On June 17, 1996, the Weekly Shonen Jump #27 hit Japanese newsstands. It was supposed to be an issue celebrating the conclusion of the first part of one of the magazine’s most important manga series, but it ended up marking a historic moment—an edition that would forever signal the “END OF THE GOLDEN AGE” of Weekly Shonen Jump: the day Slam Dunk ended.
Before we dive into that day and its consequences, let’s take a look at how the magazine was doing in 1996: The year 1996 was a tough one for Shonen Jump. After years of steady growth, the end of Yu Yu Hakusho in 1994, Dragon Ball in 1995, and other second-tier series caused the magazine to suffer a drop in sales. This, combined with an internal crisis that began in 1993 with the promotion of Nobuhiko Horie to Editor-in-Chief, gave the early months of that year a bitter tone.
From 1968 to 1995, Weekly Shonen Jump saw its sales increase year after year (with the exception of 1986), rising from 105,000 copies in circulation in 1968 to 6.5 million in 1995. The conclusion of these two manga series (especially Dragon Ball), which were considered the magazine’s “pillars,” resulted in a 10.7% reduction in sales. Weekly Shonen Jump lost 700,000 readers between 1995 and 1996, dropping from 6.5 million copies to 5.8 million. This decline deeply concerned the magazine’s board, especially as they viewed Editor-in-Chief Nobuhiko Horie as incapable of solving the problem.
Yet, at the same time, the board had hope that this drop in sales would be overcome, thanks to the spectacular success of Slam Dunk. The 23rd volume of the basketball manga, released in March 1995, one year before the series ended, set the record for the highest initial print run of any manga volume, with 2.5 million copies. This record was only surpassed in 2002 by volume 24 of ONE PIECE. Such success was great news for Shonen Jump, which saw Inoue’s series as a firmly established pillar. It seemed like there was still plenty of time to find Dragon Ball’s replacement.
And this time to find new hits was important for the board, as they had just fired Editor-in-Chief Horie in February 1996, replacing him with someone more capable of revitalizing the magazine. This is why the newly promoted Kazuhiko Torishima counted so much on Slam Dunk—it was a “ROCK” in the middle of an unstable magazine. Knowing its importance, the Editor-in-Chief likely decided to feature Slam Dunk on the cover of Weekly Shonen Jump #27 as a way to celebrate the “temporary conclusion” and make it clear that Slam Dunk would return. But something took both readers and editors by surprise: the conclusion of Slam Dunk was FINAL.
Let me explain this story clearly: Unlike the last volume of the series, released in October 1996, Weekly Shonen Jump #27, which featured the last chapter of Slam Dunk, had a very important message. In that issue, chapter 276 had the words: “End of Part 1.” Because of this, many readers and editors believed Slam Dunk hadn’t truly ended—they were just celebrating the conclusion of the FIRST PART. However, reality turned out differently, as this information was REMOVED in volume 31, officially ending the series. The sudden conclusion even led some readers to wonder for a few days if Slam Dunk had been canceled. After all, how could such a popular and well-constructed manga just end out of nowhere? This is where the baseless theory that the series “ended due to copyright issues” came from.
In my opinion, though, the end of Slam Dunk wasn’t so abrupt. It was the result of a series that had reached its peak in quality, with an author realizing that he couldn’t surpass that peak, even if there was room to continue at a lower level—as Takehiko Inoue himself mentioned in some of his interviews. But this was something neither the editors nor the readers could have known. Only Inoue knew. Only he knew that after that game, Slam Dunk could never deliver another match as great. And so, even as the most popular manga on the market, and with several loose ends left untied, Slam Dunk came to an end.
This “conclusion” caused a major stir at the magazine and exposed all the organizational issues the magazine had been ignoring because of its high sales. There are three clear signs that the magazine was facing serious internal problems:
- In February 1996, the newly promoted Editor-in-Chief Nobuhiko Horie was fired for failing to find strong new series, not knowing how to manage the existing ones (for example, he wasn’t able to prepare for the conclusion of Dragon Ball), and having a terrible relationship with the board of directors.
- There were interviews with editors complaining about the recent management of the magazine, and a public letter from the former Editor-in-Chief, Nishimura, who exposed the terrible organization of the magazine under the regimes that followed his “leadership.”
- The fact that Slam Dunk ended with a COVER (something that had never happened for any series before), and this ending was celebrating “The End of Part 1,” also points to something important. Considering that the magazine did not announce or prepare for the definitive conclusion of the series, but rather the end of its first part, it suggests that the newly appointed Editor-in-Chief, Toshimura, was not aware of the final ending of Slam Dunk— Or maybe he was trying to change Inoue’s real intention.
The magazine’s sales plummeted after June 17, 1996, and by October, when it became clear that Slam Dunk would not be returning. Weekly Shonen Jump, which had sold 5.8 million copies in 1996, dropped to only 4 million in 1997, losing 1.8 million readers—31% of its audience. As a result, Weekly Shonen Jump #27 became a landmark in the manga world, marking the end of the “Golden Age” of Weekly Shonen Jump, which would never again sell more than 4 million copies, resulting in a total loss of 2.9 million readers (44% of its audience).
Many readers were no longer interested in continuing with the largest shonen magazine. There was no more Yu Yu Hakusho, no more Dragon Ball, no more Slam Dunk, and Dragon Quest would end in December 1996. While Rurouni Kenshin was interesting and Hoshin Engi, which debuted in WSJ #28, seemed promising, they didn’t quite fill the void for part of the audience. June 17, 1996, ended up depressing many readers and felt like a punch to the gut for Shonen Jump, as it saw its reign begin to crumble.
However, it also marked a moment of renewal for this same reign, as with Slam Dunk’s end, Torishima saw a chance to revamp the magazine. It was time to turn the page and reorganize the magazine from scratch—with new manga series, a new logo, and a fresh structure.
And so, the revolutionary Torishima began the era I personally like to call “Renaissance” launching many successful series, including ONE PIECE, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Shaman King, Hikaru no Go, Yu-Gi-Oh, Tennis no Ouji-sama, and many others, eventually stabilizing the magazine’s sales and handing over to the next editor in 2001 a much more organized and healthy Weekly Shonen Jump.
TOC Weekly Shonen Jump #27/1996
TOC Weekly Shonen Jump #27 (17/06/1996)
Slam Dunk c276 (Cover, Lead Color Pages and Part 1 End)
1 – KochiKame c977
2 – Rurouni Kenshin c104
3 – BOY c171
Makuhari c16 (Color Page)
4 – Higoku Sensei Nuubee c135
5 – Sexy Commando Gaiden c25
6 – Rokudenashi Blues c390
7 – Midori no Makibao c75
8 – Wild Half c22
9 – Majima-Kun Suttobasu!! c64
10 – Capitain Tsubasa: World Youth Saga c105
11 – Dragon Quest: Dai no Daiboken c320
12 – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure c463
13 – Tottemo! Luckyman c137
Diamond c6
K.O. Masatome c5
14 – Jinkoen-dan Shinshiroku c15
15 – Mizu no Tomodachi Kappaman c32
Osama wa Roba c109
