Weekly Shonen Jump by Shueisha is Japan's most iconic manga magazine and has seen the birth of the most popular IPs of all time, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Narutoand many other stories that fans will never forget. While many of Shonen Jump's biggest hits are stories filled with mystical powers and unforgettable power-ups, the magazine is also well known for featuring some of the absolute best sports series of all time.
In 1999, Weekly Shonen Jump saw the birth of the best tennis manga of all time, tennis prince. The Prince of Tennis ended in 2008, but right after The New Prince of Tennis debuted in 2009 at Shueisha's Jump Square. Unfortunately, the story now ends with volume 48 and will mark the end of this popular Shonen Jump story forever, leaving fans with only the anime.
The legendary Shonen series “The New Prince of Tennis” ends with volume 48
When sports anime and manga series are mentioned, many come to mind Slam Dunk for basketball Blue lock for football and Haikyuu!! For volleyball. However, specifically for tennis, no series is as popular as The Prince of Tennis. The Prince of Tennis is a story by Takeshi Konomi, who first started this manga in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #32 on July 6, 1999. The series became a huge hit and continued to be serialized for several years after that, collecting 42 volumes and ending in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #14, this original series of 20, 2000, only did well in Japan. amassing 40 million in sales, as reported by Shueisha.
With so many backups, it was no surprise when the franchise returned just a year after it ended with a new sequel — The New Prince of Tennis. The New Prince of Tennis is a direct sequel and debuted in Jump Square #4 on March 4, 2009. While the series has switched magazines to run on a monthly schedule, the true origins of the story still go back to Weekly Shonen Jump. It is not uncommon for writers to make this change because maintaining a weekly schedule is very difficult.
The New Prince of Tennis has been running since 2009. Right now, the story has a total of 47 volumes, but unfortunately, the author himself, Takeshi Konomi, has confirmed that the story will soon end with the next volume, The Prince of Tennis Volume 48. This was confirmed via X's post on June 29, 2026 on his (@konomi_takeshi) account. This post shows a sketch with a sad revelation.
The continuation of the Prince of Tennis story will establish the great legacy of the series forever
We are all extremely sad to hear that a story with such a legacy will soon come to an end. At the moment we don't know exactly when this new part will be released. However, based on the pace and release plans of the previous volumes, we can expect to end sometime around October 2026, with the final chapter of the manga dropping long before that in the magazine around August 2026. At this point, it's unclear at which chapter the manga will end, but more information is expected to be revealed by Shueisha soon.
The final Prince of Tennis volume will mark the end of the manga IP as a whole. After 27 years, his total sales are estimated at over 60 million, with 89 volumes currently published and one more on the way. The Prince of Tennis story is very big in Japan, but it hasn't caught on as much overseas. With the story completely wrapping up, it might be time for fans outside of Japan to check it out, both for the original The Prince of Tennis series and its longer sequel The New Prince of Tennis.
For now, the Prince of Tennis story continues in the anime
Takeshi Konomi's manga is officially ending, as confirmed by the author himself. Unless he decides to come back again with a new sequel, the series officially ends. Since the author has devoted a significant part of his life to manga, he probably wants to read. A return of the Prince of Tennis manga as such is not yet on the cards. That means we still have a lot to look forward to, to say the least. The New Prince of Tennis anime is set to return at the end of 2026 and covers the deciding match of the members of the U-17 World Championship finals. We look forward to hearing more about the project in the coming months.
