News
Shonen Jump Goes Same-Day Digitally in Japan
posted on by Rae First
This year's 33rd issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump got a digital release on Saturday, the same day that the printed version went on sale in Japan. This is the first time that the magazine has been offered digitally for a fee and the first time that Shueisha has released a digital version of a manga magazine on the same day as the printed version.
People can purchase the digital issue for 300 yen (about US$3) and read it on Shueisha's free Jump Book Store! application available for iOS and Android devices.
The 33rd issue celebrates the magazine's 45th anniversary and launches Akira Toriyama's new series Ginga Patrol Jako. The digital issue includes color versions Eiichiro Oda's One Piece, Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto, and Yūsei Matsui's Assassination Classroom manga in addition to the monochrome versions published in the printed magazine. The digital release also includes a re-release of the "Dragon Ball X One Pieace 'Cross Epoch'" crossover, first printed in 2007's combined 4th and 5th issue, as well as "Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikouen-mae Hashutsujo 'Jump 40 Nen-shi no Tabki'" from 2008's 34th issue.
In addition to Shueisha, companies like Kodansha and Viz Media are using their digital e-readers for same-day releases. Kodansha debuted its D Morning app in May that releases the latest weekly issue of Morning Magazine the same day as the paper version hits the streets. However, the app excludes series such as Takehiko Inoue's Vagabond or Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki's Billy Bat. Viz Media's English version of Weekly Shonen Jump, Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha, began releasing its manga chapters on the same day they came out in Japan in January.
Source: Comic Natalie
