Weekly Shōnen Jump is one of the most widely known publications in the world of manga. They released their first issue back in August 1968 and haven’t stopped since. Their issues have included the beginnings of some of the most famous names in manga/anime, including Naruto, One Piece, and many more. Weekly Shōnen Jump attracted new and veteran readers alike through its wonderful cover art, showcasing the characters included in the volume fantastically.

Some Weekly Shōnen Jump covers will highlight a single character from a series, like Goku performing the powerful Kamehameha. Others will display different characters from a variety of series, making each character pop with their own unique art style.

No matter what or who is included on the inside of the magazine, every Weekly Shōnen Jump cover comes to life with vibrant colors and designs.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #1768

Putting the ‘Monkey’ In Monkey D. Luffy

One of the most exciting things about a Weekly Shōnen Jump cover is the unique opportunity to see characters from different series together on the same page. It’s not often Naruto is seen next to Monkey D. Luffy, but Weekly Shōnen Jump manga covers are where they can get together. Not only does the Japanese manga anthology include protagonists from Bleach, Death Note, and Black Cat on the cover, but they put them all in Monkey Suits.

Weekley Shōnen Jump #1768 is known as the ‘Saru Theme’ edition, as saru means monkey in Japanese. Weekly Shōnen Jump put almost every character on the cover in an adorable monkey suit, including everyone mentioned above and Gon from Hunter x Hunter, Yugi Mutuo from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and even the fabled Kankichi Ryotsu from KochiKame. The Saru Theme cover is one of the cutest Weekly Shōnen Jump has released.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #1767

A Winter Theme For Naruto & Co.

Right before the Saru Theme cover of Weekly Shōnen Jump was the exciting and cozy ‘Winter Theme’ art. This cover featured a lot of the same characters as issue #1768, but they’re more prepared for the snow than life in the jungle. Naruto, Luffy, and secret running-back Sena Kobayakawa from Eyeshield 21 are the most prominent on the cover, showing off their style in brightly colored snow jackets. Gon looks precious in his yellow-and-green snow jacket while Ryuk from Death Note is spoiling the fun and not even wearing a jacket at all.

Other prominent series featured on the cover of #1767 include Gintama, Mr. Fullswing, Tennis no Ojisama, Shaman King, Black Cat, and more. While it’s fun to see an individual character or series highlighted on the cover of Weekly Shōnen Jump, the manga collection also looks great with a hodge-podge of all the characters inside having fun together.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #1530

Yu-Gi-Oh! Takes Its Turn Up Front

Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the most successful card games, anime series, and before any of that, manga series around. Weekly Shōnen Jump #1530 shows some of the original characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, including Mai Kujaki (Mai Valentine in the English version), Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler), antagonist Bandit Keith, and main character Yami Yugi. Each character is looking intensely towards the reader, displaying the tone of the series in a quick image.

This cover was to celebrate the 11th volume release of Yu-Gi-Oh!, an impressive milestone for any series in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Yu-Gi-Oh! ran for 38 volumes in total from 1996 to 2004 and has since spawned some of the most creative and inventive games and spin-off series of any anime. Whether it’s Yami Yugi or Yugi Muto on the cover, they’re probably going to win whatever duel they’re part of.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #1123

Goku Using His Most Famous Ability

Dragon Ball is a staple of Weekly Shōnen Jump and its distributor, Shueisha. Like Yu-Gi-Oh!, the original Dragon Ball manga has evolved into an entire media franchise filled with movies, video games, and action figures of every character in the series. This particular Weekly Shōnen Jump cover showcases Goku on the front shooting his, at the time, most powerful ability right at the reader. The Kamehameha has become a pose everyone familiar with anime knows by heart since.

Weekly Shōnen Jump cover #1123 puts Goku on the front in celebration of Dragon Ball, selling an astounding 5.2 million copies, another huge milestone for any series. This cover came out in August 1990 and since then, Dragon Ball has gone on to sell another 254.8 million copies, just a few more than what this cover was celebrating.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #1562

Naruto Uzumaki Before He Became the 7th Hokage

Before he was a husband, father, or the 7th Hokage, he was just Naruto Uzumaki, the nine-tails Jinchuriki and an all-around problem child with a heart of gold. Weekly Shōnen Jump #1562 shows Naruto on the cover for the first time, celebrating the series’ new serialization. The series came to be from a simple one-off manga by creator Masashi Kishimoto and turned into one of the longest running series Weekly Shōnen Jump published. This cover shows Naruto at his simplest, with a huge smile across his face and his trademark goggles sitting on top of his head.

