The AMERICAN Shonen Jump Magazine | Retrospective

Shonen Jump Magazine - if you were a North American manga fan in the 2000s, you probably owned at least a few issues. And since this year is its 20th anniversary, let's celebrate by taking some time to reminisce!
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:26 Exploring Jump
12:44 Digital Evolution
15:48 Top 10 Covers
16:31 Farewell
Hey everyone -- Andre speaking. The Shonen Jump print magazine was a big part of my childhood, as I'm sure it was for a lot of people. So, a few years ago, my brother and I tracked down and collected a copy of every issue (that's 110 regular issues, plus a few special issues). Since then, I've been wanting to make a video talking about Shonen Jump and its impact on the American anime/manga fan community.
Anyway, in December 2021, I finally found some time to start working on this video, and after over a month of writing, recording, and editing, here it is. Huge thanks to my brother for lending me his Jump collection and for helping me brainstorm, research, write, and get footage. Without his support this video may have never been completed.
The audio and video quality aren't great, but we poured a lot of love into this project, and hope you all enjoy it. Maybe this will inspire other Shonen Jump fans to make even better videos on this subject! There's definitely a lot of stuff I wanted to talk about but had to cut in the end. Either way, I hope my fellow Jump fans can enjoy this and reminisce with me. And to those unfamiliar with the American Jump magazine, I hope you learn something new!
Thanks again for watching!
List of every song/source I used: myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=...
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Twitter: / andre_shelf
(Tags: #ShonenJump manga anime shounen naruto bleach one piece weekly viz media monthly subscription sakura hikaru no go dragon ball z dragonball super yuyu hakusho yu yugioh yu-gi-oh shaman king slam dunk bakuman print physical shippuden gintama jujutsu kaisen black clover demon slayer kimetsu no yaiba Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo ultimo psyren sand land tegami bachi akira toriyama eiichiro oda masashi kishimoto tite kubo togashi inoue hiroyuki takei graphic novel SJ alpha advanced shojo beat my hero academia chainsaw man kaiju no 8 spy x family dr stone one punch promised neverland yakusoku boruto hunter x hunter rurouni kenshin toriko anthology nostalgia death note jojo jojo's bizarre adventure kimyou na bouken gi oh gx 5ds golden wind giogio giogio's dot hack toonami adult swim kidswb kids wb 4kids )

[@Coolto22]

I believe the secret message says “The artist of Death Note Takeshi Obata is hard at work on a new manga, Blue Dragon.”

[@Andre_Shelf]

You got it!

[@everythingmetal9400]

Bro the thumbnail alone triggered so much nostalgia from my childhood I Miss these.

[@jordkinsmith3588]

If they still printed this, id still buy every issue. I miss shonen jump. This video nearly had me tearing up!!

[@garretthintz4154]

I feel ya man. I been thinking ordering some off Amazon Japan

[@BRIAN09157]

I’m Mexican,when Cartoon Network brought Naruto they only brought like the first 40 episodes, whenever I went to America for shopping I found out about American DVDs and manga at the time I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA of the translation so listening the anime and reading the manga at home made me realize I had to start putting attention to my English classes at school , listening to music while reading subtitles just to read naruto 😂😂😂, I remember reading my manga volumes in 3rd grade during class those were the times, years later I found out that a couple of libraries sold monthly Shonen jump in my city they were a bit behind of the American publishing but it was cool

[@Andre_Shelf]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[@kingkloud142]

I miss these magazines. The graphic design and ads were so well placed...I wish they at least let us buy these magazines digitally so we could get updates for our favorite manga close to the same time as Japan's release

[@BLKW4RDR3M0N]

Shonen jump magazine was the best thing to happen to me as a kid/teen. From the very first issue with the free blue eye white dragon all the way to when they went digital Shonen jump had always been an integral part of my life.

[@tarrencerichard8196]

In 4th grade a friend introduced me to shonen magazines and gave me the subscription paper and I swear they used to send me free issues for like a whole year. Not sure if it was a promotion or something but I never paid a dollar

[@MrPonytron]

That must've been the best year ever

[@lowki07]

Your parents paid for it.

