Will there be a new Big Three?

Ian Wolf

Ian Wolf

Godhand
AUKN Staff
Many people claim that One Piece, Bleach and Naruto are the "Big Three" anime, but given that Naruto has now ended and Bleach is nearing its end, does anyone else think there are any other series at the moment that will become a new Big Three?
 
I don't really understand the point of the 'big three' since Bleach is a long way from ever having been relevant in such a ranking.

Anyway, Gintama's imminent return will let it rise up to the top and do battle with One Piece once again!

I also feel that Haikyuu!! would deserve a rank in a world based on reality rather than what an arbitrary selection of western fans like. It's a shame sports titles don't get to qualify.

R
 
Fairy Tail perhaps. Aside from that, Blue Exocist and Seraph of the End don't really work as they're monthly. World Trigger maybe - but I doubt it.
 
Definitely to Hunter x Hunter if it comes back - I always think it was such a shame it went on hiatus as it had just got to a really good bit and was clearly setting up for some major developments.

I suppose the usual example wheeled out is Toriko - but that almost seems like a joke in itself, ie. the series that was created almost to become the next Naruto, but then never really did. Still, it keeps chugging away.

Part of me says we won't see another Naruto style phenomenon for a while - even Attack on Titan fever feels like it's finally starting to die down a little now (until the second season, that is). I kind of feel like that kind of gateway anime exists in a different shape and form now - the people that used to get into anime via Naruto/Bleach are getting in via Sword Art Online/Attack on Titan now.

A lot of people are talking about Yokai Watch finally make its big move on the West this year - I suppose if it plays its cards right it could easily become the next Pokemon/Yu Gi Oh, but who knows.
 
Let's see

Naruto....ninjas done
Bleach ....samurai nearing its end.
One piece....still going

For replacements

Fairy tale
Case closed

Bleach will end soon soooo these two can fill those gaps
 
Lutga said:
Fairy Tail perhaps. Aside from that, Blue Exocist and Seraph of the End don't really work as they're monthly. World Trigger maybe - but I doubt it.
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I was thinking about those ones. Fairy Tail is not a Shonen Jump title so some people might be a bit critical of adding that series to the big three. Also, you probably need a title that goes out weekly. I have been considering World Trigger, especially considering as that series will be at least 50 episodes long.

There is also Assassination Classroom, but as that title is region blocked in the UK, it is hard to judge.
 
The trouble with World Trigger is that the anime - as far as I've seen so far - has been absolutely blasted to pieces in terms of critical reception; I certainly haven't seen many people in the UK anime community offering it much praise. That said, the manga went through a real bad patch where it was very dull/poor quality for quite some time before finally getting good, so maybe the latter episodes of the anime will bear that out too.

I think Seraph could get a lot bigger though when the anime version hits - it's done by the chaps who produced Attack on Titan, so there's clearly some pedigree there, and it looks pretty good from what the trailers have shown so far.
 
Lutga said:
The trouble with World Trigger is that the anime - as far as I've seen so far - has been absolutely blasted to pieces in terms of critical reception; I certainly haven't seen many people in the UK anime community offering it much praise. That said, the manga went through a real bad patch where it was very dull/poor quality for quite some time before finally getting good, so maybe the latter episodes of the anime will bear that out too.
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I've been watching it recently. For me, the quality of the animation seemed to dip at some points, but I like the premise and characters. Many series have good and bad patches. It just depends on whether people are willing to go through the bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff.
 
One would assume as the big 3 title originated from them being the 3 biggest and most popular Manga in Shounen Jump it'd be titles from that that inherit the Crown.

I'd say however that it might not come around again, One Piece is still strong, Bleach and Naruto have both declined. You'd need a couple of them to be or get Mega huge to join One Piece as the new big 3, but I honestly don't see that title sticking.
 
This is definitely something I've been thinking about while reading Weekly Shonen Jump; I think the magazine is definitely struggling to find something to replace the juggernaut that was Naruto. There was definitely talk about Toriko having the potential to take Bleach's slot but ultimately, that didn't take off (and I think FUNimation noted that the sales of their anime releases were below expectations). I've also noticed that a lot of series' in the magazine have been brought to rather premature ends lately, such as Stealth Symphony, Hi-Fi Cluster and E-Robot.

I think that if the manga stuck to the main story a bit more instead of going off on tangent chapters, Nisekoi would easily have the potential. I'm not sure how well the collected volumes are selling in Japan, but they often rank in the New York Times manga bestseller lists, the anime was pretty popular and its merchandise appears to be selling pretty well (I was lucky to nab pre-orders for the Onodera, Tsugumi and Tachibana nendoroids on AmiAmi before they closed and am still kicking myself about missing Chitoge).

Another possibility could be Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma. I'm not sure how well the volumes have been selling in Japan, but that series often appears in the U.S. charts too. Also, while it's an older series and has been in Ultra Jump since 2004, the recent television anime adaptations have given JoJo's Bizarre Adventure a pretty big boost at least in the west, with pre-orders for its print volumes ranking pretty well on Amazon and its games even being localised for release here.

In regards to Seraph of the End, I've been reading the manga since its serialisation in Weekly Shonen Jump started and to be honest, I've found it to be incredibly generic (which isn't helped by vampires being generic anyway).

