The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shonen Jump: A Look at the Circulation of Weekly Jump (original) (raw)
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Japanese manga anthologies are one of the foundations of Japan's manga culture. Most popular series are first serialized in manga anthologies before being released in the tankoubon format. Despite the success manga is enjoying around the world, recent reports indicate that Japan's domestic manga market have gone into a decline. As a result, manga publishers are finding it difficult to make a profit from manga anthologies. Last month, Weekly Shonen Magazine's circulation dropped under 2,000,000. The suspension of Shueisha's Monthly Shonen Jump could also in part be attributed to declining sales.
Despite the difficulties many magazines are facing nowadays, Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump experienced a slight boost in sales in recent months. Last December, for the first time in 11 years, Shonen Jump's circulation increased from 2.75 million to 2.78 million. However, when compared with sales from 10 years ago, this number is hardly encouraging. To understand Shonen Jump's current situation, one needs to look at the magazine's historic circulation.
Below is a look at Shonen Jump's historic circulation, as well as an updated list of the Shonen Jump manga circulation numbers (updated from the 2006 version).
The Circulation of Weekly Shonen Jump
Launched in 1968 by Shueisha, Weekly Shonen Jump competed with the already successful Weekly Shonen Magazine (Kodansha) and Weekly Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan). By keeping a close eye on what its readers wanted through surveys and polls, Shonen Jump soon became one of the top-selling shonen magazines in the market. At the height of its popularity, thanks in part to popular series like Dragon Ball and Slam Dunk, the New Year's issue of Shonen Jump (issue 3-4) in 1995 sold over 6.53 million copies.
Since then, with the conclusion of popular serializations such as Dragon Ball (ended in 1995) and Slam Dunk (ended in 1996), circulation of Weekly Jump decreased rapidly. In 1998, the New Year's issue of Jump sold only 4.15 millions copies, dropping below the circulation of its competitor Weekly Shonen Magazine, which had an estimated circulation of 4.45 million. It was the first time in 24 years Weekly Jump yielded their position as the top selling Weekly Shonen Magazine.
Below is a graph of Shonen Jump's sales throughout the years from exlight.net:
Some notes from the creator of the graph:
- The source of the figure came from an article on Weekly Jump from Wikipedia (Japanese edition).
The original data is inaccurate; some contains the circulation of New Year's issue, some contains the circulation of the best-selling issue of the year, so the statistics in the figure has several issues. However, there are no other sources on this topic, and the figure does provide a general overview of the situation. As a result, the figure offers three different kinds of circulation information: New Year's issue, the best-selling issue of the year, and the average circulation of the year.- Circulation of Weekly Jump experience a rapidly decline between 1995 and 1996, falling from 6.53 million to 5.88 million copies (-10%). The circulation decreased again between 1996 and 1997, falling from 5.88 million to 4.05 million (-31%). However, the data taken before 1996 is the circulation of New Year's issue, while the data taken after 1997 is the average circulation of the year, so it may not represent a genuine decrease.
Generally, circulation of New Year's issue is very close to the circulation of the best-selling issue of that year, meaning the circulation of New Year's issue is greater than the average circulation of the year. As a result, the actual decline between 1996 and 1997 would be smoother than what the figure shows.- The data taken between 1982 and 1984, and later after 1997, were all of the average circulation of the year, while figures from other years show the circulation of the New Year's issue. There was no significant change between 1982 and 1984 in the figure, so one can see the decline between 1996 and 1997 was very big.
Below is a graph comparing Weekly Shonen Jump's sales with a few other popular shonen magazines (data taken from WJ Log):
As the graph indicates, the circulation of Shonen Jump is significantly higher than most other magazines through out the years. However, between 1995 and 2005, while other magazine's sales stayed fairly constant, Shonen Jump's circulation decreased dramatically. If this trend continues, Shonen Jump may find itself struggling alongside other magazines.
Shounen Jump Manga Circulation Numbers
It's been almost a year since the "Shounen Jump Manga Circulation Numbers" was posted, below is the newest sales numbers of manga serialized in Shonen Jump, compiled by 2ch Jump Log Warehouse.