[@BLKW4RDR3M0N]

​@lowki07 actually no, I don't believe that's what happened there was a loophole that a lot of people exploited during that time. If you were underage and signed up for any magazine subscription companies were not legally able to pursue you for payment due to the fact a minor cannot enter a binding financial agreement through self representation.

[@alfonsopayan09]

I was too young to appreciate them and would definitely buy every single one 😢

[@rayn7140]

It really has been over 20 years huh. I still own every issue of Viz's Jump, including issue zero and some of the post-physical run promotional issues. The first and final issues will be the most sentimental to me for personal reasons.

[@micro292]

This was a brilliant video idea Andre. Definitely feeling some nostalgia watching this video, and it is crazy that Shonen Jump is 20 years old now in North America.

[@Andre_Shelf]

Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@janicemank9199]

@@Andre_Shelf because you had all of shonen jump magazine which issue had chapter 1 for yu yu hakusho

[@Andre_Shelf]

Thank you for watching! Tell me about your favorite Shonen Jump manga in the comments! (And let me know how you did with the Nihongo Lessons or the Brain Bender!)

[@mangamerchant9002]

My favorite jump manga are Dr Stone and Majin Tantei

[@seanleonardracing347]

My fave shonen jump mangas are the promised neverland and me and roboco

[@toll2087]

I actually remember when they did the huge One Piece skip. They ended up speedrunning the volume releases too. They released a volume like every 2 weeks until they caught up with the magazine

[@InvaderWeezle]

I became a subscriber in 2006 and stuck with it until the end. Years later I went back and bought all the issues I missed on ebay to complete my collection

[@MisterSouji]

Algorithm recommended me this two years later. I remember picking up a couple issues of this back in the day. They were behind, but often had stuff we hadn't seen in the shows. I remember a Yugioh story predating the introduction of the card game. Also, hope you finished shool and everything worked out.

[@christianolson8543]

If this became a thing again, it would be a smash hit. Young adults in America are one of the largest consumers of manga worldwide right now.

[@joshb6132]

Man, for what was still such a niche product despite America's growing anime audience, they really put their all into this. I second everyone's opinions that I'd love a modern physical version of this to appreciate. You're also based as hell for labeling every song name.

[@brandonsime9168]

This video was amazing! I remember beinging 7 or 8 yrs old I went to a garage sale and bought 2 huge boxes of shonen jump for a dollar and I remember loving these as a kid. I gave them to my friend but this brings back some childhood nostalgia. Great video!

[@Kushina-43]

Just found the video and will watch later, but this magazine brings back so many memories. My first issue I read was Nov 2007 (I double checked, I somehow remembered that detail years later) and subscribed a bit later that year all the way up til it went online. I didn't have the space to keep every single volume, but I still have tons of my favorites at my parents' place.

[@callembini]

👏👏👏 wonderful video that definitely did the series justice, thank you for making this and sharing your passion for Shonen Jump with us all 🔆🙏🔆

[@losho420]

Beautiful video, well shot, excellent content. As an old-head Shonen Jump reader from back then I am so impressed with your collection and watching this brought me back to the convenience store magazine section. Thank you!

[@FakieFrontsideShuvit]

Dude I have all these issues, this just made me nostalgic. Was thinking to make a similar video just to chronicle this but glad you did.

[@maxmorgan3370]

I looked forward to nothing more as a kid than for my new Monthly Shonen Jumps to come in. And I would reread those suckers over and over. It was always so fun to go back to my oldest issue then read all the way up to my newest, but it was always sad when a series stopped being printed monthly for a new one because I really couldn't afford to buy the individual volumes back then to keep reading. I wish Shonen Jump was still printed. I understand why it's not, and the app is an INCREDIBLE deal, but man, there was just something so magical about getting my jump in the mail. Even as an adult now that would just be such a fun thing.

