We here at ComicBook Anime are picky, so it should say something that, regardless of its extremely sketchy first season and uncertain future, there’s one series we really think you should check out. World Trigger is among the most unique manga of the last two decades for Shonen Jump. Although its first season doesn’t do it any favors, it stands on its own as a masterful sci-fi shonen you absolutely must experience.
One of the funny things about World Trigger is that everything people love about it is also problematic for it. Nonetheless, it would be inaccurate to call World Trigger polarizing: its execution of even its most divisive ideas tends to be extremely elegant, and it’s gathered a dedicated cult following as a result. Here we’re going to dig into what World Trigger is, why you should check it out, and why (if you’ve seen it before and given up) you’ll thank yourself for sticking with it.
World Trigger Was a Hard Sell From the Start
The readiest parallel to help an anime fan understand World Trigger would be Solo Leveling‘s paranormal gates; World Trigger built itself around a similar concept back in 2013, with the idea of gates from which monsters called “Neighbors” emerge. Also, like in Solo Leveling, World Trigger premises itself on human society mobilizing against these gates, with ranked squads doing the bulk of the dirty work.
In World Triggerthese squads are part of a governmental organization called Border, which has reappropriated Neighbor technology to fight fire with fire. World Trigger is built on Yuuma Kuga, a humanoid Neighbor wanting to keep his very existence a secret, and his unlikely ally in Osamu Mikumo, a Border trainee. World Trigger’s robust world is built out as Osamu tries to help Yuuma adjust to life in the story’s main setting of Mikado City.
Osamu and Yuuma are only two characters in World Trigger’s cast, of course, which is as robust as its world. Something that sets World Trigger apart is its meticulous detail at every level: its world isn’t just ambitious, it’s considered and carefully presented; its characters aren’t just important, they’re painstakingly written to never be disposable.
For that matter, World Trigger’s power system isn’t just balanced, it’s designed from the ground up so that careful strategy makes any enemy approachable. This works out to make World Trigger one of the best action anime around. Osamu and Yuuma slot into this as compelling leads with wildly different strengths, who play into a vast, deliberate machine of moving parts in the wider struggle against the existential threat of Neighbors. There are political considerations, interpersonal digressions, and team dynamics out the wazoo.
World Trigger’s First Season Failed It, Big Time
The problem is that, especially for today’s viewers, those incredible aspects meant World Trigger was a tough sell from the start. World Trigger is a methodical slow burn built around a main character who, drawing back to the Solo Leveling comparison, is the polar opposite of Jinwoo (and the shonen protagonist most viewers expect): someone overpowered who pulls out clutch moves and unexpected power-ups to win fights. World Trigger’s power system is built to reward broad strategy and cooperation, leaving any enemy approachable without becoming unrealistic.
World Trigger’s anime has been handled by Toei Animation from the start. Their first season of the title debuted in 2014, and it can probably be considered an act of accidental sabotage thanks to its abysmal presentation of World Trigger‘s early chapters, primarily focused on world-building and setting things in place for later. The already slow start was padded out with incessant recaps that break flow and make it hard to binge, not to mention a massive filler arc right in the middle of its sizable 73-episode run. On top of that, its animation was seriously lacking; at best, it was serviceable, but that’s not nearly enough to keep casual viewers invested in a story that takes a while to get going.
While there are bright parts of World Trigger’s adaptation even early on, with a killer voice cast and a top-notch OST, its first season failed to highlight many of the things fans love about the series, and it also made the story seem more tedious than it actually is. Although some fans cite a first-season inflection point around Episode 36 with the start of the “B-Rank Wars” arc, Season 2 and 3 clear up the production issues and poor direction, letting the story exist in cooperation with (rather than in spite of) its adaptation.
World Trigger Faces an Uncertain Future, but You Still Need To Try It
As for its fourth season, things are up in the air. World Trigger Season 3 closes off the “B-Rank Wars” arc, giving way to the manga’s ongoing “Away Mission Test” arc. There are 57 unadapted manga chapters as of the time of writing, meaning the material is there to adapt, but it’s not clear when or how that will happen. The arc is also set up in phases, with the first phase focused on narrative and characterization just coming to an end with chapter 255, clearing the stage for the battle-oriented second phase. The end of the first sub-arc heralds a natural point for adaptation, but nothing is set in stone.
It’s possible that Toei is waiting for the current arc to progress further before committing to an animation project, and it’s not clear how long that will take. Manga progress is slow-going: the series moved from weekly releases in Weekly Shonen Jump to monthly releases in Jump Square in 2018 to accommodate creator Daisuke Ashihara’s health problems, after an infamous two-year hiatus. Releases have been consistent in 2025, but the overall volume of material is still less than with weekly publication.
On the other hand, World Trigger is still beloved in Japan, although Westerners haven’t given it the same love, and Shueisha has prominently featured it at every Jump Festa since 2020. Particularly of note, the company launched a promotional Japanese-language page for World Trigger’s ongoing arc six months ago, possibly hinting at developments to come.
Despite its uncertain future, people who let themselves be drawn into World Trigger find a series unlike any other. It’s remarkably deep and sometimes dark without ever being weighed down by the abrasive veneer of grimdark grit so many shonen manga like to don these days. It trades obvious heroes for wargaming, complex characters, and bureaucratic dynamics. World Trigger is a story where details matter and every detail has meaning; while its first season will test your patience, you’ll be rewarded with one of Shonen Jump’s smartest sci-fi series ever.
Ready to give World Trigger a try? Check out the anime on Crunchyroll and Netflix, or find the manga over on MANGA Plus and VIZ Manga. Let us know what you think about it in the comments! And if you’re looking for other underrated Shonen Jump series, click through to the link below.
