In an unprecedented move from Shueisha, fans can expect new Shonen Jump manga under other publishers’ names to appear soon. Shueisha will host two in-person consultation and information sessions on November 23 and December 2, 2023, as well as a Zoom event on December 3, where professional mangaka from other publishers can come up with plots for short stories or ideas they have for serialization. Editor.
The official website of the workshop states that writers will have a 25-minute private conversation with Shonen Jump editors to give their opinions without worrying that the discussion will their messages will be overheard by other participants. The site also lists salaries for rookie writers, which are a minimum of 18,700 yen (~$124) (tax included) for a black-and-white page or a minimum of 28,050 yen (~$186) for a color page. As a result, a new Shonen Jump manga, like Kagurabachi, typically earns the creator around $2,400 for a 19-page chapter. However, for established writers, this fee can be renegotiated at a higher rate in line with what they earn from their current magazine. Shueisha also offers optional 1-year exclusivity contracts that come with a higher salary if the writer chooses to serialize work only for them during that period.
Blue Box’s Kouji Miura and Dr Stone’s Boichi both debuted in other magazines before coming to Shonen Jump.
Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is famous for giving mangakas such as One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda and My Hero Academia’s Kohei Horikoshi their first starts in the manga industry. To this end, they added the MANGA Plus Creators submission platform for rookie writers to get noticed, along with their long-standing Newcomer Awards. However, their recent hiring moves also show the importance of current talent coming from other magazines. Kouji Miura (Blue box) and Posuka Demizu (The Promised Neverland) previously came from Kodansha and Shogakukan respectively. While it’s normal for writers to be rejected or dropped from one magazine to move to another publisher, the most famous mangakas usually don’t do the same, except to explore something outside the publisher’s target demographic. This is often due to the mangaka’s strong relationships with their editors and staff, as well as the loyalty to the company built over their time in publishing. However, notable mangakas who transferred the magazine are:
- Fullmetal alchemist‘s Hiromu Arakawa (Enix/Square Enix) → The Heroic Legend of Arslan (Kodansha)
- Mage: Magical Labyrinth‘s Shinobu Ohtaka (Shogakukan) → Orient (Kodansha)
- Magic Knight Rayearth‘s CLAMP (Kodansha) → The One I Love (Kadokawa)
- cute baby‘s Go Nagai (Akita Shoten) → Mazinger Z (Shueisha, then Kodansha) → Devilman (Kodansha)
Given its rarity and Shueisha already being the largest publishing company in Japan, they risk finding themselves at the center of poaching accusations. Shueisha can pay some of the highest fees in the industry, and therefore public exhibitions aimed solely at other companies’ mangaka could be seen as giving the industry an unfair advantage. However, it is a sign from Shueisha that they want to bring maximum options to their readers. Anime Corner’s Jay Gibbs had the opportunity to speak with Shuhei Hosono of Shueisha’s editorial department about their new brand-building initiatives, including increasing brand awareness and diversifying their book title.
Source: Official event website © Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha / Toei Animation