Shonen Jump

[DreamCaster]

Shonen Jump, a long running Japanese weekly manga-magazine (since 1968) has recently come to North America (Dec 2002). I'm sure everyone here has at least glanced at this magazine let alone picks up a monthly copy. Shonen Jump has hosted some of the greatest Japanese manga ever: Rurouni Kenshin, Dragonball, Yu-Yu Hakusho, Yugi-oh, Shaman King, Naruto, Bleach, Hikaru no Go, The Prince of Tennis, and One Piece, just to name a few. Also you can't leave out the monthly interest articles: Interviews with Shonen Jump's manga artists, Manga Explorer (montly rundowns of Shonen Jump's more popular manga from Japan's Shonen Jump not yet released - or soon to be released - in America), Anime Explorer (TV/DVD/Theatrical English and Japanese releases), Videogames previews/reviews (English and Japanese releases), Fan Art and Fan Letters, Anime Expo reports, and Life in Japan (History, Culture, Current Events). So I basically just created this topic to talk about America's first monthly (although I wish it was weekly like in Japan... oh well) manga magazine Shonen Jump!

[EDIT] (2/24/05) - Recently I've begun collecting Japanese Shonen Jump (there's a Japanese Bookstore not too far from where I live that sells Weekly Shonen Jump from Japan)!! So if anyone has anything to chat about what's currently running in Japan's Weekly Jump that has yet to be released in the US (Reborn, D. Gray-Man, WaqWaq, Mysterious Unidentified Boy, Bobobohbo Bohbobo, Silver Soul, Ichigo 100% etc., etc.) or the weekly "one shots" (Full Coat, Hollow Sunshine[/i], Yosh!, SayMay -[DC: SayMay was so LAMO!!! Great material!!]- ) or Japan's Monthly Jump (longer monthly stories), Ultra Jump (manga for the +14 age group), or even V-Jump (a video game magazine with some manga) feel free to talk abut it as well!! [/EDIT]

My fav mangas in 'Jump are Shaman King and Naruto, with One Piece not too far behind. Yugi-oh and DBZ are okay and SandLand and Yu-Yu Hakusho are kinda dull. I dunno, Shaman King, Naruto, and especially One Piece are IMO the funnies mangas in Jump, and that's prolly why I like them! These mangas have some of the most outrageous and funny double-take experssions like when Manta spazzes out in Shaman King, and I love Eiichrio Oda's (One Piece) angry 'white pupil, fanged teeth' expressions! Out of all the manags in Jump I like the drawing style of Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto) and Yoshihiro Togashi (Yu-Yu), even if the storyline in Yu Yu is kinda dull (right now).

Some manags that I'd really like to see in Shonen Jump (SandLand will be ending soon, it's only one volume, no more than 20 chapters prolly, but Jump only runs about one chapter per month, sooooometimes two) are Kochi-Kame: one of the longest running mangas ever (since 1976, and still going!) and I've heard is very funny. The story is about a lazy Police officer, who loves his guns and gadgets (he owns every singe videogame console and handheld EVER made!) who patrols Tokyo and comes up with crazy schemes to make his job a lot easier. Another Manga I'd like to see is Mind Assain: after Shonen Jump's Manga Explorer ran an article on this manga it intrigued me. The basic plot is there are a new type of law enforcers in the world: mind assassins, who kill criminals by distroying their minds. However one mind assassin uses his powers to rehabilitate both criminals and victims of trauma by erasing memories of malice and trauma. Mind Assassin is also pretty short, only 5 Volumes. Finally I'd like to maybe see Hikaru no Go: I wouldn't be surprised if you've heard of this one. This is a really popular manag about a boy, Hikaru, who finds an old Go board in his grandfather's attic possessed by the ghost of a 1000 year old Go tutor (Go is an old chinese board game played on a grid kinda like western checkers or chess). At first Hikaru is kinda forced to play Go (when Sai, the ghost who possess Hikaru, becomes saddened Hikaru expereices spells of nausea, and only playing Go makes Sai happy), but later on Hikaru learns to appreciate Go and strives to master the ultamate Go move, 'The Hand of God'.

That's all for now! Post your thoughs here on Shonen Jump!!

 

[Geo]

Where can I get it?

I really want to get more into manga/anime but I don't know where to start...

Is there an InuYasha manga? I really like this series and I want to see more can anyone help?

 

[DreamCaster]

Originally posted by Nephilim :
I really want to get more into manga/anime but I don't know where to start...

Shonen Jump magazine is a great way to start! You can find Shonen Jump at any chain bookstore (Borders, Waldenbooks, and Barnes & Noble all carry Shonen Jump), and I once saw copies at a 7-Eleven gas station. While in college I got my copies from the college book store magazine rack (really conveinient)! Also the three book store chains I mentioned above also carry other mangas like: Lupin III, Love Hina, Chobits, The Big O, GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), Crayon Shinchan, and yes, even Inu-Yasha manga (plus many more)! And of course they are selling DragonBall and Yugi-Oh manga which is currently running in Shonen Jump (and you can expect One Piece novels in July, Naruto in August, and Shaman King in September. No word on when SandLand or Yu-Yu Hakusho are being novelized however, you can only find their manga in Shonen Jump right now)!! You can of course order a subscrition of Shonen Jump at ShonenJump.com and find graphic novels on sale at Amazon.com

 

[Phillip Chanter]

I love Shonen jump!

I've currently only got one magazine under my desk, but I've pretty much read them all. My favorite manga so far is both Yuyu Hakusho, and One Piece. I love Yuyu because well... it's completely uncut, so you see why Keiko calls Yusuke a pervert (He tends to touch her breasts from time to time), and you tend to see more story than what was shown on both toonami and adult swim.

I like One Piece mainly because I love that cartoonish look to the whole seires, plus the fact that pirates are involved makes me a fan in an instant (I am working on a pirate manga as well). But I've got to give credit for the other mangas, mainly because they aren't butchered like they always are on television!

 

[shishkabob]

I love one piece, well, I didn't really read it from Shonen Jump, since I hate the translations (They suck). I prefer to read the Chinese version, which is much more accurate (I think). One piece has got to be the funniest shiz I've ever seen.

 

[DreamCaster]

Originally posted by shishkabob
I love one piece, well, I didn't really read it from Shonen Jump, since I hate the translations (They suck). I prefer to read the Chinese version, which is much more accurate (I think). One piece has got to be the funniest shiz I've ever seen.

