Shōnen Jump+

Shōnen Jump+(Japanese: 少年ジャンプ+（プラス）, Hepburn: Shōnen Janpu Purasu) is a manga platform created by Shueisha. Launched on September 22, 2014, it operates as a free mobile app and website. Jump+ serializes original titles and titles from other Shueisha manga magazines, and also carries digital editions of Weekly Shōnen Jump. Notable titles serialized in Shōnen Jump+ include Fire Punch, Chainsaw Man, Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Spy × Family, Chained Soldier, Kaiju No. 8, and Dandadan.

Despite its title, Shōnen Jump+ also features series targeted towards female and adult readers in addition to its namesake shōnen manga, which is targeted towards young teen males.

Outside of Japan, Shueisha releases the original manga from the platform on Manga Plus. Starting in 2023, every new manga series except for licensed manga and Indies series launched on Shōnen Jump+ would receive a simultaneous English release on Manga Plus.

History

Pre-launch

Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump reached a peak weekly circulation of 6.53 million copies in the 1990s, though its readership has since steadily declined as a result of the broader decline of the print media industry. In response, Shueisha turned towards digital distribution in an attempt to reach out to a wider audience.

A free digital edition of Weekly Shōnen Jump was issued as a result of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, after shipping and distribution lines were affected by the disaster. Issuing the digital magazine was difficult at that time because of different work flows from issuing printed version. In 2012, Shueisha launched the online bookstore app Jump Book Store, which enjoyed mild commercial success and became an inspiration for Shōnen Jump+.

In 2013, Shueisha launched the online manga platform Jump LIVE. Although the app was downloaded over 1 million times in three weeks, the editorial department found it contained too much content and it was difficult to distinguish between free and paid content. Shueisha would ultimately discontinue the platform. Nevertheless, the experience of launching an online platform helped the company for the coming Shōnen Jump+.

Post-launch

Shōnen Jump+ was launched on September 22, 2014, with more than 30 manga series, some of which were transferred from Jump LIVE, including ēlDLIVE and Nekoda-biyori. The digital version of Weekly Shōnen Jump can be purchased in Shōnen Jump+ at 300 yen per issue or 900 yen per month.

Compared to Weekly Shōnen Jump, titles published in Shōnen Jump+ are subject to laxer editorial restrictions around explicit content. According to Shuhei Hosono, the chief editor of Shōnen Jump+, the number of weekly active users increased from 1.1 million to 1.3 million between April and May 2016; Hosono noted that the increase was catalyzed by the release of Fire Punch and World's End Harem, which both contain depictions of sex and violence not permitted in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Starting from 2017, Weekly Shōnen Jump began serializing works made by manga artists who previously published their series on Shōnen Jump+, such as Taishi Tsutsui's We Never Learn, Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man, and Tsurun Hatomune's Mitama Security: Spirit Busters.

In 2019, the platform experienced significant progress. Spy × Family, which was a new series in 2019, attracted many users to the app, especially female users. After it began serialization, the proportion of female users increased by 5% while 60%-65% were male. Astra Lost in Space received an anime adaptation and Eren the Southpaw received a TV drama adaptation in 2019; both are original titles of Shōnen Jump+. Moreover, its original titles started to win big awards. Astra Lost in Space won the 12th Manga Taishō Award, becoming the first web comic to do so.

Manga Plus, a global version of Shōnen Jump+, was launched on January 28, 2019. An international edition of Shōnen Jump+ was first proposed in 2017 as a means to appeal to non-Japanese audiences; the app is offered in English and Spanish. Also in 2019, Shueisha produced Marvel × Shōnen Jump+ Super Collaboration, a collaboration series with Marvel Comics composed of seven one-shots written by various Weekly Shōnen Jump artists including Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Kazuki Takahashi. In December 2020, Deadpool: Samurai started serialization on the same platform after the one-shot in October 2019.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some titles in Shōnen Jump+ have been published on a modified schedule. A website namely "Jump Digital Labo" (ジャンプ・デジタルラボ) was launched by the editorial department of Shōnen Jump+ in July 2020, for recruiting proposals of digital development. Kaiju No. 8, which was serialized from July 2020 to July 2025, gained 30 million page views in October 2020, becoming the fastest Shōnen Jump+ manga to do so.

On December 14, 2020, it was announced that the second part of Chainsaw Man, the first part of which had previously been serialized on Weekly Shōnen Jump, will be serialized on Shōnen Jump+.

In April 2021, Indie series were introduced in the app. This is a side-project from the Shonen Jump+ App for Jump Rookie Monthly Award winner works that get in the platform with new titles every month along regular titles. These series have no editor, their publishing conditions differ from regular serializations and they have an orange flame symbol showing they are indie and how different they are from normal serializations. So far, only two Indies series became regular serializations: Red Cat Ramen and Kindergarten Wars.

In 2023, every new manga series not including Indies series and licensed series launched on Shōnen Jump+ would begin to receive a simultaneous English release on Manga Plus.

Metrics

By May 2019, over 60 titles were serialized on Shōnen Jump+. The app had been downloaded 10 million times; combined, the app and website had 2.5 million weekly active users. Shōnen Jump+ accumulated over 12 billion yen in sales revenue. As of February 2022, the app had been downloaded 19 million times, with the app and website having approximately 4.6 million weekly active users. Shueisha estimated Shōnen Jump+'s users to be 65% male, and that 18 to 24 year olds were its largest age demographic at 32%.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku was the most popular series on the platform in 2018, while Spy × Family has been the most popular Shōnen Jump+ title since 2019. Spy × Family is noted for attracting readers, especially female, to the app, according to Hosono, the trend of its sales are comparable to Assassination Classroom, a high-profile title published in Weekly Shōnen Jump.

Censorship

Due to explicit content, World's End Harem and Saotome Shimai wa Manga no Tame nara!? cannot be accessed on the Shōnen Jump+ iOS app, but they are available on its website and Android app.

Series

There are currently 90 manga titles being serialized in Shōnen Jump+. Out of those, 69 are original titles to the platform, 8 titles are published in parallel with other Shueisha publications, and 11 are Indies series.

See also

• Shonen Jump digital vault

External links

• (in Japanese)
• on X (in Japanese)