Weekly Shonen Sunday is a Shonen magazine established in 1959 to rival the Weekly Shonen Magazine. Ironically, Weekly Shonen Sunday issues were released on Tuesdays before switching to Wednesdays in 2011; it has sold over 1.8 billion copies in Japan since 1986 making it the fourth best-selling manga magazine.
Since its inception, this iconic manga magazine has featured some of the most gripping and imaginative stories ever told, becoming a haven for manga fans seeking thrills and adventure. Its success is no surprise, constantly delivering some of the most beloved titles in the genre. With decades-long worth legacy, here are some of the best manga published on Weekly Shonen Sunday.
10 Zatch Bell
Kiyo, a brilliant middle school student is tasked with the care of a Mamado named Zatch Bell by his father. Mamados are mystical creatures with supernatural powers that are sent to Earth from a parallel world once every thousand years to compete in a tournament to determine the next king of their world.
Mamados are paired with human partners who unleash their full power by casting the spells found in the books that accompany them. More spells can be unlocked through hard work and experience. Kiyo and Zatch develop a deep bond and embark on a journey filled with thrilling battles and encounters with other Mamados and their owners.
9 Midori Days
The story revolves around a high school delinquent named Seiji Sawamura, who is notorious for his punches and getting into fights despite being on the right side of justice most times. Because of his reputation and his toughness, Seiji is quite unlucky when it comes to girls and romantic relationships.
Seiji wakes up to find that his right hand has transformed into a miniature girl named Midori Kasugano. Midori has had a crush on Seiji for a long time and due to a twist of fate, she became attached to his hand. The series follows them as they learn how to adapt to this unusual situation.
8 Defense Devil
Kucabara was a respected and powerful demon who was stripped of his powers and exiled from the demon world. He now works as a Defense Devil to find dark matter which he needs to regain his powers.
A Defense Devil must prove the innocence of a human sinner they committed before the shinigami takes the sinner to hell. Once that is done, they shall receive the sinner’s dark matter. The story follows Kucabara and his friends as they face numerous challenges and confront powerful adversaries later on in the series.
7 Cross Game
The story begins with Ko Kitamura and the Tsukishima family being next-door neighbors. Wakaba, one of the daughters of the family was born on the same day and at the same hospital as Ko, and the bond they have easily reflects that. Tragedy strikes when Wakaba suddenly passes away in an accident, leaving Ko and the Tsukishima family devastated.
Determined to honor Wakaba’s memory, Ko continues to pursue his love for baseball and Aoba who initially resented KO for his closeness with her late sister gradually warms up to him and recognizes his dedication and talent. Together they face challenges on and off the baseball field to win the Koshien, the prestigious high school tournament in Japan, and fulfill Wakaba’s dreams.
6 H2
Hiro Kunimi, Hideo Tachibana, and Atsushi Noda were talented baseball players, teammates, and close friends during middle school. Their dreams of playing in the prestigious Koshien tournament are shattered when Hiro and Noda are diagnosed with injuries that seemingly end their baseball careers.
They end up attending a school that lacks a baseball team. Meanwhile, Hideo goes to a school known for its strong baseball team. After discovering the doctor who diagnosed them was a quack, they were inspired by Haruka Koga and fueled by their love for the sport. Hiro and Noda convince their headmaster to establish a good baseball team at their school and reignite their headmaster’s passion for baseball.
5 Silver Spoon
This manga depicts the daily life of a student from Sapporo named Yuugo Hachiken who enrolls in the Ooezo Agricultural Highschool in Hokkaido countryside after failing the entrance examinations of his first choice school.
He enrolled mainly to be far away from his family and dad. He continues to ponder about what career path to take and he soon finds himself getting used to his new situation despite some initial struggles. He grows into a well-behaved person as he slowly opens up to agriculture and its influence on his new friends’ lives.
4 Sleepy Princess In The Demon Castle
The story revolves around a captured princess who makes it her mission to get a good night’s sleep while trapped in the demon king’s castle. Instead of fearing her predicament, Princess Syalis is more concerned about her lack of quality sleep and turns her kidnapping into a vacation. Determined to rest comfortably she embarks on a series of hilarious and unconventional adventures within the demon castle.
Throughout the series, she encounters various demons, monsters, and other eccentric characters and she often resorts to absurd methods in her quest to devise the most comfortable sleeping conditions.
3 Komi-san Can’t Communicate
This is a manga series written and illustrated by Tomohito Oda and it follows the life of Shoko Komi, a beautiful and admired girl who has extreme difficulty making friends and communicating with others. Despite her stunning appearance, her social anxiety makes it challenging for her to initiate or maintain conversations and is therefore seen as unapproachable by her classmates.
A boy named Tadano Hitohito discovers Komi’s secret struggles and decides to help her overcome her issues. He becomes her first friend and takes it upon himself to help her achieve her goal of making 100 friends.
2 Magi
Magi is a manga series that centers around Alibaba Saluja, a resourceful man, and Aladdin, a young man with a Djinn in his flute named Ugo, as they go on adventures into dungeons in search of treasures and the Djinns within. Djinns are mythical beings with immense power that form contracts with humans.
Aladdin later discovers that he is a Magi, who are people with immense magical affinity and influence that they can select a candidate they deem worthy to become king. Aladdin and Alibaba develop a new bond and go on adventures around the world witnessing irregularities.
1 Detective Conan
A brilliant high school detective named Shinichi Kudo is transformed into a seven-year-old child after being given a mysterious poison by some thugs from a criminal organization. He takes on the alias of Conan Edogawa and takes on the identity of the boy while continuing to solve crimes undercover.
He assists Kogoro Mouri, a renowned private detective, in his investigations and uses his deductive skills and knowledge to uncover the truth behind complex and perplexing cases. He faces off against the criminal organization as he strives to reveal their secrets and find a way to regain his original body.