Granted I know very, very little Japanese but I know at least enough that made me kinda mad at the translation of one Shaman King Shonen Jump had done a few months ago (anyone here who reads Shonen Jump rememer the episode with the poltergiest who kept knocking down the bilboard?). Well, as the story goes: there was a poltergiest who was hauting a billboard sign and would attempt to injure passerbys by knocking down the billboard on top of them. However, only Yoh (the main character and local Tokyo Shaman in training), Manta (Yoh's best friend with enough 6th sense to see ghosts), and of course Amidamaru (Yoh's main partner spirt and anicent samurai) could see the giest and hear it's errie message "wh... wh... wh...". Later on when the giest viciously attacks Manta, the giest cries out it's full message "wh... wh... white!" This is when Yoh shows up with a can of white paint! The giest finally reveals itself to be the tortured soul of a billboard painter who fell and died from the scafolding accidnet and was unable to finsih painting the billboard he haunted. Yoh allows the giest to possess his body so it can finish paiting the billboard and rest in peace. ANYHOO, what pissed me off about the translation of this episode was if anyone here knows bastic Japanese, they'd know that "shiro" is the Japanese word for "white" and that the "shi" in "shiro" means: "death". So logically in the Japanese version of this comic the giest appeared to be chanting at first: "shi... shi... shi..." or "death... death... death..." but it wasn't until later we discover he is really saying: "shi... shi... shiro!" or translated: "death... death... white!". SO what does this have to do with anything? Well, the chant "wh... wh... white!" isn't terribly spooky or clever, is it? Well, IMO it would have been more appropreate in attempting to create the same aura of spookyness to perhaps translate the giest's message as: "pain... pain... paint!". The editors of Shonen Jump could have at least explained why the ghost is saying "wh... wh... wh..." with an editor's side note explaining the translation problem... ah... oh well... just one thing I wanted to point out.

 

[ender]

I like one piece, but I cant stand the illustrations. Its just too cartoony for me. I can understand Luffy not having joints, becuase hes rubber. But when all of the characters are so bendy its just wierd. I prefer Naruto. I also like the Yu-gi-oh! manga becuase its really detailed, and they havnt started their crappy little card game yet. I just wish the had something besides DBZ in their also, but oh well.

 

[pokemonmaster01]

Re: Where can I get it?

I try to catch every issue of shonen jump that I possibly can. My two favorites in it are Yu-yu-hakusho and Yu-gi-oh.

Originally posted by Nephilim
Is there an InuYasha manga? I really like this series and I want to see more can anyone help?

Yes, actually there are already about 16 volumes of it.

 

[Phillip Chanter]

Hate the illistrations?

Originally posted by ender
I like one piece, but I cant stand the illustrations. Its just too cartoony for me. I can understand Luffy not having joints, becuase hes rubber. But when all of the characters are so bendy its just wierd. I prefer Naruto. I also like the Yu-gi-oh! manga becuase its really detailed, and they havnt started their crappy little card game yet. I just wish the had something besides DBZ in their also, but oh well.

Personaly, I like how One Piece was drawn, mainly because it was a step above what we normaly see in every manga out there (I'm talking about how all girls look the same eye and face wise, and how boys always look so steriotypical), but the illistraitor of One Piece uses squash and stretch techniques when drawing his comic (Squash and stretch is commonly used in cartoons like tom and jerry) hence why people tend to have rubbery limbs.

Basicly One Piece seems to look more alive than any other manga out there, because squash and stretch tends to add more movement to characters, and also makes it so that characters are able to do things normal humans and animals woudn't. So that's one main reason why I love One Piece so much.

 

[DreamCaster]

Ditto Phil. How about Shaman King and it's cartoony style as well? Take a look at Manta, he's only 80cm tall (that's like 2'9") and plus, I love it when he spazzes out (my favortie moment ever in Shaman King is when Manta sees Yoh sleeping in class and his eyes buldging like eggs outta his head and screaming "Now he's sleeping in class!! Does he think he's God?!!" lol).

Eee! I can't wait till the next Shonen Jump!!! It goes on sale Tuesday, July 1st (two more days)!! If I'm lucky I may be able to score one Monday night before the bookstore's closing (two month's ago I was able to get my May issue of SJ on Monday at Border's Bookstores before they went on sale Tuesday)! I'm really excited about Naruto (the SJ editors sure know how always end Naruto on a high note!) Kakashi (possibly unmasked?!?!) vs Zabusa! I'm praying for an elite vs elite ninja battle :D!! And as always, Shaman King being my other most fav manag in SJ I can't wait to see what's next (I wonder if it was Anna who Yoh's grandmother was teaching as an itako, communicating with any sprit, anywhere, anytime, even spirts who have already passed on to their eternal rest... interesting)! Can't wait to see the new cover art (SandLand has yet to grace the english SJ cover) and articles!!

 

[CORY]

heh, sorry, dc, but if the anime's any indication, kakashi doesn't take his mask off. he just pulls up his head protector so he can use his special eye... that's all, i'm not sure if i just made a spoiler or not so i'll just leave it at that.

 

[DreamCaster]

spoiler alert!

yeah CORY, that's what I meant, eye-"mask"/headband, same-same! Cools, a specail eye, I just thought he was lifting his headband so he could simply use both eyes (since usisng just one eye would be a handicap for him or something). Anyhoo, the next issue of Jump will be out in 2 days, I'll find out about it then! [note] if you've already read the manga (or seen the anime) that is currently running in Shonen Jump and you plan to post future events that occur in that specific manga, please post a spoiler alert (and try to post spoilers in black text)! [/note] I guess Kakashi's special eye isn't too big of a spoiler (I still don't know what makes it so specail, other than the fact that is was revealed last issue that he actually has two eyes... before last issue I had simply assumed that Kakashi had lost his left eye in battle or something and was using his headband as a kind of eye-patch... interesting)...

 

[ender]

yeah, Im kinda dissapointed that Ive seen the naruto anime upto episode 27, so it'll be a while if ever when the shonen jump manga catches up to the anime. I also think that they(people at shonen jump) stink becuase they said that they wont run hunter x hunter after sandland because they already have yuyu hakusho by the same illustrator, but they put sandland AND DBZ. Both are done by one person, and both arnt that good. I understand they do this to get the most possible subscribers, but, its a little much with the new $30 subscription (it was 20 when I signed up), and I think they charge this becuase they are dumb. They cant say they make it that much because most of the times I get my subscription late becuase they ship out the newstand ones first, and RUN OUT. They also add that crappy pirate guy and other stupid stuff. ahh...ok now Im worked up. Ill just post now.

 

[DreamCaster]

Shonen Jump issue #8, August 2003, available now!!

Lucky! Lucky! I was able to pick up Shonen Jump #8 today (presumably the day before they are "supposed" to go on sale)!! I haven't read it yet (I just got home from work, I had stoped by the Barnes & Nobles with high hopes). Be on the lookout for a Shonen Jump with a blue cover sporting Goku in Kamehameha pose with Yugi on his left holding the Mellenium Puzzle and Yoh on his right juggling two spirt balls (these three characters are on the cover because the first four pages of their respected manga are in full color)!! I'm off to read this months issue of 'Jump! I'll post my remarks as soon as I'm finished!!

