If you’ve ever wanted to know how to create a successful manga in Weekly Shonen Jump, then do we have good news for you. Weekly Shonen Jump, Jump Square, and Jump Plus are all teaming up to deliver a series of lectures that will share with hopeful mangaka all the ‘know-how’ that they have built up over the years. Featuring editorial staff members and successful manga authors alike, it’s shaping up to be quite an initiative. Welcome to the Jump School of Manga.
Announced May 15, the new Jump manga school initiative comes at such a juncture where Shueisha and the Jump brand as a whole are focusing intently on the next generation. Just last year, there was the momentous collaboration with Kodansha that saw the best of Weekly Shonen Jump and Weekly Shonen Magazine combine in an attempt to gamify the manga reading experience, and the recent internationalization of the Tezuka Manga Contest shows that the publisher is even willing to accept those that reside overseas – no doubt linked to the dwindling circulation numbers and depressed consumer spending.
Jump School of Manga Schedule
In any case, the ‘Jump School of Manga’ seeks to educate the next generation so that, when the time is right, they can write manga properly and succeed on that basis. To accomplish that task, there will be a total of ten lectures from this August up until December, featuring editorial staff and manga authors alike. Check out the schedule, as well as the list of speakers, below:
- Round 1 (8 August)
Structure of the course: Jump Plus deputy editor-in-chief Momiyama Yuuta
Importance of characters: character business section head Asada Takanori, Weekly Shonen Jump editor-in-chief Nakano Hiroyuki, and Jump Plus editorial team leader Shihei Lin - Round 2 (22 August)
Planning your manga: Weekly Shonen Jump deputy editor-in-chief Oonishi Kouhei, Jump Plus deputy editor-in-chief Nakaji Seijirou, and character business section Saito Yuu
Usage of art and panels: Jump Plus editor-in-chief Hosono Shuuhei, Jump SQ deputy editor-in-chief Yoshida Kouji, and Saito Yuu - Round 3 (5 September)
How to write a one-shot using past examples: Saito Yuu
How to write a serialization using three big hits: Saito Yuu - Round 4 (19 September)
How to plot your serialization using famous plot twists: Asada Takanori
How to get a serialization and Q&A: Asada Takanori, Jump SQ deputy editor-in-chief Kosuga Hayatarou, Weekly Shonen Jump deputy editor-in-chief Miwa Hiroyasu, Momiyama Yuuta - Round 5 (3 October)
Dr. STONE author Inagaki Riichiro, Jigokuraku creator Kaku Yuuji, Assassination Classroom’s Matsui Yusei - Round 6 (17 October)
KochiKame creator Akimoto Osamu, Twin Star Exorcists creator Sukeno Yoshiaki, World’s End Harem creator LINK - Round 7 (31 October)
On dark fantasy and battle manga: Shuuhei Lin, Jump Plus editorial team leader Koike Kin, Jump Plus editor Katayama Tatsuhiko
On gag and comedy manga: Oonishi Kouhei, Weekly Shonen Jump deputy editor-in-chief Kawashima Naoki, Jump SQ editorial team leader Hattori Yuujirou, Jump Comics publishing department Isaka Mikoto - Round 8 (14 November)
On sports manga: Asada Takanori, Saito Yuu, Weekly Shonen Jump editorial team leader Honda Sukeyuki
On love comedies: Jump SQ deputy editor-in-chief Kosuga Hayatarou, Nakaji Seijirou, Saito Yuu - Round 9 (28 November)
Message from Jump Plus editor-in-chief Hosono Shuuhei
Message from Jump SQ editor-in-chief Yahagi Kousuke - Round 10 (12 December)
Message from Weekly Shonen Jump editor-in-chief Nakano Hiroyuki
Discussion between past editors-in-chief Ibaraki Masahiko, Heishi Yoshihisa, and Nakano Hiroyuki
Each ‘round’ of the Jump manga school will take place on Thursday, 2-4PM JST. To participate in the lectures, you will need to sign up via the official website and give away quite a lot of your personal information. This is because the initiative is a serious one for Shueisha – the company is dead set on providing would-be authors with the knowledge to succeed, and hopes that all participants submit manuscripts for feedback based on the lectures. But if you want to try and sneak in, no one’s stopping you!