How the Table of Contents (ToC) of Japanese Magazines Works
After noticing that many new people discovering the amazing world of Japanese magazines were struggling to understand how the magazine’s ToC worked, I decided to write this article to explain in detail how the ranking of the main manga magazine, Shonen Jump, works. And let me warn you right away, forget most of what you learned from Bakuman.
I will present two systems: the Pure Ranking and the Raw Ranking —the Raw Ranking system is closer to reality, but the Western system is the one most Western audiences are familiar with. Honestly, the Western system also allows for a more “exciting” analysis of the ToC. Here at Analyse It, we tend to mix both systems to allow for a more accurate analysis while also not confusing people who are used to the Western approach.
Before getting into the ToC, let’s quickly explain “what the ToC is.” The Table of Contents (ToC) is the summary of the magazine, where editors show the manga in the reading order. The first place in the ToC is usually the manga that will be read first, and the last place in the ToC is the manga that will close the magazine. Therefore, the ToC has never been and will never be the direct result of audience votes but rather the magazine’s index. Not only does Weekly Shonen Jump have a ToC, but other magazines (whether manga, car magazines, or news publications) do as well.
For a long time, the idea became popular that the ToC reflected the votes from the Popularity Card (currently, there’s also an online voting system that gives editors immediate results), but this idea is totally false and stems from a misinterpretation by Bakuman readers: at no point did Bakuman say that the ToC was based on the vote results from the cards. Instead, it explained that editors have an INTERNAL ranking, similar to the ToC, that reveals which manga were the most voted for that week. This internal ranking is not revealed to the public. However, even though the ToC is not the direct result of voting, it reflects the popularity of the manga in the magazine and what the editors expect from each series.
The importance of the ToC lies in its reflection of popularity and its role as a crucial mechanism for understanding what the editors expect from each series. If a manga is always in the top spots, it indicates that it’s popular and that the editors want to invest in it because they believe it could become a pillar or already is one. If a manga is consistently ranked in the lower spots, it’s at risk of cancellation. It’s a fact that canceled series are usually among the worst ToC averages over the last five or six issues. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the Raw Ranking:
RAW RANKING (Complete Ranking System)
We typically refer to the Complete Ranking System as the “raw ranking” because it considers ALL placements as valid. That’s right—in fact 2ch and Japanese websites include everything: covers, color pages, extra chapters—because they see the ToC not as the direct result of voting but as a ranking where the Editor-in-Chief takes various factors into account when deciding the placement of each manga. These factors include the quality of the chapter, the chapter’s importance to the story, popularity based on voting cards, sales of individual volumes, and how profitable the manga will be in the coming months or years. The most important factor is the quality of the chapter and voting card results. The goal of the ToC is to MAXIMIZE the reader’s experience.
The ranking is not tied to a specific week, as the editors use various aspects to rank a series and not just the votes for a single chapter (Normally the editors have access to vote result two days after magazine release). There are even examples of series canceled early (in eight to ten chapters) that started to rank poorly by the fifth chapter.
In an interview, the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine mentioned that it’s possible to know if a manga will be canceled after the reception of the first three chapters. While it’s believed that editors begin ranking a series by popularity starting with the fifth chapter, there are many cases where a series is only ranked starting based on its reception from the seventh, ninth, tenth, or even the eleventh chapter. Series like Red Hood, NERU, PPPPPP, Bone Collection, Shinrin Ouja Moriking, and many others only had their real reception revealed after the tenth chapter.
Going back, while the quality of chapters is very important, it’s not the only factor. More popular series with good chapters tend to rank well, and it’s also true that less popular series, even with good chapters, might not rank as well. The reason is that to prioritize the best possible reading experience, editors must also consider how many people LIKE a series, regardless of chapter quality. For example, Nue no Onmyouji is a manga that divides opinions, so even if it has a GREAT CHAPTER, there will be people who hate it.
Meanwhile, everyone loves Sakamoto Days, so a good chapter of Sakamoto Days holds more value than a good chapter of Nue no Onmyouji. This is why the ToC generally follows an order of overall popularity, with Shonen Jump using the results of sales and voting to see which manga the audience enjoys reading the most and ranks those manga accordingly.
Sometimes promoting a series is also important as the chapter’s quality. Series that need promotion will receive a color page OR a high spot in the ToC to catch the readers’ attention.
Should the Cover be considered the first position in the ToC? You might think it doesn’t make sense to rank the cover, but it actually does. In the Raw Ranking, each position has a COMMERCIAL value. The manga on the cover aims to introduce Weekly Shonen Jump to new readers and bring back those who stopped reading the magazine. In short, there’s no more important position than being on the cover of an issue since it will guide the magazine for that edition. Furthermore, for a manga to be on the cover, it means the editors are very confident about that series. So, in the Raw Ranking perspective, the first place in the ToC is the manga that earns the cover.
What is a Profitable Series for the Future? One of the parameters is being a profitable series for the future, meaning a series that currently generates little profit but has the potential to become a flagship for the magazine in the future. Series that have already ended their anime run and are losing popularity, even if they still sell well, tend to be ranked lower. While they may still be profitable for Jump right now, they won’t be as profitable in the long run, so it’s better to promote a series that is about to get an anime or currently has one airing on TV.
Why does the ToC follow a popularity order? Editors aim to maximize the magazine’s profitability. Some readers tend to read the magazine in order, from the first page to the last. Editors need to place the best chapters at the start because if readers get “bored” early on, they might not even make it halfway through the magazine. To avoid this, editors place the most popular series at the top of the ToC, at the beginning of the magazine, leaving the last spots for less important series that aren’t as relevant to the magazine.
Oda’s Comment (in the SBS of ONE PIECE Volume #47) confirms this system as the real one:
PURE RANKING (Incomplete Ranking System, but valid)
For the Western audience, especially those who follow the ToC on forums and socials, the ToC is decided by readers after 7 weeks. As explained in Bakuman, each reader can vote for their top three favorite series from that issue. This vote is done via a small card included in each issue of the magazine or done via website, where you can fill in the series’ number (each series has a number). Besides voting for three of the twenty series in the magazine, you can also answer several questions the editors ask on these voting cards. But is not true that the ToC is decided by readers after 7 weeks.
Yes, the voting cards exist, and yes, the authors know which series were voted the most that week, more or less 7 weeks, but this information is not shared with readers. The editor of World Trigger, Eichiiro Oda himself, and even the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine have confirmed that the ToC is decided by the editors, who rank the manga based on their efforts to maximize readership, placing the most loved series and the most interesting chapters at the top.
Other Magazines (Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday, Young Jump)
Most Japanese magazines don’t use a ranking system based purely on popularity, even though more popular series tend to occupy the top spots, example: Shonen Magazine, Young Jumpp, Shonen Sunday, Shonen Champion. These magazines rank manga based on editorial needs, even placing less popular series in top or middle spots. It’s also very common in these magazines to see popular manga, though not THE MOST POPULAR, placed in the last positions to maintain a more balanced reading flow.
Analyse It Methodology
Here at Analyse It, we’ve decided to use a mix of both systems (80% based on the Raw Ranking and 20% on the Pure Ranking): My analysis will always be based on the Raw Ranking, as it’s the correct one. I’ll PRIORITIZE the average position of a series when evaluating its chances of survival or success. But I’ll also comment on each manga’s position as if it were an editorial decision and not just the result of readers’ votes. However, I will only comment on manga that haven’t received a cover or color page and those that have released at least 8 chapters. The reason for excluding these mangas from my analysis is to keep it more streamlined and less overwhelming.
