Shōnen Jump has long since made a name for itself as the biggest manga magazine in the world. Not only has it consistently had the highest circulation of any manga magazine in Japan, but it’s birthed some of the most iconic manga of all time like Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach, so there’s no denying how big it is to the world of anime and manga.

Some of history’s most iconic manga came out of Shōnen Jump, but that can’t be said for every one of their works. In addition to Shōnen Jump manga that were canceled too soon, some manga, even when they do get a chance to tell their stories properly, never leave much of an impact on people, so whatever the case, plenty of great Shōnen Jump manga were unceremoniously forgotten due to how little impact they left during or after their runs. A few manga like that especially stand out, and each one is worth highlighting.

10 Enigma

Created By Kenji Sakaki; Serialized September 2010-December 2011

Kenji Sakaki’s Enigma stars Sumio Haiba, a boy with a mysterious power to record the future in his journal whenever he falls asleep. One night, Sumio and six other people with their own supernatural abilities are trapped inside a shadowy world by a mysterious figure named Enigma, and they all must come together to escape and uncover the truth behind their captor’s identity.

Enigma’s focus on horror elements, mind games, and the use of superpowers outside of fighting made it come off as a breath of fresh air among the usual slew of shonen manga, but its unsatisfying answer to the central mystery and poor follow-up to the first arc resulted in its ultimate decline. In recent years, unconventional shonen manga like Dr. Stone, The Promised Neverland, and Akane-banashi have found success, so it could be that part of Enigma’s failure stems from it unfortunately coming out far too early.

9 Beelzebub

Created By Ryuhei Tamura; Serialized February 2009-February 2014

Ryuhei Tamura’s Beelzebub opens with notorious delinquent Tatsumi Oga finding a baby after accidentally splitting a man in half. That baby turned out to be Beelzebub, the prince of the demon realm, and after imprinting on Oga due to his strength, it falls on Oga to raise him and protect him from threats both human and demon alike.

Thanks to its great art and how well it balanced comedy and action, Beelzebub was fairly popular during the 2010s, but unfortunately, the cancellation of Beelzebub’s anime, in addition to the rushed pacing of its final arc, led to it falling into obscurity in the decade following its finale. Ryuhei Tamura has found varying degrees of success with future projects like Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin and Cosmos, but anyone who wants to see more of what makes him so good should certainly give Beelzebub a chance.

8 Time Paradox Ghostwriter

Created By Kenji Ichima & Tsunehiro Date; Serialized May 2020-August 2020

In Kenji Ichima and Tsunehiro Date’s Time Paradox Ghostwriter, just as struggling mangaka Teppei Sasaki prepares to give up on his dreams, a lightning storm causes his microwave to spit out issues of Shonen Jump from 10 years into the future. Those issues feature a new manga called White Knight, the greatest manga Teppei had ever seen, and Teppei, desperate to make a name for himself, decides to take White Knight and make it his own story.

While Time Paradox Ghostwriter had a wholly unique premise that combined science fiction with the struggles of imposter syndrome, it was only in the West that it found success. In Japan, the elements of plagiarism made Time Paradox Ghostwriter widely unpopular and it was canceled after two volumes, one of the shortest runs for a Shonen Jump manga, so there was no chance for the story to truly capitalize on its engaging premise.

7 Nura: Rise Of The Yokai Clan

Created By Hiroshi Shiibashi; Serialized March 2008-December 2012

Hiroshi Shiibashi’s Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan stars Rikuo Nura, the grandson of the legendary yokai Nurarihyon and heir to the Nura Clan. While mostly human, Rikuo’s yokai blood becomes active at night and turns him into a powerful yokai, and while Rikuo initially wants to live a normal life, he soon has to embrace his heritage to create a world where humans and yokai can finally live in peace.

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan’s strong art and character writing made it one of the best Shonen Jump manga to read in the 2010s, and it still holds up well after over a decade. Manga centered around demons have only become more popular in recent years thanks to stories like Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and sure enough, Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan should have all the same appeal as those manga and others.

6 Baoh

Created By Hirohiko Araki; Serialized October 1984-February 1985

In Hirohiko Araki’s Baoh, Ikuro Hashizawa was a normal boy before he was taken prisoner by the villainous Dress Organization and turned into the powerful bioweapon Baoh. Ikuro escapes Dress with help from Sumire, a young girl with psychic powers, and the two must work together to survive and fight off Dress’ attempts at taking them back.

