At the risk of sounding like my parents, I’ll say that time sure passes quickly: The January issue of Viz Media’s Shonen Jump, on stands now, marks the fifth anniversary of the magazine. Five years? Really?

The issue also sees the return of the serialized Naruto, which picks up two years after the disappearance of the manga’s central characters.

Read the press release after the break:

San Francisco, CA, December 3, 2007 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced exciting content for its January 2008 issue of SHONEN JUMP Magazine. The issue is expected to hit retail outlets nationwide tomorrow, December 4th, in plenty of time for the holidays, and offers a host of new surprises and exciting editorial content sure to delight even the most discriminating fan. This issue also marks the 5th anniversary of SHONEN JUMP Magazine, the most popular English-language comics anthology.

The January issue of SHONEN JUMP, rated T for Teens, marks an important turn in the development of anime and manga’s most popular series, the ninja epic, NARUTO! The serialized NARUTO returns to the magazine after a two-month hiatus with a whole new story arc that picks up two full years after the disappearance of one of the manga’s central characters. Everyone is older, stronger and different in many ways from the earlier chapters of the series and readers will delight in noting the developments. A hotshot Naruto returns to the Hidden Leaf Village from training with his new mentor, Jiraiya, to find that everything back home has changed and readers will get to see a side of the character they’ve never seen before.

SHONEN JUMP recently introduced the BLEACH manga to its lineup, and it’s quickly become one of the magazine’s most popular. This issue features three full manga chapters, plus news on the related animation, which airs on Cartoon Network, and the card game.

The January issue of SHONEN JUMP has always included an extra-powerful Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG card, and this one is no exception: newsstand and subscriber copies alike come with the exclusive “The Wicked Dreadroot” card, and two pages of tips from experts.

The issue also delivers an exclusive first look at the new One Piece: Unlimited Adventure video game for the Nintendo Wii from NAMCO BANDAI Games America. Captain Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates embark on wild adventures in this all new original game, set to be released in early 2008. SHONEN JUMP further expands on the pirate theme with a rundown of some of history’s most notorious pirates and a special interview with the directors of the long-running ONE PIECE animated series.

“The dramatic break in NARUTO has been one of the most exciting things to happen in SHONEN JUMP,” says Marc Weidenbaum, the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief. “It capped the SJ Evolution that’s been going on throughout 2007. Now everyone in the manga is older and they’ve changed in many ways. Part of the fun of reading this month’s NARUTO chapter is discovering these differences, combined with learning more about new looming threats to our favorite ninja. That together with the recently introduced BLEACH manga, and the pirate adventures of ONE PIECE make this issue a great way to close 2007 and start 2008 — and the fact that it also debuts in plenty of time for the holidays makes SHONEN JUMP an ideal stocking stuffer!”

From video game advertisers such as Namco Bandai and Sega, to non-endemic partners such as Sara Lee’s Ball Park Franks and the ONDCP anti-drug campaign — advertisers also agree that this January issue is going to be a must-read for hard-to-reach male teens — almost 2 million total readers in all!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 10:09 am and is filed under Manga, Pop Culture, Viz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.