 

[ender]

Y'know what is wierd. I got my August issue about a week ago, which is good I guess, but I have to wait an extra week until my next issue.

 

[DreamCaster]

Uh, yeah, the September 2003 #9 issue has been out for some two weeks now, but if you have yet to pick one up HURRY UP AND GET IT!!! This issue has to be one of the most kick arse issues to date! In One Peice we get to see Zorro go one-on-one with Kabaji the Acrobat (and next month it's Luffy vs Buggy)! It kicked so much arse!!! In Naruto we get to see Naruto and Sasuke match skills with Zabuza: an elite ninja who was even able to capture their sensei Master Kakashi! A really sweetly coreographed battle! This month's Yu-Gi-Oh! was really interesting! We get to see a digi-pet battle (remember the fad back in '98?) and Yugi best some punks in a graffiti based duel! And get ready for a really intense battle in Shaman King as Yoh squares off against the corpse puppeteer, Tao Jun (Ren's older sister) who specializes as a Dao-shi (daoist/taosit spell caster who writes out her spell tags with her own blood). She uses a spell tag to resurect the famous kung-fu artist Lee Bailong, and because when using a resurected spirt traped within it's dead corspe there is no need for 100% Intergration, becase the spirt is already 100% intergrated with it's own orginal body! Yoh and Amidamaru still put up a great fight! In Yu-Yu Hakusho Yusuke is given his first assignment: retrive the three dark tresures of the underword, and in SandLand Shiba, Theif, and 'Bleezbub discover that the desert oasis wasn't the King's secret water supply after all... but *spoiler* instead it's THE OCEAN!!! And in DBZ the Z Fighters must hurry and get Goku to a safe location before Andorids, #16, #17, and #18 find him... and new mystery is being investigated: a second time machine has been found, but who was the occupant?

Can't wait till next month's issue! Luffy vs Buggy in One Piece! Who is the mystery boy wearking the Village Hidden in the Mist mask in Naruto? Yoh and Amidamaru try to keep in step with Lee Bailong in Shaman King. Can Yugi help Hanasaki stand up to his fears in Yu-Gi-Oh!? What's the deal with the second time machine in DBZ? Yusuke takes on three of the spirt world's toughest criminals in Yu-Yu-Hakusho. The final showdown between Shiba and Zeu approaches in SandLand!

 

[ender]

Luffy wins. the mysterious boy is zabuza's side kick, hes not dead. Lee spirit control tags cut off by Yoh, and he becomes free again. Of course, yugi can do anything. Dragon ball Z, cell dies. Yusuke kills the first demon, later teams up with the other two.

 

[DreamCaster]

ender, you could have at least put up a **spoiler warning**. ah, oh well... I kinda figured that masked boy in Naruto as a tad suspicious looking (his mask is marked with the "Hidden Mist Village" symbol). It's nice to know that Luffy in triumph over Buggy (first round KO I hope, I wanna know who the next bad guy is)! Kinda figured that Yoh would halfta break the spell tag to get Bailong off his back (can't wait to see how he pulls it off) And of course from watching (American) TV we all knew what was gonna happen in Yu-Yu Hakusho and DBZ, I was just playing up the drama (you've either seen the subbed Japanese series or read the Japanese manga for Naruto, One Piece, and Shaman King ender). Hey, maybe in the next Yu-Gi-Oh! to give Hannasaki more courage, Yugi lends him the Millenium Puzzle?! And what comes next in SandLand? Just gonna hafta wait and see...

The October 2003 issue (#10) officially goes on sale Tuesday, September 2 (but if you're reeeeeely lucky you can snag a copy the Monday before they go on sale (like always do!), but September 1 is labor day and a lot of places will be closed.... hmmm.... )

 

[DreamCaster]

doesn't count as double post if it's been +2 weeks...?

Yay! Shonen Jump October 2003 Issue #10 is out!! GO GET IT RIGHT NOW!!!11 This month's color is organe with SSJ Goku, Vegeta, and (kid) Gohan gracing the cover (sigh... the only manga running in Shonen Jump that has yet to grace to cover is SandLand, I hope Beleezebub, Theif, or Rao get a chance at the cover before their series end... which is in next month's issue)!! This month's color manga is Shaman King.

This month's higlights:
- Dragon Ball Z: the Z Team go to the[ abandoned Capsule Corp. Time Machine and find a strange egg, and later reports of a whole city mysteriously vanishing over night appears on the news.
- Naruto: Zabusa may still be alive, could his assin be nothing more than a traitor? Also Kakashi begins training Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to channel their chakara!
- One Piece: Buggy versus Luffy... versus Nami?! Nami get's caught pilfering Buggy's treasue, can she survive his Chop-Chop Festival attack?! Plus we learn about Buggy's relationship to Luffy's idol: Red Haired Shanks!
- SandLand: Beleezebub versus Commander Zeu's Bug Man!
- Shaman King: Amidamaru is loosing his footing with Lee Bailong, and requests a proper sword for duel. Where can a guy find a sword in the middle of the night in Tokyo? Why Bokuto Ryo of course! Manta squares off with Ryo for his Bokuto!!
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Kaiba's litte brother Mokuba avenges his brother's defeat by poisoning Jonouchi! Yugi must play a deadly game of Russian Roulette for the antidote!
- Yu-Yu-Hakusho: Yusuke has been assigned to track down the three dark treasures of the underworld. Round 1: Goki the devourer of souls!

I was actually kinda disapointed in this month's One Piece, the battle between Kabaji and Zorro last month simply kicked arse but Luffy versus Buggy was really confusing! Shaman King[/i] was also kinda disapointing (Yoh fights Lee s'more) but it was amusing to see Manta vs Bokuto Ryo (the book is stronger than the sword)! I'd hafta say Yu-Gi-Oh! the the most exciting manga this month, so much happened (capsule toy chess, fist fighting, and russian rullette)! I dunno if the Deul Monsters card game will be as exciting as these "urban" duels (the Kareoke duel a few months ago? Brilliant)!

* * SJ NEWS * * SJ NEWS * * SJ NEWS * *

Some late breaking Shonen Jump news! While I was looking up some manga release dates and I saw that Viz has aquired the publishing rights to Hikaru no Go (volume 1 will be released November 20, 2003) and Rurouni Kenshin (volume 1 release will be October 7, 2003) here in the US (for the official News Release click here! Rurouni Kenshin has been aired on Cartoon Network and the OVA and Anime have been around in the US for a while so I'm sure many here are fairly familliar to it but Hikaru no Go (both the manga and anime) are brand new never before seen to the US (unless you have P2P file sharing or import ).

