The series follows Tsunayoshi Sawada, a young boy who discovers that he is next in line to become boss of the Vongola family, a powerful Mafia organization.

The Vongolas' most powerful hitman, a gun-toting infant named Reborn, is sent to teach Tsuna how to be a boss.

An anime television series adaptation by Artland was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 2006 to September 2010, and ran for 203 episodes.

In North America, Viz Media licensed the manga and the streaming rights for the television series for English release.

Timoteo, the Vongola IX—the current head of the family—, sends Reborn, an infant hitman from Italy, to train the reluctant Tsuna.

The clumsy, underachieving Tsuna becomes stronger, more confident and willing, making him a suitable Vongola family boss despite his continued reluctance.

Tsuna gets out of many scrapes on his way to becoming the Vongola boss, fighting escaped Mafia convicts posing as Kokuyo Junior High School students.

To defeat the Varia, Reborn recruits Tsuna's schoolmates as Vongola guardians: Hayato Gokudera, an explosives expert who wants to be Tsuna's right-hand man; Takeshi Yamamoto, an athlete who likes baseball and cluelessly thinks of the Mafia as a game; Ryohei Sasagawa, captain of the school boxing club and Kyoko's older brother, and head prefect Kyoya Hibari.

Lambo, a weak infant hitman who wants to kill Reborn; and Chrome Dokuro, a girl with links to the criminal Mukuro Rokudo, also join them.

After defeating the Varia, Tsuna and his friends are transported to the future to face the Millefiore family, who are killing the Vongolas.

Tsuna confronts the Simon Family on a secluded island; the Vindice, a group of former Arcobaleno who protect the laws of the mafia, are involved in the fight and imprison the losers.

Checker Face, who inflicted the Arcobaleno Curse of the Rainbow, reveals his true identity as Kawahira, administrator of the humankind's ultimate power, Tri-ni-set.

Finding another way to keep the Tri-ni-set safe, Kawahira agrees to entrust it to future generations and remove the curse.

After the Arcobaleno battle, Tsuna refuses to become the tenth head of the Vongola Family and Reborn leaves.

[6][7] Its chapters were collected and published in forty-two tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, released from October 4, 2004, to March 4, 2013.

[8][9] The series was licensed in North America and the United Kingdom by Viz Media,[10] who published the manga under the Shonen Jump Advanced imprint.

To prevent copyright infringement, cease and desist notices were sent to fansub groups who were subtitling the series.

's music was composed by Toshihiko Sahashi,[20] with each theme released as a single, album or character song.

[50][51] Unlike the PlayStation 2 version, the Wii game added characters from the fight between the Vongola and the Varia.

Guests have appeared since the tenth episode, and it was produced before a live audience during the 2007 Christmas break and (late in the series) in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo.

Although the planned final episode of Bucchake Ring Tournament aired on June 30, 2008, it resumed three weeks later.

The book profiles major characters, with brief side stories not appearing in the manga and color posters by Akira Amano.

light novels by Hideaki Koyasu and illustrated by Akira Amano, originally serialized in Jump Square, were published by Shueisha.

[69] The second, Hidden Bullet 2: X-Fiamma (隠し弾2 X-炎, Kakushi dan 2 X-en), published on February 5, 2008, recaps the mystery of Xanxus.

According to Carlo Santos of Anime News Network, although the manga's first volume had a weak plot and its art was "downright messy and crowded" there was "volatile chemistry" between Tsuna and Reborn.

[88] Popcultureshock.com said that the series was aimed at girls because of the number of male characters, and cited its good combination of artwork and humor.

[89] A. E. Sparrow of IGN liked its lampooning of the "Mafia concept" and the manga's artwork, saying the "cartoonish characters exist alongside chiseled, well-sculpted figures".

[90] The series' change in tone evoked a variety of responses; in a ninth-volume review Sparrow said the series "is quickly becoming a great shōnen read in no small part due to this current storyline", noting its evolution since Tsuna began to grow up and the fights became more violent.

[91] According to Comicbookbin.com, although the fights were well-done and the series was still funny, volume eight of the manga was too violent and ordinary readers might find it strange.

[94] Manga News praised Akira Amano's progressing art and visually stunning fight, but finds the ending too abrupt when there are still some unanswered questions.