Shonen Jump

Update: Shonen Jump is ending next year, and unless you want to subscribe to the online release of Shonen Jump Alpha, don't subscribe to this.

Update: Just realized my June issue is a June/July issue....great. I guess my beloved magazine is slowly dying. :(

I remember seeing the first issue of Shonen Jump on newstands in 2003 and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. I was around 12 or 13 then, and I still love it as a 21-year old. It has always been a great value considering that the average volume of manga is around ten dollars or more.Also, I used to be a yugioh fan, and Shonen Jump provided me with a countless amount of awesome free promo cards.

Having read every issue, I've seen Shonen Jump go through every phase. While I understand that the economy may cause Viz to have to make certain changes, they are still negative changes and I'll list them here:

First off, Shonen Jump had the magazine, and then they began publishing the manga that ran in their magazine in their Shonen Jump Graphic Novel line. Well, that is fine. The problem is, they began to remove series from their magazine in mid-story. It would say, Hikaru No Go is "graduating" to thier Shonen Jump Graphic Novel line, and lucky you, you can now read it faster! Hooray!!! I got to read it for free, now I have to go to the effort of hunting it down, then paying around a hundred dollars or so for the rest of the series.I get that certain series are more popular than other series, but it has happened many times, and the only series that have finished are Sandland(very short series) and Yu Yu Hakusho.Recently they were really pushing a manga called Ultimo, which is co-made by Stan Lee. They treated it as their flagship exclusive manga, but once again removed.

That move definitely suprised even me after all the hype. Dragonball Z, Shaman King, Hikaru No Go,Gin Tama,Yugioh GX, Tegami Bachi, and Ultimo, are all victims of "graduation" I can think of off the top of my head.They also do speed-ups where they skip chunks of story to catch up with manga in Japan. Makes sense, so not that big of a deal there.Secondly,the magazine seems to have gotten a little thinner in the past year. Those are my only gripes with the actual magazine itself.

My main gripe with Shonen Jump is that recently they are clearly now trying to give a priority to newstand buyers over subscribers which is an unforgivable, greedy, and disgusting act. Shonen Jump has always advertised the subscription as "get it before newstands". As a subscriber, I always have. VERY early. That is until the most recent year. Now, while I'm waiting, I go to Wal-mart, FYE,and Waldenbooks, and have to stare at a brand new issue, that I as a subscriber have to wait for.

The customer service used to be good, but has definitely suffered. If I ever miss an issue, I never have a problem. What I dislike now is that the c.s. operator now tries to give the runaround by giving you corporate answers, and doesn't want to listen to your problem.

Don't get me wrong, I still love Shonen Jump. I just hate to see something I love degrade in quality little by little. Please don't forget your core subscribers Shonen Jump.

In the past, I have gotten this mag for my son and purchased through the publisher directly. it was great.

I bought it this year (DEC 1) through amazon and it is now almost March and still have not recieved an issue. If you want to buy this do it directly, NOT through here. Unless of course you want to wait half a year for the subscription to start...

Here is the info they provided me on the shipping of the mag.

"If you want a subscription to be a Christmas present, you will need to place your order at the beginning of October or first week of November to ensure delivery by January 1st. The reason is that most publishers do not print a magazine in December or January. They actually print these issues in advance of the holiday season. Any orders made in late November, December or January are processed for the first available issue of the next year. In this particular case, that issue was the April'10 issue. This issue was created in January and February, printed in late February and then shipped. It ships out from the printer's office to a distributor, it is then labeled and shipped to customers. So as you can see, the start of a subscription is dependent on the publisher's print schedule, distribution/labeling process, and availability of issues.

Thank you, Vulcan Service/Magazine Express"

they do not have the speedy service that amazon usually offers...

Buy Shonen Jump Now

This is an interesting magizine it had reviews on new games, manga, andsome puzzles. Also, you will save $30 by subscibing.

Read Best Reviews of Shonen Jump Here

I ordered this magazine back in March 2011, now it's July, 2011 and I still have not received my first issue. Email this problem to publisher in June, but no reply at all. Very bad publisher, Amazon should remove this publisher immediately. Do not subscribe this magazine at Amazon, turn to elsewhere or buy at the newstand.

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I bought this subscription as a Christmas gift for my child as was supposed to receive the first issue in February but didn't. It's now past the first week in March. I reported the problem twice, sent two emails to Magazine Express directly and received absolutely no response. DO NOT BUY THIS!!! The WORST customer service ever!! I have canceled this subscription and will never purchase another subscription on Amazon ever again!!