Akira Amano’s Reborn! began in Weekly Shonen Jump on 24 May 2004 and ended on 12 November 2012 at chapter 411, collected in 42 volumes. Tsunayoshi Sawada is bad at school and bad at sport, and a hitman in the body of an infant turns up to inform him that he is the next boss of the Vongola family.
The early volumes run on a joke: the baby shoots people to force resolve out of them. Then the succession arc over the rings arrives, a proper power system and organisational structure settle into place, and the series becomes a battle manga. The turn is sharp enough that readers who stopped early and readers who remember the later arcs often sound like they are discussing different books.
Companions are added carefully and each one’s weapon has its own logic, which is why the cast was so popular and why the animated adaptation followed the same shape. Complete at 42 volumes.
