Shonen Jump’s ongoing policy of “excluding” fujoshi in an effort to recapture its traditional shonen readership is still the subject of controversy.
According to the Nippon Keizai Shimbun, Shonen Jump is working to drum out fujoshi fans with alterations to its traditionally fairly fujoshi friendly line-up:
Another trend is towards attracting male readers. Traditionally Jump carried many titles favoured by girls, from Saint Seiya and Captain Tsubasa to today’s Kuroko’s Basketball and the even now hugely popular Prince of Tennis, which was moved to Jump SQ.
With “a good variety of hot guys (but no BL action)” and “straightforward manly friendship amongst guys” it won many female fans keen on such.
With the likes of Hitman Reborn and D-Grayman, the proprtion of titles popular with girls was increasing. Many female readers tend to prefer tankobon, but in order to service actual shonen with the content of Jump it was necessary to increase the proportion of male readers – hence the introduction of Nisekoi, Shokugeki no Soma, Kiruko-san and the like.
A reduction in “battle” manga and a corresponding increase in “love comedy” by the editorial staff is said to have been one of the major elements of this strategy – although how well it is actually panning out is another matter, as Kiruko-san has since been canned and Soma appears to have sunk without trace.
It has in fact long been speculated that prior to this latest shift there was an unspoken effort by the Jump editorial staff to increase their rotten readership, as evidenced by some oblique comments from mangaka.
The author of “Eyeshield 21” mentions such discussions, but in the end his decision to stick with boys seems to have paid off:
Eyeshield is a manga with a strong shonen following… Jump’s female readership really started increasing some years ago. The figures were surprising!
Shonen just don’t have the purchasing power, it’s hard to sell them tankobon too. We seriously mulled shifting to be female-orientated, but in the end it was decided to keep it shonen-centric until the end.
However, One Piece mangaka Eichiro Oda always seems to have been a proponent of pure shonen action all along:
Beyond writing a shonen manga magazine, we much entertain shonen themselves.
If you start getting fan mail, you will notice most of it is from girls.
I noticed a lot of people in the manga world really did look as if they were getting influenced by the opinion of these girls, but trying to adapt your manga to serve the needs of customers on the basis of fan mail mostly received from girls is a big mistake.
The Keizai Shimbun also happens to mention that editors continue to be concerned about their level of reliance on One Piece, especially in light of its unstable publication situation.
Jump’s new policy towards fujoshi is not without its supporters:
“I laughed when they mentioned Kiruko just got canned. So much for that plan.”
“Depressing isn’t it?”
“They are done for when Naruto finishes. Oda’s clearly getting tired of it, and his real feeling is obviously that he would rather take a break.”
“Hurry up and finish One Piece!”
“Half of One Piece readers are girls anyway.”
“I think it will have the opposite effect. They can gain fujoshi without pandering to them, and if they do that too much they will drive them off.”
“Come on, Jump. I want to read really sultry titles like Fist of the North Star and the old JoJo. Jump now is afraid of any depiction of cruelty it seems. Though I am just a fujoshi so what does my opinion matter.”
“Fujoshi pretty much saved Jump when it lost its way.”
“No way can they exclude fujoshi. Maintaining a roster of titles repellent to women is hardly possible for them.”
“Rot can accumulate around any title. Fan letters and surveys don’t always give an accurate picture of what readers want.”
“Particularly when some of the female readers are particularly diligent about responding to surveys…”
“Fujoshi and female readers are not the same thing!”
“Please, exclude all the moetards next!”
“Getting the fujoshi out is fine, but currying favour with moetards will only lead to disaster, just look at Shonen Sunday!”
“Sunday may have fallen to creepy otaku, but in the end it is their sales which matter.”
“Wait, so their battle manga are actually all for women and their love comedy are actually all for men…”
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Who would've guessed, Shonen Jump is appealing to 'Shonen'.
If we get more series back like GTO I would be happy
Shonen Jump. Roll it up = it makes a good onahole. I could tap that.
fearless of paper cuts?
Or the fact that SJ is a very thick and heavy book that is over an inch and a half thick. Good luck rolling that bastard up.
What's with the "jump"? If white men can't jump, then surely neither can Japanese.
*cricket noises*
Seriously, it's called "Shounen Jump." It's for boys, not retarded yaoi schlicking fujoshi.
and they say that there's no fujoshi-bashing or gay-bashing around here...
Its not ''bashing'' if its true.
It's not porn. It's just ass fucking. It's art and human relationships. But PENTHOUSE is porn because it appeals to straight (white/Asian) males.
@04:48 - simply knowing that gays exist doesn't make you gay. But keeping knowledge about the world from people DOES make them ignorant. Show people what happens in the world and let them figure out what they think about it themselves. By setting rules that mangaka can't put certain ideas into their manga, even just a bit, is limiting their story telling abilities.
"if that was the problem then explain why you all bashed Free! even though no one was being forced to watch it..."
