The people who claim Fairy Tail to be a rip off ought to shot themselves when reading D. Grayman. Even before the Oda scandal i was cringing at the obvious similiarities that were present.

FMA is good but it tackles too much social issues to be "popular". Fights and battles are the formula to getting a top 3 manga. That aside, it's almost ending and it's not JUMP.

Code:Breaker was good, started out pretty alright but right now it's just getting more and more URGH.

Bakuman is not "action-based" enough. Sure it's popular but the demography it attracts is totally different.

That aside, i think Kekkaishi, Hitman Reborn and Fairy Tail have a good chance. Personally, i'm rooting for Nurarihyon.

Bleach: Nurarihyon no Mago

Naruto: Psyren

One Piece: Hopefully not for at least 5-10 years but if I have to I'll say Fairy Tail.

Beelzebub is just too good for being a successor.

Honestly I can't see any series out there filling the void. FMA, nurarihyon etc are good but they still lack the 'something' that males the three so great. Maybe it's that the plots feel 'smaller' if that makes sense. But Ive yet to read KHR and Fairy tail...

Beelzebub currently is better than all of them for me. I just didn't like fairy tail probably because I am older now I guess.


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Angel Beats--best anime of the 2010 spring season

Fairy tail is not good enoiugh to succeed One Piece.... also One Piece will probably last longer.

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I will turn your name into a synonym for weakness

To be fair, One Piece built up pretty slowly to where they are today. Even a lot of people that I recommend One Piece to almost stopped watching/reading because they thought it was alright. They really started to pick it up around Alabasta Arc or even Skypiea. But with that said, I will agree that One Piece have definitely made its way to the top and I will say that it might actually be one of my favorite, if not the only, series ever.

Fairy Tail does have some similarities to One Piece, but I think it's pretty unique on its own. The idea of friendship within a group might be a bit overplayed, but at the same time I find the interactions between the main guild members and others very refreshing in a way.

Point is, Fairy Tail is pretty interesting already, and it kinda saved the hassle of introducing the crew by having most of the mages in the guild already! It definitely won't beat One Piece in my book, but I say it's a fairy (excuse my pun) good spiritual successor!

no bra
gintama (i think its already a big deal)
the world only god knows
soul eater

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currently reading: Nyotai-ka
please support me

Hmm hard to say.

Bleach's spot could be filled by Beelzebub.

Naruto is a bit harder maybe hunter x hunter will shine again and fill that spot but that all depends on how long hunter x hunter will last and if not hunter maybe Gamaran if it gets better u know with some story.

One piece

A replacement for One piece are you serious? From what I know it will keep going for another 500 - 600 chapters so that's not anytime soon but as a joke: Berserk or Hajime no Ippo since they are the only 2 series I see running after so long XD

Hard to determine what you mean by "successor", but...

I think that Kekkaishi, Fairy Tail, and FMA are of the same 'generation', though Fairy Tail is junior to the others. Claymore and Gantz are special in their own way, but I believe they're part of the same 'generation'. They're probably seinen (Gantz deserves the title for its gratuity and Claymore for its depth), really. Hunter x Hunter is of the same generation, and I don't think it'll ever recover its reputation or quality.

Bakuman, Beelzebub, The World God Only Knows, and Gamaran are fairly solid "newcomers".
I can't think of any other newcomers that have built a solid enough foundation. As good as Good Ending is, it doesn't fit the bill simply because it's a romance manga, and not likely to be anyone's "favourite" choice.

Of course, the problem is that "The Big 3" are all Weekly Shounen Jump series, so would you even include shounen manga from other magazines as possible successors, or only those from the same magazine? Bleach and Naruto seem to be in their last "phase", and HxH perhaps, if only for the fact that no one seems to be thrilled about it anymore. One Piece is only just over halfway, so we're gonna see it for a while yet. Kekkaishi and FMA seem to be in their final "phase" as well.

