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Weekly Shonen Jump (週刊少年ジャンプ Shūkan Shōnen Janpu?, commonly stylized as Weekly Jump or simply Jump in English) is a weekly manga magazine published by Shueisha. It is responsible for serializing the One Piece manga - among many others - in its original, single-chapter form.
Since its inception in 1968, Weekly Shonen Jump has sold over 7.5 billion copies (with weekly circulation exceeding 6.5 million at its height in the 1990s), consistently ranking as the world's most popular comic-book anthology.[1] It remains a particularly important outlet for new manga creators, many of whom - Eiichiro Oda included - developed their skills as assistants for its established creators.
Contents
Format
As its title suggests, Weekly Shonen Jump primarily targets the shonen demographic of teenage and pre-teen boys, and trends toward series with majority-male casts and spectacle-heavy plots (though recent polls have indicated several of its series, One Piece included, may actually have majority-female readerships).[2] In addition to One Piece, it has launched some of Japan's most iconic shonen properties, including KochiKame, Dragon Ball, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Naruto, Bleach, and My Hero Academia.
(In 2016, with the conclusion of the long-running KochiKame (and the migration of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure to an offshoot magazine some years before), One Piece became Jump's oldest active series. The closest contender, Hunter x Hunter, began in 1998 and publishes new material on an inconsistent basis.)
The typical issue of Jump is between 450 and 500 pages long, containing around twenty different installments of manga interspersed with editorial features, celebrity interviews, advertisements, and other promotional materials (often for anime or video games licensed off one of its manga series). Its print quality is frequently noted to be "yellowed" or otherwise substandard, as it primarily uses recycled paper.[3]
Every issue prints the first few pages of several different series in color; for One Piece, this usually manifests in the series' famed color spreads.
Organization

Table of contents for a standard 2011 issue, featuring One Piece as the week's Lead Color. Note how all the color features are set apart from the standard ones.
Jump famously reorganizes the order of its contents every week, following a combination of editor initiative and reader response.[4] These are (imperfectly) reflected by each issue's table of contents:
- One series will be the Lead Color (巻頭カラー Kantōkarā?) feature, printed in color for its first few pages and placed ahead of all others. The issue's cover-art will usually - but not always - be focused on this series.
- Several series will be Center Color (センターカラー Sentākarā?) features, and also printed in color for their first few pages. These may be placed anywhere after the Lead Color feature; in some cases, they may even be the last feature.
- The remaining features will be printed in standard black-and-white.
When charting series popularities, fans typically focus on the black-and-white features' ordering, dismissing the color features' as purely editorial decisions. The exact accuracy of this metric is debatable; while most color features are promotional in nature (indeed, Jump traditionally features the first chapter of any new series as a Lead Color), and series that consistently rank last as black-and-white features are often ended within a few months, there have been notable exceptions to both patterns.
In any case, One Piece is almost always placed among the first four features of any given issue, colored or otherwise. It has maintained this dominance since at least the mid-2000s.
Schedule and Numbering
Jump typically releases new issues on Mondays of each week, with semi-regular shifts to other days (most often preceding Saturdays) when the printing schedule is affected by "minor" holidays or other incidents. However, there are four "major" holidays whose corresponding weeks skip release entirely:
- New Year's Day, usually corresponding to the first week in January
- Golden Week, usually corresponding to the first week in May
- Obon, usually corresponding to the second or third week in August
- Christmas, usually corresponding to the last week in December
Issues are indexed by year, and each issue's cover billed with a number (which resets with every new year) and a specific date; the issue that published the first chapter of One Piece, for instance, is billed as 1997's Issue 34 - August 4. Note that these, much like the cover dates of American comics, tend to be weeks or even months behind each issue's actual release date, with the "first" issue in any given year usually released in late November of the previous year.[5]
Any issues released immediately before major-holiday weeks are billed as "double" issues (e.g. Issue 4-5). This is purely to help the indexing process, and does not in any way indicate extra material for the issue.
Cover Gallery
As a preeminent Jump property, One Piece has been directly featured on a number of its covers.[6] These cover illustrations - almost always supplied by Eiichiro Oda - are frequently reused to illustrate the title pages (or back covers) of subsequent tankobon, and always reproduced in the Color Walk collections.
