Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump is one of, if not the most, famous manga publication that has been coming out of Japan for decades. Since 1968, the publication has been distributing some of mangas most important and influential manga. The long list includes series like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, My Hero Academia, Bleach, Death Note and Yu-Yu Hakusho. The publication has had its ups and downs but no matter what, it never falters in its goal to bring the best manga stories to its readers.
Recently, the new COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of magna companies and the mangaka who work on them. Before it was easy to simply sit in an office and go to work for hours a day to bring a great story to readers. However, now social distancing has forced these creators to work from home or with methods that greatly slow down publication of stories. This has affected release dates of multiple magazines across multiple publication and platforms.
Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump is no stranger to these changes, as multiple announcements of delays to chapter releases, and individual series, have affected the company. Sadly, it even looks like these delays could last a bit longer than anyone hoped for, The toll it takes on the publication is already taking its toll as print runs have dropped 1.6 million in the past few months. According to the Japanese Magazine Publishers Association, the print run total for October through December was 1,602,083. As of January through March the total has dropped to 1,572,833. While numbers have been an issues for a few years, this pandemic is really taking its toll on print publications. Making it very important to continue support to the platform.
Questions about the numbers? Curious how this could affect the publication in the long run? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!