Hunting for the Rarest Shonen Jump Magazine in Japan

[00:02] anime man. Ever since I could remember, countless hours, days, and weeks were spent in my quiet little room back in Australia reading manga. Now, out of all of my childhood memories, I vividly remember the first time I got my first

[00:18] ever volume of manga that was actually given to me by my mom's best friend. given to me by my mom's best friend. Weirdly enough, it was the second volume of Diamon because I guess he didn't have the first volume on hand. I remember

[00:33] reading through this over and over again until I could basically recite every panel word for word. And this new obsession resulted in me taking my fistful of very limited allowance money to places like Book Off to buy some

[00:49] secondhand manga for myself. Let's just say the rest is history. And let's just also say it could be a part of your history too if you decide to stick around to the end of the video. Since then, the world of manga has exploded

[01:02] online. And out of everything that came out of the world of Japanese comics, one particular magazine stood out from all of the rest. Weekly Shonen Jump. I don't this magazine changed manga forever, especially in the West with some of the

[01:18] most beloved and recognizable manga series being born from this unassuming weekly magazine. One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, Hunter Hunter, Jojo. I mean, the list of classics is almost endless. Next to Damon, some of my

[01:34] fondest and most nostalgic memories around manga come from Shonen Jump. series like Black Cat, Slam Dog, M0, Yuyu Huck Show, and Fist of the Northstar were just the very tip of the incredibly deep iceberg that shaped my

[01:48] love for manga forever. Naturally, when things start to get popular, certain items revolving around that thing will start to get highly sought after, and exception to that. So, it got me wondering, what is the rarest Shonen

[02:04] wondering, what is the rarest Shonen Jump magazine in circulation today? and just how valuable is it really? But before you start going on the hunt for know what else is valuable? The time that you spend with your family this

[02:19] holiday season. And there is no better way to spend your holiday season than with today's sponsor, Tokyo Treat. Tokyo Treat is a fun and exclusive monthly snack box packed with Japan's coolest and craziest treats. Each month, you'll

[02:31] edition chips, noodles, and the latest treats shipped worldwide from Japan straight to your door. Each box comes with its own theme, and I'm pretty sure it's obvious with how this box looks and the time of the year, but of course, it

[02:45] is the December 2025 box. Snack in Wonderland. Look at that. You get a cute little Polaroid of Tokyo Tower in the winter. How lovely. If you want some savory stuff, then why not try these Nagua uh um butter. So, these are potato

[03:00] and butter flavored potato chips. Hm. I've never tried these before. Let's try it out. These cute little rings. M. That's pretty good. And if you're a bit of a sweet tooth, then why not try this month's KitKat flavor? This is double

[03:12] berry and nuts. Okay, I've literally never tried this before. Very berry, very nutty, very delicious. Each box comes with its own little booklet that has all sorts of stuff, including snack descriptions, allergen information, and

[03:25] that you can boast to your family members around the campfire. Listen, I've been living in Japan now for more than half of my life. And there are a lot of snacks that are included in these Tokyo treats that I have never seen

[03:38] before. So, that is an anime man guarantee that what you are getting is the end of the year and this holiday season with Tokyo Treat by clicking the using my QR code on screen right now. Doing so supports the channel. So, think

[03:52] of it as giving a Christmas present from you guys to me. A big thank you to Tokyo Treat for sponsoring today's video. Now, let's head on out into the streets of Tokyo to try and find the rarest shownen jump magazine. There are truly so many

[04:04] jump magazine. There are truly so many options to find and buy rare shownen jumps or just manga in general, but I think I know one particular spot. So, I have the biggest manga collection in all of Japan. Mandarak in Nakono Broadway.

[04:20] I've been coming to this place now for quite a few years. And what you're seeing in front of me right now is literally two bookshelves out of I would say over a 100 bookshelves because if you've been to Nakono Broadway before,

[04:32] then you'll know that Manderake isn't just one store. In fact, I would say a quarter of this entire Nakono Broadway is the Mandar franchise. So, first of letting us [music] film here. I've been a longtime customer now at the Mandra

[04:47] store for over a decade, easily over a decade, and uh you guys have never disappointed with your selections. Actually, the vast number of uh regular volumes of Shonen Jump that I have at home is mostly, I would say, come from

[05:01] the Mandarak store. So, I always know that if I need a particular manga here. And for today's video, obviously, we are on the hunt for the rarest Shonen Jump magazine. Now, as much as I'd like

[05:15] to talk about all of these amazing manga just in these two massive bookshelves we're on the hunt for the rarest Shonen Jump magazine. And I don't see any Shonen Jump magazines here. But thankfully, there is another store on

[05:28] has exactly what we're looking for. So, let's go check that out.

