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Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two parts: the first is set in Naruto’s pre-teen years (volumes 1–27), and the second in his teens (volumes 28–72). The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in Shueisha‘s monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997).
Naruto was serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 1999 to November 2014, with its chapters collected in 72 tankōbon volumes. Viz Media licensed the manga for North American production and serialized Naruto in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The manga adapted into two anime television series by Pierrot and Aniplex, which ran from October 2002 to March 2017 on TV Tokyo. Pierrot also developed 11 animated films and 12 original video animations (OVAs). The franchise includes light novels, video games, and trading cards developed by several companies. The story of Naruto continues in Boruto, where Naruto’s son Boruto Uzumaki creates his own ninja path instead of following his father’s.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It was serialized in Shueisha‘s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 2016 to May 2020, with its chapters collected in 23 tankōbon volumes. It has been published in English by Viz Media and simultaneously on the Manga Plus platform by Shueisha. It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who joins the Demon Slayer Corps after his family is slaughtered and the sole survivor, his younger sister Nezuko, is turned into a demon, in the hopes of turning her human again and defeating the demon king Muzan Kibutsuji.
A 26-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Ufotable aired from April to September 2019, with a sequel film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, released in October 2020 and became the highest-grossing anime film and Japanese film of all time. An 18-episode second season of the anime series aired from October 2021 to February 2022 while a compilation film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village, was released in February 2023. An 11-episode third season aired from April to June 2023 while another compilation film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training, was released in February 2024. A fourth season aired from May to June 2024. A film trilogy sequel adapting the “Infinity Castle” story arc is set to premiere in July 2025.
By February 2021, the manga had over 150 million copies in circulation, including digital versions, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. Also, it was the best-selling manga in 2019 and 2020. The manga has received critical acclaim for its art, storyline, action scenes and characters. The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba franchise is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Dragon Ball Z is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the Dragon Ball media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 Dragon Ball television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. The series aired in Japan on Fuji TV from April 1989 to January 1996 and was later dubbed for broadcast in at least 81 countries worldwide.
Dragon Ball Z continues the adventures of Son Goku in his adult life as he and his companions defend the Earth against villains including aliens (Vegeta, Frieza), androids (Cell), and magical creatures (Majin Buu). At the same time, the story follows the life of Goku’s son, Gohan, as well as the development of his rivals, Piccolo and Vegeta.
Due to the success of the series in the United States, the manga chapters making up its story were initially released by Viz Media under the Dragon Ball Z title. The anime’s popularity has also spawned various media and merchandise that has come to represent the majority of the material within the Dragon Ball franchise, including films, home video releases, soundtracks, trading cards, and video games. Dragon Ball Z remains a cultural icon through numerous adaptations and re-releases, including a remastered broadcast titled Dragon Ball Z Kai.
Dragon Ball Z has since been followed by a sequel series titled Dragon Ball GT (1996–1997), a “midquel” series titled Dragon Ball Super (2015–2018) and another midquel series titled Dragon Ball Daima (2024–2025).
One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by EiIchiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the mythical treasure known as the “One Piece” to become the next King of the Pirates.
It has been serialized in Shueisha‘s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 1997, with its chapters compiled in 111 tankōbon volumes as of March 2025. The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North America and the United Kingdom by Viz Media and in Australia by Madman Entertainment. Becoming a media franchise, it has been adapted into a festival film by Production I.G, and an anime series by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in 1999. Additionally, Toei has developed 14 animated feature films and one original video animation. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising and media, such as a trading card game and video games. Netflix released a live action TV series adaptation in 2023.
It has received praise for the storytelling, world-building, art, characterization, and humour. It has received many awards and is ranked by critics, reviewers, and readers as one of the best manga of all time. By August 2022, it had over 516.6 million copies in circulation in 61 countries and regions worldwide, making it the best-selling manga series in history, and the best-selling comic series printed in a book volume. Several volumes of the manga have broken publishing records, including the highest initial print run of any book in Japan. In 2015 and 2022, One Piece set the Guinness World Record for “the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author”. It was the best-selling manga for 11 consecutive years from 2008 to 2018 and is the only manga that had an initial print of volumes of above 3 million continuously for more than 10 years, as well as the only one that had achieved more than 1 million copies sold in all of its over 100 published tankōbon volumes. One Piece is the only manga whose volumes have ranked first every year in Oricon‘s weekly comic chart existence since 2008.
Solo Leveling, also alternatively translated as Only I Level Up is a South Korean portal fantasy web novel written by Chugong. It was serialized in Kakao‘s digital comic and fiction platform KakaoPage beginning on July 25, 2016, and was later published by D&C Media under their Papyrus label since November 4, 2016. The novel has been licensed in English by Yen Press.
A webtoon adaptation of Solo Leveling was first serialized in KakaoPage on March 4, 2018; it was illustrated by Jang Sung-rak (Dubu) and the webtoon’s first season concluded on March 19, 2020, followed by its second season, which was released from August 2020 to December 2021. The webtoon has been licensed in English by Yen Press. Its individual chapters have been collected and published in 13 volumes by D&C Media, as of November 2024.
An anime television series adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures aired from January to March 2024. A second season, subtitled Arise from the Shadow, aired from January to March 2025.
A Korean drama adaptation is in development, and spin-off webtoon Solo Leveling: Ragnarok premiered in July 2024.
A role-playing video game titled Solo Leveling: Arise has been released by Netmarble.