Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ website has revealed Million Tag. It is described as a new “battle audition” show to determine the “next star manga creator.” While this news was first hinted at on Friday, the official announcement for it came out early this morning.
Weekly Shonen Jump is one of Japan’s largest and long-running magazine titles. The magazine is where popular titles such as Dragon Ball Z and My Hero Academia first got their feet in the door. In 2014, Shonen Jump+ (a website and app version of the magazine) was launched. As of now, it has become just as popular as its print counterpart. And, it also accomplished the initial goal of being an environmentally friendly alternative.
What Million Tag Entails
The program follows six teams, each with an upcoming manga creator, and an artist. Along with that, a Shueisha manga editor will be on the team. Each team will have to compete in a total of four challenges.
Those that win first place will win a total of 5 million yen (about $45,000 USD). Along with this financial prize, they will also have the opportunity to serialize their manga on Shonen Jump+. If the title becomes popular enough on Shonen Jump+, the chance to also publish their manga as print is also a bonus. The authors will also get a compiled book volume of their manga, along with an anime adaptation.
The hosts of the show are the popular comedy trio YONSENTOSHIN and prominent Japanese voice actress Ayane Sakura. The guest judges to appear in the final episode of Million Tag are already listed to be Tatsuki Fujimoto (the creator of Chainsaw Man) and Yuji Kaku (creator of Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku).
The eight-episode program of Million Tag will be available to watch on the official YouTube channel for Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump starting Friday, July 2 at 5:00 am EDT.