Lead Covers
Jump typically makes One Piece its Lead Color feature between four and seven times per year. These issues also reproduce a portion of the cover-art - usually cropped to focus on Luffy's face - on the spine.
1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Issue 34 Issue 46 Issue 50 |
Issue 17 Issue 26 Issue 29 Issue 47 Issue 50 |
Issue 15 Issue 24 Issue 35 Issue 37-38 Issue 45 Issue 49 |
Issue 5-6 Issue 16 Issue 36-37 Issue 42 |
Issue 16 Issue 19 Issue 33 Issue 41 Issue 44 |
Issue 15 Issue 22-23 Issue 37-38 Issue 50 |
2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
Issue 13 Issue 25 Issue 32 Issue 47 |
Issue 14 Issue 25 Issue 43 |
Issue 13 Issue 14 Issue 39 Issue 43 Issue 48 Issue 52 |
Issue 13 Issue 17 Issue 24 Issue 29 Issue 47 |
Issue 13 Issue 17 Issue 26 Issue 34 Issue 43 |
Issue 13 Issue 29 Issue 44 Issue 49 |
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Issue 12 Issue 18 Issue 30 Issue 48 Issue 53 |
Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 5-6 Issue 16 Issue 28 Issue 44 Issue 50 |
Issue 9 Issue 16 Issue 25 Issue 28 Issue 45 |
Issue 16 Issue 47 |
Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4-5 Issue 13 Issue 18 Issue 28 Issue 46 Issue 49 |
Issue 30 Issue 47 |
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Issue 10 Issue 15 Issue 30 Issue 45 |
Issue 1 Issue 13 Issue 18 Issue 29 Issue 33 Issue 34 Issue 47 |
Issue 1 Issue 6 Issue 15 Issue 33 Issue 42 |
Issue 18 Issue 23 Issue 40 Issue 47 |
Issue 17 Issue 28 Issue 34 Issue 35 Issue 44 |
Issue 13 Issue 19 Issue 27 Issue 33-34 Issue 46 |
2021 | |||||
Issue 3-4 Issue 5-6 |
1997-2002
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2003-2008
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2009-2014
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2015-2018
2019-2021
Ensemble Covers
Covers that feature One Piece characters with other heroes from the magazine.
1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Issue 4-5 Issue 6 Issue 22-23 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6 Issue 46 |
Issue 3-4 Issue 21-22 Issue 22-23 |
Issue 3-4 Issue 5-6 Issue 21-22 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 | |
2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
Issue 5 Issue 6-7 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 Issue 22-23 |
Issue 3-4 Issue 5-6 Issue 21-22 Issue 36-37 Jump Heroes |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 Issue 21-22 Issue 36-37 Issue 42 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 Issue 22-23 Issue 36-37 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 Issue 18 Issue 34 Issue 37-38 |
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 Issue 22-23 Issue 37-38 |
Issue 21-22 Issue 36-37 |
Issue 3-4 Issue 5-6 Issue 20-21 Issue 35-36 |
Issue 3-4 Issue 5-6 Issue 21-22 Issue 36-37 |
Issue 6-7 Issue 22-23 Issue 33 Issue 37-38 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 Issue 16 Issue 22-23 Issue 37-38 |
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 Issue 19 Issue 22-23 Issue 37-38 |
Issue 3-4 Issue 5-6 Issue 21-22 Issue 36-37 |
Issue 2-3 Issue 4-5 Issue 21-22 Issue 34 Issue 36-37 |
Issue 2-3 Issue 4-5 Issue 6 Issue 21-22 |
Issue 6-7 Issue 22-23 Issue 36-37 |
Issue 4-5 Issue 6-7 Issue 36-37 |
1998-2002
2002-2008
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2009-2014
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2015-2018
2019-2020
Double Covers
There have been three instances of a One Piece Jump illustration being split into two covers.
Shonen Jump 2017 Issues 2-3 & 4-5 celebrate the anniversary year in which One Piece achieves 20 years of serialization. The cover features Luffy in the middle forming the number "20" with his fingers. He is surrounded by protagonists from other Shonen Jump series dressed as One Piece characters.
