Weekly Shonen 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. Its sister magazine is Monthly Shonen Jump.

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 magazine and the series in it. There were two Famicom Jump games for its 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. The Shonen Jump issues, like the Japanese issues, are read from right to left, because if printed the other way, pictures and words would be mirror-imaged. 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 intially included Yu-Gi-Oh!, YuYu Hakusho, One Piece, Naruto, Shaman King, Dragon Ball Z, 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 was serialized in graphic novel form. Starting in January 2007, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX will appear in the American Shonen Jump. It has also recently been announced that Gintama will also be serialised soon in the January 2007 issue, as was an option during a long questionnaire period about the manga that was presented earlier this year. "Shonen Jump" also has articles in the beginning and end of the magazine about new anime, manga, and video games. "Shonen Jump" is written in the traditional Japanese style right to left.

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, Zombie Powder, 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, Death Note, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Hunter X Hunter, D. Gray-Man, Buso Renkin, and Reborn!. Most of these comics have been run once or twice in the same chapter amounts as the regular comics.

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 of serialized manga to make it more suitable for younger audiences and still appeal to older audiences as well. This policy has still received criticism from old-time readers. Mangas translated by Shonen Jump that are not present in the magazine have fewer edits and are released sooner.

Not all of the titles incorporated in the Shonen Jump brand in North America are Weekly Shonen Jump titles. Beet the Vandel Buster, Claymore, and Legendz are published in the sister magazine Monthly Shonen Jump, while Yu-Gi-Oh GX is from the video game magazine V-Jump. Stranger still is Ultimate Muscle, which while a sequel to a Weekly Shonen Jump title, is actually published in Weekly Playboy. On the other hand, titles connected to Weekly Shonen Jump started prior to the start of the Shonen Jump line are not included in this packaging, such as Video Girl Ai and Bastard.

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! BANZAI! stopped in December 2005 because the license was not renewed by Shueisha.

Swedish Shonen Jump
The Swedish Shonen Jump has Yu-Gi-Oh!, Naruto, Shaman King, 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 and it is translated from Swedish. They have had SandLand (finished), Rurouni Kenshin (replaced SandLand), Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh and Shaman King.

Manga series currently running in Shonen Jump

 * Bleach
 * (Shinsetsu) Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
 * D.Gray-man
 * Eyeshield 21
 * Gintama
 * Hand's
 * Hunter × Hunter (on hiatus)
 * Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (REBORN!)
 * Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo (Kochikame)
 * Maison Du Penguin
 * Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro (Private Evil Eye Brain-Eater Neuro)
 * Muhyo to Rōjī no Mahōritsu Sōdan Jimushō (Muhyo and Roji's Magical Law Consulting Firm)
 * M×0
 * Naruto
 * One Piece
 * Over Time
 * P2! -let's Play Pingpong!-
 * The Prince of Tennis
 * Pyuu to fuku! Jaguar
 * Taizo Mote-king Sāga (Thick-Bowel Runner King Sāga)
 * To-LOVE-Ru (The title is a double pun, using the word "Trouble" and combining it with the word "Love" in the middle)
 * Zan

Other Well-Known Jump Series
The magazine in Japan has produced some of the most popular manga titles around, including but not limited to:


 * Barefoot Gen
 * Bastard!!
 * Black Cat
 * Bremen
 * Buso Renkin
 * Captain Tsubasa
 * Cat's Eye
 * City Hunter
 * Cobra
 * Cowa!
 * Death Note
 * Dr. Slump
 * Dragon Ball (The later half of it is titled Dragon Ball Z in North America)
 * DNA²
 * Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin
 * GUN BLAZE WEST
 * Hareluya (B0Y)
 * Highschool! Kimen-gumi
 * Hikaru no Go
 * Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star)
 * Houshin Engi (Soul Hunter)
 * I"s
 * Ichigo 100%
 * Jigoku Sensei Nube (Hell Teacher Nūbē)
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
 * Jungle King Ta-chan
 * Kajika
 * Kinnikuman (the toy line of that show was released in the U.S. as "M.U.S.C.L.E.")
 * Mazinger Z
 * Midori no Maki-baou
 * Mieru Hito (One to be Seen)
 * Mind Assassin
 * Mr. Fullswing
 * Neko Majin Z
 * Ninku
 * Play Ball
 * Pretty Face
 * Rokudenashi Blues
 * Rookies
 * Rurouni Kenshin
 * Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac)
 * Sakigake!! Otokojuku
 * Sand Land
 * Sannen Kimen-gumi (Highschool! Kimen-gumi)
 * Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoiyo! Masaru-san
 * Shaman King
 * Slam Dunk
 * Steel Ball Run (A run-off story from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
 * Tottemo! Luckyman
 * Video Girl Ai
 * Waq Waq
 * Whistle!
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! (parts of the series are titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist and Yu-Gi-Oh: Millennium World in the United States)
 * Yuuto
 * YuYu Hakusho
 * Zombie Powder