Weekly Shōnen Jump (週刊少年ジャンプ, Shūkan Shōnen Janpu?, lit. "Weekly Boy Jump"), sometimes known as Weekly Jump and better known as Shōnen Jump, is one of the longest-running weekly manga compilations in Japan. It has a circulation of 2.7 million. Weekly Shōnen Jump has a sister magazine magazine is called Jump SQ., created after the fall of Monthly Shōnen Jump.
The collected volumes or tankōbon of Weekly Jump titles in Japan are released under the Jump Comics imprint every two months.
History
The very first WSJ cover, featuring "Kujira Daigo" (left) and "Dai Abare Apatchi-kun" (right)
Weekly Jump targets young males ("Shōnen" is made of the kanji that mean 'young(少)' and 'years(年)', and is a Japanese word for 'boy'). It features manga with lots of action and adventure, often featuring young, male protagonists with special powers and/or abilities.
Weekly Jump was launched by Shueisha in 1968 to compete with the already-successful Shōnen Magazine and Shōnen Sunday. At this time Weekly Shōnen Jump was originally called Shōnen Jump before issue 20, 1969. At its highest point in the mid 1990s, Weekly Jump had a regular circulation of over 6 million. In the last few years, its circulation is about three million. Weekly Jump manga titles have also been translated and redistributed in countries where the magazine itself is not published, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand.
There were a few video games made based on the publication and the properties in it. Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden, released in 1988 for the Family Computer was produced to commemorate the magazine's 20th anniversary. It was followed by a sequel: Famicom Jump II: Saikyō no Shichinin in 1991, also for the Famicom. A crossover fighting game titled Jump Super Stars was released for the Nintendo DS in 2005. It was followed by Jump Ultimate Stars in 2006.
Also published in Japan is Akamaru Jump, special issues featuring one-shot manga released during Japanese holidays. A number of current and former Jump mangaka get their start in these issues, most notably Hideaki Sorachi (Gintama), Akira Amano (Reborn!) and Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto). Various other publications are released under the Jump name in Japan, including novels, guidebooks and animated guides to the manga published in the magazine.
An advisary section of the magazine is Jump Soul -JUMP SPIRITS- (ジャンプ魂, Jump Soul -JUMP SPIRITS-?), where various Jump writers and editors talk of the manga process in the magazine.
Newcomer Awards
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Main article: Tezuka Award
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Main article: Akatsuka Award
Weekly Shōnen Jump, in association with parent company Shueisha, holds annual competitions for new or up and coming manga-ka to create one-shot stories. The best are put to a panel of judges (including manga-ka past and present) where the best are given a special award for the best of these new series. The Tezuka Award, named and tied to manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka, is the competition open to all different styles of stories. The Akatsuka Award, connected to gag manga pioneer Fujio Akatsuka, is a similar competition for comedy and gag manga. Many Weekly Shōnen Jump manga-ka have gotten their start either winning or being acknowledged by these competitions.
Associated items
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WSJ is also the center of the Shueisha's branding of its main manga products due to the popularity and recognition of the series and characters published in it. Although the manga are published both in the main magazine as well as in the Jump Comics line, they also are republished in various other editions such as kazenbans and "Remixes" of the original work, usually publishing series older or previously established series. Other usage of the Jump brand in Japan include stores selling items from their manga series, drama CDs and even a festival showing off the people and products behind the WSJ manga.
Features
Series
- See also: List of series run in Weekly Shōnen Jump
There are currently twenty-one manga titles being serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump.
