The Right Way to Make Jump! Part 2: Unedited Audio and Recording Notes

About the Manga

• Plot
  • This time on the right way to make Jump Sakurai learns that covers are laid out by designers before being sent to the manga artists to draw them, and then sees what the editorial staff’s desks look like. Next we learn that series are in fact laid out with influence from the readers' poll and that nobody knows where the logo is from. We also learn that Shonen Jump is extremely sexist, refusing to hire women for its editing staff because hahaha it’s “shonen” jump and “shonen” means boy! But hey the male editors are still good enough to know when something will appeal to girls. Also nipples are banned. Next Sakurai meets Katsumata who’s designed half of all manga logos for the majority of Jump’s lifespan. Then Sakurai gets really sick and spends a chapter throwing up before having to go to the hospital. Still gotta make his deadline tho.
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  • Sakurai then gets to interview Horikoshi, the author of MHA, and completely nerds out before getting a volume of MHA signed for his wife. Horikoshi explains that he works literally 7 days a week on his manga with very little breaks and that his sleep schedule is atrocious. Sakurai then hops on a plane to go to the US so we can learn about American Jump and how friend of the show Stephen Paul translates One Piece (he’s not actually in the manga but he should be).
  • Sakurai says he wants to make a manga that will appeal to Japan and Andy Nakatani, Editor in Chief of American Jump, tells him that stories with Ninja, Vampires, and Zombies are very popular in the US which fucking sucks stop telling people to make more of those we have enough.
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  • They then go on the Jump podcast followed by a trip to a bookstore where we learn that Viz is fucking gouging us by charging twice the amount for manga volumes. At last we learn about how the reader prize pages are made, which is something that Americans never see and I have no context for but is kinda interesting. thanks bye apparently there’s more in the volume release cool thanks.
• Characters
  • Takeshi Sakurai
    • Pure energy
    • Has a very fun wife
  • MomiyaXX-San
    • Cool as a cucumber
    • Big tsundere

What it did worse

• It really feels like it's so padded I kept eating it to get to the educational stuff
• I really wish the weaving narrative was stronger it kinda makes you think we'll learn more about sakurai but he stays pretty stagnant like maybe how this inspired
• I got so sick of Sakurai during this round of chapters. I really wanted him to shut up so I could learn more about the manga. He eats up so many panels in this extremely short series.
• The amount of cloying praise that SJ receives is too much. Especially while they’re proud of how sexist they are.
• Sometimes I wish they could spend a little more time on each topic. Often, a point would be made in like 1 or 2 panels and it felt like we had to move on without really exploring it (example: I would have liked to hear more nitty gritty from the logo designer)

What it did better

• Learning how the cover is designed is super interesting I wish it had started with that
• Finally an answer about toc and popularity
• These topics are infinitely more interesting imho
• Finally we’re learning about how manga is actually made.
• I think the topics in the second half are more interesting because they tend to be about the creative side rather than the technical side of creating the magazine. I’m glad the stuff in the first half was included, but it was a bit less engaging.

Misc Thoughts

• It's kinda weird they couldn't show momiyas favorite covers it's a digital chapter space isn't really an issue
• Wait is the no nipples rule real is that why gravity boys censored it
• I wish the chapter about being sick had actually been the Segway into time management how breaks are handled etc
• SF do got some good breakfast, I do remember I asked a cafe if they had wifi and the woman scoffed at me
• My favorite Character was actually Sakurai’s wife! She’s so funny and, at least the way he portrays her, seems like a very supportive partner.
• Sakurai’s favorite superhero is Tottemo Luckyman, who is believed to be created by Tsugumi Ohba, the writer for Deathnote and Bakuman. You can totally see the influence in art style.
• The Viz visit was of course fun to see, because I recognize figures such as Andy Nakatani, Urian Brown, Alexis Kirsch, and Hisashi Sasaki. I was a listener to the SJ Podcast around the time that this was made, so I remember them talking about when this happened. Urian is a real jokester, so I think it’s funny that they got a subtle burn on him by including the infamous Japanese phrase “American joke”
• On the other hand, it was frustrating to see the reflection of the attitude that American readers only want “clean line” artwork and stories about ninja, vampires, etc.

Final Verdict

• Six Word summary
  • David: paper-stuffed onigiri initially hard to enjoy
  • Jordan: Jump requires talent, burnout, and sexism

Guest: Friendship, Effort, Victory, and Sticky Rice!