[05:44] floor of Mandarak. This place is called Maakang or the the Mania building if you can call it that. And uh as you can see behind me, it is filled with pretty much behind me, it is filled with pretty much almost every volume of Shenen Jump. And

[05:59] I think this is where we're going to be able to find and get a grasp of which volumes are expensive and which volumes are not so much already. I mean, it's certainly bigger than my collection at home. I think that's pretty obvious. I

[06:12] home. I think that's pretty obvious. I mean, it literally spans from over here all the way around to over here. And I think each one is going in order of the years. Maybe not quite because

[06:26] these are all the latest volumes I believe from 2025. Yeah, this is week 43 of 2025. I think this one Wait, did this one just come out? I think so. Cuz mind you, just full disclosure, I'm filming this on the 1st of October and this is

[06:42] the 6th of October issue. >> This from last year? No, it says 2025. >> Okay. I don't I don't know how they did this. Maybe they got it early from the Whatever it is, that's cool. >> Or or yeah, I've been I haven't been

[06:56] >> Yeah, me neither. >> Recently, but I don't know. >> But this one is 300 yen >> right here, including tax. So maybe I would say that is probably the norm cuz let's go to like let's say

[07:09] let's go to the last volume of last year, issue 54 of 2024 with Undead Unlock on the cover. >> This one's also 300 yen. Also, there's

[07:22] an Azuro Lane Tavaru collab happening. All right. Well, as a as a Tavaru fan, I ain't complaining. But I would say like the coolest thing about Sha and John, any really monthly or weekly magazine are just how much effort they put into

[07:37] the covers. I mean, you know, you could pick up any random issue of any random year and it's just a cool cover. They just go so hard on the cover. and we decided to kind of utilize that with the upcoming Nonsense uh drop for Nonsense

[07:51] University, which uh I touched upon earlier in the video. But one of the other items that we have is a little shoulder bag right here. Now, you might be thinking, why is this thing see-through and why is it this small?

[08:03] Well, we actually thought about it, and because you know, this is all about the nonsense manga university. As you can see, the idea is that you can take any one of your favorite monthly magazines, weekly magazines,

[08:16] whatever it might be, and slip it in like that. And the whole idea is that if you have a bunch of different shownen magazines, then you can kind of use that as your bag design, and it becomes this like really cool and specialized eater

[08:29] you want, or you can change it every other month or you can just like leave it see-through as well. So, this is kind of a really cool addition. Uh, more info on that at the end of the video though, obviously. So, we're kind of looking at

[08:43] this is more of the 2020 collection. Oh, actually, I'm just looking here. Oh, dude. Okay, this is cool. This looks like weekly shownen jump, but it's not. This is get gun shaen jumping. This is monthly shaen jump.

[08:58] >> I don't know the full history of it all, but uh supposedly jump for a little while actually went monthly instead of weekly, and so they released these ones here. Yeah, this one is from Shore 50, so I think it's around 78, 1978. Uh I

[09:14] didn't realize they started uh monthly Shonen Jump that early. But that is really really cool. This uh magazine here is 1,000 yen. So a little bit more of a jump when you go to the more retro style, but still pretty reasonable if

[09:28] you think about it. Like a a jump magazine from what almost 50 years ago is a,000 yen. It's pretty crazy if you think about that. So, all the 2020 stuff here, uh, this was a little bit after my time. Admittedly, you know, as you saw

[09:43] earlier in the video, this really wasn't like the era that I grew up reading Shonen Jump. We'd have to go a little bit further back for that into the 2010s at least. More so, for me, it was the the 2000s, the mid to early [music]

[09:56] 2000s. This one is really cool. I just read up on it. Um, this one was actually released for the 50th anniversary of Shonen Jump. And to celebrate that, the spine of these magazines is actually supposed to be a throwback to the

