One of the reasons I decided to start a weekly summary and ranking of the series in WSJ was because I thought it would be fun to run useless stats on the ‘data’. I started with Issue 18 which gives a total of 31 issues. Based on a scoring system of 1st place = 3pts, 2nd place = 2 pts and 3rd place = 1 pt, I am now able to numerically identify my favourite series of 2022 😋 Not that it was really all that necessary this year, the winner was obvious before even running any calculations.

But before I get to the rankings, some miscellaneous comments:

• While it didn’t rank very high, I am very much enjoying One Piece a lot more since the Wano arc ended.
• Black Clover is solid fun. I don’t, and have never, been able to remember who is who, but it’s still an enjoyable mindless weekly read.
• Mashle is acceptably silly, but when it turns the silly dial to 11 it hits the funny bone HARD
• The Elusive Samurai is amazingly consistent in quality. It feels more entertaining-despite-being-educational than outright entertaining so it didn’t get that many points. But the highs are super high. I will be buying this series for sure.
• At some point Me & Roboco just stopped being funny. I would blame the anime announcement but I feel like it was going downhill before this. But it’s definitely become insufferable since the anime was confirmed.
• My Hero Academia (I lost interest in this about 2 years ago), Mission Yozakura (it’s fine), Undead Unluck (actually have been enjoying it since Fuuko took over as leader), High School Family (it’s ok) and Tokyo Demon Bride (not really feeling it) didn’t get any points.
• The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins managed to rank once (3rd) in it’s three chapters. Cipher Academy and Ichigoki’s Under Control! didn’t really make enough of a splash on debut to get any points, but I don’t think I usually award first chapters a ranking in general. I guess Taizan5 has enough of a rep from Takopi’s Original Sin that I was kinda hyped for this one.

And in memorial:

Farewell, you are missed 😢

Dr Stone ended before I started my weekly summaries, but up until it’s conclusion, it was my favourite series in the whole magazine. Waiting for a box set collection so I can re-read it 😊

Bye, I enjoyed our time together

I might end up buying Ayashimon physical since it’s so short. Or maybe to keep it consistent with the other WSJ Graveyard series I’ll get it digitally…not sure yet. I will probably buy Aliens Area and Super Smartphone digitally at some point, especially if they aren’t going to put the epilogue chapters on Manga PLUS/Shonen Jump App. Magu-chan was fine, I quite liked the chaos gods, especially the ones introduced later on.

Wait, you existed?

I honestly forgot about this one until I went back through all my posts for the year.

Sorry, but good riddance

Shugomaru was annoying, but Earth Child was tedious. Ojou was cool though whereas everyone sucked in Earth Child so I guess I would put Earth Child at the bottom of the pile.

First Place – Witch Watch
(47 Points)

This series really hit it’s stride this year. Funny, cute and at times sweet, Witch Watch had me giggling fairly consistently each week. Here’s hoping they don’t lean too heavily into the battle side of things in 2023.

Second Place – Akane-Banashi
(26 Points)

This series on the other hand really hit the ground running. The art suits it perfectly and I love learning about rakugo. And I’m not gonna lie…Akane-Banashi fills the Act-Age hole in my WSJ heart.

Third Place – Jujutsu Kaisen
(19 Points)

2021 was the year I binge-read Jujutsu Kaisen after watching the anime. I really liked the Jump Start back in 2018 and was waiting for Viz to fill in the back-log of chapters when the anime was announced, so figured I would watch that blind, then catch-up with the manga. So 2022 was the first year I read this series simulpub. The cast has built up significantly and are now all split up, so it makes for kinda fragmented reading, but every character brings the goods so it’s been fun. Can’t say I’ve been missing Mr Narcissist much.

Useless Stats

Now for meaningless stats which are given even less gravity by the fact that I was too lazy to actually put the full name of some series. Percentage stats are relative to the length of time the series spent in the magazine (number of issues present).

• As expected, Hunter x Hunter (88%) takes out the prize for most absences, although Ruri Dragon (79%) is fairly close behind. I hope for the author’s sake that Ruri Dragon gets moved to Jump Plus, despite in all honesty, the series seeming much better suited for a weekly format. In any case, health takes precedent.
• On the topic of health, good to see that many of the run longing series being given fairly significant breaks with One Piece, Hero Aca, Black Clover and Jujutsu Kaisen all racking up 19%+
• I’m surprised at how many series had a completely uninterrupted yearly run. Mangaka are strong!
• I was expecting Witch Watch (4) to take the most gold, but that actually goes to Jujustu Kaisen (5). That would probably be Maki and Hakari pulling their weight 😋 Witch Watch actually tied with PPPPPP (4), but all of those would have been earlier in the year before the Fanta arc started, and I started getting confused about what was going on…
• Witch Watch didn’t even get the most silver, with that title going to Sakamoto Days. I definitely started feeling more invested in the series with the introduction of Akira. Witch Watch again tied with PPPPPP (5), followed by Jujutsu Kaisen (4)
• Witch Watch DID get the most bronze (11), followed by Akane-Banashi (6), then Elusive Samurai (4).
• So thanks to all the bronze, Witch Watch placed the most (42%). The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins probably isn’t representative since it’s 1 out of 3, so next on the list is Akane-Banashi (28%). Surprisingly Aliens Area and Ginka and Gluna (25%) ranked higher than Jujustu Kaisen, perhaps in part due to the breaks the latter took. Hopefully Ginka and Gluna doesn’t follow in Aliens Area’s footsteps.

Predictions

So what do I think will happen in 2023?

• Despite so many series being in their ‘final arc’ I think the only ones to actually end next year are My Hero Academia (suuuurley this final boss battle won’t take more than another year…), Mission Yozakura (even though they haven’t officially announced it entering it’s final arc), Mashle and Undead Unluck. Also maybe Highschool Family (based on the fact that they are 3rd years already).
• I think PPPPPP will get the axe, although in this case I’m hoping I’m wrong and it picks itself back up. I also think Tokyo Demon Brides will get axed.
• Ruri Dragon will get moved to Manga PLUS
• We will get 18 chapters of Hunter x Hunter (yeah I just picked a random number)
• There are quite a few gag manga, so I feel like Ichigoki’s Under Control! has slim chances… I wish Roboco would get the axe but I think it’s solidified it’s place in bottom half, kinda like Mission Yozakura where it can just kinda cruise along.
• Sakamoto Days is rumoured to be getting an anime and it’s highly likely this will come true.
• Blue Box and The Elusive Samurai will also get anime. I guess Witch Watch too then?
• Since literally every single WSJ series that has survived the axe for 2 years seems to be getting an anime, PPPPPP might also get one, once it announces it’s going into it’s final arc.
• New rom-com/harem and sports series. Hmm what sport will they tackle? Ice Hockey? (a total random stab in the dark from me)
• Posuka and the The Hunters Guild: Red Hood mangaka will debut new series (separately)
• I just checked Wikipedia and it looks like 2013 was a total bust in terms of iconic WSJ series. Except for maybe Isobe Isobē Monogatari: Ukiyo wa Tsurai yo? Hey wait, where was my Saiki 10th year anniversary stuff in 2022???

And of course the subscription fee is going up, but I’m cool with that.

Categories: Weekly Shonen Jump Impressions

Tagged as: 2022 In Review

hikaru