Baoh was never much of a success, especially not in the United States, but with its stylish fight scenes and great use of gore, Baoh does a great job of capturing all the elements that helped JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure become such an iconic series, even if it’s a lot rougher in execution. Baoh laid a lot of the groundwork for Hirohiko Araki’s future career, so it would be great to see a revival for it, whether that be in manga or animation.

5 Reborn!

Created By Akira Amano; Serialized May 2004-November 2012

In Akira Amano’s Reborn!, the weak-willed and clumsy Tsunayoshi “Tsuna” Sawada sees his life change when he meets Reborn, an infant hitman working for Italy’s notorious Vongola crime family. Tsuna, a distant descendant of the founder, is set to become the next head of the family with Reborn’s training, and despite his protests, Tsuna always finds himself dragged along with Reborn and the insane trials he puts him and his friends through, even as they take a turn for the supernatural.

The pacing of its last few arcs led to Reborn! being largely ignored in recent years, but even so, Reborn!’s great artwork and engaging cast make it one of the best action manga to come out of Shonen Jump in the past 20 years. The way Reborn! fell off in popularity is unfortunate, but anyone looking for a unique action series would be remiss to it up.

4 Medaka Box

Created By Nisio Isin & Akira Akatsuki; Serialized May 2009-April 2013

Nisio Isin and Akira Akatsuki’s Medaka Box stars Medaka Kurokami, the charismatic student council president of Hakoniwa Academy who’s vowed to solve everyone’s problems through her new suggestion box. Solving everyone’s problems is more complicated than it seems, though, especially when the problems gradually escalate into superpowered conflicts that leave Medaka as the only person who can save the world, more often than not.

Medaka Box was the first full-length manga of Bakemonogatari creator Nisio Isin, and as is always the case with his work, Medaka Box always does a great job of being a goofy series with witty and lengthy dialogue that rewards people for paying attention, and oftentimes, it comes off as a love letter to shonen manga, more than anything. It’s one of Isin’s most clever works, and anyone who’s a fan of his should give either the anime or the manga a try.

3 Sket Dance

Created By Kenta Shinohara; Serialized July 2007-July 2013

Kenta Shinohara’s Sket Dance is a comedy series centered around the Sket Dan, a trio of high schoolers who dedicate their time to assisting people with their problems, no matter how big or small they may be. The trio of Bossun, Himeko, and Switch always have eccentric ways of dealing with problems, but even with that, they’re often the normal ones in a school filled to the brim with bizarre characters.

Between its hilarious parody stylings and occasional moments of genuine heart and drama, Sket Dance was one of the best slice-of-life stories to come out of Shonen Jump, and it’s maintained a notable cult following in the decade since its finale. Kenta Shinohara has followed Sket Dance with the back-to-back success of Astra Lost in Space and Shonen Jump's underrated manga Witch Watch, and anyone who’s a fan of those works will find plenty to love in Sket Dance.

2 Toriko

Created By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro; Serialized May 2008-November 2016

Mitsutoshi Shimabukoro’s Toriko takes place in a world filled with fantastical and dangerous monsters and locales that can be made into the most delicious food in the world. The ones in charge of doing so are the legendary Gourmet Hunters, and one of the most famous of them is the titular Toriko, who searches the world for the most delicious ingredients for his full-course menu, all while dealing with the various evildoers who would want to take them for themselves.

Toriko’s muscular character designs, intense action, and vibrant and creative monster and location designs make it a perfect love letter to classic Shonen Jump stories, and with how detailed the power system and worldbuilding get, it ends up with plenty of original flair to balance things out, as well. Toriko might not have the same prestige as some of Shonen Jump’s bigger hits, but it’s still plenty worth reading, nonetheless.

1 Psyren

Created By Toshiaki Iwashiro; Serialized December 2007-November 2010

In Toshiaki Iwashiro’s Psyren, after finding a mysterious phone card, Ageha Yoshina finds himself transported to the world of Psyren, an apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by violent monsters called Taboo. Ageha and his friends can move between Psyren and their world after completing certain tasks, and it’s through their adventures that Ageha and everyone else awaken to psychic abilities and slowly uncover the truth about Psyren.

While Psyren was unceremoniously canceled after three years, Psyren’s unique power system and engaging sci-fi mystery helped make it one of the biggest cult hits in Shonen Jump history, and almost 15 years following its ending, it’s popular enough for people to want an anime according to AnimeJapan 2024. Even now, there are few manga that have ever worked as well as Psyren, and that makes it the best forgotten Shonen Jump manga that deserves a second chance.

Source: Anime News Network.