Shonen Jump (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, is a shōnen manga
anthology
published in North America by Viz Media
. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date. Based on Shueisha
's popular Japanese magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
, Shonen Jump is retooled for English readers and the American audience, including changing it from a weekly publication to a monthly one. It features serialized chapters from four manga series, and articles on Japanese language and culture, as well as manga, anime, video games, and figurines. Prior to the magazine's launch, Viz launched an extensive marketing campaign to promote it and help it succeed where previous manga anthologies published in North America had failed. Shueisha purchased an equity interest in Viz to help fund the venture, and Cartoon Network
, Suncoast
, and Diamond Distributors became promotional partners in the magazine.
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 novel
s, a label for fan and data books, and a label for the release of art books.
Targeted towards young adult males, the first issue required three printings to meet consumer demand, with over 300,000 copies sold. 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. Approximately half of its circulation comes from subscriptions rather than store sales.
(at the time called "Viz Communications"), and Shueisha
announced that Viz would begin publishing Shonen Jump, an English spin on Shueisha's highly popular manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump
. Cartoon Network
, Suncoast
, and Diamond Distributors signed on as promotional partners. Though based on Weekly Shōnen Jump, Viz noted that it would not be a "word for word" copy. Rather, Viz would select series for its magazine that it felt were the most appropriate for its American readers. Viz's version was also set to be monthly, rather than having weekly, to better fit the American comic distribution system.
Jason Thompson, one of Viz's manga editors for series including Dragon Ball was selected as the magazine's first editor-in-chief. Initially, Viz hoped to have the magazine targeted to all age groups, however to allow for greater freedom on content, the decision was made to mark the magazine as being for readers 13 years of age and older. However, with greater attention being focused on manga as it became available in mainstream outlets, some titles were edited for content. Thompson noted that it was a challenge working with some of the artists whose works would appear in the first issue, who worried about excessive alterations.
With manga anthologies having met with little success in North America, Viz desired Shonen Jump to have a circulation of 1 million within its first three years. To aid in this goal, Viz launched the magazine with a multi-million dollar advertising budget, they advertised and distributed the title through mass market
outlets rather than just pop culture stores, ensuring the magazine included series already popular with the North American audience due to their airing on Cartoon Network. To help fund the lengthy, expensive marketing campaign developed around Shonen Jump, Shueisha purchased an equity interest in Viz in August 2002.
Unlike with most magazine launches, Viz decided to allow retailers to return the first two issues. This gave retailers a chance to see how well the magazine would sell in markets where manga anthologies were an unknown. Retailers were also given a quantity of free samples, distributed 100,000 free samples at Comic Con, and another 100,000 were made available to its partner Suncoast. Cartoon Network began providing sample chapters and streaming video content to its Adult Swim
website, along with prominent links to Shonen Jump's official site.
The first issue was released November 26, 2002, with a January 2003 cover date. It premiered with five series: Dragon Ball Z, Sand Land
, Yu-Gi-Oh!
, YuYu Hakusho
, and One Piece
. With the second issue, the magazine was expanded to feature seven series. With the launch of the magazine considered successful, Thompson was offered an opportunity to intern
in Japan with Shueisha's editors, but declined, due to a lack of interest in the management aspects of the business and a desire to work on his own projects. After six issues had been released, Thompson desired to work on authoring and illustrating his own comic The Stiff. Reflecting back later, he states in an interview with The Comics Journal
that "I basically told Viz that I wanted to work part time or I'd quit. It probably wasn't a really nice thing to do." He eventually stepped down as editor-in-chief, being replaced by his former boss Yumi Hoashi.
In February 2005, Viz announced the creation of Shojo Beat
, a sister publication of Shonen Jump geared towards female readers. The first issue was released in June 2005 with a July 2005 date cover; it ran for 47 issues until it was discontinued with the release of the July 2009 issue. In 2006, Marc Weidenbaum was named as the Editor-in-Chief for both magazines. Weidenbaum remained the magazine's editor until February 13, 2009, when Viz announced that he had left the company; the magazine's new editor-in-chief has not been named.
As of the June 2011 issue, it will now only be publishing 10 issues a year.
The magazine is printed at Transcontintental Printing RBW Graphics in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada.
