Let’s face it, manga is freakin expensive! If you’re like me, and like to buy physical books, in physical stores, you could easily spend $10 – $15 / volume. While I think (arguably) it’s worth it, my bank account sheds impoverished tears every time Barns&Noble-san scans a bar code.
There are a few ways around this. You could save up to 50% by getting your fix through Amazon.com, Akadot.com or other book e-retailers. This is a great option if you don’t want to leaf through a book before you buy it . Sometimes, however, you want MORE manga (in quantity and quality), for less. That, for me, is where SHONEN JUMP magazine comes in.
At $5 per issue (newsstand), you get almost 300 pages of comic book action (a full volume of ‘normal’ manga contains around 200.) In those 300 pages, there are typically 5 of the TOP manga series, each displaying a few chapters, along with some short articles on games, anime, J-life, and fan art. The January 2012 mag includes Naruto, Psyren, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, and Bleach. Oh, and don’t forget the freebies! This month’s issue had a playable Yu-Gi-Oh! “The Supremacy Sun” card.
The only down side is that you dont get a full volume of manga. Each series has a few serialized chapters (where the story continues from the previous month) so to read a ‘full volume’ you’ll have to by each months magazine. Viz, the entertainment company behind SHONEN JUMP, will eventually publish the chapters in a full book, so if you really like it (or miss a few chapters) you can always buy it later on.
How do you procure your manga? Do you read SHONEN JUMP magazine? Let us know in the comments below!
Popularity: 11% [?]
Im living in Japan now, but before then I never liked the US version of Shonen Jump. I totally agree that it’s way expensive. The weekly one in Japan gives you around 20 titles to read, occasional freebies, and costs 250 yen or around 3 bucks. The only slightly good thing about the US version is its printed with better quality. But that’s not much of an appealing factor as of you’re looking for quality you’d buy the tankobon or the individual volumes.
Alex – I was actually suggesting it was an inexpensive alternative to buying the full versions of each (at least here in the U.S.). I think the subscription price is ~$2.50 per.
Are there alternatives to SJ in english? I’ll have to keep on my Japanese studies so I can buy Weekly Jump =) (although It may be expensive w/shipping.) I wonder if there is a digital version … hmmmm.
:O oh whoops! Though that Subscription price sounds a lot more reasonable I guess. I’m not familiar with any alternatives besides the stuff viz comes out with.