunately, Green Green Greens was targeting a different demographic, as its story leans towards slow character growth instead of focusing on thrilling competition like the major sports hits in Jump, and without fantasy touches or unique abilities that border on superpowers. This way, not even a recommendation from the author of The Basketball Which Kuroko Plays was able to raise the sales of the manga, and it was canceled with only 26 chapters.

8 The Hunter’s Guild: Red Hood

Manga By Yuki Kawaguchi; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump June 2021-November 2021

A complete reinvention of the classic tale The Hunter's Guild: Red Hood took the characters from the Brothers Grimm's story and swapped their roles. The manga had a strong introduction, with a striking character design, prodigious art style and an interesting premise. However, although the manga seems promising, as the chapters progressed its momentum started to fade with an excessively slow pacing, starting with the exam arc which introduces many characters at once.

The Hunter's Guild: Red Hood had trouble presenting its story, including a lot of content that could overwhelm readers. However, it still manages to gain a fanbase and an English print release, which denotes the manga's potential. Moreover, if it had had time to find its footing by showcasing the characters going on different missions and featuring more fights, The Hunter's Guild: Red Hood could have been a great adventure series due to its originality, characters and amazing world-building.

7 PPPPPP

Manga By Mapollo 3-gou; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump September 2021-February 2023

PPPPPP is a manga that proposed something different to Shonen Jump, following Lucky's musical journey. In the manga, despite readers not being able to listen to the musical pieces due to the medium's limitations, they come to life represented through fantasies and visions thanks to the mesmerizing art of Mapollo 3. The series also has a strong presence of elements of drama and comedy, showing the relationships and internal struggles of the characters.

Additionally, PPPPPP showcases deep themes such as discrimination and the pressure of expectations. Yet, as Shōnen Jump didn't favor the type of story of PPPPPP, the manga was ultimately canceled due to its low ranking in the popularity polls, despite its decent sales and being recommended by the renowned singer Ado. This made PPPPP's ending abrupt and tragic, leaving fans disappointed and wishing the author would have been given enough time to explore Lucky's character in the way they originally envisioned.

6 Ayashimon

Manga By Yuji Kaku; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump November 2021-May 2022

Although the mix between monsters and Yakuzas is quite interesting, in addition to a protagonist whose identity is based on seeking to fight the strongest (like Saitama from One-Punch Man), Ayashimon focused too much on being the typical supernatural battle shōnen. From the same author of Hell's Paradise, Yuji Kaku, Ayashimon was criticized for having a lot of influence from other mangas and following the tropes of shōnen without contributing anything new to the genre.

Even though it featured dynamic fights elevated by unique art, hilarious moments, interesting rivals, and well-designed and notable characters, sadly, the magazine has more expectations towards veteran authors. Ayashimon had more story to show, but Kaku failed to draw more attention and the series over time lost interest from Japanese readers and didn't have the necessary time to develop its plot.

5 MamaYuyu

Manga By Yoshihiko Hayashi; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump August 2023-September 2024

MamaYuyu promised to be one of the magazine's big titles but was abruptly discontinued. In MamaYuyu, the world has lived an eternal cycle where heroes and demons are destined to fight again and again, but in the current era, the conflict has ended. However, this peace is threatened by the arrival of a mysterious visitor from another universe.

Despite the recognition that MamaYuyu had received from well-known authors of popular mangas, Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, the lack of readers' interest ended up sealing its unfortunate fate. MamaYuyu had been accumulating quite bad results for weeks in Weekly Shōnen Jump's ToC, and although it had an interesting story, it did not offer anything new for the magazine, which was looking for a new hit due to the loss of its biggest hits that were in the final stretch.

4 Act-Age

Manga By Tatsuya Matsuki and Shiro Usazaki; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump January 2018-August 2020

Act-Age was a shōnen manga that slowly started to gain a ionate fan base and followed the journey of an aspiring actress, Kei Yonag. Unlike other canceled series in WSJ due to poor sales, Act-Age was a hit manga with millions of copies sold worldwide and even rumors of a possible anime adaptation. However, Act-Age was canceled after its writer was accused and subsequently convicted of serious harassment charges.

Although the artist, Shiro Usazaki, was given the option to continue, she opted to stop the serialization as the manga's reputation was already tarnished. Luckily, Usazaki's following work, Ichi the Witch, is on the way to becoming an even bigger success than Act-Age. Although bittersweet, the cancellation of Act-Age highlights how events beyond the artist's control can also impact a promising work in the manga industry, putting on hold the possibility of seeing the ending of Kei Yonagi's story, which left fans just with their imagination of what the story could have been.

3 Psyren

Manga By Toshiaki Iwashiro; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump November 2007-November 2010

Psyren is a manga that develops time travel and problems caused by paradoxes, cleverly using them as a way to advance the story. With exciting combats in which the skills of the protagonists and their enemies gave them variety and spectacularity, Psyren gained a spot on WSJ for three years before its cancellation.

Sadly, Psyren never enjoyed the excessive approval of Japanese readers, with average sales of 90,000 copies, which is a small number compared to other series of its generation, such as Bakuman, or Toriko. It also had a very irregular popularity in the weekly ToC ranking in WSJ. Thankfully, although the final arc was fairly fast-paced with rushed fights, its ending didn't feel as forced as with other canceled manga. However, Psyren was an entertaining shonen that could have followed the path of other long-lasting series of the magazine.

2 Black Torch

Manga By Tsuyoshi Takaki; Serialized In Weekly Jump SQ December 2016-July 2018

Black Torch stands out as a short but impactful manga full of action, charismatic and funny characters and a mythology rich in elements of Japanese folklore. The manga had incredible character design with detailed drawings, especially the mononoke and during the battle sequences. However, in 2018, its serialization was transferred to the Shônen Jump+ ending that same year and compiled into only 5 volumes which later received an English print release.

This rushed ending left Black Torch's story with many loose ends. The most interesting part is a popular belief among fans that Black Torch wasn't canceled by the Jump executives, but the decision came from the author himself, who wanted to focus on his new series, Heart Gear, which ended in 2024. Because of this, the manga had an untapped potential, which was recognized by 100studio, which is currently working on an Black Torch's anime adaptation.

1 Baoh

Manga By Hirohiko Araki; Serialized In Weekly Shōnen Jump+ October 1984-February 1985

From the genius author Hirohiko Araki, Baoh only has 9 chapters. With gore and body horror scenes, the manga focuses on Ikurou Hashizawa, who is infused with a parasite that gives him powers and escapes from a laboratory of an evil organization with a psychic girl named Sumire. Though it has the charm of a classic series, Baoh is over-the-top and exaggerated for a horror manga, and its premise was generic when compared to other mangas of the time, like Dragon Ball, which was released a month later.

But even if its cancellation isn't as weird, the manga is an entertaining read that could have gone for more than two volumes. Furthermore, its cancellation was for good, as just two years later, Araki would create the worldwide recognized manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. This way, readers can now appreciate in retrospect how Baoh shares a similar feeling and visual style that will later shape the Joestar Family. Moreover, as Araki later found popularity with Jojo's, Baoh was adapted into an OVA by Studio Pierrot and Toho.