In my own opinion, I used to think that the non-Jump shounen manga (namely Kekkaishi, FMA) were better than their Weekly Shounen Jump counterparts, but it's a tough contest now, because as good as they are, I'm liking recent Naruto developments, and One Piece continues to be epic. I have a friend who would say that FMA is the best currently running shounen manga. And I'm loving Bakuman and TWGOK as well. Gantz is so heavy on the action I can't help but like it, and Claymore remains one of my favourite (if not my favourite) manga. Fairy Tail is too derivative, and simply, too childish to match the Big Three for quality or popularity. Gamaran had potential but has fallen due to its underlying of childishness and its heavy use of cliches (you get the feeling of "lame"). I enjoy Beelzebub but i'm not as psyched up about it as others are. Bleach used to be the greatest, but now.. now... well it's been said before. I won't beat a dead horse.

So, you know, does it come down to Popularity, Quality, or Chapter Count, to be a successor? You could argue that Jump's Big Three aren't really even currently "The" Big Three then.
Or is the question, who will take one of the Big 3's spots when one of the Big 3 retires? In which case, we really only have Jump manga to choose from.

Last edited by Harimau at 3:42 am, Apr 18 2010

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If you were to go there and come back to me hurt, I will take your place.. and pull everything you hate.. into destruction...
I will erase anything that hurts you.. from the face of this world.

I can't believe someone actually suggested Good ending might be good enough. Lmao the male lead for that manga is a joke. It was good at some points, I loved the art but when the dude freaking RAN AWAY after confessing to a chick, I just stopped reading the manga there and then. That dude has so many flaws that its just painful reading that manga.




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Angel Beats--best anime of the 2010 spring season

We all know that One Piece is not going to end any time soon so it's still kind of early to be naming its successor. I've a feeling that most of the potential candidates mentioned thus far will end their series before OP. Oda-sensei is a genius (in this action+adventure+comedy shounen genre) and let's be honest, none of the new mangakas are at his level. Although some of the newer mangas are good, there's always something lacking (plot, chars development, settings, fight scenes, cohesiveness, etc) or they had one too many "wtf moments". IMHO, if OP is only 95% perfect, then the rest (of similar genre) are probably at around the 70-85% range at best.

Fairy Tail - I read it before OP (surprise, surprise!) and started when it had 6 volumes out. Thought that it had very nice, clean art and was pretty excited about its potential. Then the author seemed to have gotten distracted and started drawing whatever he liked or new stuff that he thought of which barely contributed to the main plot. It was quite a mess. Just like when Kishimoto went all Sasuke-crazy. For a mangaka who has experience from a 35-books series, I expected way more than that. It can probably succeed Naruto if he can clean up his plot but I'm not sure if series from Shounen Mag can be as popular as series from JUMP?

Bakuman - Loveeeeeddddd it because I've always wondered about the work mangakas do. But like many had mentioned, it's really for a niche market. I thought that anyone who likes JUMP series or is passionate enough about manga would like this but apparently, that's not the case? Came across quite a sizable number of haters of this series. Guess some people only stick to pure action manga. This has its own fanbase but its genre is not generic enough to be considered.

Beezlebub - Typical shounen with delinquents' action. Nothing really bad to say about this but there's nothing epic about this either. Doesn't get me as excited as some others. The adventure into hell arc was a great beginning to start something amazing but it ended before it even got started. Maybe he wasn't ready for it yet and didn't want to ruin that chance? I always feel that school as the main setting limits the action/adventure aspect so he really has to break out of that box. Hmm, I guess it has potential to take Naruto's spot in the future.

Psyren - Good shounen piece with a steady pace but it seems like the mangaka has already used up all the tricks in his bag. Don't really see any room for expansion of the plot. The charcters are not that memorable either. I also have the impression that he has already assembled all of the charcters. Any attempts to introduce unneccessary new chars or plotlines would probably result in diminishing returns. I think it'd still be around for some time before he wraps it up (and I hope he'll not try too hard to lengthen it) but it would probably not be there to succeed any of the Big 3s.

TWOGK - I like it and I rated it rather highly (i think). But it feels very shoujo-ish to me somehow. Light-hearted and cute read but it just doesn't have THAT shounen punch to it. It's more like it's in another different league.