| Title |
Serialization |
Author/Illustrator |
| Bari Haken (バリハケン, Bari Haken?) |
March 2008 |
Suzuki Shinya |
| Bleach (ブリーチ, Bleach?) |
August 2001 |
Tite Kubo |
| D.Gray-man (ディーグレイマン, D.Gray-man?) |
May 2004 |
Katsura Hoshino |
| Dogashi Kaden! (どがしかでん!, Dogashi Kaden!?) |
June 2008 |
Kosuke Hamada |
| Double Arts (ダブルアーツ, Double Arts?) |
March 2008 |
Naoshi Komi |
| Eyeshield 21 (アイシールド21, Eyeshield 21?) |
2002 |
Rīchiro Inagaki, Yusuke Murata |
| Gintama (銀魂—ぎんたま—, Gintama?) |
2004 |
Hideaki Sorachi |
| Hunter × Hunter (ハンター×ハンター, Hunter × Hunter?) |
1998 |
Yoshihiro Togashi |
| Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN!, Katekyō Hitman Reborn!?) |
2004 |
Akira Amano |
| Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo (こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所, Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo?) |
1976 |
Osamu Akimoto |
| Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro (魔人探偵脳噛ネウロ, Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro?) |
2005 |
Yūsei Matsui |
| Naruto (ナルト, Naruto?) |
November 1999 |
Masashi Kishimoto |
| Nurarihyon no Mago (ぬらりひょんの孫, Nurarihyon no Mago?) |
2008 |
Shībashi Hiroshi |
| One Piece (ワンピース, One Piece?) |
October 1997 |
Eīchiro Oda |
| Psyren (サイレン, Psyren?) |
2008 |
Iwashiro Toshiaki |
| Pyū to Fuku! Jaguar (ピューと吹く!ジャガー, Pyū to Fuku! Jaguar?) |
2000 |
Kyosuke Usuta |
| Sket Dance (スケット・ダンス, Sket Dance?) |
2007 |
Kenta Shinohara |
| To Love-Ru (To LOVEる—とらぶる—, To Love-Ru?) |
April 2006 |
Saki Hasemi, Kentaro Yabuki |
| Toriko (トリコ, Toriko?) |
2008 |
Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro |
Foreign adapatations
Shonen Jump
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Shonen Jump, published in North America by Viz Media, debuted in November 2002, with a January 2003 cover date. Though based on Weekly Shōnen Jump, the English language Shonen Jump is retooled for English readers and the American audience and is published monthly, instead of weekly.[1][2] It features serialized chapters from seven manga series, and articles on Japanese language and culture, manga, anime, video games, and figurines.[3] In conjunction with the magazine, Viz launched new imprints for releasing media related to the series presented in the magazine, and other shōnen works. This includes two new manga imprints, an anime DVD imprint, a fiction line for releasing light novels, a label for fan and data books, and a label for the release of art books.[4][5][6][7]
Prior to the magazine's launch, Viz launched an extensive marketing campaign to promote the magazine and help it succeed where other manga anthologies in North America have failed.[8] Shueisha purchased an equity interest in Viz to help fund the venture,[9] and Cartoon Network, Suncoast, and Diamond Distributors became promotional partners in the magazine.[8] The first issue required three printings to meet demand, with over 300,000 copies sold.[10] It was awarded the ICv2 "Comic Product of the Year" award in December 2002, and has continued to enjoy high sales with a monthly circulation of 215,000 in 2008.[11][12]
Banzai!
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Banzai! is a German language version of Weekly Shōnen Jump published by Carlsen Comics that was published from 2001 through December 2005 before being canceled. In addition to the Weekly Shōnen Jump manga series, the magazine also included original german language manga-influenced comics. The magazine competed as a sister publication to a shōjo anthology called Daisuki.
Swedish
In February 2005, Bonnier Carlsen began publication of a Swedish language version of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Sweden, called Shonen Jump as a sister publication to their existing magazines Manga Mania and Shojo Stars. The magazine included chapters from various popular Weekly Shōnen Jump titles including Bleach, Naruto, Shaman King, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. In January 2007, Bonnier was unable to renew its license with Shueisha for the magazine and had to cease publication of the magazine.
Norwegian
A Norwegian language edition of Weekly Shōnen Jump began publication in Norway in March 2005. Published by Schibsted Forlagene, the Norwegian edition was a direct translation of Bonnier's Swedish version of the magazine, containing the same series and titles. When Bonnier lost the license for Weekly Shōnen Jump, the Norweigan version also ceased publication, with the last issue released on February 26, 2007. They also created two short lived book imprints: "En Bok Fra Shonen Jump" for profile books and "Dragon Ball Ekstra" a line specifically for manga written by Akira Toriyama.[13] Also a films comic based on the Dragon Ball Z anime was released under the "TV Anime Comic" imprint.[14]
Circulation and reception
In 1982, Weekly Shōnen Jump had a circulation of 2.55 million. By 1995, circulation numbers swelled to 6.53 million. The magazine's editor-in-chief Masahiko Ibaraki believes this was due to the magazine including "hit titles such as Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk and others."[15] After hitting this peak, the circulation numbers began dropping again. By 2007, circulation was at 2.7 million.[15][16]
References
External links
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