Manga provision in English has come a long way in recent years. It wasn’t too long ago that the only way fans could engage with the medium was through either expensive physical releases or illegal fan scanlations, but the recent switch to digital subscriber models has not only made this process much easier, but also much more consumer-friendly. As such, VIZ Media’s new Shonen Jump has been a colossal success – so much so that now, for the first time, the entirety of Weekly Shonen Jump is available in English.
This observation was shared during this week’s episode of the Shonen Jump podcast, then later highlighted by Guardian of the Witch and Dragon Ball Super letterer Brandon Bovia on Twitter. As to what this means in practice, it’s quite simple: whereas before only a select few series from the magazine were available in English, now every single series currently running in the magazine is so.
This was mentioned on the podcast, but as of this week the entirety of the Japanese Weekly Jump is being run in English!
Even as recent as a few years ago this was unfathomable. Hats off the the rest of the team, and I'm honored to be a small part. 🙂 https://t.co/drUYTSIdis
— Brandon Bovia (@brandonbovia) June 16, 2020
On the surface, this is simply because Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs – which was, for a long time, the only series that VIZ did not publish – came to an end and was replaced by Kentarou Yabuki’s new series, Ayakashi Triangle. But this conceals all of the small steps that were taken along the way to get to this point: picking up more series for English release, yes, but also deciding to translate every single new series for as long as they run – we’ve come a long way from the previous, ‘Jump Start’ model.
As a result, the version of Weekly Shonen Jump that fans log in to read every Sunday via VIZ Media is perhaps as close as it can be to the original, Japanese version. This is a colossal achievement that should be celebrated. Of course, English fans are missing all of the trappings of the magazine itself – including its bizarre advertisements – but these are not essential to the reading experience. There are also several problems with the service’s backlog, but these are being slowly remedied over time.
If you’re not already subscribed to VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump, then head over to the official website to do so. If you’re also looking for something to read, then check out our list of recommendations for this year.