[10:11] original [music] designs of Jump. As you can see, the the font of Jump there is quite different cuz if you compare it to, let's say, a 2017 you can see that they kind of changed up the font of Jump and this one is more

[10:28] akin to the old school one. So, I guess they did that during 2018 as a really cool. Now, see, this is where I know that [music] in order to find the know that [music] in order to find the most valuable Shaen Jump magazine, it's

[10:43] not about the year in particular, because this one, yes, is the 50th anniversary, but it was only released in 2018, and this one is 1,500 yen. This is more expensive than the 1978 monthly Shonen Jump issue, which you'd think

[10:59] would be the other way around, right? But I also think the big reason why they decided to do that is because My Hero Academia is on the cover, which gives me the impression that I think the most valuable Shonen Jump volumes are the

[11:13] valuable Shonen Jump volumes are the ones with really iconic and famous series on the front. Because let's take for example the previous week. This one for example the previous week. This one is uh I guess a brand new series called

[11:26] series before. Yeah. See, this is literally a week before the the previous one that I just showed you with the My Hero Academia on the front. That being 1,500 yen. This one is 400 yen. So, a third of the price

[11:42] just because the cover doesn't necessarily have an iconic Okay. Let's say for instance here, right, we got around one right here. >> Naruto on the cover. Instantly recognizable. I'm going to guess this

[11:58] 2011 issue 33 volume. What do you reckon? How much do you think that's going to go for? I think that's going to go for at least 2,000 [music] yen. >> 1,800. >> Oh. Oh.

[12:10] found, >> but still not too bad. >> Trying to find a bleach one. >> Yeah. Let's actually kind of compare, to be a lot of factors, I think, when it comes to the most expensive magazines.

[12:25] Oh my god, dude. >> Oh, [\h__\h] Scared Dance, dude. This This is my [\h__\h] right here, boys. This was when they announced the anime adaptation of Skin What year was this?

[12:40] >> God damn. [laughter] >> I just finished high school. >> Yeah. Yeah. I was still in high school. >> I was 16 when this got anime attitude. yen. >> So more more power to scare dance,

[12:53] please. Okay, here we go. >> So that that three is already interest. >> So that that three is already interest. I mean that that these three right here >> that are highlighted right above here. We've got One Piece, we got Naruto, and

[13:06] we've got some other series. I think this is from Hurata, which is uh he was the creator of um Mushoi. Oh, >> no. Mahi Jim. This is 400 yen. series. Well, there is a there is a small little Ichigo on the corner here

[13:22] >> And it's small little Naruto on the corner here as well. But still, this is only 400 yen. Let's check out this Naruto one with what I'm going to assume is Oh, look. It's got a bunch of kids [laughter]

[13:36] cosplaying as Naruto. Like kind of like a kagunin style. That's actually really really cute. But this one, oh, >> Oh, nice. >> I mean, yeah, it is an iconic cover to

[13:49] that. But let's check out this One Piece one. So, this One Piece one was to commemorate the One Piece film Strong World being released. Um, yeah, there you go. This one is also 2,500 yen. So, clearly it has to I think

[14:06] so far we're pinpointing it, right? It's it's not only the series that's on the cover, but also like maybe special commemorations of, you know, say like a movie coming out or like an anniversary of a particular Strong series. So, I

[14:20] think we should be focusing on those from around here. This is the 2000. So, from around here. This is the 2000. So, this is 2009, 2008, 2007. Dude, all of these 2007 ones right here I have at home. This is the [\h__\h] that I grew up

[14:33] with. Like, this one, this was when SK Dance first came out 2007. >> 4,000 yen, dude. Holy [\h__\h] >> Okay. Thank god. Some some finally some love for scare dance. Let's go.

[14:47] >> Reborn at the back. >> Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Look at that. Reborn in the back as well. I think this is a game that >> dude. This is how I know we're all, bro. This

[14:59] is them announcing the PS2 game >> for cuticle hit memorable. [laughter] >> PS2. That's so [\h__\h] up. Okay, hold up. Let's see. Let's see this one. I've I remember I have this one at home. >> This was Naruto on the cover, but also

[15:15] this was to commemorate the Naruto Shipunen movie coming out. >> How much do you reckon that is? [music] >> That one's 4,000. the scared dance one? >> Probably four or five or five actually.

