Even before the Coronavirus pandemic started affecting industries all over the world, the Japanese manga publishers have been seeing a drop in their circulation rates. The most popular Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine too, is no exception to this drop.
The Japanese Magazine Publishers Association or JMPA revealed a drop in the circulation figure of Weekly Shōnen Jump. The print circulation which was 1,602,083 from October 2019 to December 2019, dropped to 1,572,833 in the January to March survey of 2020.
The difference in the figure is 29,250. It appears that the circulation figures have constantly dropped over the past year. The figures are calculated four times a year, and the circulation rate in the first quarter of 2019 was 1,692,000. The difference in the rates between the first quarter of the previous year and this year is 1,19,167.
Weekly Shōnen Jump saw its peak in 1994 when the average annual issue was calculated to be 6.3 million. The circulation rate was above 2 million until 2016, but it dropped below 2 million by the first quarter survey of 2017. The difference in sales is shockingly visible and keeps dropping as time passes.
Although one saving grace is that these figures only represent the physical copy circulation rates, not the electronic ones. A lot of people have converted to a less hassle e-subscription. However, we cannot be sure how much the total e-sales will amount to.
The circulation rates of Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Weekly Shōnen Magazine has deteriorated over the years as well. Not to mention the ongoing pandemic, which has slowed down production procedure.
Authors and other related workers have to work in a safer and more isolated environment, which leads to a delay in the manuscript production. Many chapters and volumes have already been delayed.
To check out the latest release schedule of Weekly Shōnen Jump click here :
About Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. It is the best-selling manga magazine and one of the longest-running; the first issue was released with a cover date of August 1, 1968.
The manga series within the magazine targets young male readers. They tend to consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of series that run in Weekly Shōnen Jump are collected and published in tankōbon volumes under the “Jump Comics” imprint every two to three months.
Source: JMPA figures
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