Shonen Jump 2019 Issues 34 & 35 celebrate One Piece achieving 22 years old serialization, the movie Stampede and the second act of the Wano Country Arc. The cover features Luffy in middle holding Nidai Kitetsu, with Zoro, Sanji, Nami and Robin on the left side, and Law, Sabo, Hancock and Lucci on the left. The Straw Hats are dressed in their Wano Arc outfits, while the other characters wear unique Wano-themed outfits.
Shonen Jump 2021 Issues 3-4 & 5-6 in 2021 celebrate Chapter 1000. The cover features Luffy with a crown that says "1000" on his head. He is surrounded by protagonists from other Shonen Jump series together with various One Piece characters drawn in the style of the protagonists' respective authors. The list of characters is the following:

One Piece characters as drawn by Shonen Jump authors.
- On the left:
- Krieg with Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia by Kōhei Horikoshi.
- Portgas D. Ace with Senku Ishigami from Dr. Stone by Boichi.
- Bellamy with Mash Burnedead from Mashle: Magic and Muscles by Hajime Kōmoto.
- Boa Hancock with Nariyuki Yuiga from We Never Learn by Taishi Tsutsui.
- Gecko Moria with Tachikaze Saga from Agravity Boys by Atsushi Nakamura.
- Tashigi with Boyle Samejima from Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin by Ryuhei Tamura.
- Gaimon with Tonkachi from Build King by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro.
- Tony Tony Chopper with Taiyo Asano from Mission: Yozakura Family by Hitsuji Gondaira.
- Shinobu with Kotaro Ietani from High School Family: Kokosei Kazoku by Ryo Nakama
- On the right:
- Shirahoshi with Asta from Black Clover by Yūki Tabata.
- Arlong with Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami.
- Smoker with Andy from Undead Unluck by Yoshifumi Tozuka.
- Sugar with Matsuri Kazamaki from Ayakashi Triangle by Kentaro Yabuki.
- Lapahn with Magu Menueku and Ruru Miayanagi from Magu-chan: God of Destruction by Kei Kamiki.
- Sanji with Roboco from Me & Roboco by Shuhei Miyazaki.
- Benn Beckman with Sakamoto from SAKAMOTO DAYS by Suzuki.
- Nico Robin with Ko Hizuki from Our Blood Oath by Kakazu.
- Heracles with Moriking from Moriking by Tomohiro Hasegawa.
- Eustass Kid with Iori Katanagi from Phantom Seer by Kento Matsuura.
Related Titles
Due to its popularity, Weekly Jump has accrued many offshoot titles with different formats and target demographics. Most of these are irrelevant to One Piece, but several were responsible for publishing Eiichiro Oda's pre-One Piece one-shots, most prominently the later-canonized Monsters.
Trivia

The Shonen Jump logo with the Straw Hats Jolly Roger from the 34th issue of 2018.
- To commemorate the series 20th anniversary being published in Shonen Jump magazine, the 33rd issue of the 2017 (that was released on the anniversary) used the same Luffy from the 34th issue of 1997 (that Chapter 1 was released on).
- To commemorate the magazine 50th year of publication, the Shonen Jump logo was featured in every manga chapter released on the 34th issue of 2018.
References
- ↑ Comipress: The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shonen Jump. Retrieved 2007.
- ↑ The Red-Hot Girls behind Shonen Jump's three-million readership (Japanese). Retrieved 2012.
- ↑ Oda commented on Jump's paper quality (or lack thereof) in a 2007 interview with the website Manga Heaven. Retrieved here, translated here.
- ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 47 (p. 106), Oda explains that reader response is only one of the factors influencing how Jump orders its features, and the ultimate decision lies with senior editors, who may choose to "front-load" any given series for promotional reasons.
- ↑ See Kanzenshuu's Guide to Weekly Jump Serialization
- ↑ Extensive - albeit incomplete - archives of Jump covers may be found here and here.
External Links
- Official English website
- Weekly Shōnen Jump at Wikipedia
- Weekly Shonen Jump (American edition)
- 週刊少年ジャンプ at Ja.Wikipedia
- Weekly Shonen Jump at Comicvine, featuring an extensive - albeit largely-unsourced - history on the magazine
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