[15:27] >> Wow. Same price. Four. >> Oh, >> but that's crazy to think. Like I I have all of these at home now. I'm like really curious to see how much all of my collection is after I figure that out.

[15:40] Oh, dude. You want another throwback? 5year anniversary of Eyes Shield 21. >> dude. Look at this. It's so sick. >> This one's a little bit cheaper. This one's 2,500 yen. But still 2,500 yen.

[15:54] especially to the newer ones as well, it is getting more expensive. I wonder if that trend is going to continue though as we go further into like the '90s, for instance. >> [music]

[16:11] now. So, this is around 2004. Oh, here we go. Here's a double Oh, here we go. Here's a double magazine. This is uh 2004, 37 and 38th issue. So, this is two weeks back to back with Naruto on the cover. And this

[16:26] is again to commemorate the movie of reckon this will be? >> Uh 2,000.

[16:40] sense because this is two magazines in one. I've actually never seen this before. I I don't have this era of Shonen Jump, unfortunately. And it's got that's the most expensive one we found.

[16:52] Naruto. I also have this one at home. Yeah. Wow. 5,000 yen. Man, Naruto is M >> I want to see actually if Naruto can

[17:04] pass off 5,000 6,000 yen. I wonder like how big would like say One Piece or like Dragon Ball be? Like I think when it gets like that like legendary status era it's start it's going to start to get pretty ridiculous. 2004

[17:18] issue number 14 One Piece in the front. This is to commemorate again the One Piece movie. I don't know what which One Piece movie this is but judging from the art [music] it's still very early in the One Piece story.

[17:30] Oh my god. 7,000 yen. >> I think is this the most expensive one >> Yeah. There you go. So, One Piece is clearly very strong in that sense. because this is a guilty pleasure of mine. Actually, you know what? Not even

[17:44] guilty. This is just This is just a great series. Ichigo 100%. I grew up on this [\h__\h] 2,500 yen. More power to Ichigo 100%. from around here. Now we are [music] going into the

[17:58] here. Now we are [music] going into the '9s. We're approaching 1999 here. Oh my get into the territory now where I think [music] a lot of modern Shonen Jump readers will have no [\h__\h] clue what

[18:10] any [music] of these shows are. Like [laughter] [\h__\h] [laughter] [\h__\h] [snorts] this is the this is created by the same guy who made Tori as well, but this was

[18:23] his first manga and this was a huge series. See, there's only 600 yen, so we're kind of straying away. But everyone should know this one. Ronnie This is a classic right here. This is such a cool cover as well. This is issue

[18:37] 19 of 1998. And oh, 3,000 yen. Okay. So, again, I think it's not about the year. It's about the iconic cover of whatever it is

[18:49] Well, then let's really experiment here and try and go [music] into the the the what I would like to call the first golden age of Shenen Jump in the '90s. golden age of Shenen Jump in the '90s. So, we're going into like 97. Holy [\h__\h]

[19:03] >> Sorry, I'm just like being reminiscent right now, dude. Ninku. >> I loved this show. This is such a good manga as well. 4,000 yen, though. I mean, Nikku is kind of like turned into like legendary status among like Shonen

[19:15] Chump uh fans, but yeah, this is a great solid Shonen Chump series from the 90s. we're talking about legends from the '90s as well, Danashi Blues, this one is

[19:28] an absolute classic. [music] I mean, Mua Sansa has gone on to make so many incredible manga like Badashi Blues. He also made Rookies as well, which is an amazing manga series. This is his first one, but amazing delinquent manga from

[19:41] one, but amazing delinquent manga from the '9s. Only 500 yen. That's [\h__\h] up. the '9s. Only 500 yen. That's [\h__\h] up. Come on, man. expensive. [music] >> This is the one-year anniversary of Yuyu

[19:53] Hawk Show. Mhm. Uh, this was issue 47 of 1991. I wasn't even born yet, bro. >> Wow. Really? 2,500 yen. That's not bad actually for that's that's a really iconic cover as well. This is like early

[20:09] though actually? I don't think I've seen one with like Hunter Hunter on the >> Yeah. Is there one? I feel like I feel like there should be one.