In October 2011, Viz confirmed that the Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha, a weekly digital version of the magazine, will be released on January 30, 2012. Viz also confirmed that it will release its final Shonen Jump print publication in March of that year after Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha is released.
and letters from readers, and interactive games and trivia sections. Issues also regularly include free premiums, such as rare cards for manga and anime collectible card game
adaptations, DVD previews, and video game demo discs.
The magazine's official website includes information on all series released under the "Shonen Jump" label, biographies of the manga artists whose works have been serialized in the magazine, and previews of upcoming issues. Subscribers to the magazine have access to an additional area of the site where they can view preview chapters of manga series in the magazine and being published under the various "Shonen Jump" imprints, download desktop wallpapers, send e-card
s, and play games.
As with Weekly Shōnen Jump, special edition stand alone issues of Shonen Jump are released several times a year that focus on a manga series. These issues, which are considered collector's items, include extensive details on the series plot and characters, information on related adaptations of the series, and free premium items, such as full-size posters. Anniversary editions are released yearly, usually featuring higher page counts, color manga pages, and higher end premiums. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the magazine, Viz also introduced hardback "Collector Editions" of some of the magazine's most popular series as a part of their main "Shonen Jump" manga imprint. The new editions were larger sized, with color dust jackets and higher quality paper than the normal volumes. They also included several full-color pages not seen in the initial releases. Viz also released Shonen Jump Fifth Anniversary Collector's Edition, a hardcover book containing chapters from its best selling series, along with various articles and interviews that appeared in the magazine during its first five year history, a timeline tracking the history of manga, and essays written by editors from Shonen Jump and Weekly Shōnen Jump.
volumes under the company's related "Shonen Jump" and "Shonen Jump Advanced" labels.
This is a complete list of all titles to be serialized in Shonen Jump. It does not include previews of titles. The titles currently running in the magazine are highlighted.
has created multiple new imprints in its various divisions. "Shonen Jump" is the primary manga imprint for releasing the tankōbon
volumes of the series that have appeared in the magazine, as well as other similar shōnen
titles that were serialized in other Jump magazines in Japan. A second manga imprint, "Shonen Jump Advanced", was launched in April 2005 to target older teenage and young adult
readers with more "mature themes."
In October 2005, Viz expanded the "Shonen Jump" imprint into their home video
releases. "Shonen Jump Home Video" offers anime
series and original video animation
s adapted from manga series appearing in Shonen Jump.
In 2006, the "SJ Fiction" imprint, part of the Viz Fiction line, was announced. The imprint is used for light novel
releases related to manga series appearing in Shonen Jump. "SJ Profiles" prints fan books, data books, and other similar works for the Shonen Jump series, while art books are released under the "Art of SJ" imprint.
version of an upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh!
PC
game, was the top issue with 540,000 copies sold. As of 2008, the magazine has a circulation of 215,000, with subscriptions constituting 54% of the copies distributed.
Though targeted towards "tween & teen male consumers", according to Viz Media the magazine enjoys a relatively high number of female and adult readers as well, comprising 36% and 37% of its readership, respectively. The Shonen Jump reader has a median age of 16 years, and over half of the audience is between the ages of 13 and 17. Official measurements by Simmons notes that among minor age readers the female readership is slightly lower and the median age is 12.
has been the line's top seller, accounting for nearly 10% of all manga sales in North America in 2006. In December 2002, the magazine received the ICv2 Award for "Comic Product of the Year" due to its unprecedented sales numbers and its successfully connecting comics to both the television medium and the Yu-Gi-Oh!
collectible card game
– one of the top CCG games of the year. In the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Awards from 2009, Shonen Jump was the winner in the category "Best Publication".
