For some reason I started wondering, what is/was the longest running Shonen Jump romance? I know shonen romance manga are pretty formulaic and (no offense) throwaway. Romance is not the best fit for the shonen category anyway, but series like....

• Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa
• Ane Doki
• Hatsukoi Limited
• (random others I have read)

.....all ran for only about 30-35 chapters and that's it. I haven't been the manga game for that long, but I wondered what some of the longest run(ning) Shonen Jump romances are. Romance/love has to be the main theme.

(Note: Pure fanservice like To-Love Ru doesn't count. Also, Bakuman doesn't count either for obvious reasons.)

Other long one is I"s but Ichigo is longer.
Though Nisekoi may be even longer thinking on how popular it is now...

I think the closest anything gets to Strawberry 100%'s length is Kimagure Orange Road, which was about one volume shorter, I do believe.

Seems like by and large romance series don't last much longer than three years in Weekly Shonen Jump though. I wonder if there's a reason for that.

Host of Friendship! Effort! Victory!, a podcast about the history and inner workings of Weekly Shonen Jump.
CURRENT EPISODE: Double Arts

GE is ending next chapter, but its fair length. 135 chapters i think

Wow, that's pretty impressive. if it's next chapter that's like 156 isn't it?

I mean that's not a Shonen Jump manga, and I don't know how long Magazine romances tend to last, but... oh god that's about three years. WHAT IS WITH THAT

Host of Friendship! Effort! Victory!, a podcast about the history and inner workings of Weekly Shonen Jump.
CURRENT EPISODE: Double Arts

what about suzuka and kimi no iru machi ? they are both long

Well neither of those are Shonen Jump, so they're not overly relevant, but yeah, Suzuka lasted 18 volumes, matching Kimagure Orange Road but falling short of Strawberry 100%, and A Town Where You Live is at, what, like 20 volumes now? So that's longer. Maybe Shonen Magazine is the tiniest bit more committed to this stuff

Host of Friendship! Effort! Victory!, a podcast about the history and inner workings of Weekly Shonen Jump.
CURRENT EPISODE: Double Arts

Yeah my bad, typo. Good call. But I feel GE is 156 strong. Kimi no Iru Machi has really died down from what made me love the series and should really end soon.

Quote from Maxy B

Seems like by and large romance series don't last much longer than three years in Weekly Shonen Jump though. I wonder if there's a reason for that.

Because people (readers) HATE romance in WSJ.. Romance in the same manga magazine as ones like Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Beelzebub, Katekyo Hitman Reborn. That's why most, if not all, WSJ romances are Axed, or Rushed into an Ending. MX0, To-Love ru, Anedoki, Magico, the list goes on.

It's just like seeing an old lady driving a Ferrari or Diablo at 15 mph.

Afaik the longest running romance in WSJ is indeed Ichigo 100%.. but to Love-ru does come a close second.

It would have broken the record, were it not for personal issues in the author's life, and editors request to move it to the more risqué monthly magazine, Jump Square.

I think you're onto something. Although I'd contest it by saying that most failures are ecchi romance, and they've had a long-running reputation of not getting votes in the TOC due to a combination of Japan's shame society and kids generally not wanting to have their parents see them vote for them (which... well it's a half-reputation, a lot of it seems to be wishful thinking), and you can kinda see their only true success in volume sales, where even a complete mess-up of a series like Harisugawa can do well.

Which of course means nothing because a few tens of thousands of volume sales doesn't match up to 3 million mag sales, which is where it all matters.

But when you think about the whole ecchi thing, it does explain why a series like Nisekoi can thrive in the TOC and in sales, having far less of it than a typical WSJ series.

Also now I can't get the old lady ferrari image out of my head. It's just too perfect

Host of Friendship! Effort! Victory!, a podcast about the history and inner workings of Weekly Shonen Jump.
CURRENT EPISODE: Double Arts

I think Nisekoi is doing comparatively well because:

a] He freely uses profanity
b] At this time, he isn't a loser
c] Changing demographics. (Possible?)

These possibilities are a guesses. Admittedly, I came out too strongly against WSJ and romance, since Medaka Box is another manga that's doing well...currently.

But do take into consideration that non-romance WSJ mangas are being axed, now. A slow death, by the editors.

Okay maybe not One Piece, but Naruto - yes, definitely. Katekyo - finished. Bakuman - finished. (Okay it is romance tagged, but personally I see it as a sub-plot, compared to other manga we all currently read) Bleach - one more arc. Sket Dance - winding down.

And at the same time, they are or were trying to promote romance manga - Magico, Koisime Momiji, Kagami no Kuni... all axed lulz. DON'T MAKE THE OLD LADIES PROMOTE THE FERRARIS.

Seo Kouji's stuff (Suzuka, Kimi no Iru Machi) are both pretty long for shounen romances. Though to be fair, they are published in weekly shounen magazine and not weekly shonen jump.

um, on Nisekoi's profanity, that's a matter of debate. The debate being that imperial scans adds the profanity themselves, and apparently other translators aren't fond of that at all.

Host of Friendship! Effort! Victory!, a podcast about the history and inner workings of Weekly Shonen Jump.
CURRENT EPISODE: Double Arts