[20:26] undercover because it's more expensive. I don't know. Maybe more rare great. Like this is just like a trip down memory lane for me. Like you know I of these like older Shonen Jump manga >> while it was being serialized in the

[20:40] school I kind of went back and reread [music] a lot of these like classic 80s and '90s Shonen Jump manga and they're all so great. Dude, look at this one. Saint Seya. This is one of the most legendary Shenan Jump series from the

[20:55] legendary Shenan Jump series from the 80s. Yeah. Issue 45, 1987. Man, to be to have been a kid around this era and getting to see that, [music] that would have been crazy. Oh, okay. Not bad. 5,000 yen. I mean, look

[21:07] again. Si is kind of in the goat status or shown in so I'm not surprised [music] with that one. Dude, this one's [\h__\h] hilarious. [laughter] Why is there a photo realistic eagle

[21:20] next to Sasa? I mean, maybe it was imperative to this particular point of the story of Captain Silasaura, but yeah, 3,500 yen.

[21:38] beginnings of Shenen Junk here. Let's see if we can find like the earliest one. Okay, here we go. [music] I think this is the oldest one that they have here. This is from [music] 19. This is issues three and four of 1980.

[21:54] issues three and four of 1980. So what's that? 45 years ago. >> God damn. Oh, and it seems like [music] it recently in this year got Shonen Jam it recently in this year got Shonen Jam got the Japanese record for surpassing 3

[22:08] million units sold. >> That's crazy. >> This one is only 2,000 yen. The Shonen Jump magazine from 45 years ago is less than $20 US. It's either these have become really cheap or Mandar

[22:24] these have become really cheap or Mandar is just selling them for way too cheap. apparently that at the front of this store here there is a glass cabinet uh

[22:40] which supposedly has some of the more rare and expensive Shining Jam magazine. So I think we should go and check that out. Okay, so we are outside of the Mana

[22:52] store and as you can see there is a glass cabinet here and immediately just just one look at this cabinet. You can tell why it's behind this glass because these are some these are some heavy hitters here. I mean first of all I

[23:07] think this one's the most expensive that I see just in this glass cabinet here. lot of Dragon Ball [snorts] on those shelves there and I think I now know why. I mean, I think it's safe to say that probably next to like One Piece and

[23:22] internationally speaking, Dragon Ball is probably the most recognizable and beloved franchise, especially since the passing of Toriyama Sensei. As you can see, this is the 1991 uh issue 36 and 37 combined, and it's

[23:37] got Dragon Ball Super Saiyan Goku at the front here. And uh this one goes for the front here. And uh this one goes for the cool cool price of $22,000 yen, which is roughly $200 USD. Mind you, when this came out in just

[23:51] regular stores all over Japan back in 1991, you probably paid, I don't know, 4 500 yen for this. So, the fact that it's jumped up that much in what's that

[24:03] almost 35 years is kind of crazy. And we've got all these other ones here, too. This one's a little bit of an early one. This is 1985 Goku at the front. So, this is still when it was like Dragon Ball Dragon

[24:16] Ball. Uh, and this is also about 20,000 yen. But it's not just Dragon Ball the most recent ones here. For instance, this is the first volume of when Juice the Kaisen was first announced or this

[24:28] is when chapter 1 of Juice of Kaisen came out. And even this one is 7,700 yen. And this wasn't that long ago. This was back in 2018. So, it really is like the the power and the popularity of each series is so important. I mean, I

[24:42] personally really like this one next to it right here of uh Yuyu Hawk Show on the cover. This one is sick as [\h__\h] This one's 1993 issue 12. And I mean, I don't know, man. Call me a Yuyu Hawk Show s, but call me a Toagashi s. That

[24:57] Show s, but call me a Toagashi s. That one is so dope. Also, I just want to the greatest sports manga ever created in my opinion. This one is 1991 issue 16. I don't know if this was maybe like the first issue that Slam Dunk was

[25:11] released, but still it's 9,900 yen. And we've got all these other ones, too. we've got all these other ones, too. 8,800 yen, 7,700 yen. Oh, the one behind there. I can't really say it all that much, but it goes for 13,200 yen. And

[25:23] much, but it goes for 13,200 yen. And it's the first issue of Shaman King. Wow, that's kind of surprising. I didn't think the first issue of Shaman King issue of Slam Dunk. You think it'd be the other way around, but shout out to