Reviewers of the magazine applauded the selection of series and the various articles included in each issue. In his coverage of the magazine's debut issue, John Jakala of Anime News Network
, compared it to the debut issue of competing work Raijin Comics
and was surprised to find himself preferring Shonen Jump, despite it being targeted for a younger age group than Raijin Comics. Calling it an "impressive debut issue", Jakala predicted that its high quality content and high value for the price would result in the anthology becoming a successful anthology in North America. In succeeding reviews, Jakala stated that Shonen Jump put "American comics to shame", particularly in terms of the size of the magazine for the price versus the normal size of a similarly priced issue of a regular comic book
. He did, however, note that the episodic nature of some of the series included had started to become repetitive after three issues, and that while the articles might appeal to many readers, he himself skipped over them. In addition to praising the value for the dollar, Comic Book Bin's Leroy Douresseaux felt that each of the chapters included were "a self-sustaining and satisfying tale with a beginning, middle, and end" that, coupled with the character and story summaries included for each series, made it easy for readers to keep up with a series even if they missed an issue.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
published in North America by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date. Based on Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's popular Japanese magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
, Shonen Jump is retooled for English readers and the American audience, including changing it from a weekly publication to a monthly one. It features serialized chapters from four manga series, and articles on Japanese language and culture, as well as manga, anime, video games, and figurines. Prior to the magazine's launch, Viz launched an extensive marketing campaign to promote it and help it succeed where previous manga anthologies published in North America had failed. Shueisha purchased an equity interest in Viz to help fund the venture, and Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, Suncoast
Suncoast Motion Picture Company
Suncoast Motion Picture Company is an American chain of retail stores specializing in recorded videos, particularly movies but also carried television series. The stores have sold them in the VHS, Laser Disk, DVD, HD, and Blu-ray formats. The stores also carry various other items, including...
, and Diamond Distributors became promotional partners in the magazine.
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
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
DVD imprint, a fiction line for releasing light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
s, a label for fan and data books, and a label for the release of art books.
Targeted towards young adult males, the first issue required three printings to meet consumer demand, with over 300,000 copies sold. 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. Approximately half of its circulation comes from subscriptions rather than store sales.
History
In June 2002, Viz MediaVIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
(at the time called "Viz Communications"), and Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
announced that Viz would begin publishing Shonen Jump, an English spin on Shueisha's highly popular manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
. Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, Suncoast
Suncoast Motion Picture Company
Suncoast Motion Picture Company is an American chain of retail stores specializing in recorded videos, particularly movies but also carried television series. The stores have sold them in the VHS, Laser Disk, DVD, HD, and Blu-ray formats. The stores also carry various other items, including...
, and Diamond Distributors signed on as promotional partners. Though based on Weekly Shōnen Jump, Viz noted that it would not be a "word for word" copy. Rather, Viz would select series for its magazine that it felt were the most appropriate for its American readers. Viz's version was also set to be monthly, rather than having weekly, to better fit the American comic distribution system.
Jason Thompson, one of Viz's manga editors for series including Dragon Ball was selected as the magazine's first editor-in-chief. Initially, Viz hoped to have the magazine targeted to all age groups, however to allow for greater freedom on content, the decision was made to mark the magazine as being for readers 13 years of age and older. However, with greater attention being focused on manga as it became available in mainstream outlets, some titles were edited for content. Thompson noted that it was a challenge working with some of the artists whose works would appear in the first issue, who worried about excessive alterations.
With manga anthologies having met with little success in North America, Viz desired Shonen Jump to have a circulation of 1 million within its first three years. To aid in this goal, Viz launched the magazine with a multi-million dollar advertising budget, they advertised and distributed the title through mass market
Mass market
The mass market is a general business term describing the largest group of consumers for a specified industry product. It is the opposite extreme of the term niche market.-General:...
outlets rather than just pop culture stores, ensuring the magazine included series already popular with the North American audience due to their airing on Cartoon Network. To help fund the lengthy, expensive marketing campaign developed around Shonen Jump, Shueisha purchased an equity interest in Viz in August 2002.
Unlike with most magazine launches, Viz decided to allow retailers to return the first two issues. This gave retailers a chance to see how well the magazine would sell in markets where manga anthologies were an unknown. Retailers were also given a quantity of free samples, distributed 100,000 free samples at Comic Con, and another 100,000 were made available to its partner Suncoast. Cartoon Network began providing sample chapters and streaming video content to its Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
website, along with prominent links to Shonen Jump's official site.
The first issue was released November 26, 2002, with a January 2003 cover date. It premiered with five series: Dragon Ball Z, Sand Land
Sand Land
is a short manga series authored by Akira Toriyama that appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine during the summer of 2000.After Sand Land completed its run, all fourteen chapters were collected into a single tankōbon that was released on November 11, 2000...
, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Yu-Gi-Oh!
is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games...