If you don't know Hikaru no Go (I mentioned it in my first post), it's a manga about a kid, a ghots, and their 'undying' love for an anicent Chinese game called Igo/Go (for the basic game rules of Go, click The American Go Association's official website link). The anime takes an old fashoned game like Go (about the western equivilent of Chess or Othello) and turns into an action packed story full of suspense and emotion (not to mention some really good laughs). The first volume of the manga will be released November 20, 2003 (with the anime to follow around that time as well) and the manga will begin running in Shonen Jump[/i] magazine's January 2004 issue (why the first manga volume before the chapters are run in Shonen Jump is beyond my reasoning thou). I've already seen the first 26 fan subbed episodes (out of +70 total... so far, both the anime and manga are still running in Japan) and it simply rocks (Yu-Gi-Oh is fantasy, Hikaru no Go is real and serious, there is nothing more moving than seeing two Pro Go players battle it all out and in the end seeing the looser's closest friends break into tears when he crushed under the skill of his opponet). All of the characters' passion for Go is touching. The story is about a kid named Hikaru who at first wouldn't give the game a second glance but later learns to love the game after being possesd by the ghost of an 1000 year old pro Igo player and experiencing the game with other kids his age. Hikaru at first is pretty freaked out by the ghost (but obliges to play Go anyways) and through playing (at first it's just the ghost, named Sai, who plays but then Hikaru gradually learns the rules by "watching Sai play" and becomes skilled at Go himself) Hikaru makes great friends and dangerously skilled rivals. I'm really glad that this is finally coming to the US. (now if Viz can get the rights to another SJ classic manga: KochiKame and Hunter X Hunter I'll be set!)

Hikaru (right) and Sai (left) sit down for a game of Go...

SandLand's finale will be in the November 2003 issue (a very short manga: one 14 chapter volume, which will be released December 2003). As I mentioned before Hikaru no Go won't be starting until the January 2004 issue of Shonen Jump. So what will fill the gap in SJ's December 2003 issue(?): Rurouni Kenshin will have a 2 chapter preview as a marketing 'gimmic' to push sales on the release of the graphic novels.

Truth be told, this is kinda troubling (IMO) because Naruto (1999 - present), Shaman King (1998 - present), One Piece (1996 - present), and Yu-Gi-Oh (1996 - present) are still running in Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump and we just got them here in the US! Now that Hikaru no Go (1999 - present) has joined the US Shonen Jump there will only be two manga left that actually have been completed in Japan running in the US SJ. They are DBZ, which will be ending soon (prolly the end of 2005) and then Yu-Yu-Hakusho (which ran for 5 years in Japan's weekly SJ which was 1 chapter a week, BUT in the US we only get 2 - 3 chapters a month). In other words hopes of KochiKame (1976 - present!!) coming to North America's monthly SJ are slim to nill (but like Rurouni Kenshi there's still hope that Viz will pick it up and produce it strait to Graphic Novel form)!! Kochikame is over 110 volumes long with well over 1000 chapters and still going!!

 

[Pokemasterkatie]

**Spoiler Warning!**And...The most popular DBZ character is...(Drumroll...) VEGETA!! Goku got in second place by a few hundred votes, and Gohan got third. The Loser Award: Captain Ginyu!

 

[DreamCaster]

Wow, somebody else on the boards reads en Jump/Viz manga! A miracl !

Yeah, I voted for Mr. Popo (who wouldn't? He's awesome!) for the DBZ character contest. Of course all of the "cool" characters would get the top spots (but wasn't Bulma like 6th?)... siiiigh.... can't be helped....

Next issue of Shonen Jump i sout October 7th! Mark your clanedars! Shonen Jump manga out this month are:
- Yu-Yu Hakusho vol. 1 (9/15/03)
- Shaman King vol. 1 (9/15/03)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! vol. 2 (9/15/03)

 

[pokemonmaster01]

Hmm, It was to my understanding that Rurouni Kenshin would replace Sandland. Maybe I misread something.

By the way, did anyone else laugh out loud seeing Manta beat the crap out of Ryu with a dictionary?

 

[ender]

Right, I watch the subbed narutos, but I knew the one pice and shaman king things, because of course they are gonna win...

I dont like shonen jump anymore, way to commercialized now. every second page is "Buy the graphic novels or die!". I just bought your **** magazine, why do I need the graphic novels?!?

I got a subscription for newtype to fill the void when I dont renew my shonen jump subscription due to suckiness. I think Im also gonna look into rai-jin. (another manga mag.)

 

[pokemonmaster01]

Originally posted by ender
I dont like shonen jump anymore, way to commercialized now. every second page is "Buy the graphic novels or die!". I just bought your **** magazine, why do I need the graphic novels?!?

Entirely too many ads. I always glance at the bottom of the page thinking it will be some sort of background information or something- but it's always an ad for that graphic novel!! There are also regular full-page ads for them, or even they sneak it into a picture with a character talking about them. If people want to buy them-- they will! If not, don't shove it down their throughts.

 

[DreamCaster]

originally posted by pokemonmaster01:
Entirely too many ads. I always glance at the bottom of the page thinking it will be some sort of background information or something- but it's always an ad for that graphic novel!! There are also regular full-page ads for them, or even they sneak it into a picture with a character talking about them. If people want to buy them-- they will! If not, don't shove it down their throughts.

Yeah, I was kinda irked about all of the Viz/Jump comic advertising (especially in the Oct 2003 issue) but I've seen the weekly Japanese Shonen Jump (wich is +500 pages compared to our puny +300 page monthly SJ) and had one of my friends who is from Tokyo translate it for me and they had the same amount of advertising (in the margins of manga and yes, even the characters in the manga promoting their latest volumes in stores). So that's just how SJ works.



P.S. If you wanna try out some non uber-popular manga check out Tokyo Pop manga. My friend from Tokyo says that Tokyo Pop is bringing over "normal" managas: nothing that was terribly popular in Japan (unlike SJ's Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh!). Currently I'm collecting Jing: King of Bandits. It's about this happy-go-lucky teenager who is in actuallity the greatest theif in all the world, and he travels with a his horny crow sidekick, Kir. Funny stuff.

 

[pokemonmaster01]

The new issue is out now (somebody might want to update this...). There is a preview for Hikaru no Go in it. At first I was a little skeptical about another game-based manga in the magazine(utterly fearing a Yu-Gi-Oh clone), but one look at the sample artwork and my fears were pushed aside. The story looks to be interesting too.

I also enjoyed the Rurouni Kenshin extra they added in. (Though I am a bit ashamed that their little advertising trick worked-- I'm getting the graphic novel...)

 

[MetalShade]

I havent seen too much manga but I sometimes download fan translations of manga and shows. So far my friend has almost all of the naruto manga thats out in japan right now. I havent seen any of the others because some of the manga that came out with shows were horrible and haved ruined my interest in their manga. Maybe I'll skim through a shonen jump at suncoast or look at their manga rack.
Is there any manga some one would recommend?

