Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump (週刊少年ジャンプ Shūkan Shōnen Janpu), with a circulation of over 3 million, is one of the longest-running, weekly manga compilations in Japan. Monthly editions are published in North America and Europe.
History
Weekly Shonen Jump is targeted towards the young, male demographic ("Shōnen" means young boy or man). It features manga with lots of action and adventure, often featuring young, male protagonists with special powers and/or abilities.
Weekly Shonen Jump was launched by Shueisha in 1968, to compete with the already-successful Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday. At its highest point, Weekly Shonen Jump had a regular circulation of over 6 million. Weekly Shonen Jump manga titles have also been translated and redistributed in countries where the magazine itself isn't published, such as South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand.
There were a few games made based on the manga and the series in it. There were two Famicom Jump games for it's anniversary, on the NES, and lately Jump Superstars on the Nintendo DS.
Shonen Jump worldwide
These magazines are published monthly, unlike their Japanese counterpart which is published weekly.
United States Shonen Jump
In 2002, Shueisha announced a partnership with Viz Communications (now Viz Media), a purveyor of anime and manga in the United States, to distribute a monthly version of Shonen Jump in that country. In its first issue (January 2003), it sold almost 300,000 copies, making it the top-selling comic book of any kind in the U.S. for that time period. The titles featured in the American version include Yu-Gi-Oh!, YuYu Hakusho, One Piece, Naruto, Shaman King and Sand Land. In January 2004, Sand Land ended and was replaced with Hikaru no Go in their lineup. Dragon Ball Z (the second part of Dragon Ball) was discontinued in the April 2005 Shonen Jump and the last part of the story will be serialized in graphic novel form.
Shonen Jump also runs a line of graphic novels, including those that have run in the American Shonen Jump, but also other titles that ran in the Japanese Shonen Jump but not the American version, like Rurouni Kenshin, Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya), Whistle!, The Prince of Tennis, Dr. Slump, Legendz, Beet the Vandel Buster, and Bleach. In addition, Kinnikuman: Nisei (better known as Ultimate Muscle in North America, Northern Europe, Oceania, and some regions), a sequel of the Jump title Kinnikuman, is sold in the graphic novel format as a "Shonen Jump Advanced" title in North America. Other titles on the "Shonen Jump Advanced" lineup include I"s, Eyeshield 21, and Hunter X Hunter.
In the magazine's text, the U.S. Shonen Jump uses circumflexes instead of macrons to mark long vowels. The manga in the magazine doesn't always reflect this (e.g., the preview for Whistle! used macrons). Shonen Jump recently adopted a policy of editing dialogue and art to make it more suitable for younger audiences. This policy has received some criticism from old-time readers.
BANZAI!
Shonen Jump is published in Germany as the compilation magazine BANZAI! by Carlsen Verlag. BANZAI! publishes Hikaru no Go, Hakuchi One, Naruto, I"s, Hunter x Hunter, and Shaman King. Several other titles, such as Yu-Gi-Oh!, Halloweens, Dr. Slump, One Piece, Neko Majin, Sand Land, Neko Majin Z, DNA² and an original German manga series called Crewman3 were serialized in BANZAI!
Swedish Shonen Jump
The Swedish Shonen Jump has Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sand Land, Naruto, Shaman King and Rurouni Kenshin.
Norwegian Shonen Jump
The Norwegian Shonen Jump is being published by Schibsted Forlagene. The first issue appeared in March 2005 with the same series as the Swedish Shonen Jump.
Popular comics featured in the Japanese Shonen Jump
The magazine in Japan has produced some of the most popular manga titles around, including but not limited to:
- Barefoot Gen
- Bastard!! (Was later moved from Shonen Jump to Ultra Jump)
- Beet the Vandel Buster
- Black Cat
- Bleach
- Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
- Bremen
- Busō Renkin
- Captain Tsubasa
- Cat's Eye
- City Hunter
- Cowa!
- Death Note
- D.Gray-man
- Dr. Slump
- Dragon Ball (The later half of it is titled Dragon Ball Z in North America)
- DNA²
- Eyeshield 21
- Gintama
- Gun Blaze West
- High School Kimengumi
- Hikaru no Go
- Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star)
- Hunter × Hunter
- I"s
- Ichigo 100%
- Jigoku Sensei Nube (Hell's Teacher Nube)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
- Kajika
- Katekyou Hitman REBORN!
- Kinnikuman (the toy line of that show was released in the U.S. as "M.U.S.C.L.E.")
- Kochikame
- Legendz
- Mazinger Z
- Mind Assassin
- Mr. Fullswing
- Naruto
- Neko Majin Z
- One Piece
- Pretty Face
- The Prince of Tennis
- Rokudenashi Blues
- Rurouni Kenshin
- Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac)
- Sand Land
- Shaman King
- Slam Dunk
- Video Girl Ai
- Whistle!
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- YuYu Hakusho
- Zombie Powder