One of the most controversial creators in its history is returning to Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine with a new story this Summer, and fans really don’t know how to react to such a comeback. It’s no secret that Shonen Jump finds itself in a big period of change as the last couple of years have seen a lot of long running franchises coming to their respective ends with the likes of My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Mission: Yozakura Family and more all coming to a conclusion. So the magazine has been searching for its next generation of potential hits.
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This past Summer alone Shonen Jump has debuted three major series following the cancellation of other series that didn’t quite meet their mark, and it seems like a new debut is coming soon as well. The next issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine (as spotted by @WSJ_manga on X) is teasing a new one-shot from Toriko series creator Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, who was arrested, convicted, and sentenced for violating child prostitution laws in 2002. But has had a successful career within Shonen Jump despite this.
Who Is Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro?
Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro first made his debut with Shonen Jump with Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi! in 1997, but the series was later suspended due to Shimabukuro’s arrest in 2002. The creator was able to return to the series years later in an offshoot magazine, but then continue to release more with Shonen Jump in the years since. The biggest release that the creator has had was with Toriko in 2008. This series was big enough to stand together with Dragon Ball‘s Goku and One Piece‘s Luffy in an official anime crossover, and ended its run with the magazine after eight years. But the creator really hasn’t had that big of a hit since.
The closest Shimabukuro came to having another serialization was with Build King, his most recent work, in 2020. But that series only ran for a little under a year before it was swiftly cancelled. Now the creator is returning with a new one-shot known as “Baka Battle” in the next issue of Shonen Jump coming this week. But as of this time it’s yet to be revealed whether or not an English language release is on deck for the new one-shot story as of the time of this publication. But it will likely be available with Shueisha’s MangaPlus service or Viz Media’s digital Shonen Jump library if it’s licensed and translated.
What Does This Mean for Shonen Jump?
Shueisha has been working with this creator for quite a long time despite their criminal history, and unfortunately this creator is not the only one who has been accused and charged with such crimes in their history. There have been a few creators who had been removed from the magazine due to the severity of their crimes in the past (with an artist who has been able to bounce back following the writer’s cancellation with one of Shonen Jump’s new icons), but there are a few who continue to release new series despite such convictions.
Shueisha is looking further for potential hits with the magazine as its longer series are coming to their respective ends, and a lot of the time it’s much easier to try with experienced creators to see if they have another great idea in the pipeline. This seems to be the case here, so it just remains to be seen whether or not this one-shot leads to another serialization down the line.
HT – @WSJ_manga on X
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