 

[DreamCaster]

Like I Mioned before I've already seen the first 26 episodes of the Hikaru no Go anime. The story is really emotional and makes a simple game of placing stones on a piece of wood very action packed (a much more serious manga than Yu-Gi-Oh!). Good stuff. I love the guy's color artworks (the subdued late-afternoon golden lighting). Ah, we don't get it until the January Issue (release date: Dec. 4 2003). Anyhoo, this month's highlights:

Dragonball Z - Piccolo versus Cell (that's it basically).
Naruto - Naruto, Suske, and Sakura begin chakara training, and we learn about Inari's VERY tragic past.
One Piece - Luffy has defeated his first rival pirate: Buggy the Clown, and has recruted a new member to his crew: Nami the Navigator.
SandLand - SERIES FINALE. Beleezulbub releases his hidden powers of darkness to take on General Zeu's Insect Man, the final obsticale between returing water to the peoples of SandLand.
Shaman King - Yoh is possesed by the spirt of Lee Bailong's very own teacher, but is this enough to counter Lee's rampage?
Yu-Gi-Oh! - Yugi, Jonouchi, Honda, (and Anzu) take on Seto Kaiba's "Death-T" project to avenge what Kaiba did to Yugi's grandfather.
Yu Yu Hakusho - Yusuke has 2 of the dark treasues of the underworld back and faces the final criminal Hiei and his Sword of Darkness.

BONUS: Rouroni Kenshin - a preview of chapter 1.

MetalShade: If you like horror/murder-mystery manga I would suggest The Kindaichi: Murder Files: its a manga about a teenage detecive, Hijime Kindaichi, who takes on murder cases (usually his own classmates!). Each volume is a full open-close case and are full of action and mystery and are really gory (usually no less than four dead bodies turn up throughout each case). They're released by Tokyo Pop and vols. 1 - 3 are out. If you like occult/psycological-horror I would suggest Uzumaki (it means "spiral" in Japanese). The story takes place in a small seaside Japanese village which has a dark history about the "curse of the spiral". The village is blind to the curse yet it's citizens, one by one, meet grusome and horrific ends due to the curse of the spiral (my fav story is when the two lovestruck kids, in threat of loosing each other forever, littlerally tangle/spiral themselves together into one two headead snake-like being and slither off into the sea)... Uzumaki is released by Viz and currently vols. 1 - 3 are out.

 

[DreamCaster]

[if it's been a dead topic for a month I don't think this counts as a double post]

The December 2003 issue of Shonen Jump is out (!!), sigh, and for the second month in a row Yu-Gi-Oh! has made the cover (out of the 12 SJ issues released so far Yu-Gi-Oh has been on the cover 7 times, and Sand Land never made the cover once, now it's too late)! I hope when Hikaru no Go premeres next month it makes the cover! Anyhoo, this month's special feature was a preview to Saint Seiya (or also known as Knights of the Zodiac). Saint Seiya is a good ol' beat-em-up manga with cool aspects like powered up armor and weapons. It was very popular in Japan, China, and Korea and now it's (finally) out in the US (Seint Saiya volume 1 is out in December).

Yay! Next month's issue (January 2004) will be the 1st year aniversary for Shonen Jump! They kick off their 1st year anniversary with a new series Hikaru no Go. If you haven't heard my previous babbling about this awesome manga Hikaru no Go is about a kid named Hikaru that gets possed by a 1000 year old pro Go player named Sai (Go is an old Chinese board game similar to Chess or Othello). At first Hikaru isn't too pleased too haunted by Sai but Sai promises that he will "cooperate" if Hikaru similpy plays a game of go (or two, or three). At first Hikaru finds Go kinda boring (because mainly old people play it) but once he finds other kids his age and youth Go tournaments (for money) Hikaru quickly picks up on the sport (and eventually learns to love Go for what it is and not just to make quick cash). A very serious and touching manag with plenty of laughs along the way.

I also hope in the following year that Shonen Jump is able to pick up one or two new manga series. Japan's weekly Shonen Jump is about +500 pages and the US monthly Shonen Jump is barely +300 pages... picking up 2 new manga will at least boost it to about +400 a month... I think Shonen Jump should keep on running the monly previews (like it did for Ruroini Kenshin and Saint Seiya) all year long and by the end of the year vote for two or three new manga that should begin running in Shonen Jump!

 

[DreamCaster]

Ah, I've been the only one posting here for the past 3 months so I guess if no one posts after this I'll just lest this topic die (sniff).

Anyhoo, the Feb 2004 issue of Shonen Jump is out (Naruto makes his second cover appearance!). Since my last post a new manga has debut in Shonen Jump: Hikaru no Go! Since my first post in this topic I hoped that the US Shonen Jump would pick up Hikaru no Go (and if you still don't know what Hikaru no Go is all about, just read my previous post)! Anyhoo, this month's highlights:

DragonballZ: After taking out Piccolo, Cell goes one on one with Android #16.
Hikaru no Go: Hikaru (and Sai) take on the Go Meijin's son, Akira!
Naruto: Naruto finally catches up to Zabusa and Haku, but is it too late for him to save Sasuke?...
One Piece: Usopp, Luffy, and crew versus the pirate gang of 1-2-Django!
Shaman King: In order to save Bokuto Ryo from "death by possession", Yoh allows the troubled spirt Tokagero to posess his body.
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Yugi battles "Mokuba in Death T-4"
Yu Yu Hakusho: Kuwabara battles Shaolin, or should we say the demon Rando, to see who is worthy of Genkai's special technequies.

Also is anyone reading Shonen Jump graphic novels? I'm currently collecting Rouruni Kenshin and Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac. Care to discuss?

 

[pokemonmaster01]

Noooooo, don't let it die!

*uh-oh, herre come da big bad spoiler*

It is clear why Naruto is on the cover this month. First, they reveal that Sasuke has the sharingan eye. Then... they kill him off. I really can't tell if he's dead or not (after finding out that Haku didn't really kill Zabuza, it's hard to tell). So, either all those needles killed him, or simply cured him of lower back pain. Honestly, I don't know what to hope for.

Also, is anyone else creeped out by Haku being a cross-dresser?

 

[DreamCaster]

Yay! The April 2004 Shonen Jump is here! Grab it now!! New this month:

Dragonball Z : The new and improved Super Vegeta vs. Cell!
Hikaru no Go (#6, #7): Hikaru challeges the greatest Go playler in Japan: Touya Mejin!
Naruto (#30, #31): Haku begs for Naurto to take his life, and although Haku killed Sasuke, will Naruto bring himself to murder?
One Piece (#32, #33): Zorro vs The Meowban Bros... and Captian Kuro!
Shaman King (#27 - #29): Silva, a shaman of the Native American Patch tribe, tests Yoh's abilites as Shaman for the upcoming Shaman Fight.
Yu-Gi-Oh! (#39 - #41): The final chapters of Yugi and Kaiba's pic duel atop Death T-5!
Yu-Yu Hakusho (#33, #34): Yusuke and Kuwabara, join forces with Kurama and Hiei and enter Labyrinth Castle on their mission to stop the 4 Saint Beast from invading earth.
BONUS MANGA Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy: one chapter preview of Shonen Jump's new graphic novel series (coming in stores April)!

