Wow, 2025 was a tough year for Weekly Shonen Jump! As a huge fan, it was a little worrying to see over ten series get cancelled. It really got people talking about whether the magazine would launch another massive hit. I mean, Shonen Jump is legendary – it’s given us Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, and so many other amazing manga! It’s still the best, hands down. But lately, I’ve noticed a trend where series seem to be shorter and move much faster. It’s different from the decade-long epics we used to get, and it definitely feels like things are changing.
This year, most new manga releases haven’t resonated strongly with fans, with the exception of Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo. However, Modulo, a continuation of the original Jujutsu Kaisen created by Gege Akutami and illustrated by Yuji Iwasaki, is planned to be a brief series, ending around spring of next year with only three volumes. Looking at newer manga from the past two years in Weekly Shonen Jump, none have achieved the same level of popularity as Kagurabachi and Ichi the Witch. In fact, Weekly Shonen Jump is planning to feature both of these series prominently when the first issue of 2026 is released.
Weekly Shonen Jump Welcomes 2026 With a New Kagurabachi and Ichi the Witch Cover
The magazine’s first issue came out in Japan on December 1st, 2025. At the same time, new chapters were released on the official Manga Plus and Shonen Jump apps. The cover featured a special collaboration artwork for the two incredibly popular series. It’s unusual to see two series share a magazine cover, and it hasn’t happened often in recent decades. However, Shueisha chose to highlight these two manga at the start of the 2026 issues, demonstrating just how much fans love them.
Because the magazine isn’t available worldwide, the official Shonen Jump account on X shared it with fans and announced the latest chapters. Plus, publisher Shueisha has started a promotion called Ichikabachika, featured in the first issue. As reported by Comic Natalie, from December 1st to 26th, the first 18 chapters of both series will be free to read in Japan each day between 6 PM and 9 PM JST. There are also special deals and merchandise collaborations with various companies to help promote the series.
Takeru Hokazono’s manga, Kagurabachi, launched in September 2023 and has quickly become incredibly popular, with over three million copies now in circulation and the numbers continuing to grow rapidly. Meanwhile, Ichi the Witch, a fantasy manga by Osamu Nishi with art by Shiro Usazaki, debuted a year later and became an instant global success. Despite being available only in Japanese, it has already reached over one million copies in circulation.
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2025-12-02 02:41