Naruto, like Dragon Ball and Yu-Gi-Oh!, has also spawned a huge range of video games, movies, and spin-off series. Its success can really only be compared to a few other series in the history of manga or anime, and it all started with this iconic issue.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #1192

Stardust Crusaders Is Peak JoJo

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is one of the most creative series to ever grace the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump. Created by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo is set across a range of different time periods across vastly different locations. No matter when and where the series takes place, however, one thing is certain: if Dio is around, there will be a Joestar to face him. Weekly Shōnen Jump #1192 showcases JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure at it’s very best, with Jotaro Kujo facing Dio Brando head on in Stardust Crusaders.

The cover celebrates both the 250th serialization in the magazine and the release of the 25th volume of the manga. It shows Dio’s beautiful blonde hair and confident expression against Jotaro’s dark color scheme and even darker aura. Next to their faces, Weekly Shōnen Jump announced “Dio vs. JoJo!!!” to add even more energy to the encounter.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #2187

High-Flying Haikyu!! On the Cover

Haikyu!! has changed the game for sports manga and anime since its serialization began in 2012. Starting with two one-off manga, creator Haruichi Furudate took Haikyu!! to astronomical heights through the series’ incredible story-telling, amazing characters, and jaw-dropping matches. The cover features the series’ two main stars, Hinata Shoyo and Tobio Kageyama, in their school uniforms doing what they do best — setting and spiking the ball with unstoppable speed.

If Slam Dunk started the path for sports manga, Haikyu!! continued it. The series shows some of the most exciting and high-flying action moments in any anime, sports or not, and the cover perfectly encapsulates it. Haikyu!! earned a spot on the cover of this edition of Weekly Shōnen Jump due to its rising popularity. This was only Haikyu!!‘s 30th chapter as well, showing how quickly the volleyball manga became in demand.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #2028

Ryo-san, meets Ryo-san

KochiKame ran for over 40 years in Weekly Shōnen Jump, one of the longest serializations of any series. Throughout its serialization, it has been adapted into a range of other mediums, and Weekly Shōnen Jump #2028 celebrates KochiKame finally getting its Live TV Drama adaptation. Middle-aged Tokyo beat-cop Kankichi Ryotsu was going to be seen in an entirely new medium, but he’ll still be trying to get as rich as quickly as possible.

With the exact same eyebrows, the cover of Weekly Shōnen Jump #2028 shows both the drawn and real-life versions of Kankichi Ryotsu. Both have the same menacing sneer, slick-backed black hair, and probably a head filled with get-rich-quick schemes. This cover came out in 2009, over 30 years into KochiKame’s run, and the series still had nearly another decade’s worth of material to go.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #1458

The First Ever One Piece Cover

It’s almost hard to believe that One Piece had a beginning. The series has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 1997 and hasn’t left the top of the charts since. This cover shows Monkey D. Luffy at his best — with a big smile on his face and binoculars in his hand, ready for the next adventure. Behind him, mangaka Eiichiro Oda included a handful of side characters like Shanks and Nami, who are also looking thrilled about the journey ahead.

Nami being on the cover can be confusing as she wasn’t the first to join the Straw-Hat pirates, but this cover suggests that Oda may have intended her to be before making changes to the story. Jotaro Kujo from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure can also be seen just to the right of Luffy, wearing all-black and hitting a textbook JoJo pose.

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Weekly Shōnen Jump #2705

The Newest Generation of Weekly Shōnen Jump

Weekly Shōnen Jump #2705 celebrates the 55th anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Jump in style. The cover shows off twenty of the magazine’s current protagonists together, all in black shirts with their individual series’ artwork on the front with text that reads “Every Monday”, referring to Weekly Shōnen Jump’s release schedule. Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece leads the charge, while Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia and Taro Sakamoto from rising hit Sakamoto Days.

Behind them are another set of manga’s most popular characters, including Asta from Black Clover, Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen, Andy from Undead Unluck, and many more. Weekly Shōnen Jump is an incredible place where anyone can go and experience dozens of heart-pounding stories at once. Cover #2705 is the best Weekly Shōnen Jump cover because it shows what the magazine does best — it brings people (or characters) together.