Added on May 2, 2011  Alan Smithee  shonen jump , VIZ

I’m Subscribing to Shonen Jump

Yes, you read that right. I’m going to actually subscribe to a print magazine for the first time in years. I just find it funny that it will be for a manga geared towards young men.

I think it’s well known on WPR that I’m a huuuuuge fan of manga. Most of the reviews from this site when it comes to manga are from yours truly. Heck, I’ve even found myself forsaking many of the other forms of entertainment that I really used to enjoy such as American comics, just so I have a bit of extra cash in my bank account to pick up more and more manga on the cheap via the many iPad manga reading apps that exist.

I love reading comics and manga on my iPad, but there’s a few things missing from the experience. Think of it, having an actual physical copy of the media you’re reading and smelling the newsprint that all manga lovers know are two important things that you just won’t get with digital versions of the books…which is where Shonen Jump comes into play.

I enjoy spending half of the money to procure a digital tankobon but I’m torn because I sometimes want that tactile feel that only reading manga printed on paper can provide, so with both of these things weighing almost evenly in my mind, I made my mind up to get a subscription to Shonen Jump here in the US.

Not only will I be getting an almost 300 page magazine delivered to me each month, but I’ll also be forcing myself to read manga that I might not have ever gotten around to…which is a good thing considering how stuck in a rut I’ve gotten recently with my reading habits. I’ll also be experiencing manga the way that it’s meant to be read, sandwiched in with tons of other excellent works and one chapter at a time, unlike the tankobon which collect anywhere from 3-7 individual chapters into one volume.

The price is great too. For just $27 bucks I’ll get a gigantic issue each month, which is about how much I spend a month on my usual purchases for individual volumes of manga.

The only two downsides that I can foresee happening is that I might not like every story that is serialized in the magazine and the task of collecting each issue…I’m terrible at throwing things away yet I don’t see myself finding an appetite for Yu-Gi-Oh anytime soon. I guess I should never say never because stranger things have happened.

It should be pretty interesting to say the least. I’ll have to let you know how well this little experiment goes.