[@GurkiratGhuman]

Great video Andre! I can tell how much effort and passion you and your brother put into it. I've been working on a video about Shonen Jump magazine as well recently. I hope that I'm able to show my appreciation for it the way you were able to convey in this video. Thank you for this.

[@AndrewBellomo]

Great video!

[@yoman5097]

Amazing video man, def bright me back to the time when I used to collect the magazine as a kid. My brother bought the very first ones and I remember seeing the covers and seeing DBZ in manga format, it was surreal because we would be watching the anime on T.V at the time and I couldn't comprehend it was derived from this source material lol. Due to that fact, it was my gateway in collecting manga and years upon years I have what I always wanted which a massive library of manga and figures lol

[@astalavista7251]

I gave some of these to my nephew. He loved them. So I asked him why he thought it was in black and white. His answer was "So you can use them as coloring books." Best answer ever.

[@matthewvanzandt6589]

This was really cool

[@Yami98817]

This is so good

[@pattongilbert]

A pretty great video. I really like how in-depth you go into the magazine itself. As someone who didn’t grow up with it, it’s fun to see the insides.😊

[@joeltorres5549]

I’m so mad, I always say these magazines in the stores when I was in elementary and middle school and thought it was cool but never got them. Finally I started to read manga and learned that they had already switched to digital

[@6scar911]

6:35 lol I JUST saw a video where they talked about a game on switch about these puppers on a game exclusive only in Japan. And they talked about Kimagure Orange Road! Such a great anime

[@zombiefriend]

Sweet video. I still have all the copies I got when I was in high school. I wish they'd bring them back, but I understand why they won't if they can't put them out every week.

[@ciderodd4278]

Dannng this brought back memories

[@joel572]

Underrated video

[@supergamerxda.k.azabuza4031]

Interesting video on Viz's Shonen Jump Magazines

[@kinjoko]

everyone had at least one teacher that told "jokes" like the one on 3:28

[@austinmitchell2652]

My parents never got me a subscription to SJ, but I would always read the issues they had at the library

[@NintendoPowerZone]

The issue featuring Ultimo is special to me as I am featured as one of the contest winners who got to ask a question to Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei my name is Dennis and I asked Stan Lee about the marvel method which was Stan lee's approach to writing and how it would be applied to the manga format!

[@intrepid1160]

I have every issue from 2005-2012 and three issues from 2003, thanks for confirming that there were no 11 and 12 from 2011, I moved years ago and could never find them, and I always just assumed I lost them lol.

[@Roshuwah]

I remember seeing one of these for the first time in around 04. It was the first time I'd ever seen Naruto they were learning about ninja info cards and my first exposure Hikaru no Go! And it was the first time I'd seen the dungeons and dragons part of Yu-Gi-Oh!

[@destiny13777]

I know it's an older video but funny enough they did have Jojo even in the first volume, there's an article discussing the OVA releasing here for like a page or two and as a kid I remember thinking it was a Fist of the North Star spinoff because of the way the animation stills looked lol

[@janicemank9199]

As to know you missed the new shonen jump jump packs that are a small and new with new manga of shonen jump

[@rebalblazinghard]

I started my own version of "Shonnen Jump" magazine.

[@BrianAwesome]

They should have waited until December 2012, before they released the final Shonen Jump Magazine. Especially considering Toonami coming back in 2012 😔

[@aketsuuu]

While the magazine was special to me and I fondly remember reading it in kindergarten, the Shonen Jump app is easily the VERY best thing they ever did and the best deal in comic history... and it only keeps getting better as they add more and more series. That said, I wish the physical magazine was still around... maybe they can manage weekly, but there's costs of course so maybe not. Tough stuff. But I definitely won't forget the magazine, as it was my first experience with manga.

[@RVG_DaedricPyro]

karakuridoji ultimo i remember this

[@aaronjackson1875]

I’d heard of jump magazines before but I had no idea they were even released in English. This is the first time I’ve seen them. I guess they weren’t released in my country

[@dylansmith9317]

I honestly wish I subscribed to Jump back in my school days. I feel like it might have made my school life a lot more manageable!

