Warning! Major spoilers for multiple 2010’s Shonen Jump series to follow! It’s the end of an era for Shonen Jump as Shueisha’s long running magazine has been ending its 2010s franchises one after another, but which has had the best ending of them after all this time? The 2010s are wrapping up what could be the last generation of manga that reach 200 to 300 chapters during their respective runs as Shonen Jump’s 2020 hits have been much shorter by comparison. As these final releases reach their respective sunsets, it’s a perfect time to look back on it all.
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With Yuki Tabata’s Black Clover recently coming to an end and cementing yet another conclusion to a 2010’s franchise, it’s now a great time to look back on many of these hits to see which has aged the best so far. This era had some blockbuster hits with the likes of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen and more, so read on for spoilers for on these grand finales as we compare how well each of these stories had wrapped.
7). Chainsaw Man
It might be unfair to include Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man on this list since it is one of the more recent finales, but it got too volatile of a reaction from the fanbase to ignore. The final chapter of its second part seemed to come out of nowhere when it was revealed that the series was ending, and regardless of what that final chapter tried to do, fans were left unsatisfied by the conclusion in many different ways. It was both sudden and felt short, and that resulted in an explosive reaction.
Characters were left hanging by the wayside, and fans are still debating whether or not the inconclusive nature of the finale was intended by Fujimoto. There’s a chance it could age better as time goes on, so that’s why it ends up last on this list by default. There’s a chance that negativity could soften over time.
6). Black Clover
As the most recent ending on the list, Yuki Tabata’s Black Clover does end up towards the bottom but does beat out Chainsaw Man because the fan reaction was nowhere near as negative. Fans seemed overall pleased with how it all came to an end for Asta (outside of some glaring unanswered questions), but it’s another case of a series seemingly coming to an end too soon. While Tabata had shifted over to a quarterly release schedule giving him more time to work on each chapter, the final year of the series sped through what should have been the biggest events and reveals of the final arc.
The final chapter itself managed to offer a great look at the future for each of the characters, but the issue here is how it all got there. The final war seemed like it could have gone on for much longer than it did, but each of the final fights quickly wrapped up what should have been much bigger character moments. For now, fans seem to not take much issue with the actual ending otherwise.
5). Jujutsu Kaisen
Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen unfortunately had aspects of both issues from the previous list entries, however. Not only did its final arc seemed to speed through its events once it was announced that it was heading into its final chapters, but fans continue to be disappointed with how it all wrapped up for Yuji and the others at the end. It left many questions surrounding the survivors still floating around when it ended, and the final fight with Sukuna didn’t feel earned to many fans because of how quickly it wrapped.
This was certainly the most divisively received endings in recent memory, but that negativity has cooled off thanks to the release of its Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo sequel in the time since. That sequel hilariously then took the focus with problems fans had with its own ending, but ultimately did offer a future look at Yuji and some of the other familiar faces. It was a much more conclusive ending to the story than before, and that goes a long way for this list in particular.
4). Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Koyoharu Gotoge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba did also receive a divisive response from fans, but it was more of a result of just overall confusion with how the creator actually handled its vision of the future. It’s one of the more creative, however, and that is even truer after all this time. Because while Tanjiro Kamado and the other favorites’ stories come to a quick end with Muzan’s defeat, the series moves generations into the future to reveal that everyone reincarnated into a much more peaceful timeline.
It unfortunately didn’t reveal too much about what happened next for Tanjiro himself, but the finale instead offered a more emotional conclusion that revealed even all of the dead characters were able to get some semblance of a happy ending when it was all said and done. It might have been too high concept for fans to accept at the time, but certainly hits better years later.
3). My Hero Academia
That’s what has been happening for My Hero Academia in the past couple of years as well. Fans really dogpiled on the final chapter when Deku didn’t get to have the fully powered pro hero future as the greatest hero as promised when the series began, but he did have a happy life through a different set of terms. What’s helped it age much better in the past two years, however, is the fact that creator Kohei Horikoshi actually returned for special epilogue chapters expanding on the finale even more.
With these final bits of story coming to the anime recently, fans have been able to unlock a whole new perspective for this ending. It’s now clear that this is the best possible kind of future that Deku could have asked for as he directly is influencing the next generation of heroes in a way he couldn’t if he were just the Number 1 hero, but also reveals that hero society has changed on a whole through his actions. It’s more of an open ending than the others on this list, but it gives Deku a promising future.
2). We Never Learn: BOKUBEN
Taishi Tsutsui’s We Never Learn: BOKUBEN has one of the best endings of any Shonen Jump series ever, and one of the best endings that any romantic comedy series has ever gotten. Tsutsui did what seemed like the impossible and made every fan happy with how the series ended by offering five alternate endings. Rather than have its protagonist Nariyuki Yuiga end up with one of the heroines like seen in other series, the series gives each of them their own happy future with him.
We Never Learn: BOKUBEN gives fans an ending where he ends up with each of the heroines, and reveals what each future looks like. All of them are just as fleshed out as one another, and all fit perfectly in line with everything from their respective dynamics we had seen throughout the series to that point. Every girl “won,” and thus every fan was able to leave the end of the series happy. It’s not what happened in the anime, mind you, but it’s still so cool to have seen it all pulled off in real time. To date, no other Shonen Jump creator has gone this route with their ending unfortunately.
1). Haikyu!!
If we’re talking about a 2010 Shonen Jump series ending with both an overwhelmingly positive response with fans while also giving every single character a standout moment, there’s no beating Haruichi Furudate’s Haikyu!!. The final arc got things off to a great start with a several year time skip, and built up towards a final match featuring now professional level versions of many of the series’ most memorable players in one single place. It was the culmination of many years of build up.
But where this series ultimately blows all the other endings out of the water is the attention to detail for each of the characters. Haikyu gives each character (big or small) a finale, and reveals what they are doing in the future. It stays realistic too because star talents like Hinata and Kageyama might have gone on to play in the olympics, but there are many others who stopped playing volleyball after high school to instead pursue other dreams and interests. Everything seemed to make sense for everyone involved, and fans to this day still hail it as the best Shonen Jump ending of the 2010s. Maybe of all time, too.
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