, YuYu Hakusho
YuYu Hakusho
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The name of the series is spelled YuYu Hakusho in the Viz Media manga and Yu Yu Hakusho in other English distributions of the franchise. The series tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is struck and...
, and One Piece
One Piece
is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...
. With the second issue, the magazine was expanded to feature seven series. With the launch of the magazine considered successful, Thompson was offered an opportunity to intern
Intern
Internship is a system of onthejob training for white-collar jobs, similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. They may also be as young as middle school or in...
in Japan with Shueisha's editors, but declined, due to a lack of interest in the management aspects of the business and a desire to work on his own projects. After six issues had been released, Thompson desired to work on authoring and illustrating his own comic The Stiff. Reflecting back later, he states in an interview with The Comics Journal
The Comics Journal
The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
that "I basically told Viz that I wanted to work part time or I'd quit. It probably wasn't a really nice thing to do." He eventually stepped down as editor-in-chief, being replaced by his former boss Yumi Hoashi.
In February 2005, Viz announced the creation of Shojo Beat
Shojo Beat
Shojo Beat is a shōjo manga magazine formerly published in North America by Viz Media. Released in June 2005 as a sister magazine to Shonen Jump, it featured serialized chapters from six manga series, as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty...
, a sister publication of Shonen Jump geared towards female readers. The first issue was released in June 2005 with a July 2005 date cover; it ran for 47 issues until it was discontinued with the release of the July 2009 issue. In 2006, Marc Weidenbaum was named as the Editor-in-Chief for both magazines. Weidenbaum remained the magazine's editor until February 13, 2009, when Viz announced that he had left the company; the magazine's new editor-in-chief has not been named.
As of the June 2011 issue, it will now only be publishing 10 issues a year.
The magazine is printed at Transcontintental Printing RBW Graphics in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada.
In October 2011, Viz confirmed that the Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha, a weekly digital version of the magazine, will be released on January 30, 2012. Viz also confirmed that it will release its final Shonen Jump print publication in March of that year after Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha is released.
Features
The bulk of each issue of Shonen Jump is composed of chapters from the seven manga titles currently in serialization. Each issue also includes product reviews for anime and manga related games and toys, articles on Japanese language and culture, interviews with manga artists, anime and manga related news, fan related sections such as fan artFan art
Fan art or fanart is artwork that is based on a character, costume, collage, item, or story that was created by someone other than the artist, such as a fan, from which the word is derived from. The term, while it can apply to art done by fans of characters from books, is usually used to refer to...
and letters from readers, and interactive games and trivia sections. Issues also regularly include free premiums, such as rare cards for manga and anime collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
adaptations, DVD previews, and video game demo discs.
The magazine's official website includes information on all series released under the "Shonen Jump" label, biographies of the manga artists whose works have been serialized in the magazine, and previews of upcoming issues. Subscribers to the magazine have access to an additional area of the site where they can view preview chapters of manga series in the magazine and being published under the various "Shonen Jump" imprints, download desktop wallpapers, send e-card
E-card
An e-card is similar to a postcard or greeting card, with the primary difference being that it is created using digital media instead of paper or other traditional materials. E-cards are made available by publishers usually on various Internet sites, where they can be sent to a recipient, usually...
s, and play games.
As with Weekly Shōnen Jump, special edition stand alone issues of Shonen Jump are released several times a year that focus on a manga series. These issues, which are considered collector's items, include extensive details on the series plot and characters, information on related adaptations of the series, and free premium items, such as full-size posters. Anniversary editions are released yearly, usually featuring higher page counts, color manga pages, and higher end premiums. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the magazine, Viz also introduced hardback "Collector Editions" of some of the magazine's most popular series as a part of their main "Shonen Jump" manga imprint. The new editions were larger sized, with color dust jackets and higher quality paper than the normal volumes. They also included several full-color pages not seen in the initial releases. Viz also released Shonen Jump Fifth Anniversary Collector's Edition, a hardcover book containing chapters from its best selling series, along with various articles and interviews that appeared in the magazine during its first five year history, a timeline tracking the history of manga, and essays written by editors from Shonen Jump and Weekly Shōnen Jump.
Series
The premiere issue of Shonen Jump contained chapters from five different manga series, before it was expanded to included chapters from seven series. Fourteen series have been featured so far, with seven having ended their runs to be replaced with other series. Only four of those remained in the magazine until all of their chapters had been published. Each title serialized in the magazine is also published in tankōbonTankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes under the company's related "Shonen Jump" and "Shonen Jump Advanced" labels.
