The publishing goliaths over at VIZ Media recently announced a new development for the company’s flagship trade name, Shonen Jump, and the world’s most popular manga magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump earlier this month. Beginning today, the current Weekly Shonen Jump magazine lineup of 13 series will be available to readers for free, including Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, My Hero Academia, One Piece, and more.
Combined with the current lineup, there will be a total of 25 free series, with all-new chapters published in English simultaneously with Japan. Fans can dive into the three latest chapters for hit series such as Dragon Ball Super, The Promised Neverland, Dr. Stone, and more, with new series coming soon.
VIZ Media also launched the digital vault membership today, and I couldn’t be any more excited. This new Shonen Jump membership ($1.99 per month) grants readers seamless access to a large continually updated digital vault that currently features more than 10,000 manga chapters from nearly 100 series – almost every ongoing and completed series Shonen Jump has been published in English. This should absolutely entice just about everyone to check out and give another manga series a shot and step outside the comfort zone of what people are typically used to reading.
“We are extremely excited and proud to announce this bold evolution for Shonen Jump,” says Hisashi Sasaki, Global Vice President. “Fans want to catch their favorite stories the same day they debut in Japan for free, and accessing back chapters of popular Shonen Jump series has been one of the most requested features from our online readers. Our new model will make Shonen Jump the premiere showcase for manga content.”
Oh, also, a 7-day free trial membership is currently available for readers at VIZ Media. Fans can access the free digital chapters and unlock the Shonen Jump digital vault with the Shonen Jump app for iPhone, iPad and Android-based devices for some easy on-the-go reading, or Shonen Jump’s official website.