I'm in Shonen Jump Once Again!

I'm featured in the latest issue of Shonen Jump, which also happens to be the last print issue of the magazine. This time, I have a two page comic in the back of the magazine promoting the reborn digital edition of Jump, Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha.

You can try out an issue of WSJ Alpha for 99 cents or subscribe for a year (48 issues) for $26 by visiting http://sjalpha.com/
If you subscribe, you can also score some Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, just like the print edition!


Pick up a copy today and show a brotha some love.


Bless,



SHONEN JUMP and WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA are owned by Shueisha & Viz Media.

Image is owned by their respective creators. Image scan courtesy of @ZEROINTELIGENCE.

Jump Festa

Within a short amount of time, I've blogged about Shonen Jump three times. But this time it's not about me, but about a convention and a fan community regarding Jump.

As some of you may or may not know, the North American edition of Shonen Jump is ending as a monthly print magazine in March next year and will be re-tooled as a weekly digital magazine christened "Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha". WSJ Alpha can be rented for 99 cents an issue or a year's subscription (48 issues) can run for $26. With the new weekly digital format, there's talk about more fan involvement (like the Storyboard Contest) and maybe even original manga in the future, so the future could be pretty cool.

Speaking of fan involvement, there's an unofficial group of Jump fans on Twitter called #TEAMJUMP. #TEAMJUMP is composed of international Twitter users who love Jump and its series and occasionally interact with the Shonen Jump Twitter account.

I created six drawings on the behalf of #TEAMJUMP as gifts to the authors of the serialized works that will be covered in WSJ Alpha. I hope they like them, let alone look at them. :P

For Eiichiro ODA/ONE PIECE
click here

For Masashi KISHIMOTO/NARUTO
click here

For Tite KUBO/BLEACH
click here

For Hiroshi SHIIBASHI/NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN
click here

For Mitsutoshi SHIMABUKURO/TORIKO
click here

For Tsugumi OHBA & Takeshi OBATA/BAKUMAN。
click here

Why am I posting these images? This weekend has Jump Festa, an annual convention of all things Jump in Japan sponsored by Shueisha, the publisher of the various Jump magazines. A lot of the editors and creators of Jump will be there, so it's pretty much a big deal, not to mention lots of game and toy companies showing off their newest products. If you're there and reading this, then stop wasting your time reading my blog and go have fun--and take some pictures!

Whether you're at Jump Festa or not, try to have fun this weekend. :)



SHONEN JUMP is owned by Shueisha and Viz Media. All characters are owned by their respective creators.

I'm in Shonen Jump...Again!

Shonen Jump issue 107 (January 2012) hits store shelves on Tuesday, December 6.

This issue of Jump contains my entry from the "SJ Storyboard Contest" which won a runner-up prize as well as illustrations on an article about the manga industry. Pick up a copy and help a brotha out. :)

Bless,



SHONEN JUMP is owned by Shueisha & Viz Media.

I'm in Shonen Jump!

It's true.



You see that issue of Shonen Jump I'm holding? It's the December 2011 issue (Issue 106) and you can pick it up from any fine newsstand or comic shop starting on November 1. I have an interview and other material published in this issue and I'll also be in the next one (Issue 107, January 2012 issue), so stay tuned.

Bless,



SHONEN JUMP is trademarked and owned by Viz Media & Shueisha.

I Was at the San Diego Comic-Con!! (Sort of.)

For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, I have tweeted last month that I was mentioned in the Shonen Jump Mangaka Workshop Panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. During that panel, the SJ editorial team and Shueisha's Deputy Director of Shonen Manga (and former Editor-in-Chief of Weekly Jump)SASAKI Hisashi reviewed a few entries sent in from early entrants of Jump's Storyboard Contest. I was among one of the entrants and so my entry was shown on Comic-Con with a critique by Mr. SASAKI. Check it out!


My bit starts at the 35:40 mark.

Transcript here for those of you who don't feel like watching the video: http://shonenjump.viz.com/content/sj-panel-sdcc-recap

Bless,



PS: This blog is now published fortnightly. Ignore the "weekly" part.

Jumparodies

Over the past few days, I've drawn some parody comics and illustrations based on Shonen Jump manga on Twitter. Jump was also kind enough to retweet a few of them, and I'm thankful for it. Yes, it's badly drawn on MS Paint. But people like them and that's all that really matters.

Parodies:

NARUTO: http://bit.ly/hHVFgX
ULTIMATE MUSCLE: http://goo.gl/HelGX
BLEACH: http://goo.gl/sKPXO
DRAGON BALL: http://bit.ly/htqA7H
BAKUMAN.: http://bit.ly/exzlHC

I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow

I've been reading this manga online for quite a while now, and last week I finally bought a copy of the first volume at the bookstore. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed.

"I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow" is a seinen (young men's) manga by Shunju Aono. It is serialized every month in Monthly IKKI magazine in Japan, and the English online magazine equivalent in the West.

The story is about Shizuo Oguro, a 40 year-old man who decides to quit his job as a salaryman in order to find himself, much to the dismay of his aging father and simultaneously inconveniencing his teenage daughter. As the story goes on, he decides to become a manga artist, although his drawing and storytelling are quite poor, and in order to pay the bills he works at a hamburger joint where he is subordinate to men half his age. It's a series of slice-of-life tales concerning Shizuo and his musings and mishaps as he struggles to get published and fighting off mid-life crises.

The subject matter, although highly depressing, is actually quite refreshing, seeing how it's much different compared to most other manga. Many people will hate the art, although I personally like it, but it complements the writing style of this manga, and in turn produces a more natural look when reading it. I doubt kids and teenagers would like this series, since they might find the story boring or would call the art ugly, but it's pretty good for the older set, especially for people who are going through their own mid-life crises. I recommend this manga to anyone who wants to read something different in a manga and prizes writing over art.

The first volume is out right now online and in bookstores, with volume two going on sale this December. The series can also be read in monthly installments online for free here.


Overall recommend? Yes. Especially since the newest chapters can be read for free online, you won't have to worry about investing money on a book you may not like.




"ORE WA MADA HONKI DASHITENAI DAKE" ©2007 Shunju Aono/Shogakukan. English version © Viz Media.