This is a complete list of all titles to be serialized in Shonen Jump. It does not include previews of titles. The titles currently running in the magazine are highlighted.
Imprints
In conjunction with the Shonen Jump anthology, Viz MediaVIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
has created multiple new imprints in its various divisions. "Shonen Jump" is the primary manga imprint for releasing the tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes of the series that have appeared in the magazine, as well as other similar shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
titles that were serialized in other Jump magazines in Japan. A second manga imprint, "Shonen Jump Advanced", was launched in April 2005 to target older teenage and young adult
Youth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
readers with more "mature themes."
In October 2005, Viz expanded the "Shonen Jump" imprint into their home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
releases. "Shonen Jump Home Video" offers anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series and original video animation
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
s adapted from manga series appearing in Shonen Jump.
In 2006, the "SJ Fiction" imprint, part of the Viz Fiction line, was announced. The imprint is used for light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
releases related to manga series appearing in Shonen Jump. "SJ Profiles" prints fan books, data books, and other similar works for the Shonen Jump series, while art books are released under the "Art of SJ" imprint.
Circulation and audience
The initial issue of Shonen Jump sold over 300,000 copies, far exceeding Viz's expected 100,000 copies and making it one of the top comic titles in 2002. The first printing of 250,000 copies was sold out before the issue was released, and two additional printings were necessary to fully meet the demand. After the initial launch, the magazine had an average monthly circulation of 190,000, but it quickly grew to 205,000 by its first anniversary. The August 2003 issue, which included a demoGame demo
A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version....
version of an upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh!
Yu-Gi-Oh!
is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
game, was the top issue with 540,000 copies sold. As of 2008, the magazine has a circulation of 215,000, with subscriptions constituting 54% of the copies distributed.
Though targeted towards "tween & teen male consumers", according to Viz Media the magazine enjoys a relatively high number of female and adult readers as well, comprising 36% and 37% of its readership, respectively. The Shonen Jump reader has a median age of 16 years, and over half of the audience is between the ages of 13 and 17. Official measurements by Simmons notes that among minor age readers the female readership is slightly lower and the median age is 12.
Reception
Shonen Jump is considered the "most successful and widely read" manga anthology in North America. In addition to the unparalleled circulation numbers, the "Shonen Jump" manga imprint has had consistently high sales, with many of its titles being top sellers. NarutoNaruto
is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
has been the line's top seller, accounting for nearly 10% of all manga sales in North America in 2006. In December 2002, the magazine received the ICv2 Award for "Comic Product of the Year" due to its unprecedented sales numbers and its successfully connecting comics to both the television medium and the Yu-Gi-Oh!
Yu-Gi-Oh!
is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games...
collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
– one of the top CCG games of the year. In the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Awards from 2009, Shonen Jump was the winner in the category "Best Publication".
Reviewers of the magazine applauded the selection of series and the various articles included in each issue. In his coverage of the magazine's debut issue, John Jakala of Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
, compared it to the debut issue of competing work Raijin Comics
Raijin Comics
Raijin Comics was a manga anthology published in North America by the now-defunct Gutsoon! Entertainment and largely backed by the Sega Corporation at its inception. The collected volumes of Raijin Comics titles were published under the Raijin Graphic Novels imprint.The comics were aimed at an...
and was surprised to find himself preferring Shonen Jump, despite it being targeted for a younger age group than Raijin Comics. Calling it an "impressive debut issue", Jakala predicted that its high quality content and high value for the price would result in the anthology becoming a successful anthology in North America. In succeeding reviews, Jakala stated that Shonen Jump put "American comics to shame", particularly in terms of the size of the magazine for the price versus the normal size of a similarly priced issue of a regular comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
. He did, however, note that the episodic nature of some of the series included had started to become repetitive after three issues, and that while the articles might appeal to many readers, he himself skipped over them. In addition to praising the value for the dollar, Comic Book Bin's Leroy Douresseaux felt that each of the chapters included were "a self-sustaining and satisfying tale with a beginning, middle, and end" that, coupled with the character and story summaries included for each series, made it easy for readers to keep up with a series even if they missed an issue.