Weekly Shonen Jump, the world’s most popular manga magazine is shaking up its editorial office. The Japanese magazine has conceived worldwide hit manga like Dragon Ball, One Piece, and the latest sensations, Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen. Hiroyuki Nakano, who assumed the position in 2017, has announced in the latest Jump PRESS that he is stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of Weekly Shonen Jump. After 7 years in the role, Nakano has been replaced by the magazine’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Yu Saito, as of June 2024.
Following the structural changes, Nakano will be the new Editor-in-Chief of One Piece Media which oversees the series’ own magazine and the promotion of new volumes, merchandise, and everything related to One Piece. However, One Piece Media does not oversee the editing of the actual series. A separate editor is in charge of the series, that role filled by Kaito Anayama.
Saito inherits a struggling magazine that has failed to halt steadily decreasing circulation in Japan, which currently sits at a monthly circulation of over 1.1 million copies. Saito’s first and main challenge as the new head of Weekly Shonen Jump will be to replace the second and third current best-selling series in the magazine: Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia, which recently announced 100 million copies in circulation.
Both series are in their final arcs and are expected to end very soon, with My Hero Academia being confirmed to end after its remaining 5 chapters conclude in early August, while Jujutsu Kaisen is currently in its final arc and expected to end in the near future. With a magazine that has lost its ability to produce new hit manga as consistently as in times past, Saito needs to search high and low for the next wave of hits, with no time to wait for hits to organically develop.
At this stage of the transition, it is simply too early to know which direction the magazine will take under new leadership, although we can easily speculate where the magazine will go based on Saito’s nearly 20 years of experience. During his editor days, Saito had a clear preference towards the romance genre, which has seen a resurgence of popularity in Japan and especially overseas. He oversaw successful romcom titles such as Nisekoi and We Never Learn, alongside one of the best-selling sports manga in Kuroko’s Basketball.
Based on this trajectory, we can expect the magazine to spotlight and release more romance and sports manga, rather than return to the gag or comedic manga common during the Nakano era. Saito also worked as the editor of flagship Jump manga like World Trigger, Eyeshield 21, Hunter × Hunter, and Gintama.
