Lack of Manga Post One Piece Drives Shueisha to Rough Measures

by dtshyk
Dec 19, 2011 2:59 AM | 58 Comments

According to the online magazine Cyzo, many of the staff of Shueisha have been anxious about the lack of hit titles that can support the company when One Piece ends in the future. The popularities of Naruto and Bleach have already reached the ceiling and the growths of the middle standing titles are sluggish.

Although executive director Torishima Kazuhiko stated in 2010 that there was an excessive number of manga magazines on the market, Shueisha has recently launched many new magazines: Girl's Jump, BLink, Aoharu, Miracle Jump, Grand Jump, Super Jump High, and Jump X. Torishima said Jump's origin is new serialization by rookie authors, yet they have invited Ninomiya Tomoko and Konari Misato from rival publishers to Jump X. One of the editors of Feel Young magazine complained that Shueisha has been trying to hire some popular mangaka away from their magazine. In order to survive the recession of publishing, Shueisha is beginning to take wild measures regardless of their principles.

Source: Cyzo

20 of 58 Comments Recent Comments

first come the age of the gigant robots (gundam for example) , after the age of figthers (Dragon Ball again for example), and now is the age of pirates, is imposible of predict what will come next, but definitively is not gonna be vampires.

Jan 11, 2012 9:31 AM by kleinerwolf

It's good that they are thinking ahead, finding another hit manga. But shouldn't they always be searching for Big hits like One Piece. It just means more sales/turnover thus profit.

But with the further digitalization of, uhm well everything, I don't even think there's a manga industrie to talk about in 10 to 15 years. What they should really think of is how they can sell the stories from mangaka's with other mediums.

Everything is gonna change due to financial crisis/food crisis/climate change. Way of thinking and doing business will be totally different in the future and is hard to predict. To only focus on closing the gap that one piece leaves is naive. The whole mangasale is an outdated business that needs to be innovated. Especially when we are talking about 10/15/20 years from now. The stories from mangaka's will come eventually

Jan 9, 2012 1:54 PM by reaght

A manga that has the same (or higher) caliber than one piece? It's really hard to imagine a manga like that.

Dec 28, 2011 7:05 PM by spinecollect

Damn, I knew one piece was good but damn...

Well I just keep it as rule of thumb that since OP passed the halfway mark, it'll be about another 10 to 9 years before it ends. besides who knows what titles will come out by that time. I'm not sure if I'll still be into shounen (maybe I will cause my inner kid ain't goin nowhere XD) but I seriously doubt it'll be the end of them. just as DBZ was a big hit with them another will come along

Dec 28, 2011 6:56 PM by Thatguy31

Gurreninja said:
Bleach will probably end next year and Naruto will probably end in like 4 years but One Piece probably wont end until 1000 chapters. once it does end Jump wont really have anything to fall back on. Bakuman is probably is the best backup but i dont see it as a long term series

Nah, I think Bleach still has a lot of mysteries left that need to be told. Maybe 2 years or so left but Naruto barely has any mysteries left, just how Naruto vs Sasuke will be and how Madara will be defeated. I don't see it needing 4 years to do all that.

Dec 28, 2011 1:32 AM by Ollyx2OxenFree

The "rating system needs to go",what are the odds of a new series topping the charts or even getting mid ratings against ongoing titles just to be in the "safe zone"..slim to none.Canceling series left and right doesn't help ,they eliminate possible next generation hits within a few weeks of its serialization.

And like others have said They need to put a cap on their spending,That cash cow won't be around forever.I doubt manga readers in japan need 20 different magazines just from the same publisher...

Dec 26, 2011 11:44 AM by Angra-Mainyu

ShortTermCrook said:
I can draw a manga for them no problem. It will be about annihilating all the characters from series mentioned above. Look at the possible controversial success of that!

God knows whenever a character "dies," some ass pull brings them back to life. Would be awesome to see them die for real.

Dec 22, 2011 11:54 AM by DraconisMarch

lol well if HxH doesn't go on Hiatus it could do better. HxH still sells a lot and has a strong fan base even when it's usually on hiatus and the new anime will probably make it even more popular. As far as a manga better than One Piece, it's possible but I don't know if they'll find one before One Piece ends. Theres 1 hit every decade lol so maybe we'll find the next one. First it was DBZ then it was One Piece lol. and based off the link that was given, it's funny to see a manga about manga beating a manga about shinigami in sales. I do love Bakuman to death though but how the hell is Bleach, a battle manga, losing to a slice of life manga. Kubo needs to step his game up -_-

Dec 22, 2011 11:05 AM by Ollyx2OxenFree

@petalshreds: Well they're not going to be buying as much manga- which is the problem, I guess.

