To celebrate the 30th 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 fourth part of this spotlight series continued with the 32nd Weekly Shonen Jump issue in 1998 with the following creators:
- Hirohiko Araki (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)
- Yuko Asami (Wild Half)
- Hajime Kazu (Mind Assassin)
- Shou Makura & Takeshi Okano (Hell Teacher Nube)
- Takehiko Inoue (Slam Dunk)
- Makoto Niwano (Base Boys)
This issue also featured 9 page timeline of the major milestones of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since 1968. It also featured a “Special Guest” interview with Hiroshi Motomiya as well as with Go Nagai.
Note: Due to the nature of the printed article from Weekly Shonen Jump, there was a slight misalignment with the colors on the page. Some of the images may not be fully accurate for the colors based on these scans.
Hirohiko Araki (荒木 飛呂彦) was currently serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump with his action-battle manga Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. The issue which this article was printed contained the overall 559th chapter of the series. This was the 120th chapter in the Golden Wind series. The Golden Wind series would later conclude in the 17th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999. Prior to starting Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1987, he had two other series run in the magazine with Cool Shock B.T. in 1983 for 10 chapters and Baoh in 1984 for 17 chapters.
The article begins with asking Hirohiko Araki about his memories of Weekly Shonen Jump, which have been roughly translated below:
自分はあまり、興味はなかったんだけど、友人が新しい週刊漫画誌が出たと言って買ってきたのを覚えてます。だからジャンプの創刊号は、読んだ記憶がありますね。実はジャンプの「男の条件」というマンガには、すごい思い出があるんですよ。僕はこの作品を読んで、マンガ家になろうと決心したんですよ! ジャンプがなければ僕はマンガ家になってなかったかも･･･。あと、ジャンプの愛読者杯に感想文を送って、自転車をもらったことがあるんです! ジャンプとは深い枠があるみたいですね。
I wasn’t really interested, but I remember a friend of mine heard a new weekly manga magazine was coming out and he bought it. So I remember reading the first issue of Jump. Actually, I have some fond memories of the Jump manga “Otoko No Joken.” After reading that, I decided to become a manga artist! If it wasn’t for Jump, I might not have become a manga artist… Also, I once sent some feedback to the Jump Reader’s Cup and won a bicycle! So you can see I have a deep connection with Jump.
The first issue of Shonen Jump was released in 1968 and had a cover date listed of August 1. It wasn’t until the following year with the 35th total issue when it changed to a fully weekly magazine and adopt the name Weekly Shonen Jump.
Otoko No Joken (男の条件) was a manga written by Ikki Kajiwara (梶原一騎) and had art by Noboru Kawasaki (川崎のぼる). The title roughly translates to “A Man’s Promise” in English. The series only ran for 19 chapters, starting with the 10th issue in 1968 (only 11 total issues that starting year for the magazine), and ended in the 19th issue in 1969. This series ended before the magazine changed to its weekly publication and is currently available online as a digital edition. The writer, Ikki Kajiwara, would later write Samurai Giants (侍ジャイアンツ) which would run for 150 chapters starting in 1971. The artist, Noboru Kawasaki, would later create the short series, lasting only 17 chapters, Dodo Yaro (どうどう野郎) in the next issue after Otoko No Joken‘s conclusion. Following that short series, it would provide the art for the Koya no Shonen Isamu (荒野の少年イサム) in 1971, which would run for 111 chapters.
The article then provides a short synopsis of the Otoko No Joken manga. The manga series is about Ichitaro Hata, who starts working as an assistant for a popular manga artist. The story focuses on this young, hot-blooded manga assistant who defies the current style for manga artists at the time.
Hirohiko Araki provided a drawing of the bicycle he had won as part of the Jump Reader’s Award (愛読者賞 – Aidoku Shashō) with his own annotations. The Reader’s Award was a yearly competition of oneshots held from 1973 through 1983 where fans could pick their favorites via a popularity contest in Weekly Shonen Jump.
The article then concludes with a listing of Hirohiko Araki’s works and his own short comment about each, which have been rough translated into English below.
Poker Under Arms (武装ポーカー)
少年のころ、アウトドアが好きで、男は荒野に向かわねば…などと思っていた
As a boy, I loved the outdoors and thought as a man you must head out into the wilderness… Or so I thought.
Poker Under Arms was Araki’s first published work, which won a “Selected Work” runner-up in a Tezuka Awards in 1981.
Cool Shock B.T. (魔少年ビーティー)
上京前の作品。ホームズが好きだったので、 それ風の少年が主人公
A work before I moved to Tokyo. I liked Holmes, so the main character was a boy who looked like that.
Cool Shock B.T. ran for 10 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump, starting in the 42nd issue in 1983.
Baoh (バオー来訪者)
これが始まって上京。この当時の事件とかアメリカンTOP40とかを聞くと懐かしくて涙が出る
This started when I moved to Tokyo. Whenever I hear about the events of that time, or the American Top 40, I tear up and feel nostalgic.
Baoh ran for 17 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump, starting in the 45th issue in 1984. The American Top 40 is the internationally syndicated radio program that started in the 1970s that featured popular music from the USA.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険)
なんか、自分って本当に旅行好きなんだなあと思う。これを読んでると…
This is a story that is made for those who like to go on a journey. That’s how I read it…
