Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump is undoubtedly the most defining magazine in the manga industry, and One Piece stands as its flagship series. Having been in serialization for almost 29 years, the manga has built an unprecedented reputation and is undoubtedly the magazine’s most profitable property, as evidenced by the fact that it is the best-selling comic of all time, even surpassing Superman. There is no denying that the magazine benefits from the manga’s popularity with every weekly release. The latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, released on Sunday, July 12, featured the newest One Piece chapter along with a special One Piece Game Promo Card.
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Naturally, the latest issue sold extremely well because of the limited special extra. It has been revealed that the issue sold out across Japan, including an additional 500,000 copies printed for the release. It has been speculated that scalpers bought up much of the stock, as many regular readers were unable to get their hands on the latest issue. This included one fan taking to Twitter and sharing that, for the first time in 35 years of buying Weekly Shonen Jump every week, they were unable to get the latest issue, blaming the special One Piece extra.
One Piece‘s Special Collectible Release Creates a Crisis for Weekly Shonen Jump
A Weekly Shonen Jump fan’s post on Twitter, shared by @BIRGO_SHAKA, has garnered significant attention, amassing millions of views and prompting thousands of fan responses. There is little doubt that the cause of this Weekly Shonen Jump crisis was the special One Piece extra. As the series is a global manga juggernaut, it has naturally fueled a trend of collecting among fans while also attracting scalpers looking to profit from these limited releases. As a result, many regular readers reportedly could not buy the latest issue, with some stores in Japan keeping only a single copy available for customers to read.
However, this is not the only controversy surrounding One Piece and the latest issue. It also marked the end of Blue Box, a manga that had been running for years, and many fans had hoped it would receive a special illustrated cover to commemorate its conclusion. Instead, One Piece‘s special promo card and the celebration of the manga’s 29th anniversary ended up taking that spotlight as well.
This suggests that Weekly Shonen Jump places greater emphasis on One Piece than its other manga, and it is evident that both fans and scalpers share that level of interest because of the series’ long-term collectible value. Although One Piece is approaching its conclusion and could end within the next few years, its reputation has become so unprecedented that it is already creating the kind of demand fans would expect from a legendary series that occasionally returns with special releases. It is also clear that One Piece will continue to be treated this way going forward, and fans can expect this trend to continue. While it is a positive sign of the manga’s popularity, it is bad news for longtime Weekly Shonen Jump readers who are passionate about collecting every new issue.
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