Currently Serialized in Jump
| Title (Volumes) | Circulation | Latest 1st Edition vol. Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Kochikame (1-151) | 135,000,000 | vol. 153 - 360,000 |
| One Piece (1-45) | 130,000,000 | vol. 45 - 2,250,000 |
| Naruto (1-36) | 71,000,000 | vol. 36 - 1,480,000 |
| Bleach (1-27) | 39,000,000 | vol. 26 - 1,310,000 |
| The Prince of Tennis (1-35) | 37,000,000 | vol. 37 - 500,000 |
| Hunter X Hunter (1-20) | 36,958,000 | vol. 22 - 1,560,000 |
| Gintama (1-17) | 16,000,000 | vol. 17 - 550,000 |
| Eyeshield 21 (1-19) | 12,30,000 | vol. 23 - 510,000 |
| D.Gray-man (1-10) | 8,000,000 | vol. 10 - 700,000 |
| Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (1-14) | 7,000,000 | vol. 2 - 120,000 |
| Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar (1-11) | 5,500,000 | vol. 8 - 390,000 |
| Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (1-15) | 4,875,000 | vol. 15 - 190,000 |
| Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro (1-6) | 1,000,000 | - |
*All numbers are from sales in Japan only (counting sales in other countries, Dragon Ball would be 300,000,000+, Fist of the North Star would be 100,000,000+, and so on)
All-Time Best Selling Jump Series
| Title | vol. & Status | Circulation |
|---|---|---|
| Dragon Ball | 42 complete | 150,000,000 - 160,000,000 |
| Kochikame | 151 ongoing + related books | 135,000,000 - 150,000,000 |
| One Piece | 45 ongoing | 130,000,000 |
| Slam Dunk | 31 complete | 108,000,000 - 120,000,000 |
| Naruto | 36 ongoing | 67,000,000 |
| JoJo's Bizarre Adventure | Series ongoing | 47,000,000 - 70,000,000 |
| Fist of the North Star | 27 complete | 47,000,000 - 60,000,000 |
| Captain Tsubasa | 37 complete + 18 ongoing | 52,000,000 (series: 70,000,000) |
| Kinnikuman | 36 complete | 50,000,000 (series: 60,000,000) |
| Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken | 30 complete | 30,000,000 - 50,000,000 |
| Rurouni Kenshin | 28 complete | 47,000,000 |
| Yu Yu Hakusho | 19 complete | 44,000,000 |
| Rokudenashi Blues | 42 complete | 43,700,000 |
| Bleach | 27 ongoing | 39,000,000 |
| The Prince of Tennis | 35 ongoing | 37,000,000 |
| Hunter X Hunter | 20 ongoing | 36,958,000 |
| Dr. Slump | 18 complete | 35,000,000 |
| City Hunter | 35 complete | 35,000,000 |
| Bastard!! | 23 ongoing | 30,000,000 |
| Saint Seiya | 28 complete | 25,000,000 |
| Hikaru no Go | 23 complete | 22,000,000 |
| Shaman King | 32 complete | 22,000,000 |
| Sakigake!! Otokojuku | 32 complete | 22,000,000 |
| Cobra | entire series | 20,000,000 |
| Cat's Eye | 18 complete | 18,000,000 |
| Kimagure Orange Road | 18 complete | 18,000,000 |
| Toilet Hakase | 30 complete | 15,000,000 |
| Hana no Keiji | 18 complete | 14,000,000 |
| Houshin Engi | 15 complete | 13,300,000 |
| Ring ni Kakero | 25 complete | 13,000,000 |
| Magical Taruruuto-kun | 21 complete | 12,600,000 |
| Eyeshield 21 | 19 ongoing | 12,300,000 |
| Black Cat | 20 complete | 12,000,000 |
| Circuit no Ookami | 13 ongoing | 11,000,000 |
| Barefoot Gen | 10 complete | 10,000,000 |
| I''s | 15 complete | 10,000,000 |
| Ginga Nagareboshi Gin | 18 complete | 10,000,000 |
| High School! Kimengumi | 20 complete | 10,000,000 |
*Includes Bunkoban (smaller than normal tankobon and higher quality) and Kanzenban (Perfect or Complete Edition) and other compilation volumes.
*Includes sequals that are published in other magazines.
Note that many of the top-selling manga, such as One Piece and Naruto, currently serializes in Shonen Jump. Will these series do what Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho and others have done in the past, and bring Shonen Jump's back to its former glory, or will Shonen Jump have to rely on its popularity from overseas to stay "in the game"?
References:
- Exlight.net
- 2ch Jump Log Warehouse
- Japan Magazine Publishers Association (JMPA)
- Weekly Shonen Jump Wikipedia Entry
Selected texts translated by Michiko
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