Shonen Jump Confirms Upcoming Delay Due to Pandemic

Shonen Jump is easily one of the biggest imprints when it comes to manga franchises but it seems as though even this publication is susceptible to the recent pandemic as the CoronaVirus as the 21st issue of Weekly Shonen Jump for 2020 will be postponed. The weekly publication is responsible for housing some of the biggest franchises today in the world of manga such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Boruto: Next Generations, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and almost too many others to count. The original release date for the next volume was the week of April 19th but will be taking said week off.

Viz Media had reported that one of the employees at Shonen Jump had apparently contracted CoronaVirus, and so in the interest of safety, decided to move the release of the latest installment back to a release date of April 27th as a result. The direct quote from the company reads as such:

“Regarding the Postponement of Weekly Shonen Jump, Issue 21:

As of April 8, 2020, a member of the Weekly Shonen Jump editorial department in their 40s is suspected of having contracted the novel coronavirus. This person has not attended work since they first developed a fever on April 2. They subsequently sought medical attention and are currently at home waiting for the results of a PCR test. This person does not have direct contact with the mangaka as part of their duties.

As of April 6, Shueisha has implemented a company-wide policy of primarily working from home in order to stop the spread of the virus, but in consideration of the risk posed to our mangaka and any related parties, we have decided to temporarily suspend operations across the entirety of the Weekly Shonen Jump editorial department.

We have therefore also made the decision to delay the release of Weekly Shonen Jump, Issue 21 (scheduled for release on April 20 in Japan) by one week, and plan to release it on April 27 renumbered as combined Issue 21-22.”

Shonen Jump posted an official declaration on their Twitter Account as well:

What do you think of the new announcement regarding Shonen Jump’s postponement? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and Shonen Jump!