Forum - View topicWeekly Shonen Jump (USA) Discussion
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Mr Adventure
 Posts: 1598 |
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It was about a week ago that the the ANN front page article about Akira Toriyama's Kintoki one-shot brought to my attention that Shonen Jump had gone day and date with Japan. For years I've had this kind of torrid opinion of Shonen Jump. I've always loved the IDEA behind Jump. I love serial anthologies. I especially love Weekly serial anthologies. Love. Them. I could go on all day about my love of weekly UK Sci-FI anthology 2000 AD (home of Judge Dredd), and my disappointment in the lack of other notable examples in my native language. So my jealousy that Japan's entire comic industry is built around serial anthologies (weekly or otherwise) is quite enormous.
So then we have Shonen Jump, a serial anthology of manga presented in English. In theory I should have been reading it since day one. But here's the thing I'm not a fan of typical Shonen manga. Oh I enjoy Dragonball well enough, but when I see the majority of its peers it all comes across as a bit samey and under my age group. So for years and years I've never really bothered to read Jump due to my perceptions, and stuck to reading what Seinen material manages to make it over here in collected format (not enough). But in November I bought an iPad and my entire comic reading habits were changed overnight. I am a huge proponent of digital comics and reading digitally on tablets. So imagine my delight knowing Manga has been getting on the digital bandwagon (slowly and not as comprehensibly like US comic books have, but that's for another thread...) I'd noticed that Shonen Jump had going 100% digital last year with Shonen Jump Alpha. But I wasn't too impressed with how it was being offered (I believe it was subscription only, and issues expired over time *barf*). But the news article last week about Kintoki got my attention about the fact that Shonen Jump no longer expired, and you could buy it without a subscription. For a dollar an issue. I'm still not over this fact, I'm honestly flummoxed on how VIZ can even make money at such a low price point. But I am not complaining, and if there is one thing I've learned about reading digital comics over the last few months, I can't say no to a dollar. It no longer MATTERS that I don't care for a majority of a given issue. I'm still getting my money's worth. And as an added bonus, I'm given exposure to comics that I wrote off as 'not for me' and it turns out... maybe I was selling some of them short after all. Its actually become a really exciting time for me and Manga again over this, and I want a place I can come to and talk about the Weekly Shonen Jump content. So that's what this thread is about, talking about Weekly Shonen Jump in a concentrated place. So now I'm going to talk about my first impressions of the material I've been exposed to over the last two weeks. Remember, in many of these titles cases (actually, all of them) I'm a brand new reader, I've never read any of them anywhere else. I mean, sure I've been exposed to Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach via anime (that I never really watched) and general internet chatter. But I've never payed attention to them. I'm going to get this out of the way, but Naruto is completely incomprehensible to me. Now, I coincide I'm picking up 617 installments in, and near the end of a major story arc. But I pride myself on my ability to pick up the general gist of things, and at least be able to the follow the broad strokes. I'm struggling to do that here. I think a lot of the problem stems from poor panel-to-panel transitions and poorly scripted dialog. I don't know. I doubt I'm ever going to get into this one. Toriko on the other hand seems like its a lot of fun. Its core concept seems really silly. But its got some really boffo creature designs, and character designs that remind me of Fist of the North Star. Reading this lead to me to checking out the free preview to the first volume. I'm not sure if I'm going to jump right on catching up, but its on my short list. So not a bad impression. One-Punch Man was actually the title that really got me to pull the trigger on picking up my first issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. It was new and its concept seemed like a lot of fun. I enjoy super-hero satire, and this one seems to have that in spades. Its also got some wicked slick artwork, some nice humor, and crazy monster designs. I love it. One Piece is suffering similar to Naruto in some respects. Being long running, at the end of a story arc, and having some really odd panel to panel transitions that makes it really easy to lose the plot. On the other hand its not quite as bad as Naruto, and it seems to have a lot to offer. I'm hoping to warm up to it as it moves on to its next arc. Reading the first volume of the series is on my 'to do' list at some point. Bleach is also in the Naruto/One-Piece camp where I don't really care about it, or what's going on. But the art is much clearer in some respects then the others. So its marginally more interesting to read. Nisekoi and Cross Manage are of the high school drama genre that I actively dislike. Nisekoi in particular is rather forgettable. Oddly enough I'm actually liking Cross Manage quite a bit. Even if its rather by the numbers. Now, Kintoki, the whole reason I bothered taking a chance in the first place. That was FUN! I'm a big fan of early Dragonball, all the adventure and weird creatures, and funny character moments. Unfortunately it all sort of devolves into dull tournament style situations. Kintoki recaptures a lot of that early Dragonball adventure and humor IMO. Though Toryama does seem to recycle a lot of his classic motifs here, I think it works pretty well over all. Especially as a one-off. I would be really interested in reading more. As it stands apparently Dragon Ball Z is coming back next week for a full color run. Its a known quality, so I'll probably enjoy it well enough for what it is. But it is kind of an unexciting new addition. EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot about Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. Probably for good reason. A waste of good artwork *bleach* So yeah, there you go. My opinions on Weekly Shonen Jump. Like certain parts of the anatomy, everyone has one. At the moment One-Punch Man is my major draw, while I'm really hoping One-Piece and Toriko step up to the challenge. Not a great ratio, but its a freaking dollar. I'd pay a dollar for One-Punch Man alone. So feel free to express what you're liking and hating in Weekly Shonen Jump at the moment. I'm curious how people are taking the Digital only approach. I dig it. A lot. And the truth is, if it was in print it A) would cost a lot more, and B) wouldn't be weekly. So I really see no down side. |
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gsilver
Posts: 650 |
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Is it true that it has the new chapters of Hunter X Hunter? What issue do I need to buy to read those?
