Bleach VI: We Want Our Baby Bach Ribs (Aizen pull)

[Somewhere]

Y'know, I've often thought about it, but has there ever been a kind of "Big Three" or similar thing before here in the West? Or even in Japan itself?

I'm not sure if they ever got such a title, but Yu Yu Hakusho ('90-'94), Dragonball ('84-'95), and Slam Dunk ('90-'96) have the combination of overlapping run times and massive popularity that they can be reasonably referred to as a flagship triumvirate.

Nowadays, we all know that One Piece is the clear frontrunner and Naruto being the distant but only remotely close (relative to the others...) second.... from a manga sales perspective. Toriko tends to beat Naruto in the polls, and anime-wise Toriko's a lot more popular than Naruto. One Piece is still king there, of course.

Well, I guess that the closest thing that would indicate the top three in stature would be products like... I dunno, Battle Stadium D.O.N. from 2006. That featured exactly 3 series; Dragonball, One Piece, Naruto.

...actually, there is a new Jump crossover game in the works.
http://gematsu.com/wp-content/upload...-Announced.jpg <-- first image I've seen of this, from last week
http://gematsu.com/wp-content/upload...an-600x888.jpg <-- from this week

Going by the first pic, looks like the new top 3 being pushed is One Piece, Dragonball, and Toriko.

What does it say that when it's time to put 3 series together on the front page on some pseudo-comparable standing, that you have to reach back and use trusty ol Dragonball? :P