Also, I think it's good that they're thinking about it now, even if OP still has at least five more years until ending (I'll be very sad if the new world arc is shorter than that), because it takes time for a manga to become popular. OP itself didn't become extremely popular until about 3-4 years passed... and it's just been climbing up since.

Dec 21, 2011 8:24 PM by Aris18

Some kind of problem. It's not like people will stop buying manga after OP ends...When will OP end anyway?

Dec 21, 2011 4:24 PM by petalshreds

EmperorH3ctor said:
If it ends, Gintama should take its place since it still has a long way to go. ^^

Maybe? :O
Oh well~

Dec 21, 2011 3:20 PM by Ponshi

At the moment I cannot even imagine a shounen manga that may surpass OP. They're right to worry about their future.

Dec 21, 2011 4:42 AM by Pessoa

Well, it goes on, it's good to look at the future even now, though...

Dec 20, 2011 5:47 AM by Tomislavr7

Forest-kun said:
While we may believe that it's too early to be worrying about this, it's fine to at least be aware of what situation they're gonna be in. OP probably could end in some years. Oda-sensei did say he had he ending in mind when he began, and he originally only planned it to be 5 years (then again, he said that at the 10-year mark xD). Shueisha shouldn't rely on a single series so much, even if it is that successful. At least they're thinking ahead now. But I wonder if they'll really do much better by taking measures that go against their original principles. I mean, it is a business after all, and I'm always up for something new, but I just hope it won't do more harm than good.

But on the other hand, if I were a manga-ka, I'd be excited by this; it's a chance to create a piece that'll become the new pillar of Shueisha. Sure, your piece'll be compared to OP constantly, but so is any new piece there, really. ^^V

You just reminded me of my Cornerstone course at UCF, you know that? Questioning assumptions, new ideas, innovation--things that should be involved in business. XD

Dec 19, 2011 9:43 PM by TerrorH3ctor

Meeatcookies said:
Bleach ended already after that fight with Aizen, its just total randomness now.

Can't help but agree. I'm being trolled.

Dec 19, 2011 9:17 PM by bwub

Moimy said:
One Piece....is ending?

They've got time.

Yeah, but I think to only about 1000 chapters. I remember reading somewhere that Oda said he doesn't want OP past that.

Hm... I wonder if we'll suddenly get an awesome new manga that becomes the new OP? (After OP.)

Dec 19, 2011 8:55 PM by Mirorin

While we may believe that it's too early to be worrying about this, it's fine to at least be aware of what situation they're gonna be in. OP probably could end in some years. Oda-sensei did say he had he ending in mind when he began, and he originally only planned it to be 5 years (then again, he said that at the 10-year mark xD). Shueisha shouldn't rely on a single series so much, even if it is that successful. At least they're thinking ahead now. But I wonder if they'll really do much better by taking measures that go against their original principles. I mean, it is a business after all, and I'm always up for something new, but I just hope it won't do more harm than good.

But on the other hand, if I were a manga-ka, I'd be excited by this; it's a chance to create a piece that'll become the new pillar of Shueisha. Sure, your piece'll be compared to OP constantly, but so is any new piece there, really. ^^V

Dec 19, 2011 8:45 PM by Forest-kun

Orix said:
This is what happens if you rely too much on one hit.

In general, success IS dangerous if anyone lets it got to their heads.

Dec 19, 2011 8:31 PM by TerrorH3ctor

Shueisha has 13 years (One Piece was at the half-way mark at 13 years) to make a One Piece or Dragon Ball caliber hit before their biggest series of all time ends. And Oda has said he doesn't want to make another manga after he's done with One Piece. Think about it. Every single series that gets on to Weekly Jump or Akamaru Jump or whatever, is going to be in the very disheartening position of being compared to One Piece because it's most of what's keeping their money boat afloat.

I'm not liking their chances.

Dec 19, 2011 6:27 PM by Pixy-Stix

This is what happens if you rely too much on one hit.

Dec 19, 2011 6:10 PM by Orix

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