Legendary Shonen Jump Series Ends After 27 Years

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A best-selling series is officially heading toward its final match this summer.

The popular manga series The Prince of Tennis will end in July after running for 27 years, including both the original series and its sequel. The author announced the final chapter on X (formerly Twitter), and the news was also reported by Oricon, a Japanese news site.

Takeshi Konomi’s original manga series ran in Weekly Shonen Jump for nine years, from 1999 to 2008, and included a total of 379 chapters. Its continuation, The New Prince of Tennis, began in 2009 and has reached 468 chapters, with only three more planned before it concludes.

Weekly Shonen Jump’s Prince of Tennis Confirmed to End in July 2026

The author recently announced that the series is nearing its end, with just six chapters left as of that announcement. Three of those chapters appeared in the May issue of Jump SQ, a magazine related to Weekly Shonen Jump. Although specific dates haven’t been confirmed, the story is anticipated to conclude in July 2026.

I first discovered The Prince of Tennis back in 1999, and I was instantly hooked! It follows Ryoma Echizen as he joins Seishun Academy Junior High and battles all sorts of amazing rivals. It’s not just about the matches though – you really see him grow with his teammates. It quickly became a huge deal in Weekly Shonen Jump and has become a real phenomenon, selling over 60 million copies all over the world – and it’s easy to see why!

The series has grown to include various versions, most notably the original anime that aired from 2001 to 2005. A follow-up, The New Prince of Tennis, also received an anime adaptation and several special releases, with the latest being The Prince of Tennis II U-17 World Cup Semifinal, which finished in 2024.

A new installment, The Prince of Tennis II U-17 World Cup Finals Members Decisive Match, was announced in September 2025 and is scheduled for release in late 2026. Beyond the anime, The Prince of Tennis has expanded into various forms of entertainment, including stage musicals, two live-action Chinese dramas, multiple video games, and a weekly radio program.

A special event, “The Prince of Tennis Series Finale Celebration The Prince of Tennis Surprise Summit,” will be held on July 19th at Tokyo International Forum Hall A to commemorate the end of the series. Creator Konomi, along with the voice actors who brought the anime characters to life – including Junko Minagawa (Ryoma Echizen), Ryotaro Okiayu (Kunimitsu Tezuka), Takayuki Kondo (Shuichiro Oishi), Yuki Kaida (Shusuke Fuji), Junichi Suwabe (Keigo Atobe), and Hidenobu Kiuchi (Yuushi Oshitari) – will be in attendance.

Fans can enter a lottery for advance tickets through the May issue of Jump SQ magazine, with applications accessible via a QR code starting April 3rd. To celebrate the anime’s 25th anniversary, a special livestream will also be broadcast on the official The New Prince of Tennis YouTube channel at 10 p.m. on the day of the event.

You can now stream the Prince of Tennis anime on Crunchyroll. Fans who also read the manga can find the newest three chapters of The New Prince of Tennis in Jump SQ before the series ends in July.

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2026-04-06 20:40