In my last editorial I took some time to criticize some of the decisions Viz made for their upcoming shoujo anthology "Shojo Beat" (criticisms that actually stand out more now since there have been rumors that Viz will be releasing "Full Moon wo Sagashite" in graphic novel format around the same time as the launch of "Shojo Beat"... only without the "Shojo Beat" logo to help drive sales for their new mag). This time, though, I'll be singing a few praises concerning some choices that were recently made for their "other" little magazine, known to us as "Shonen Jump." Funny how this sort of thing works out, huh? If you are a subscriber to Viz's monthly anthology "Shonen Jump," then you may have noticed a few things that were different. The magazine is thinner, the paper is cheaper, and apparently this is the last time we'll be reading "Dragon Ball (Z)" in SJ and you'll have to buy the graphic novels if you want to finish the series. Some people have complained about these changes, yet I personally believe that these choices may be better for the magazine than some people may realize at first.

First let's talk about the size. Don't panic, people, despite the fact that the magazine is about 1/3 smaller than the previous issue, Viz did NOT cut pages out of the mag! In fact, the latest issue of “SJ” is 8 pages longer than the previous issue. So fear not, you're still getting more bang for your buck. In fact, the reason the book is now thinner without a loss of pages is the new type of paper Viz is using. Of course, this new type of paper is causing some controversy among fans of the magazine. To be blunt, a lot of people don't like the new paper. They say it's cheap, it's too easy to tear while turning the pages, and everyone who touches it knows that the paper cannot be stored without decay becoming a very apparent problem. Many people are asking, “Why would Viz use such cheap, easy-to-ruin paper?” Well, folks, I hate to break it to you, but this new cheap paper doesn't surprise me a bit. Viz's goal with “SJ” has ALWAYS been to go from making this a monthly magazine to a weekly magazine, with the possibility of the magazine being as huge as its Japanese inspiration! The Japanese "Weekly Shounen Jump" is filled with extremely cheap paper and is as huge as a phone book. The reason the paper is so cheap is because most people in Japan don't plan to save their manga anthologies, favoring instead to buy the graphic novel releases of their favorite series. Because of this, the Japanese publisher uses extremely cheap paper in the books, charges pennies for the magazines, and mainly makes their money from various ads placed in the oddest of places.

This is the direction Viz most likely wants to go with “SJ.” We're already seeing more and more ads from various different companies who want to advertise in “SJ”, and using cheaper paper is most likely the first step in lowering the cost of producing the magazine so there can be more pages of manga a month. Eventually, this will lead to more series being serialized, and more ads, and hopefully the move from monthly magazine to bimonthly magazine. So yes, the cheaper paper is definitely a good thing. So you may have a more difficult time in saving your “SJ” mags from now on, but that's what the graphic novels are for anyway. Now the strangest change in “SJ” is the fact that after the Cell saga, “DBZ” will no longer be carried. Now why would Viz pull “DBZ” from “SJ”, especially since there wasn't even a HINT from Viz that the title was even being dropped until now? I think we didn't hear about the decision to drop “DBZ” until now because Viz wanted to avoid getting nasty letters about the decision, but the reason Viz dropped the series, I believe, is because Viz no longer NEEDS “DBZ” in “SJ”! Let's face it, folks, “DBZ”'s popularity isn't ever going to go up at this point in time. The show is over, people already know the ending to the series, and once "Naruto" hits Cartoon Network, “DBZ” will, more or less, be considered "old school" by a majority of the people reading “SJ.” “DBZ” is still popular, but that popularity won't be selling magazines for much longer at this rate.

At this point in time, “DBZ” is, more or less, taking up space. They may only have one more saga to go (the Buu saga), but I have to be honest with you, folks, the Buu saga isn't very good, and the way “DBZ” ends is actually pretty sour. If “DBZ” doesn't have the power to pull in new readers anymore, then I would prefer to read something else in “DBZ”'s place. So what will replace “DBZ”? At the moment, nothing. In the next issue we'll get a preview of Akira Toriyama's first manga, "Dr. Slump" (something I'm looking forward to reading), but for now I suspect we'll get more chapters of current series until a replacement is found. In fact, I think that Viz's reader grab (for the moment) is to get ahead of any series that is currently on TV. What makes me say, that you ask? Well, for starters, Viz skipped more than five sagas in "Yu-Gi-Oh!" to get to the Memories saga (a saga that has not aired on Kid’s WB yet). The second thing is that Viz recently acquired the rights to dub "Naruto," and most likely wants to get ahead enough in the story so that when the first season ends on Cartoon Network, Viz can claim that people can get a glimpse of future “Naruto” stories in “SJ.” And now that "One Piece" will be airing on Cartoon Network, Viz most likely wants the same effect there too. In return for getting TV viewers hooked on “SJ”, Viz most likely will try to use these new readers to build up interest for "Hikaru no Go" (a series that has a LONG anime that I personally suspect Viz is bidding on), as well as use these new readers to print more "experimental" manga in “SJ” to try and reach non-anime and manga fans.

Either way you look at it, though, none of these changes or strategies can be looked at as being bad. Viz's goal is simply to lower the costs of the magazine and get enough subscribers to make “SJ” into a weekly magazine. And I'm hoping they succeed, and maybe even become successful enough to be able to pick up smaller, less popular series that are very good. So yeah, while the cheaper paper will tick collectors off and the lack of “DBZ” makes “DBZ” fans foam at the mouth, these changes are, in the long run, for the best. Here's hoping Viz succeeds at their ultimate goal.

- -Kevin T. Rodriguez- -