There is one periodical I had consistently when I was a kid. I subscribed for five years, before I had to focus on other things like high school and college, though my love for the magazine never waned. It’s fascinating to look at this series of magazines now, as it was laying the groundwork for some of the biggest manga series in history and fueled the generation after me on how awesome manga and anime could be. This series’ marketing push is one of the biggest and most consistent campaigns I have ever seen; their cross branding included manga, anime, video games, plush, action figures, trading cards, the list goes on and on. It’s a magazine that has been around in Japan since 1968, and though physical versions of the magazine are no longer printed here in the United States, its legacy lives on digitally as one of the biggest online manga libraries available. There could be no other series I am talking about besides….
Shonen Jump
Manga is expensive. At $10 a book, it takes me less than an hour to read a manga. Even as a kid working at minimum wage, I refused to spend more than what I made an hour on entertainment, which meant manga was firmly out of reach from me. That is, besides a subscription to Shonen Jump. At $20 a year, 12 issue compilation of roughly 6-8 series arrived at my doorstep. I love Shonen Jump. I love Shonen Jump so much that a couple years back I wanted to finish my collection of the series, as it had finished its print run in 2012 with 110 issues. That 110 count does not include Issue #0 (A promo for conventions the year before the series started - I’ve got it!), issue #00 (Another promotional sampler - I didn’t know about this for a long time because Google search results always pulled up the first promotional issue. I’ve got this one too, only recently) and the Shonen Jump Fifth Anniversary Collector's Edition (Hardcover. I neeeed this one and only found out about it recently. It’s the last issue I need!)
Each issue not only featured the aforementioned chapters of the newest English translated releases, they also featured reviews, news, interviews, and lots of advertisements of other Shonen Jump products. In addition, since Yu-Gi-Oh! The Trading Card Game has been the most popular game in the world for a while now (beating Magic the Gathering in sales for quite a few years) each issue also contained a promotional Yu-Gi-Oh! card. I have a few, but now all of the cards. That’s the next to do on the collecting spree. And it's going to be a pricy excursion.
Lastly, in a wonderful crossing of my favorite things, Kids Next Door creator and all around wholesome dude, Mr. Warburton, drew a crossover of KND with the most popular manga in the world, One Piece. Not only was this illustration featured in the magazine, but can still be purchased as a print from Mr. Warburton’s online shop. I procured mine early last year.
Postscript: Conveniently timed, one of the YouTubers I follow did a great video summarizing the state of Shonen Jump today. Check out Super Eyepatch Wolf's video:
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