Also Shonen Jump has exchanged their monly "Kanji of the Month" article(s) for a new article series: "Nihongo" (which traslates to " [speaking] Japanese"). Thi's month's "Nihongo" features the well known "honorary" suffixes: "san" (sir, Mr., Mrs.), "sama" (more honorific than "san"), and "dodo" (lord/milord, lady/milady).

 

[Pokemasterkatie]

Cool; Ultimate Muscle! But is it the series that's playing on the FoxBox or is it the original manga?(I've caught some of the wrestler puns on the anime; Dik Dik Van Dik=Rob Van Dam; Kevin Mask=Kevin Nash; and I've got a feeling that Kid Muscle=Rey Mysterio Jr. Heh, being a WWE fan helps me catch these things^_^)

 

[DreamCaster]

They May 2004 Shonen Jump is out! Grab an issue, this month's reader contest could win Yu-Yu Hakusho DVD vol. 1 - 7 (28 episodes)! Check it out! This month's issue features:

Dragonball Z (#186 - 188) Vegeta allows Cell to absorb #18 thus allowing Cell to enter is complete state.
Hikaru no Go (#8, 9): Hikaru and Sai play a heated game of Go at a middle school fair, which lands Hikaru (who is still an elementary school student) a spot on the middle school's Go team.
Naruto (#32, 33): The final chapter of the Zaubsa/Haku saga...
One Piece (#34, 35): Miss Kaya, Pepper, Carrot, and Onion show up at the battle scene and land a surprise attack on Captain Kuro!
Shaman King (#30 - 32): Yoh defeats Silva and recives the Oracle Pager, a direct link to The Great Spirt, and can now compete in the Shaman Fight.
Yu-Gi-oh! (#42 - 44): Jonouchi is selected to be on a (crooked) Game Show and the new craze: Monster Fighter becomes popular at Yugi's school, ever one student will steal your Monster Fighter if you should loose a match to him.
Yu-Yu Hakusho (#35, 36): Kuwabara single-handedly takes on the reki absorbing Saint Beast: Byako.
BONUS MANGA: Ojisama no Tennis (The Prince of Tennis): Ryoma Echizen is a 12 year old tennis pro, and teaches his class' arrogant upperclassmen how the game is played!

This moths issue rocks (as usual ), but next month's issue will totally kick arse! Next month there will be another bonus manga (the third one in a row)! Next month's bonus manga will be a really recent (it began in 2002) and popular series from Japan's Shonen Jump called Bleach. The storyline of Bleach is similar to Yu-Yu Hakusho's where a 15 year old kid is visited by a dying ghost hunter. The ghost hunter passes his powers over to the kid who becomes Japan's newest ghost hunter. However unlike Yu-Yu Hakusho, Bleach is less comical/action based and more drama/action based (kind of like Naruto or to go out on a limb, Hikaru no Go). A really awesome series.

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I guess I'll just edit this post rather than double post, but the June issue of Shonen Jump is on sale now! Go and grab a copy! This month's features include:

Dragonball Z (#189 - 191) Super Vegita vs. Perfect Cell!
Hikaru no Go (#10, 11): Hikaru plays his first game of Go at the middle school tournament, and although he looses horribly, Sai see great potential in Hikaru.
Naruto (#34 - 35): The start of the ninja Chunin exams(!) , and the arrival of the Shinobi of the Sand...
One Piece (#35, 36): Luffy goes one on one with Captian Kuro!
Shaman King (#33,34): Yoh prepares for his battle with Horohoro, the snowboarding Ainu shaman.
Yu-Gi-oh! (#45 - 47): Yugi must play a game of solitare (?!) to save Anzu's life, and Yugi is forced to play a game of Chinese Dragon Cards... without his Millenium Puzzle!
Yu-Yu Hakusho (#37, 38): Yusuke and company travel futher indo Labrynth Castle and Hiei goes one on one with the Saint Beast Seiryu.
BONUS MANGA: Bleach: Ichigo (aka: Srawberry) is a normal teenager who can see ghosts(?!) until one day a mysterious girl traking a moster ghosts appears before him...

You'll also never guess what this month's manga explorer featured!! The insanely funny manga Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. A weird name for a very weird manga! The story is takes place in the year 300X AD and the Earth is being invaded by the Margarita Empire whose goal is to make everyone on Earth bald! During the invasion the chapion of Earth appears(!): The blonde afroed nose hair fighting Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (or just Bo-bobo for short)! If you think you can handle Bobobo-bo Bo-boboo someone has translated the first volume of the manga here! Enjoy!

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Well, here I am again simply updating this topic by editing rather than posting (sigh, but if I don't post, who will know that this topic has been edited)?! Anyhoo, Shonen Jump #19, July 2004 issue is on sale now!

Dragonball Z (#192 - 195) Super Trunks vs. Cell!
Hikaru no Go (#12, 13): After loosing the high scool Go tournament Hikaru and Tetsuo start a Go club at their school, but no one seems interested...
Naruto (#37, 38): Rock Lee, Chunin Exam applicant, challenges Sasuke to a pre exam duel!
One Piece (#38, 39): Luffy's fight with Captain Kuro and Zorro's and Usop's fight with 1-2-Django continues...
Shaman King (#35, 36): Yoh vs Horohoro! Start! (IMO: chapter 35 was hilarious. ROFLAMO!!)
Yu-Gi-oh! (#48 - 50): Jonouchi winds up in a deadly battle involving... yo-yos... and a new student arrives at Yugi's school possessing... the Millenium Ring!
Yu-Yu Hakusho (#39 - 40): Yusuke vs. the final saint beast: Suzaku!

This was a small ish of Shonen Jump, only 352 pages. The usual size is about 360 - 390 pages, one or two more whole chapters could have run, or at least more articels articles ("Speak Japanese" lessons, Japanese Culture/History articles, Manga Artists interviews, video game and DVD reviews, Manga previews, etc). Oh well, I hope next month is nice a juicy. A feature this month is a return of "Letters to the Editor" (haven't seen one of those since 2003!) and also a "Shaman King: Top 3 Favorite Characters" poll (I voted for (1) Silva, (2) Mosuke, (3) Anna). See ya next month!