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Mr Adventure
Posts: 1598 |
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I've only read the last two issues, and there hasn't been any Hunter X Hunter episodes. That doesn't mean anything though, because some series seem to be less frequent then others (Yu-Gi-Oh! was in last weeks issue, but not this week's for example) Also, I do not believe you can currently buy Digital Back Issues of Weekly Shonen Jump only the most recent. Which is something I don't particularly like. I suspect because they want people buying the collected books to get caught up? Still. At the very least the previous month's issues should be made available for new reader convenience. EDIT: This was posted in another thread today...
So according to this Hunter X Hunter is currently not a licensed title. Or at least it has not been announced yet. |
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OniTasku
Posts: 79 Location: Santa Barbara, CA |
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No. Hunter x Hunter has been on hiatus since March 2012 (at chapter 340). And no, Weekly Shonen Jump has not optioned for HxH to join the digital anthology. |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 1440 |
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Well, best to enjoy it while you can. The weekly rankings for the series in Japan have been pretty low the last couple months, which is pretty much the kiss of death for a new series. Unless something significantly changes in its popularity, I don't see it making it past 25 chapters. |
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gsilver
Posts: 650 |
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This right here says that Shounen Jump Alpha is running two chapters of it: animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-12-10/shonen-jump-alpha-to-run-hunter-x-hunter-kurapika-short Has it happened yet, or is it sometime in the undetermined future? |
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MangaNeko
Posts: 139 |
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The 2 Kurapika chapters ran in WSJ Alpha issues 17Dec12 and 24Dec12. I imagine they will be available in a future HxH volume. |
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ajr
Posts: 465 |
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I swung over to Viz to check out the starter pack after the recent ANN podcast, where I noticed it looks like they were paying attention when ANNcast touched on anthology manga magazine's lack of success in America a while back; it's so cheap now! For me, the price is somewhat mitigated by the fact that I'm not going to be reading Naruto, Bleach, or One Piece in SJ, not because I don't like them, but because I've thus far been following the US releases and I'm trying to avoid spoilers. Related: I didn't see a linked table of contents in the starter pack, can any subscribers comment on whether the regular issues have this feature? Anyway, at $26/48 issues, if you can find just 2 series you like, it comes to 27¢ per chapter, not bad at all. I liked One Punch Man's satire, art, and inventiveness, while Cross Manage's admittedly generic setup was executed in a compelling way. Nisekoi is horribly cliché but it's not horrible. Yet. The starter pack was also my first exposure to Toriko, which seems about as zany and fun as reputed. Overall I really hope this works for Viz.
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Mr Adventure
Posts: 1598 |
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Thought I'd weigh in on this week's new additions, since they are new to me.
Rurouni Kenshin felt a bit manic, and honestly not my cup of tea. A bunch of fights, with your usual assortment of hero and villain eccentrics. This series hasn't been running long apparently, so many it'll get good and find a unique groove eventually. Until then, a bit ho-hum. Blue Exorcist on the other hand seems like a Japanese high school version of Harry Potter. And while on paper that might not interest me very much (not a fan of high school dramedies) I dug this installment. It was pretty easy to slide into the world, and get my head around the characters and what they were doing. Which is always good when you're trying to get into something mid stride. Oh and Dragon Ball Z is still Dragon Ball Z. Color hasn't changed much... The announcement of the new series, World Trigger, next week, is a bit intriguing however. Can't wait to check it out. PS: One-Punch Man is still rad as hell. |
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The Mad Manga Massacre
Posts: 1175 |
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I'm really curious about World Trigger. The premise sounds interesting. I've been enjoying Cross Manage as well. The art is really good and the series in general is a lot of fun! It's a shame it isn't doing to well in Japan. i'd be curious to hear how well it's faring in North America. Hopefully it will stick around for a while longer. I wonder if Viz will be adding more titles to WSJ after World Trigger? There's still several titles from the Japanese magazine, many which are newer series which seems to be their focus, that haven't been brought over. I really wish they'd make a second monthly magazine for the Jump Square titles as Viz already has several Jump Sq titles (Claymore, Tegami Bachi, D.gray-man, Rosario + Vampire as well as Restoration and Blue Exorcist). I really liked it when they had the Kintoki one-shot in the magazine. I really hope they do more one-shots in the future ideally being released simultaneously as well. Okay, I'm done rambling now lol.
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Mr Adventure
Posts: 1598 |
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World Trigger appears to be another 'awkward teens in high school with super powers/weapons' comic. I'm honestly not surprised, but quite disappointed.
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Spotlesseden
Posts: 3514 Location: earth |
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@Adventure
Sounds like Shonen Jump is not for you. You know what's type of magazine is Shonen Jump right? Don't be one of those people who read Playboy and complain about naked chickes in the magazine. |
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Mr Adventure
Posts: 1598 |
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Jump wouldn't be for me. If it didn't cost a dollar.
Also if One-Punch Man wasn't rocking my face harder then any comic has in a while. But it does. And it is. The rest of its just gravy. Also I like Toriko okay. World Trigger could get good. Maybe. |
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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Oh boy, I really liked world trigger. Too bad I had to read it somewhere other than WSJ and not paying Viz the money I so desperately want to give them because region locking.
Because who cares how Europe reads thier funny books right? That £400 that could be spent on all of One Piece? Ah screw that with a vibrating screwdriver! |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 1440 |
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You could try contacting Viz, to let them know people in your region are interested in getting the service too. Maybe even get some friends to contact them to! |
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