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Curated playlist

Shueisha franchises

  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (TV series)In a 2020 poll, Japanese schoolchildren admired a fictional demon slayer more than their own mothers.
  • JoJo's Bizarre AdventureJoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a manga by Hirohiko Araki that fills 139 collected volumes as of March 2026. By August 2023, more than 120 million copies were in circulation, which places it among the best-selling manga ever printed. Yet the…
  • Whisper of the HeartWhisper of the Heart begins when a girl sees the same name on every library book she borrows.
  • One PieceOda sealed the truth about One Piece's treasure in a box and sent it to the ocean floor.
  • Dragon BallDragon Ball's seven orbs were shrunk down from eight Buddhist prayer beads in an old Japanese novel.
  • Dragon Ball ZDragon Ball Z got its name because its creator wanted the series to end.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!This manga's hero wins battles without ever hitting anyone. Kazuki Takahashi wanted something original.
  • Fist of the North StarAn editor's used-bookshop find led to the manga Fist of the North Star.
  • The Rose of VersaillesWhat if the commander of the Royal Guard at Versailles were a woman? The manga The Rose of Versailles asked it in 1972.
  • Battle Angel AlitaA doctor digging through a garbage dump finds a living cyborg head and torso. He names her Alita, after his dead cat.
  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no YaibaDemon Slayer began as a quiet manga about a boy who sold charcoal. By July 2025 it had over 220 million copies out.
  • Jujutsu KaisenA rotten finger sets off the manga Jujutsu Kaisen. A student swallows it and hosts a thousand-year-old sorcerer.
  • RWBYRWBY's title is not a word but a color code. It stands for red, white, black and yellow, the four leads' colors.
  • Rurouni KenshinThe hero of Rurouni Kenshin carries a sword with its blade turned backward.
  • Bleach (manga)The manga Bleach began with a drawing of a kimono. Its artist had just had his previous series canceled.
  • GintamaGintama opens with a joke about its own page count. In the very first chapter, a character finishes a short fight and complains that it lasted only one page. The hero, Gintoki, snaps back: "Shut up! One page is a long time for a manga…
  • YuYu HakushoYuYu Hakusho begins with a 14-year-old street brawler named Yusuke Urameshi shoving a young boy out of the path of a car. The boy lives. Yusuke does not. It is an uncharacteristic act of kindness from a teenage delinquent, and it kills him…
  • Tetsujin 28-goIn the manga Tetsujin 28-go, a ten-year-old boy inherits his dead father's giant war robot.
  • Sakigake!! OtokojukuThe manga Otokojuku has sold over 26 million copies, yet few outside Japan know it.
  • Claymore (manga)The magazine that launched Claymore shut down exactly six years to the day after the manga began.
  • Umamusume: Pretty DerbyOn the 26th of March 2016, a panel at the AnimeJapan event revealed concept art for a cast of racing girls with horse ears and tails. An animated trailer from the studio P.A. Works came with it. This was the first public look at Umamusume:…
  • Blue ExorcistIn Blue Exorcist, a teenager pulls a sword and learns he is the son of Satan. His flames burn blue.
  • Cobra (manga)The manga Cobra opens with a bored office worker who asks for a dream and remembers a hidden life.
  • Aim for the Ace!Hiromi Oka's toughest opponent in this 1970s tennis manga is her own fragile confidence.
  • Black CloverIn the manga Black Clover, the hero wants to be Wizard King but has no magic.
  • Bastard!!Kazushi Hagiwara's manga about a dark wizard names its characters, spells and places after rock and metal bands.
  • Haikyu!!Haikyu!!, a Japanese manga written and drawn by Haruichi Furudate, had more than 75 million copies in circulation by December 2025. That total places it among the best-selling manga series of all time. Its subject is a high school…
  • My Hero AcademiaMy Hero Academia is a Japanese manga series by Kōhei Horikoshi, and its hero starts with nothing. Izuku Midoriya is a boy born without a Quirk, one of the superpowers that have become ordinary in his world. He dreams of becoming a…
  • One-Punch ManOne-Punch Man is a Japanese manga series about a hero who can end any fight with a single punch. Saitama has trained so thoroughly that no opponent can test him, and the reward is boredom rather than glory. His creator, who goes by the…
  • Hunter × HunterHunter × Hunter, the Japanese manga series by Yoshihiro Togashi, is spoken aloud as "hunter hunter," because the multiplication sign in its title makes no sound. The doubled name came from a television variety show called Downtown, where…

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