My Hero Academiamonumental superhero series, was one of the biggest manga featured in Weekly Shonen Jump until the end of 2024. It stood alongside the likes of Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece as the magazine's biggest hits. Unfortunately, the series officially ended with the conclusion of the Final War arc. With the end My Hero Academialeft a huge void for Weekly Shonen Jump to fill, and over the past year its replacement has established itself as a strong series that will thrive in the years to come.
While the likes of My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen have come to an end, new gen series are up against the challenge in hopes of becoming the new mainstay of Weekly Shonen Jump. Ichi the Witch is one such series with unlimited potential that keeps reaching new highs. Having started serialization right after the conclusion of My Hero Academia and recommended by Horikoshi himself, the series was always bound to succeed. With only 6 volumes and no anime adaptation, Ichi the Witch has accumulated 1.5 million copies in circulation. This new character has once again highlighted how popular manga is gaining in Japan every day.
Witch Ichi explodes when it reaches 1.5 million copies in circulation
Ichi the Witch is a relatively new manga that started in September 2024 and is barely over a year old now. Witch Ichi currently has 6 volumes, with another coming out in a few months. Despite being relatively new, Ichi the Witch has been doing impressively well and is gaining popularity among fans both in Japan and abroad.
The latest sales record for manga confirms once again that it really is blowing up in Japan. With only a few bundles, Witch Ichi now has 1.5 million copies in circulationwhich is up from 1.25 million just a few months ago. This number may seem small compared to well-established series like MHA or JJK that have been out for years and have anime adaptations, but it's actually quite high for a new manga. Witch Ichi will continue to grow as she cements herself as one of the mainstays of Weekly Shonen Jump.
Witch Ichi is The Perfect My Hero Academia successor
Ichi the Witch's manga began serialization at the perfect time. At the end of 2024, the two biggest Weekly Shonen Jump manga ended back-to-back, namely My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen. After two monumental franchises that ended, they were left with quite a gap. Whenever this happens, it opens up the perfect opportunity for a new manga to set itself apart, and Witch Ichi did just that. It's likely that Jump specifically planned its release at that time, keeping in mind that MHA and JJK were ending.
Witch Ichi seems like the perfect replacement for My Hero Academia. After all, the manga was recommended to fans by the creator of MHA, Horikoshi, and definitely helped popularize it. In addition, both series share similar themes and MHA fans loved it.
Ichi the Witch AND Kagurabachi are the future of Weekly Shonen Jump
Witch Ichi is just getting started, but it's clear she's shaping up to be one of Weekly Shonen Jump's new mainstays. For now, it is one of two series that the magazine is aggressively promoting, with Kagurabachi being the other. Witch Ichi and Kagurabachi are promoted as a duo and the magazine even has an official name for the duo, called Ichikabachika.
Weekly Shonen Jump wouldn't be promoting these two series the way they are doing if they didn't see the huge potential. After all, he has several other next-gen series he could have chosen instead. A new era of Weekly Shonen Jump has begun and it will be spearheaded by One Piece, with two new pillars being Ichi the Witch and Kagurabachi.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
- Release date
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2016 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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TBS, MBS, Nippon TV
- directors
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Shouji Ikeno, Tsuyoshi Tobita, Ikuro Sato, Takudai Kakuchi, Masashi Abe, Tetsuya Miyanishi, Kazuma Komatsu, Yoshifumi Sasahara, Masayuki Otsuki, Daisuke Tsukushi, Takayuki, Yamamoto, Yohei Takada Na Yamamoto, Yohei Takuka, Yohei Takuko Fukui Nakayama, Sayaka Morikawa, Takanori Yano
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Daiki Yamashita
Izuku Midoriya (voice)
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Kaito Ishikawa
Manga Fukidashi (voice)
