Great Jump!! Creator Interview – Kazushi Hagiwara (Weekly Shonen Jump 1998 Issue 33)

To celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha ran a creator spotlight called “Great Jump!!” (すごいジャン!!) to get some thoughts of their current artists about Jump. The creator spotlight started in the 1998 Weekly Shonen Jump issue 29 and continued through issues 33 with various different creators being highlighted.

The final part of this spotlight series continued with the 33^rd Weekly Shonen Jump issue in 1998 with the following creators:

Osamu Akimoto (Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen Mae Hashutsujo, “Kochikame”)
Haruto Umezawa (Hareluya II Boy)
Kazushi Hagiwara (Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy)
Daisuke Higuchi (Whistle!)
Yoshihiro Togashi (Hunter x Hunter)

In this 3^rd interview in issue #33, Kazushi Hagiwara (萩原一至) was the focus, who was currently serializing his Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy (BASTARD!! -暗黒の破壊神-) manga in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The series has a complicated release as it moved between multiple magazines during its long serialization. It originally started in 1988 in Weekly Shonen Jump as a standard weekly serialization for a year and a half. Then in 1990 is was in the seasonal releases of the Weekly Shonen Jump Special. In 1997 it moved back into Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, but this time it was on an irregular release schedule. There was 5 chapters released in 1997, 8 chapters in 1998, and then 7 chapters in 1999. Starting in 2000 the serialization moved into the monthly Ultra Jump magazine and continued its irregular releases until it completed in 2010. At the time this article was published in Weekly Shonen Jump, the series had 109 chapters published out of the total of 139 across tis entire serialization.

The article begins with asking Kazushi Hagiwara about his memories of Weekly Shonen Jump, which have been roughly translated below:

田舎にあった『ブルーシティー』が初めて読んだジャンプマンガです。見たらもうびっくり。もえもえ。もえもえマンガは『聖闘士星矢』とか『北斗の拳』とか『キャプテン翼』とかいっぱいです。『テニスボーイ』『ホールインワン」のパンチラもよかった･･･。

When I was in the rural area, the first Jump manga I read was “Blue City.” I was surprised when I read it. Really cool. Some other cool manga was “Saint Seiya”, “Fist of the North Star”, and “Captain Tsubasa”. The panty shots in “Tennis Boy” and “Hole in One” were also good….

Blue City (ブルーシティー), by Yukinobu Hoshino (星野之宣) was first published in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1976 and only ran for 18 chapters. He would later have a 7 chapter series, Kyojin-tachi no Densetsu (巨人たちの伝説) run in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1977. Afterwards he had his works published in other magazines, such as Weekly Young Jump.

Saint Seiya (聖闘士星矢), by Masami Kurumada (車田正美) was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1986 through 1990 for a total of 246 chapters. The manga is licensed by Viz Media and is released in English under the title Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya).

Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳), by Tetsuo Hara (Art) and Buronson (Story) ran from 1983 (issue 41) through 1988 (issue 35) for a total of 245 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump. The series is currently being published in English by Viz Media.

Captain Tsubasa (キャプテン翼) by Yoichi Takahashi (高橋陽一) ran from 1981 through 1988 in Weekly Shonen Jump for a total of 357 chapters as well as having various spin-offs and sequels, some of which later ran in the magazine.

Tennis Boy (テニスボーイ) was a 130 chapter manga series that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1979 through 1982. The story was written by Yū Terashima (寺島優) and the art was drawn by Kenichi Kotani (小谷憲一). The pair would later have 2 short series in 1982 and 1985 in the magazine with Winning Shot (ウィニング・ショット) and Wolf ni Kiss (ウルフにKISS).

Hole in One (ホールインワン) was a 127 chapter manga series that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1977 through 1979. The story was written by Joji Kagami (鏡丈二) and the art was drawn by Tatsuo Kanai (金井たつお).