How Shonen Jump's first attempt at the next big thing failed

Long before My hero academia, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no YaibaAnd Jujutsu Kaisen was on the horizon, there was another manga Shawn Jump Pushed as the next big thing: Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro's Toriko. Thanks to its great action, artwork and comedy, Toriko Dominated the late 2000s and early 2010s, and with Naruto Closer to its final and bleach gradually lose popularity, Shawn Jump was quick to push it as their new frontrunner.

Unfortunately, as anyone can tell, Toriko It was not the success Shawn Jump Expected. Among various factors such as the time it debuted in, the amount of overlap it has with more established manga, and, ironically, the lengths Shawn Jump Going to push it on people, Toriko Failed to be anywhere near as successful as many of these Shawn Jump Titles to follow the release. None of this was through any fault of its own, of course, and there is a lot of merit in detailing why it stumbled as hard as it did.

Why Toriko is still worth reading after over a decade

Everything Toriko did as a manga

Before discussing why Toriko Otherwise, it is important to put out what is worth reading, in the first place. from the beginning, Toriko Established itself as a quirky, action-packed series with great action choreography and Creative designs for its monsters and settingsAll of that played well into his main gimmick of traveling the world to find exotic food the likes of which no one had ever seen. TorikoIts overall aesthetic captured the best elements of classic Shawn Jump Manga like Dragon Ball, One pieceAnd Hunter x HunterAnd it was always enough to love because of that.

Tying it all together was the surprising amount of thoughtfulness with which Toriko is written. Not only did it have extensive world-building and a fun power system, both of which only grew better over time, but the progression of everyone's power tended to center around philosophical elements versus physical ones, with Food Honor even drawing direct parallels to Enlightenment. in many ways, Toriko Put a lot more weight into developing a strong and thorough story than the average action seriesAnd that helped it stand out from its time, even now.

Toriko was too similar to the big name Shonen Jump titles for its own good

Toriko's problems with standing up for herself

Although there are many reasons Toriko Finding as much success as it did, there are just as many reasons why it did not reach the heights Shawn Jump Expect it to. For starters, while Torikos overlap with others shōnen Manga was part of its charm, It often felt less like homage and more like copying Very aesthetic wholesale, especially with Dragon Ball. The series has many unique ideas, but overall, Torikos writing often made it come across as unoriginal compared to others shōnen manga, and that made it harder to take off outside of Japan.

TorikoIts perceived unoriginality was only further heightened by its anime. Not only was Torikos anime made by Toei Animation, the same studio behind Dragon Ball And One pieceBut it has three different crossovers with One pieceThe last of which also accidentally threw Dragon Ball In the mix. While these are all likely attempts to boost Torikos popularity, Torikos constant crossovers with One piece And Dragon Ball Just reminded people that they could be watching those instead of TorikoSo they probably had more to turn people away Toriko How they did to turn people on it.

Shonen Jump tried way too hard to make Toriko the next big thing

Shonen Jump was too excited about Toriko for their own good

As soon as Toriko started to take off, Shawn Jump began to aggressively push it at every turn; The manga received a ton of merchandise and Shawn Jump covers, the anime has four films, three of which premiered before the actual anime, and of the aforementioned One piece Crossovers, the first was, surprisingly, its series premiere. Combined with the various other issues plaguing the series, The aggressiveness with which Sean Jump Pushed Toriko Just made it less inviting How it gave the impression that people were being told that this was the only thing they should be reading or watching.

That goes without saying Shawn Jump Never tries to push popular stories, of course. My hero academia, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no YaibaAnd Jujutsu Kaisen All received heavy marketing before their anime started, and Takeru Hokazono Kagurabachi is openly stated to be the series Shueisha hopes to be Sean JumpIt's the next big thing. The difference is that, unlike Toriko, Shawn Jump was less aggressive in pushing other manga they believed to be the next big thing, rarely ever pushing them at the expense of other stories, and that's part of why they could flourish while Toriko Finally stumbled.

Toriko came out at one of the worst times for anime and manga

Toriko started in the wrong era for anime

The biggest problem that considered Toriko From taking off is likely the time in which it is running. Toriko was around 2008 to 2016, and it was one of the worst periods for anime and manga; Anime culture has yet to return to its mainstream, and with streaming and simulcasting yet to take off, only the most popular stories can maintain relevance amidst the height of piracy. Because of this, A lot of TorikoThese failures can be attributed to it coming when anime and manga are hard to sell worldwideAt least legally.

This idea is especially likely when Toriko is compared to My hero academia, Demon SlayerAnd Jujutsu Kaisen. They all came out when anime and manga started to become more mainstream and when streaming and simulcasting became more prominent, and sure enough, they were all faster towards the eclipse Toriko in popularityBoth critically and financially. None of this was on TorikoOf course, but it still highlights as short Toriko Fell compared to the manga that became Shawn Jumps next big things.

This is not to say that the reasons why Toriko Not into Mount Rushmore from Shawn Manga are all external, however. The anime series was rushed and ended up being canceled long before the story's finale, forcing viewers to give viewers an alternative and largely unsatisfying ending. Considering how important an anime is to the success of a manga, this was a key factor. On the other hand, the Toriko Manga also saw a sharp decline in popularity, which led to The author is forced to rush the endingLeaving a bad taste in fans' mail.

The entire second half of the story takes place in the gourmet world, where the stakes are much higher and the enemies are incredibly stronger. The sudden rush in power levels caused the story to lose some of its initial charm as a food-based adventure, which was also what made it stand out from the competition. Once the characters started stopping the movement of the planet with a punch, Toriko Became (in)famous for his crazy power levels Rather than for the unique appeal it showed in the beginning.

Is Toriko truly a failure for Shonen Jump?

How should Toriko be remembered?

Toriko Failed to become the next big thing in Shawn JumpBut that doesn't mean it was a failure, overall. While My hero academia And Demon Slayer Both sold much more than Toriko With about 100-150 million books each, Toriko Has sold over 30 million books worldwide as of 2023, which still leaves it as one of the best-selling manga of all time. Not only that, but the anime ran for three seasons, so overall, TorikoFrom an objective point of view, it undoubtedly was One of the greatest manga ever published in Sean Jump.

with Toriko Ended almost a decade ago and there is very little to keep it relevant compared to other anime and manga of its era, Toriko Will probably never get his dueWhether it is through a revaluation of the manga or a reboot of the anime that better represents the strengths of the story. In this regard, it would be easy to write off Toriko Like a failure, but that's largely accurate when you compare it Shawn Jumps bigger heat, and overall, the issue is much more complicated than one might think.

Source: @MangaMoguraRe via X.