Like I say, we do not have problem with yaoi in general. I already mention that there are many yaoi anime, 3 yaoi anime just this season that we do not bash, Hakkenden Touhou, Brother Conflict and Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist.
We use the approach, it not suit our taste, so we leave it alone. So there are no bashing on these three.
Its only when the KyoAni decide cater different audience that causing the anger and uproar. A studio that we like for making moe and slice of life anime, decide to turn back to cater the fujiyoshi.
Of course we are angry. We are waiting for anime like Hyouka, K-On, Haruhi this season and what we get? A gay anime that totally not compatible with us. Really a big disappointment, which in return turn into anger.
The gay and fujiyohi bashing is merely a side effect to unleash that anger. Misfire perhaps, and I do think that KyoAni are the one that the fire supposed to be directed.
I am telling you, this is what actually happening in the Free bashing phase. If we are that anti-gay, anti-fujiyoshi anime, why the other three yaoi anime are left in peace?
We are fine with the yaoi anime existence, but when it shoved to our face, when it start to coming from our favorite studio, it become a problem.
Read those books and ask yourself "if this was an hetero porn book, what would a female reader say?"
Also: my ex-girlfriend said yaoi is not porn cause girls can make the story in their head. Yeah.
Then that means you can provide the scientific research that shows that female fans of gay porn have mental retardation, right?
@18:52 - if that was the problem then explain why you all bashed Free! even though no one was being forced to watch it...
and you can't say "we were only bashing kyoani for making something that wasn't for their masters" because it's pretty much been proven that it was mostly fujoshi, yaoi fans, and women in general being bashed
"btw, brothers conflict no = yoai. it = reverse harem"
Thanks for that correction, silly mistake on my part. Anyway, reverse harem is still can be considered as a shoujo anime, an anime that usually catered towards woman, and not man.
So.. you know, it still show that we are fine with yaoi/shoujo anime/manga existence, as long as we are not forced to be involved with it.
Actually, if you look to recent anime trends, there are tons of yaoi/shoujo anime in past, this year alone we have Uta No Princess Sama, Glass no Kamen, Amnesia, there are tons of stuff made for woman.
And we do not complain about these anime either. Only Free, and that is because KyoAni decide to not make any anime for us this season.
btw, brothers conflict no = yoai. it = reverse harem
Well, if someone want to force a gay comic into a hetero magazine, do you expect we just keep quite?
There are shoujo magazine and josei magazine, all the yaoi and shounen ai belong there, and not in shounen magazine like Shounen Jump.
Let me rephrase again, we do not have problem with gays, we only have problem when someone force us to read gays stuff, to force us to read a genre that we are not fond off in our guy's magazine.
@Anon 6:49 -- Just wait until they redefine "underage" again (and of course, those redefinitions can only move upwards) and come after you for "raping" your 22-year-old girlfriend.
@23:46
You're just another gay forcing your ideals on everybody else. People are naturally straight. You were born from sperm and an egg. Every single person on this planet was. Evolution is gonna weed the gays out. You are exactly what he is referring to. Forcing gay stuff down our throats. It's like you want to brainwash our children into becoming gay. Society is becoming more accepting of gays but you shouldn't interfere with the natural order unless the person willfully goes down that route through their own experiences. By introducing that to young kids, it will confuse them. Just like telling a child in a wartorn country that it's ok to run on a killing spree through their enemies. They need to grow up and understand pros/cons and consequences of their actions before doing such a thing. Another situation is like saying, "Why do our children have to go to school. They should have the option from the start." It's to educate our society beforehand. They may dropout in highschool but it is also their decision as they are becoming more of age and feel the need to for 1 reason or another. It's not a bad thing to be gay but bloodlines will die out.
Celebrate and tolerate are two very, *very* different things.
@04:48 - simply knowing that gays exist doesn't make you gay. But keeping knowledge about the world from people DOES make them ignorant. Show people what happens in the world and let them figure out what they think about it themselves. By setting rules that mangaka can't put certain ideas into their manga, even just a bit, is limiting their story telling abilities.
Of course, no one is saying that shonen manga needs to transform into shoenen-ai, but at least manga that can appeal to a general audience couldn't hurt to show that it's possible for a people to like the same sex, it just simply builds tolerance and understanding for something about world the same way all those other moral tales do.
It's like how there was a yuri couple in Sailor Moon, which was created for shoujo audiences. It's just a small thing to add to the story and characters, and it's not like we had to see them fondling each other constantly.
I think it's disgusting when people who don't understand the complexity of evolution try to use it for rhetorical backing.
@23:46
You're just another gay forcing your ideals on everybody else. People are naturally straight. You were born from sperm and an egg. Every single person on this planet was. Evolution is gonna weed the gays out. You are exactly what he is referring to. Forcing gay stuff down our throats. It's like you want to brainwash our children into becoming gay. Society is becoming more accepting of gays but you shouldn't interfere with the natural order unless the person willfully goes down that route through their own experiences. By introducing that to young kids, it will confuse them.