Reborn - Uh the first 7 volumes of horrible gag was quite a torture. Then it got whoa! for me when it turned into a battle manga, followed by a period of draggy-wtf-is-that action. No offense to female mangakas who draw shounen, but her and Hoshino (D-Gray man's author) have the same problem with drawing fight scenes - I can't see the action clearly at all. It's like the movements are not explicit or clean enough. I find myself staring at a page and trying to figure out who did what all too frequently. Because of that, I think it fails as a contender to take over one of the Big 3s since good action is an important factor for hot-blooded male young readers? I see lots of die-hard female fans for this series but as much as they're an important market share, I don't think it's enough to push this up to a high status. The plot is also kind of lacking.

D-Gray Man - Ya, awesome character designs, nice plot but pretty weird pacing. Some parts of the stories didn't connect too well. A number of fight scenes are even more confusing than Reborn's. I don't think the author will drag this story out and I hope she doesn't. I want it to end nicely and perhaps she can start on something really epic to contend for the Big 3 next. Plus, it's a monthly, which makes it too "slow" for the position.

Nurarihyon no Mago - Like the plot and the settings so far. Could probably do with more characters' developments. No doubt that it's a good shounen series. But I just don't feel the epicness yet. And I'm not sure how far can this go. I think we should give this series more time before assessing it.

Gintama - Possibly the only shounen manga that I like more than OP. But I didn't even consider this until some people mentioned it. 'Cos it another one of those which I consider to be "in its own league". It's mainly gag, complimented with action, slice of life, blah blah. It covers anything and everything that it wants at any given time without going off the track. I want this to continue for a long time and I'm sure it can. I just don't think that it can reach out to that large of an audience (esp. internationally) since many of the gags are referential to Japanese culture or satires of other series. Not everyone gets it. And there're no ongoing battles to satisfy the masses.

I know there're many others awesome series out there (which are obviously better than Naruto and Bleach) but let's be realistic and objective about it. The mangas have to follow a certain genre and have "X factor" to appeal to general readers before it can attain godly sales. On top of that, WSJ has the highest readership so it's super likely that the next big series would be from this magazine. I want my favourite mangas to be on the top too but nah, things never work that way.

Last edited by cloud9 at 8:07 am, Apr 26 2010

Psyren seems like it'd fit in pretty well. It's a bit darker than any of the big three, but not by much. It's only at 116 now, but by the time any of the big three end it'll be easily over 200 if it keeps going.

I could see Fairy Tail (if it gets better) or Hunter x Hunter (if the author stops taking year-long breaks) maybe. Haven't read enough of Hitman or Kekkaishi to say personally.

I find Beezlebub awesome, but it's not close enough to the "ongoing battle shounen" formula to succeed Bleach, Naruto or One Piece.

Bakuman, Gintama and such aren't really in the same genre at all.

And...Berserk? You're crazy if you think it would move into a "Big Three" spot. Not because it's bad- I love Berserk-, but because it simply has waaay to much explicit violence and nudity to ever be a hit with the younger crowd. Not to mention...Berserk's been going a whole lot longer than any of the big three.

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"It is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."

This may sound very subjective, but I really only meant the art style. I don't want to say he ripped off his boring comedy and crappy story from Eiichiro Oda, because that'd be a flat out lie. And 'rip-off' probably isn't right either, since they debuted so close to each other. I probably should have provided amplifying explanation, as to what I mean. Whenever someone asks me what Rave Master is like, I explain that it's like One Piece, but bad.

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Currently Undergoing Nativity Training

i can never imagine reborn becoming Successor to bleach, naruto or Onepiece because all the
protagonists of the above series are physically and mentally so strong . Though reborn has a huge fan
base Tsuna is a total wuss . I tried to read before but every time i tried i can only few chp at a
time and now stuck at chp 22

Beelzebub - superb but it fits in different category like Kyou kara Ore wa!!
Fairy tail - similarity onlyyyyyyy in art that the end of it.


Last edited by krish19oo at 8:05 pm, Apr 29 2010

Hopefully Beelzebub.

It's the only WSJ series I've enjoyed that was produced in the last 3 years.

Not that huge of a fan of Bleach/Naruto and certainly not One Piece, though.