Lutga said:
A lot of people are talking about Yokai Watch finally make its big move on the West this year - I suppose if it plays its cards right it could easily become the next Pokemon/Yu Gi Oh, but who knows.
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I am definitely keeping a close eye on Yo-Kai Watch (both from a video game and anime standpoint) but I am admittedly curious as to whether it having a more Japanese flavour than the relatively international Pokémon could inhibit its success overseas or not.
 
Yeah, I'm kind of shocked at how many start-up series have been dropped by Shonen Jump recently - Imagine it happens a lot to manga authors, but feels pretty harsh - they sure don't get much of a chance! All of the three you mentioned were strong series and definitely felt like they had legs to go further.

I wonder if digital subscriptions for the mag have dropped much since Naruto finished?

I agree on Nisekoi - it's really racking up the chapters and the collected volumes seem to sell very well indeed.

I really like Seraph, but the pacing is very slow - I'm not sure how the anime will manage to get around that, as especially with the monthly releases, it feels like it's barely moved forward in ages. I think the characterisation and art is pretty strong in that series though - it'll lend itself to the anime medium well.
 
Lutga said:
Yeah, I'm kind of shocked at how many start-up series have been dropped by Shonen Jump recently - Imagine it happens a lot to manga authors, but feels pretty harsh - they sure don't get much of a chance! All of the three you mentioned were strong series and definitely felt like they had legs to go further.

I wonder if digital subscriptions for the mag have dropped much since Naruto finished?
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The English edition has recently had a price increase too (albeit a small one). I haven't renewed by subscription since the slight increase (mainly because I haven't been bothered to).

I think the problem with a lot of the JUMP Start series' is that I found that a lot of them just didn't click with me to begin with. By the time Stealth Symphony and Hi-Fi Cluster seemed to be gaining a firm footing, I imagine it was already too late. I did love the preview chapters of E-Robot though and actually wanted to read more, so it's a shame Gakkyu Hotei: School Judgement won that particular round (although I wouldn't be surprised if that's the next one to be axed).

I agree on Nisekoi - it's really racking up the chapters and the collected volumes seem to sell very well indeed.
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And SHAFT's anime adaptation is doing pretty well, with a second season beginning in April.

I really like Seraph, but the pacing is very slow - I'm not sure how the anime will manage to get around that, as especially with the monthly releases, it feels like it's barely moved forward in ages. I think the characterisation and art is pretty strong in that series though - it'll lend itself to the anime medium well.
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Shame it's about vampires though. Can't get any more generic than vampires.
 
Good mention on Food Wars too - I gather it sells well too, although part of me thinks that's just because of the ecchi shots it has in it. It annoys me the Shonen Jump didn't start from the beginning though, but I guess there were too many chapters for them to catch up with.

Here's the Seraph trailer for anyone interested btw - it looks pretty glossy for a Shonen series:

 
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The "big three" were always the big three of shounen jump's weekly series rankings. Nothing to do with anime or even manga as a whole (or even sales of shounen jump manga). As I don't pay attention to the series rankings (and care little for shounen jump) then I'm not really in a position to answer this, other than to say that there's no real reason why there should be three things at the top - it's not some kind of natural state that things will automatically revert to.
 
Lutga said:
Good mention on Food Wars too - I gather it sells well too, although part of me thinks that's just because of the ecchi shots it has in it. It annoys me the Shonen Jump didn't start from the beginning though, but I guess there were too many chapters for them to catch up with.

Here's the Seraph trailer for anyone interested btw - it looks pretty glossy for a Shonen series:

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The fact it's not in JUMP seems to have helped it grab a competent studio to adapt it, unlike the trouble World Trigger has had. :P

In terms of a big three it's definitely difficult to pick out another two series beyond One Piece. World Trigger is really good and the manga will likely survive a long time, but overall the series is too wordy and can't hold up the same momentum that series like Naruto and Bleach do so it's never going to be big enough for the big three. The anime not being great hasn't helped.

Food Wars probably has the most potential right now as people seem to have really taken to it and heck, I have no interest in cooking whatsoever but I've grown really fond of the series! Really it comes down to what the series has left to do after the school setting, it's future at that point will depend on where it goes I would have said.

I'd like to say Nisekoi could take a place but honestly I think the series is going to finish up in the next year or two. It feels like it's drawing to a close and if the author didn't keep going off on some side-story like things then we'd probably be done already. xD

None of the new series really have it in them either. I like My Hero Academia but not sure how long it'll last, and Cyborg Roggy, Black Clover and Kagamigami don't feel like they have the guts to really go anywhere - Much like Hi-Fi Cluster and the other series which got cut painfully short. I hope Gakkyu Hotei has a solid future at least for awhile as I've been really enjoying it. Stealth Symphony aside Gakkyu has been my favourite of the new series they've given us.

I do agree with what others have said regarding Assassination Classroom becoming one of the big three, but the fact we have no legal access to the latest chapters and the fact the anime doesn't seem to have taken the right direction with it, it'll be interesting to see what happens to it.
 
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I have to agree with kuuderes_shadow about it not being necessarily natural to have a 'big three' situation.

What are the actual criteria people are using for 'big three'? It seems to vary on a post-by-post basis in this thread. Some people are picking out popular US/UK titles, others are basing it on anime adaptations, some are sticking to the action genre, some are more flexible about which magazines can be used as the source and others are looking to Japan - except in Japan the 'big three' were never a 'big three' to begin with (note the titles Shounen Jump in Japan actually believes are most worth promoting right now: http://www.namco.co.jp/tp/j-world/ ). It's very confusing :s

R
 
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