And if you don't RESPECT the partition for the Male, Female, Bi, Lez, Gay and Trannies, you're just a fucking anarchist who calls anyone who wants order a homophobic.
You fucking suck.
It's funny that the ones bashing gays are usually the ones all for raping and molesting under-aged girls.
@23:46 dear cowardly gay bashing fucks, dont lk things with mild undertones or homosexuality or anything that a fujyo could take and turn into something yoai based in their heads? heres a thought: DONT READ OR WATCH IT. there are many things in magazines i buy/read that i am not interested in, and i simply dont read them. wtf do u care if something lk that is published in a magazine i doubt you buy anyway. dont lk gay ppl or things? got that much of a stick up your ass? then dont read or support said shows or publications. write your own gay bashing manga or anime and see if someone wants to read or watch or buy your work. until that time, why dont u go start a "gay conversion" cult or something and stfu. you just sound lk an ignorant dumb-ass
@05:43 - well that explains a lot of the homophobia around here then... they're all afraid that the gay images will make them gay. So they say this isn't about their lack of confidence in their sexuality? lol
"Celebrate and tolerate are two very, *very* different things."
Semantics dude. One man's mere tolerance is another man's lack of acceptance and passive bigotry.
Anon 04:48 is hilarious! He thinks that homosexuality is contagious. As for evolution, it's the creepy otaku who are being weeded out. Most of them will never breed.
"Let me rephrase again, we do not have problem with gays, we only have problem when someone force us to read gays stuff, to force us to read a genre that we are not fond off in our guy's magazine."
That's what you say. But what about young boys who are afraid to buy gay manga or don't know yet they're gay and want to enjoy a diversity of sexual tastes? You are discriminating against those gay boys. And also why can't breeders enjoy gay stuff too? Maybe they'll enjoy it and hook up with other dudes?
If you don't celebrate alternative sexual preferences, you're a sexist, homophobic, bigot. That's how it goes.
That's what you say. But what about young boys who are afraid to buy gay manga or don't know yet they're gay and want to enjoy a diversity of sexual tastes?
They can simply buy the gay magazine. There are tons of that in the market. What so hard to gasp about that.. If you straight, then buy a straight stuff. If you gay, then get a gay stuff.
I already being very clear that while I have no problem with gay, I dislike it when somebody try to force it into me. No crisis identity, not secure of my masculinity or that similar crap, I simply prefer to watch straight stuff, because I am straight.
Nobody says that.
Some of the comment after Free is confirmed:-
"after what happen with kuroko no basuke, well all i can say is goodluck kyoani, you guys gonna need that"
"Damn! The ultimate betrayal!
Kyoani is FINISHED!!!"
"targeted audience demographics, mostly girls, no moe. Sigh*"
"Hey... Kyoani... 1st of April was a month ago..."
"Looks like KyoAni just put quite a few nails in thier coffin."
"I feel like I got betrayed..."
"Son. I am disappoint."
"HOLY FUCK NO!!!"
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2013/04/26/kyoani-really-announces-that-anime-free/
See that, disappointment because KyoAni decide to cater fujiyoshi instead of their regular long time fans.
This is the real reason why Free get bashed, and hated.
I had 3 different people tell me that in the dragon's crown thread. They said that everyone was only bashing kyoani about Free! and not bashing fujoshi, women, yaoi fans, or gays.
@19:39 - sure you could handpick a couple of comments to support you from that thread, I'm not saying no one attacked kyoani and only attacked other people, but there are far more people in that thread who said horrible things to everyone except kyoani...
'We are fine with the yaoi anime existence, but when it shoved to our face, when it start to coming from our favorite studio, it become a problem.'
It's not being 'shoved in your face'.
KyoAni dont owe you a thing and they can do whatever the fuck they want.
Stop fucking whining and watch the latest anime about some mewling moeblob who wants to fuck her brother, you can last 3 months without a KyoAni show, cant you?
everybody bashes on gays unless you're a homogayboi that loves p nis.
@15:39 - I bash no one. Absolutely no one.
This is totally stupid really.
We hate what we fear. Gays don't bother me. They obviously scare you shitless.
What's wrong with that? It's called Shonen Jump, not Fujoshi Jump.
Finally, it was damn time they do that, get rid of new weirdoes.
We'll be sorry to see you go.
Fujoshi will find a way to make couples out of any series with more than one male in it, so by their logic they should be cutting One Piece and Bleach too.
I cannot agree with anime with pretty boy but still action and no hit of gayish element inside it (like Kuroki Basket) being canned out, but it is plain yaoi, two pretty boy or more making out, then I am agree it do not belong in a shounen manga, where most of the reader is hetero male teen and yound adult.
My head hurts.
haha. Sorry for the bad grammar and messed up word structure.
In simpler word, I am saying if the manga just featuring a pretty boy, then it should remain in the Shounen jump. But if it have stronger fujiyoshi element like yaoi, or straight out gays making out, it do not belong in shounen.
hurr
Kuroko basket wasn't being canned out.
Kuroki-san is something else.
Umm, what?