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(DC wonders if there is a text limit to posts.... oh well!) The August issue of Shonen Jump (#20) is out! This month's updates:

Dragon Ball Z (#196 - 199): Goku sets off to find the Namekian's new homeworld to recrut a new gardian of Earth, and to restore the Dragon Balls.
Hikaru no Go (#14 - 16): Akira joins Kaio middle shcool's elite Go club but is feared by even the top members for his professional level Go abilities.
Naruto (#39, 40): the ninja Chunin promotion exams! Exam #1: Written Test! Is this as far as Naruto goes?!
One Piece (#40, 41): The final chapter of the Captain Kuro saga... and Luffy's crew gains a new mate!
Shaman King (#37, 38): The final round of Shaman Fight #1: Yoh vs. Horohoro!
Yu-Gi-Oh! (#51 - 53): Yugi, Anzu, Jonouchi, and Honda play Bakura in the tabletop RPG board game "Monster World"... with their souls on the line...
Yu Yu Hakusho (#41, 42): Yusuke's battle with Shuzaku over the fate of Keiko and the entire Earth continues...

I can't wait till next month (as always)! There will be TWO new preview mangas! One for Wistle!: Sho really wants to play professional Soccer but only plays a bench warmer during his middle school games. After transfering schools a rumor starts that he was a star player on his previous school's soccer team. And when tryouts come around, will Sho be able to live up to the moster rumor? Also premering/previewing next month is Beet: The Vadel Buster, a manga about a kid who single handedly takes on the evil Vedel Army... and fails miserably. However after a bit of training and metting some new friends along the way he may have the strength to take on the Vedel Army once and for all!

Till next month...!

 

[DreamCaster]

It's not really a "double post" if it's been almost 10 months since my previous post... is it?

Anyhoo, just a simple 'Jump question for my fellow Smash Boarders: does anyone here collect/read Japan Weekly Shonen Jump? Strange question I know (first of all where the heck can you find Japan Weekly Shonen Jump in the US, and second, if you don't know Japanese then how the heck can you read Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump?!). Heh, recently I've begun collecting Japanese Shonen Jump. To anyone living in new england: Kinokinuya Bookstore in Rocketfeller Center NYC and Sasuga Books in Boston MA carry Japan Weekly Shonen Jump, I live in Providence RI BTW and Boston is a simple 1 hour $7 bus ride away, but for the latest and greatest manga from Japan IMO it's worth it (also you can order a 3 month mail-subscription to Japan Weekly Shonen Jump from Sasuga Books Online!). So if anyone has anything to chat about what's currently running in Japan's Weekly Jump that has yet to be released in the US (Reborn, Death Note, D. Gray-Man, WaqWaq, Mysterious Unidentified Boy, Bobobohbo Bohbobo, Kochi-Kame, Silver Soul, Ichigo 100%, Mr. Fullswing just to name a few) or the weekly "one shots" by up and coming manga artists (Full Coat, Hallow Sunshine, Meteor, Yosh! SayMay) or Japan's Monthly Jump (longer monthly stories), Ultra Jump (manga for the +14 age group), or even V-Jump (a video game magazine with some manga) feel free to talk abut it as well!!

I know pobably a few people here read weekly tranlastions of Bleach and Naruto (and maybe even Prince of Tennis, One Piece, and Hunter x Hunter), but what about some of the less popular (ie. not translated on the net) mangas that are still just as awesome (ie. Bobobohbo Bohbobo, D. Gray-Man, or Kochi-Kame)? Also many of the weekly one shot mangas never get translated at all and some of there are really great. It's probably a loooooong shot (hoping that anyone on the boards collects WSJ and can read Japanese) but did anyone read the one shot manga SayMay that ran in WSJ #7-2005. LAMO!! It was hilarious. SayMay was a short about a excorcist (named SayMay) in anicent Japan but he is such a strange and unpredicable character. An example is he uses his powers to bring paper men to life and then makes them hand out flyers advertising his excorcism buissiness to pedestrians on the street, and if you refuse to take a flyer the paper men will hunt you down tirelessly, it was hilarious. Man I hope SayMay becomes a weekly regular someday (Once Piece and Ruroni Kenshin were both "one shot" comics before they became popular weekly comics in WSJ).

Oh, if anyone wants to read the insanly funny nonsense of Bobobohbo Bohbobo there is a website (Here) that translated the first 2 volumes (currently there are 16 volumes out and the manga still going strong in WSJ). US Shonen Jump actually ran an article about Bobobohbo Bohbobo (and after the article there was an online poll about if readers wanted to have Bobobohbo Bohbobo published in the US) but I guess it didn't test well. Sigh. However the equally funny Eyesheild 21 (which is stil running in Japan WSJ) is being brought to the US (volume 1 goes on sale in April).

 

[dmac]

hi, i've never noticed this thread before but i've been subcribin to SJ since #1, and i like it alot! but... i just read most of my manga scanlated. in response to your question about other mangas that i've read(these are the ones in my manga directory ; 20th century boys, azumanga daioh, beck, berserk, black cat, bleach, cardcaptor sakura, death note, eyeshield 21, fruits basket, full metal alchemist, gantz, hajime no ippo, hellsing, hikaru no go, ichigo 100%, initial D, I's, jojo's bizzare adventure, kenshin, lilim kiss, love hina, monster, mr fullswing, naruto, one piece, pretty face, read or die, rose hip rose, say hello to black jack, slam dunk, tattoo hearts, tenjo tenge, trigun, yakitate japan!!

most of those listed, i've caught up to the weeklies, or however far the scanlators have gotten to. i've read a lot more, but thats all that i can name since i still have access to them on my computer

 

[DreamCaster]

Uwaah! Yesterday Viz licensed the Shonen Jump series Death Note!! The first volume will go on sale in October in the US!! This is really insane consdiering that Death Note is so recent in Japan (it began running in Weekly Shonen Jump February 2004, right now the series is only on chapter 61). This is one he11 of a series on par wil 20th Century Boys in terms of suspense and thriller action. You can read the entire Death Note series online (you don't even hafta download it, but you can if you want) at DeathNote.org.

(P.S. When the heck did the 20th Centruy Boys series get licensed?! Volume 1 is coming out this May?! Wow!)

 

[dmac]

both death note and 20th century boys are freakin awesome. glad to see they're licensed, hopefully they get popular over here too it'd be a shame if they didn't

 

[Neophos]

Death note is too full of "I knew you would think X, so I thought out Y plan to counter your X plan, and set up for my Z plan." "But I already knew you knew that I knew about X, and I already figured out your Y plan because I'm cool like that, and thus I ruin your set up for Z because I knew you would use your Y to set up for Z" "But I knew you knew that I knew that you knew about X, thus I made X2 that is the same thing in another order, and thus I win!"

etc, etc, etc. It's a great manga though.

20th Century Boys is ownage, but I wonder why they didn't get Monster instead. Monster is almost as awesome, and finished :3

SJ is Sweden is on number..9 or something >_> I stopped caring, they don't have any good mangas. DB and OP is (was of DB, it's finished) released monthly with tankubons, and seeing as they are far superior to the mangas in SJ, it's just stupid the get it.