[@DAVIDDOSBORNE]

For a good chunk of time Yo-gi-oh was by far the most popular series if you go by the covers, like 7 of the 12 issues from 2003 had yugi on the front.

[@thatcomicandmangafanfromdublin]

i didnt grow up with the american shonen jump because 1 it was over when i was really into manga and 2 i live in ireland but years later (this year) i got the september 2006 issue off ebay and it introduced me to hitman reborn and now im hoping to buy the april 2007 issue because i was born that month of that year

[@masterofvoreth8636]

Used to have a near complete collection of the magazine. Ended up giving away to a co-worker to give to his kids. Hey, pass down the legacy.

[@DennisTamayo]

Now, there's Manga Plus.

[@TheShonenJumperWSJ]

imagine if we could get more physical shonen jump magazines! maybe they could focus on series that never got much attention or ones that were never completed/started in english. of course they would need to include some of the big popular series to make sure people would actually be interested, but i believe it could work. a 300 page weekly magazine with some chapters per series would be ideal and probably pretty cheap to make since most of the content would just be reprints along with some never before translated stuff

[@Surgehero5136]

I wouldn't say Shonen Jump(US) in it's current digital state is near as perfect as the physical version was but I like the convience of having the manga at my fingertips. It still bugs me though that they discontinued the monthly magazine, and as you stated they couldn't keep up with the japanese's weekly shonen jump chapter release, but man those books were so much fun and had so much cool stuff inside. I GLADLY spent my 5-6 dollars a month as a kid. But it still kinda sucks cause it introduced me to a lot cool things about japan, nowadays you can get online, but I guess as a kid it hit different like for example getting a special yu-gi-oh card for certain issues.

[@MrPonytron]

I need to find all these English editions of Shonen Jump magazine. I have quite a few, but, definitely not all. I'll scour the entire internet for as long as possible until I find them all

[@Andre_Shelf]

I wish you good luck! It took a year or so for me to track them all down.

[@rayn7140]

Mercari is your friend.

[@MazinGo-1972]

The magazine should have been called Naruto.. and Friends. I swear one time they printed only two chapters of One Piece while the page count for Naruto was incredibly high every issue. I stopped buying it for a while and focused on the books for the series I actually liked.

[@thatcomicandmangafanfromdublin]

i just cant handel the fact that they called luffy luhfey in the shonen jump ad

[@PapaShlongo]

I got a few of these for sale (04-07), but unfortunately no cards. :(

[@janicemank9199]

I am trying to find January 2003 magazine does anyone have it for sale

[@Guishmonster]

2:50 Hey which issue of Shouen Jump is the one that features Rosario Vampire?

[@techyougo]

I wish they would still print these in English. Physical manga is still very popular

[@Recon1500]

i actually still have that yugi photo frame on my fridge lmao

[@STUDIO7Collectibles]

Didnt even know there was an American magazine version.

[@thedreamsoldierful]

I think that was early for them to try the American market. I think they could & should try again

[@jpeckdraws3932]

Wait 30 for 12 issues that’s a steal like wtf that’s crazy low

[@personofaperson7814]

Hey I could really use some help please please please please please!!! I did fan art of piccolo I think in 2006 and it was printed on one of the fan art pages... it's black and white, piccolo is looking to the left, and has a smirk on his face. can you please look and tell me what issue it's in???

[@kooljokez]

I liked these as a kid but I cant ever get into manga or comics for that matter digitally. Like I find it hard to concentrate

[@kendallhood9155]

💕

[@FCUYTFUYTF]

Highly recommend buying old physical issues!

[@gabrielshay9640]

The 10 issue year, They were kind of running low on some popular Manga that they wanted to show because Naruto is probably the biggest thing at the moment with the war going on. One piece was about to take the 2 year. Long break before the crew gets back together. Bleach was at the end of an arc, trying to defeat a really big main villain. The big 3 definitely took over for a while. And that seemed to be all that anybody was reading, so they would produce. Maybe like an extra chapter of Naruto or extend one piece a little longer. It's also why it goes from like a 100 page difference when they stopped using all those words on the covers. It wasn't just discontinued when it was doing the 4 issue. They were transferring over to shonen jump alpha, which was their digital website.

