The Best Shonen Manga That Ended in the Last 10 Years, Ranked

Shonen manga is incredibly popular, with well-known series like Dragon Ball, Naruto, and One Piece captivating audiences worldwide. While One Piece has been running for a remarkably long time, it’s easy to overlook the fact that most other manga series, even successful ones, don’t have such a long lifespan.

The world of shonen manga has seen a lot of shifts in the past ten years. Many fantastic series have finished their run after years of exciting stories. Here are some of the best shonen manga that concluded in the last decade.

Call of the Night

Ko Yamori, feeling lost and unhappy, begins taking nighttime walks and unexpectedly meets Nazuna Nanakusa, a vampire. He’s fascinated by her life and wants to become a vampire too, but there’s a catch: he can only transform if someone he truly cares about bites him.

I found the premise of Call of the Night really intriguing – it felt like a classic shonen rom-com with a supernatural twist. It ran for almost five years and built a dedicated fanbase thanks to its charming characters and enjoyable story. However, I’ve heard the ending wasn’t for everyone; some people felt that after 200 chapters, the story didn’t quite deliver the satisfying conclusion they were hoping for.

Nisekoi: False Love

I was a huge fan of Nisekoi when it was running in Weekly Shonen Jump! It totally reminded me of all those classic rom-coms from the magazine, like Kimagure Orange Road, Video Girl Ai, Ichigo 100%, and To Love-Ru – it really felt like it belonged with those greats.

Nisekoi centers around Raku Ichijou, the son of a Yakuza boss, who’s forced into a fake relationship with the daughter of a rival gang to prevent a war. Years earlier, Raku promised to marry a childhood friend, but he’s forgotten who she is. He hopes to rediscover her using a locked pendant as a clue. To complicate matters, Raku and his fake girlfriend, Chitoge, dislike each other, and Chitoge isn’t the only girl who might hold the key to his pendant. The series follows Raku’s relationships with several heroines while also presenting a mystery for viewers to solve. However, some viewers found the ending predictable and weren’t completely satisfied with how the story concluded.

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

Food Wars! is a thrilling cooking manga known for its incredibly competitive atmosphere. It follows Soma Yukihira, a talented young chef whose father closes their family restaurant to pursue a new career. Soma then attends the prestigious Totsuki Culinary Academy, where students improve their skills by battling each other in intense cooking duels. Driven to become even better than his already world-class chef father, Soma strives to defeat the academy’s top culinary students.

I really enjoyed watching Food Wars! – the food they create is unbelievably detailed and makes you feel hungry with every page. The manga lasted a long time, 318 chapters in total, but I heard from some fans that the ending felt a bit hurried. Others, particularly those hoping for more focus on the romantic relationships, were a little let down by how things wrapped up.

Noragami: Stray God

Many anime fans consider Noragami a hidden gem of the 2010s and have been hoping for a third season for over a decade. While a new anime hasn’t happened, the original manga series recently concluded in 2024, finishing the story of Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine.

Many popular, long-running action manga, or shonen, often leave fans disappointed with their endings, but it appears Noragami successfully avoided that fate. After nearly 15 years, the creators, Adachitoka, delivered a satisfying conclusion that fans seem to appreciate and remember fondly.

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Bleach

During its peak, Bleach was one of the three most popular manga in Weekly Shonen Jump, and remains one of the most well-known manga of the 21st century. Creator Tite Kubo’s distinctive art style and design make Bleach visually striking and helped create some of the most memorable scenes of the 2000s.

The ending of Bleach felt hurried, possibly due to the author’s health. While it had some good moments, many fans agree it didn’t quite stick the landing. Luckily, the Thousand Year Blood War anime adaptation is going well, and hopefully it will expand on the finale, giving the series the satisfying conclusion it deserves.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Demon Slayer stands out among popular manga published in Jump. The anime adaptation by Ufotable has become incredibly popular, with the Infinity Castle movie achieving record-breaking success and receiving high praise for its stunning animation and compelling story. Interestingly, while the anime continues to thrive, the original manga concluded five years ago.

The Demon Slayer manga finished before the anime became hugely popular. Chapter 205 was released several months before the very successful Mugen Train movie. Because of this, readers of the manga already knew how Tanjiro and Nezuko’s story would end. While the manga’s ending wasn’t poorly received, some found it a bit rushed. Overall, it provided a satisfying conclusion that many are eager to see adapted into animation.

Gintama

Although not one of Shonen Jump’s biggest hits, Gintama was a hugely popular manga from the 2000s. What set it apart was its unique blend of silly, over-the-top humor with surprisingly heartfelt and well-developed characters and storylines.

Before ending in 2019, Gintama shifted between different publications, including Weekly Shonen Jump, Jump Giga, and a dedicated app. Unlike many other popular series, fans were generally happy with how Gintama wrapped up.

My Hero Academia

As a huge fan, I can tell you that when a show like My Hero Academia takes off the way it did, everyone has an opinion! It really became one of the biggest anime and manga series of the 2010s, and I think a big part of its success was how much we all rooted for Izuku Midoriya, the main character, and how great all his friends and classmates were.

As a long-time fan, the ending of My Hero Academia really sparked a lot of debate! It seems like people are pretty divided. Some of us were disappointed with how Deku’s journey wrapped up, feeling like it didn’t quite deliver on all the potential the story had built up. But others were actually pretty happy with how Kohei Horikoshi handled Deku’s life as a hero after that huge final war. It’s definitely been a talking point!

Jujutsu Kaisen

Even though the original manga has finished, Jujutsu Kaisen remains incredibly popular, especially with the ongoing spin-off/sequel, Modulo, being published in Weekly Shonen Jump. Like My Hero Academia, which also ended this year, the series finale had some common issues seen in many action-focused manga. It was a tough year for fans of both series and for Jump as a publisher.

The complaints about how Jujutsu Kaisen ended are pretty common – many other popular manga have faced similar criticism. Fans often feel the endings are rushed, some characters don’t get enough focus, and certain plot points just don’t deliver. It’s unclear why so many popular action manga (especially those published in Weekly Shonen Jump) have endings that divide fans. Maybe expectations get so high that it’s impossible for the author to satisfy everyone. Or perhaps the pressure to constantly create new content leaves the authors exhausted by the time they reach the end of the story.

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan became incredibly popular, reaching a level most manga only dream of. Creator Hajime Isayama crafted a compelling, though often dark, story filled with characters that fans deeply cared about. The series was known for its willingness to kill off characters and subject them to tragedy, which, combined with its detailed world and surprising plot twists, kept readers hooked on the fate of Eren, Armin, Mikasa, and everyone else in the story, especially the people of Paradis Island.

The ending of the manga was incredibly divisive, sparking a lot of debate among fans. The author, Isayama, took some bold risks with the story and characters, and while some people admired his choices, others didn’t connect with them. Even now, discussions about the finale are still quite passionate. Although some dedicated fans were disappointed, the fact that people are still talking about it proves that Isayama ultimately delivered a memorable conclusion to the series.

2026-02-06 02:11