Overnight in Japan, Weekly Shonen Jump and Jump Comics publisher Shueisha took the wraps off of its biggest project yet, by announcing the debut of the JUMP TOONS vertical scrolling comics platform a year after its first announcement. This marks Shueisha’s own attempt at competing directly in the space occupied by Kakao Entertainment‘s Piccoma, and WEBTOON Entertainment, with signature Jump flair.
By responding to the popularity of vertically scrolling comics from Korea, JUMP TOON is not only a reading platform currently featuring 28 popular titles in a vertically scrolling format and new stories, JUMP TOON is also a creation platform with Shueisha also releasing JUMP TOON NEXT! a creation platform for anyone to upload and enjoy comics from yet undiscovered talent.
The most popular titles have been rearranged into vertical scrolling comics and made into full color with the aim of creating a different reading experience from the original right-to-left, black & white manga. Currently, some of the titles on offer include Kosuke Masuda‘s Gag Manga Biyori Haruichi Furudate‘s Haikyuu!!, and even Kurosawa R‘s Goldfish Wife.
Shueisha’s editor for for the platform and former editor for One Piece, Takanori Asada released the following statement on the mission of the platform and service, translated from the original Japanese:
There was a time when manga magazines were the main source of manga purchases, when volumes began to sell in substantial quantities, an era when only elementary school boys were the core readership, an era in which junior high school students and older people continued to read manga, an era in which reading on smartphones and app subscriptions began, and an era in which manga readers from all over the world began to enjoy manga at the same time. In keeping with that constant change and “jumping” forward, the Jump Group within Shueisha has been creating interesting vertical manga with creators and editors. We are now taking on the challenge of “vertical manga” with JUMP TOON and JUMP TOON NEXT!. Please look forward to a new reading experience.
With the launch of JUMP TOON, JUMP TOON NEXT! and TOON FACTORY for professional internal production roles, Shueisha is signaling to the rest of the Japanese manga and Korean webtoon/webcomic industries that it is taking the challenge of competing platforms like Piccoma, WEBTOON, and smaller platforms like Lezhin, Manta, Tapas among others very seriously.
Shueisha actively making the effort to compete head-to-head isn’t just about self-preservation, it’s about understanding where trends are pointing and following those trends without worrying about their current business model that still relies on physical and digital manga saleson top of overseas licensing.
While today’s mobile app launch is limited to Japanese Android and iOS smartphones, the fact that all three major JUMP TOON platforms are still accessible outside Japan via web browser points to even bigger plans in the future, and it’s only a matter of time before the service expands further from Japan.
Source: Press Release (Japanese)
