Why There Can Never Be a "New Big Three"
Often fans of anime and manga get into heated discussions surrounding various topics – which anime is the best, which is the most influential, which anime are supposedly «mid» and what shows are so-called «peak fiction»? These questions are common, and lead to productive and interesting conversations, but sometimes they lead to misunderstandings, like what happens with conversations around a phenomenon known as «The Big Three».
In short, «The Big Three» refers to three titles emerging after an era of immense success in Shueisha's Weekly Shounen Jump magazine. These three titles are, and always will be Oda Eiichiro's One Piece, Kishimoto Masashi'sNaruto, and Tite Kubo's Bleach; however, most fans carry with them the misunderstanding that «The Big Three» exists as a title, one that can be gained or lost, and not as a reference to a point in history.
Related: How Weekly Shonen Jump Became Japan’s Most Popular Manga Publication
Most fans hear «The Big Three» and immediately consider the three best anime shows they have ever seen, and attempt to shoehorn them into «Big Three» status. However, «The Big Three» is shorthand used to refer to a very specific moment in the history of a particular firm known for the publication of books and magazines – Shueisha Inc. Shueisha's journey to becoming a leading publisher in Japan after splitting from Shogakukan is not complete without mentioning the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine.
Debuting in 1968, Weekly Shounen Jump («Shonen Jump» from henceforth) quickly became Shueisha's standout magazine for its mega-hit manga titles and also rose to becoming Japan's best-selling magazine of all time. Shonen Jump is the magazine where major titles of influence saw out their lifespans and spread to the
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