The Shonen Jump Drip is real 🔥

MANGA FASHIONISTAS, WE GOT YOU

Hello all and welcome back to this week’s VIZ Media Substack! I hope your week is already off to a stellar start! Its been a bit rainy lately in Cali (which of course, is always the perfect setting to read manga for several hours straight). You could almost say that…the drip is real. 🤔💧 Okay there’s an actual purpose to that goofy pun so let’s get into it.

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Speaking of proverbial drip, we just had a MASSIVE Shonen Jump Store drop featuring two iconic series: Kaiju No. 8 and Yu-Gi-Oh!

The Kaiju No. 8 merch had us dancing for joy, I mean look at that snazzy beanie! Like Sky said, it’s crazy (not as a pejorative) cool when a fairly recent series already gets such gargantuan merch! Fitting for such an enormously awesome series, no? Personally I could use more manga accessories in my life (got a massive heap of shirts though).

Kaijublack (as seen in many VIZ Manga Chapter rundowns) brings up a humorous hypothetical point: how great would it be if you got free manga products because your online name matches the series title? A wild wild world, can’t fathom it, etc. etc. I wouldn’t have enough space if I got sent a bunch of stuff for freeninetynine but I’d still welcome the gesture. Ah, tis’ a world I can dream of.

We can’t neglect the other ace-up our sleeve: the Yu-Gi-Oh! merch too! Between the Kaiju No. 8 beanie and the Kuriboh hat, your scalp is guaranteed to be stylish and COZY all through the year. Let me know what were some of your favorite items from the most recent Shonen Jump Store drop!

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With Shonen Jump fresh on my mind, it was a hoot looking at all your responses on this adorable post featuring Kate Higgins, English VA for Sakura Haruno from Naruto. We challenged Kate to draw the fierce and memorable Sakura herself, and she even had matching pink hair!

You noticed the resplendent candy ring worn by Kate (hmm now what fictional character might gift Sakura something like that 🤔), because a superb drawing requires superb jewelry. 💍 Mad props to any of you who makes art, because drawing is no easy task (especially with an imposed time-limit)! Both of my brothers are fantastic artists so uh, I gave up a little early on that side of the creative spectrum (don’t be like me though dream big).

Thanks for dishing our so much praise to Kate Higgins and Sakura. Her playful rendition of Sakura was beyond cute, and both of them deserve all the attention and love! Do you make fan art for manga or anime titles you love? If so, which characters do you love to draw the most? Let me know in the comments!

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Finally, last week we announced our Fall 2024 titles! You went head over heels for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Shining Diamond’s Demonic Heartbreak, which is a spin-off manga reuniting the casts of Stardust Crusaders and Diamond is Unbreakable. It’s available for pre-order here too!

JoJo fans are eating well. 🍽 Who doesn’t love a W spinoff that combines two different beloved manga arcs from an equally W series? I’m also stunned by the Josuke + Hol Horse combo on the front cover, that’s an official visual pairing I never thought I’d see! The main Diamond is Unbreakable protag side by side with the gunslinging Dio minion from Stardust Crusaders…definitely peak JoJo fiction. Can’t wait for this one!

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Don’t forget to submit your cosplay submissions (or that of your pets) to the following email: heysocial@viz.com

And that’s it for tonight’s Substack! What’s your favorite piece of anime or manga merch? What’s your favorite Shonen Jump title? Which of our Fall 2024 titles are you most stoked for? Let me know in the comments, and anything else you wanna chime in about! Until later (P.S. vote in the poll below plz)~~