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Shonen Jump Celebrates 50th Anniversary, App Release With International Manga Contest
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine announced on Thursday that it is holding the Jump's Universal Manga Contest. The contest celebrates both the 50th anniversary of the magazine and the launch of the Jump Paint manga-drawing app.
The contest is open to anyone in the world. However, entrants must submit their manga in English, Spanish, French, Korean, Russian, Chinese (simplified), or Chinese (traditional). MediBang will translate entries submitted in languages other than Japanese. Any genre of manga is allowed, but submissions must be one-shot stories of 55 pages or less.
Naruto manga creator Masashi Kishimoto is the chairperson of the contest's screening committee. Participants must register as users on MediBang and submit work through the website. People can submit up to five entries each. The entry period will close on January 5, and results will be announced in spring 2018.
The Grand Prize winner will receive one million yen (about US$9,000) and print or digital publication in Shonen Jump. The runners-up will receive 300,000 yen (US$2,700) and publication in Jump Plus or in a special edition of Shonen Jump. Finalists will receive 50,000 yen (US$450).
Shonen Jump and MediBang launched the Jump Paint app on Thursday. The free PC, tablet, and smartphone paint tool allows for manga creation using different types of pens, tones, and fonts. The app is available in nine languages: Japanese, English, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. The app is cooperating with Shonen Jump Rookie, a webcomic portal for novice artists to make it easy to upload work.
In addition to drawing their own manga, the app's users can draw samples of manga such as Eiichiro Oda's One Piece and Kōhei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia. The app also features advice from Shonen Jump manga creators and weekly lessons from Weekly Shonen Jump editors.
Shonen Jump Rookie has held various manga contests in the past. The website launched contests with gag manga artist Kyōsuke Usuta (Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san, Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar) and Kentarō Yabuki (To Love-Ru, Black Cat, Mayoi Neko Overrun! as judges last July.
Sources: Viz Media, Anime! Anime (Yuma), Comic Natalie