[@janicemank9199]

I enjoyed this video a lot cuz it had. Hikaru no go illustrator of death note I like how the series had this great getting go to help you play go plus me making great details with hikaru no go I like how yu yu hakusho was a great classic manga plus try to replie to me

[@Andre_Shelf]

Not a lot of people these days know about Hikaru no Go, so that's awesome! To answer the other question you posted: Yu Yu Hakusho started in issue #1 (Jan 2003)

[@janicemank9199]

@@Andre_Shelf man I wished I had any of the issues but I really only get paid at Fridays and I could get it to wait so much at 3 weeks to get a issue with of yu yu hakusho Hikaru no go yu gi oh ultimo eyeshield 21 and others

[@janicemank9199]

Things that annoy me are the silly comments these ads and how I wanna get the January 2003 but it is like a arm and leg so much money cuz most for it is is like 100 dollars or 70 dollars

[@janicemank9199]

@@Andre_Shelf make sure to get the jump packs cuz you forgot the shonen jump magazines this year people don’t talk about called the shonen jump jump packs with new series like my hero academia yu gi oh arc v dragon ball super and others and when you get it make a reuploaded video of it including the new jump packs

[@williamholtzclaw3029]

SJ manga is a vegan friendly chicken substitute

[@Nonvernis]

Based.

[@Jappe132]

Thanks to this video I went to Ebay thinking I would buy every issue that was made... No

[@tr5676]

I have a question regarding learning Japanese. Do u find when you read manga or books in Japanese now that you can understand the material without having to translate it in your head back to English?

[@Andre_Shelf]

Yep, that's the case for me. I think it should come naturally with time. Japanese is so different from English that I no longer find it efficient to translate every sentence in my head as I read, unless I'm confused about something. With practice, you should be able to understand Japanese phrases and such without translating them to English. Hope that helps!

[@tr5676]

@@Andre_Shelf Appreciate the reply... I've never learned a foreign language before so I was wondering what reading in a foreign language is like. Definitely a moral boost for me to continue to try and learn Japanese. Thanks!

[@gabrielshay9640]

It was so hard to find a SJ with a card, people kept stealing them.

[@atmmachine11]

Yep that happened to me a lot as a kid.

[@Sunsetiscool]

Will luffy find one piece? Yeah, in 30 years he will

[@dsouth7754]

I see your copies are barebacked too. I don't guess you've ever found a good bag/board combo? It's been my white whale for a few years now.

[@user-mh6ju3pg8c]

Any way to own a copy of this?

[@Andre_Shelf]

Check eBay and other secondhand stores if you're looking for shonen jump issues

[@user-mh6ju3pg8c]

@@Andre_Shelf oh thanks

[@seanleonardracing347]

​@user-mh6ju3pg8c but they are like 100 dollars

[@user-mh6ju3pg8c]

The old shonen jump was better... Since digital version cutted out fan mails, interviews, funny comments and evn other stuff you get from shonen jump ..right?

[@Andre_Shelf]

There's pros and cons to the digital version, but I definitely miss the old shonen jump!

[@everyany5000]

How did art school turn out? You ever land a job as an artist?

[@rickshabusky4553]

Screw digital media Where's the fun The jump app sucks It doesn't have anything like games activities and facts information ad's articles and fan drawings and free prize like cards in different manga stories in one that you don't have to pay for this is why the physical magazine is the definitive way to get into the jump experience bring it back. I don't care The magic is gone This era of jump is boring:⁠'⁠(

[@jpeckdraws3932]

I watched evolution years ago 😂before I know how bad it was ya it ah it was something 😂

[@RikuHino]

I'm also from ohio

[@indoph]

your channel is so ukraine