By: Lori Henderson

Lori Henderson — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:34:35 +0000

I see it as Shonen Jump is meant to appeal to a very specific audience, teen boys, who like a lot of action and cluttered images. Yen Press has a wider appeal for which a more subdued approach is better. Shonen Jump is all battle, all the time, and the covers reflect that. Yen Press has greater variety, and that’s reflected in the covers as well. It’s a good lesson in differences in marketing.

By: Garrett Albright

Garrett Albright — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:36:21 +0000

I find it interesting to compare the approaches Yen Plus and Shonen Jump take to their cover art. Yen Plus has the masthead, cover art from one of the series it runs, and then tiny art from the other series running along the bound edge – always the same design every month, very rarely with anything additional on the cover. Shonen Jump, on the other hand, always crams their covers with artwork from various series with promo copy and page counts and price tags and exclamation points, exclamation points, exclamation points; never the same layout month to month. I definitely prefer Yen Plus’s subdued approach, though Shonen Jump’s is definitely more similar to what Japanese manga magazine covers look like.

Comments on: Manga Drive-By: Shonen Jump April-May 2010

By: Lori Henderson

By: Garrett Albright