[25:35] Shaman King. That is a that is a goated series. And then obviously you've got your heavy hitters as well like your Hikaru no, you got your high Q's and of course you've got your one pieces. Each of these bare minimum goes for at least

[25:49] between 5,000 to in the case of the highQ one here 11,000 yen. Crazy. Again, to think that these came out and were like 4 or 500 yen at most and you can just buy them at like a convenience store is now [\h__\h] 20 times the price of

[26:04] mind-blowing to be honest. So, I actually did a little bit of uh research and I confirmed this. So, I fact checked this with the uh the shop owners here of Mandarak cuz they're obviously more of an expert than I am on this, but I I

[26:18] just casually asked uh you know, Google of the most valuable issue of Weekly curious. I I wasn't expecting to find the most valuable one here. And uh

[26:30] according according to the internet and Manderake staff, uh the often cited most valuable or the highest auction sale of any Shernen Jump magazine ever is issue

[26:42] any Shernen Jump magazine ever is issue 51 from 1984, which I'll have a picture of right there, uh which features the debut of Dragon Ball. Can you guess how much it went for? At an auction, mind you, this is not just like at a regular

[26:55] store. According to this site, it sold for 3.8 million yen at an auction, which for 3.8 million yen at an auction, which is roughly in USD about $30,000. That's that's a piece of art at that point. Like, if they didn't send that

[27:10] [\h__\h] to like uh PSA or something to get that [\h__\h] graded, then I don't know, Which one would you prefer? The first issue of Dragon Ball or or a brand new car? The choice is yours. But I'm also looking here other top notable issues

[27:25] and prices. We've got obviously issue number one from 1968, which is the very first issue of Shonen Jump. Obviously, that's going to go for a lot of money. Apparently, an eBay listing sold it for $5,600, which is crazy. We've also got

[27:39] $5,600, which is crazy. We've also got issue number 34 from 1997, which is appearance of One Piece, everyone's favorite series. And that was listed at a shop for $7,500. But originally the auction went for

[27:54] $1,000, which is still nothing to laugh at. And then other issues that sold for roughly, you know, $500 to $1,000 was issue number 43 from 1999, which is the obviously, it's all about like the the the staying

[28:09] power and the legendary status of each of these series. And you know, Shonen Jump over the 50 plus years that they've been around have come out with some of the most legendary manga series ever created. So, it's it's it's a hard

[28:22] competition, but clearly the one that came out on top was everyone's favorite came out on top was everyone's favorite saying right there.

[28:39] going to cost you to get your hands on the rarest, most valuable volume of the rarest, most valuable volume of manga ever. As awesome as it would be to own something like this, I understand that it's also pretty impractical. I

[28:52] mean, I don't have 30 grand just lying around the house, unfortunately. But it really is fascinating and honestly really dope that the medium of manga has expanded this much in its lifetime. And it's no wonder why people are seeking

[29:06] these magazines out as not just relics of the past, but also simply as pieces of art to have in your home. And when I saw that, I really wanted to give back to those manga fans that love the medium as much as me. [music] So, over at my

[29:21] clothing store, nonsense.jp, we're currently doing a special mystery insert currently doing a special mystery insert in collaboration with our brand new AW25 throughout this video. If you head over to nonsense.jp JP right now and pick up

[29:36] our new Manga Club bag. Side from the moment this video goes live, the first 100 orders of this bag will ship out with a mystery insert straight from my don't hold your breath that I'm going to be gifting one of you guys a stupidly

[29:53] expensive my magazine or anything like that, but some of you may possibly get the chance to get something a little more on the rarer side. And just a heads up, the mystery insert only applies to the Manga Club bag. You can check out

[30:05] the full terms and conditions on the Manga Club bag product page, which I've left down in the description below. And even if this manga club bag isn't really your thing, the rest of the AW25 collection is also live right now on the

[30:18] website. And trust me, it's kind of fire. Either way, thank you so much for watching. I hope you guys learned something new. And hey, if you have a manga collection at home, let me know what your most valuable manga magazine

[30:31] or volume is. As always, like and subscribe to see more videos, and I'll subscribe to see more videos, and I'll see you all in the next one. J