I mean, Yu Gi Oh! never interested me. It just falls flat, and "the heart of the cards" just doesn't sound as good as friendship or courage (the elements used in other shounens).

Shaman King got the crappiest ending ever, and has random extreme powerups and a subpar story.

Naruto is a DBZ rip-off with the twist of giving EVERYONE a really sad past and random powerups.

Sandland is awesome, but the tankubon will be out in some months anyway :3

 

[DreamCaster]

just the crazed ravings of a die hard manga fan...

Using Neophos’ post as a starting point I think it’s time to move discussion the craptacular state of US Shonen Jump. Sorry if that was a bit critical right off the bat, but after being exposed to Japan’s weekly Shonen Jump, you really can’t look back (c'mon... +380 of manga weekly... versus our +270 pages monthly... sigh). I know many SmashBoarders read current Japanese weekly Jump series Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note online on a weekly basis but that only scratches the surface of what Japan’s weekly Jump offers. There are so many awesome series that run in weekly that aren’t scanlated (weekly) online (and it puzzles me to this day why): Reborn, Pyuu to Fuku Jagar, Kochikame, Reborn, D. Gray Man, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Gintama [T: Silver Soul], Muhiyo to Roji’s Mahou Ritsu Sodan Jimusho [T: Muhiyo’s and Rosie’s Magical Consultation Office]). So many series that one misses out on if you can't find means to lay your hands on an imported issue of Japan's weekly Jump (heh, not to mention to have known/learned/studied Japanese... no, I’ve never studied Japanese, no more than any other obsessive "otaku" from gratuitous watching of subbed anime and having mastered reading hiragana, katakana, and about 40 memorized kanji, I’ve made the first few steps to learning the language own like any other crazed anime fan. Call me a obsessive geek if you will, at least I'm educating myself with my obsessive habits ).

Anyhoo, back to the topic at hand, because Jump originated in Japan and has been in circulation there for well over 30 years (whereas US Jump hasn’t even been around for 3 years), not to mention that Japan’s weekly Jump sells +4 million copes a week (whereas US Jump sells only roughly 250,000 per month), however I think if Viz only gave US Jump just a little more effort and respect it could be really boost Jump comic credibility (even more so).

Why am I complaining? Wow, Shonen Jump has finally been released outside of Japan! I should be happy with what I have right? So what's the problem then? The problem with US Jump is this: it's horiffic release scheduel. Japan's Jump, being a weekly magazine, releases 4 chapters a month (and with the average graphic novel being 8 chapters, a Jump graphic novel every 2 months). However US Jump only releases 2 - 3 chapters a month (resulting in graphic novels only coming out every 3 - 4 months, thus slowing falling futher and futher behind Japan). Current Jump series that aren't in US Jump (Bleach, Eyeshield 21, Prince of Tennis, Hunter x Hunter, etc.) however remain on the 2 month graphic novel scheduel, keeping an even pace behind Japan. So it would seem that US Jump series are cursed to have uber slow releases, thus my question "why have a US Jump at all if the series that aren't in the magazine are being released faster than the ones that are in the magazine!" WTF is the point of having the magazine at all? It's more of a hinderence than an advantage !!"

For the answer it would seem that there’s no way around it: US Jump needs to be a weekly magazine. Period. I’ve tried to figure out how US Jump could continue be monthly (with every series being released at the same rate as it was in Japan: 4 chapters a month) but it just wouldn’t work out with the average graphic novels being released every 2 months and all: "why buy a monthly Jump (even if it has 4 chapters of a series a month) when you can save your money just buy the novel of your choice every 2 months?" It's really awful how US Jump’s current series are being released at half the speed of Japan’s releases (for example the series Hikaru no Go ran for 3 years in Japan Jump, it will run for about 6 years in US Jump…?!).

Currently the US and Japan Jump magazines are structured as follows:

US monthly Jump:
6 mangas @ 2 - 3 chapters per manga (plus 1 “preview” chapter manga)
20 pages of advertising
30 pages of articles
Total (average) = 320 pages (@ $5 a month)

Japan weekly Jump:
17 - 19 mangas @ 1 chapter per manga (plus 1 - 2 “one shot” mangs)
40 pages of advertising [DC: Blarg! Twice as many adverts as US Jump!!]
30 pages of articles
Total (average) = 450 pages (@ $2.10 per week).

With the current structures covered now let’s try imagine if US Jump were to stay monthly yet still release 4 chapters per manga a month. It’s structure should look something like this:

DC’s US monthly Jump vision:
6 mangas @ 4 chapters per manga
20 pages of advertising
30 pages of articles
Total (average) = 530 pages (@ $8 - $9)

A hefty monthly magazine I agree (although Japan’s weekly Jump averages 450 pages per week!! That’s roughly 1800 pages of manga a month!!) and the price isn’t too bad (considering some magazines like PlayStation magazine or NewType are roughly $10 per month. I may also point out Japan’s Weekly Jump is only 230 yen – about $2.10 US… so CHEAP… but an imported issue usually costs $5 - $7, depending where you buy).

If US Jump were to be weekly (the preferred model) the structure should look like this:

DC’s US weekly Jump vision:
8 mangas @ 1 chapter per manga
20 pages of advertising
30 pages of articles = roughly 210 pages a week
Total (average) = 210 pages (@ $4 - $5).

Sounds fair enough? Right? Without a second thought I’d pay $3 - $4 a week for a magazine like this… kinda iffy if it goes over $4 (but you have to add in the charge of translators, clean up artists, graphic designers, article writers, etc.) so any manga brought over to the US will be considerably more expensive (the average Japanese Jump graphic novel would cost $3.70, however the average US Jump Graphic novel is $8).

Hmm. You’d think it’d just be easier if enthusiasts like me simply learned Japanese. From picking up bits of the spoken languague from subbed animes and the written languague from colleting and (trying to) read Japanese Jump my Japanese friends tell me my Japanese comprehension is at a 2 year old level (I can more or less read katagana and hiragana, I know about 40 kanji, and as far as the spoken language goes? Mostly “shonen” prhases like “I won’t loose,” <makenai>, “go for it” <ganbare>, “what was that?!” <nanda-tou?!>, and many, many, profanities).

I dunno, what does anyone else think of US’s current monthly Jump situation?


P.S. exciting times approaching for US Jump graphic novels. Death Note (Oct. '05) and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (Nov. '05) will soon be available in the US. Nice (don't tell me some of you out there just read these series online and aren't even decent enough to buy the graphic novels. Tsk! Don't be a cheapstake). There was a "preview" chaper of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo in this month's (Sept. '05) issue of US Jump. Hilarious stuff. However I hope that they don't rename Don Pachi to "Poppa Rocks". Okay... I get the US "localization" of the name ("donpachi" is the name of a brand of Japanese pop rocks... get it... "Poppa Rocks"... uh... ha hah?).