What is JUMP?
WEEKLY JUMP, rival publication of WEEKLY SHONEN SUNDAY, is a "phone book" anthology published every week, with a circulation over 4 million. It is filled with some of today's hottest titles targeted for school age boys, many of them familiar to anime fans. Jump has among its esteemed alumni: DRAGON BALL, VIDEO GIRL AI, CITY HUNTER, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR, KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD, SAINT SEIYA, SLAM DUNK, and YUU YUU HAKUSHO / POLTERGEIST REPORT.

For a complete set of WEEKLY JUMP briefs, visit Rika's Weekly Jump Updates Page.

Select reports from #35, #36, and #37/38:

KAJIKA
by Akira Toriyama
started in #32, 1998

Overview: Kajika is a boy cursed by a fox to save 1,000 lives. He was asked by a girl named Haya to deliver the egg of the last dragon back to its native island (Lonlon Island), and keep it away from the hands of Gibachi, an evil entrepreneur who wants the egg to gain immense power—according to legend, one who drinks the blood of a dragon is to have powers unmatched by mortals.
In #35: Isaza gives the hooded boy money and follows Kajika's tracks. The hooded boy dashes ahead of Isaza and erases the footprints. He warns Kajika that Isaza was after him, then runs back to Isaza and reveals Kajika's whereabouts for 100,000 donn (their monetary unit). Kajika senses Isaza's presence and hides, but the cel phone that the girl gave him reveal his whereabouts. Kajika vs. Isaza, round 1, fight!
In #36: As Isaza starts to show a lead in the fight, Kajika tells Isaza that Gibachi wants the egg only for the dragon's blood. Isaza replies that he could care less. He then easily knocks Kajika out, saying there are no rules in fights, and gets the egg from the spirit. He leaves, telling the spirit that he hopes Kajika's true powers are released soon. The hooded boy returns to Kajika's side, and offers to steal the egg back for 1 million donn, and the spirit agrees.
In #37/38: Donko, the hooded boy, catches up to Isaza and offers to fix his airplane. He tries to steal the egg, but gets caught. Donko runs off, chased by Isaza in the airplane. Meanwhile, Kajika works on getting his curse removed: only two saved souls left to go!

HUNTER x HUNTER
by Yoshihiro Togashi
started in #14, 1998—1 volume available

Overview: Gon is a young energetic boy who wants to follow in his father's footsteps as a hunter. He, along with his new friends Renalio and Clapika, take the Hunter Qualification Exam.
In #35: The fourth challenger suggests a gamble—50 more years of his prison sentence against 50 hours of their time limit. Renalio bets that the con is alive and wins, but loses the next three bets to put the team at 2 wins, 2 losses, and about 9 hours left to qualify to the next level of examination.
In #36: Renalio apologizes for his screw up, and then upon seeing the fifth inmate tells Kirua to surrender. The fifth inmate, Jonais, was known to rip human flesh into shreds with his bare hands. Kirua walks up, agrees to a death match, nonchalantly rips Jonais' heart out and squelches it. Gon tells the surprised Renalio and Clapika that Kirua's family are all elite assassins. The group spends the fifty hours that Renalio lost in the bet, and head on their way—9:43:17 left, and they must go either upstairs or downstairs...
In #37/38: The troop went upstairs, only to land back at the battle site. They wander around the tower, running from traps and whatnot, until they land at the last door. The choice is between a long treacherous path for all five, or a short path for only three. Renalio says that he will choose the short path, while Gon says that he wants to finish the test without losing anyone. 30 seconds left... and the three show up at the goal. What the five did was to all choose the long path, and carve a path through the wall into the short path—an idea that Gon got from Jonais. The remaining candidates choose numbers: the fourth test is of the "hunter" and the "hunted."

ONE PIECE
by Eiichiro Oda
started #34, 1997—4 volumes available

Overview: Ruffy is a boy cursed with a body that stretches like rubber. He becomes a pirate in search of the Grand Line, a sea route to the ultimate treasure known as One Piece.
In #35: Ruffy tells his crew to go after Nami, who took off with their ship. Hawk-Eyed Mihawk tells the pirates of Creek's fleet that he destroyed their ships because he was bored. Zorro challenges Mihawk to a duel. Meanwhile, Nami cries, saying she wants to be free.
In #36: Mihawk accepts Zorro's challenge with what seems like a fruit knife. None of Zorro's attacks even reach Mihawk. Ruffy prevents Yosaku and Johnny from helping Zorro. Mihawk calls checkmate by stabbing his knife into Zorro, but Zorro refuses to admit defeat—"I would rather die." Mihawk takes his large sword and defeats Zorro's strongest attack. Zorro faces Mihawk ("To have a wound on the back is an embarrassing thing for a swordsman") and Mihawk delivers the last blow.
In #37/38: Yosaku and Johnny dive into the waters to save Zorro. Ruffy springs over to the broken ship to attack Mihawk, but the grand swordsman tells the rubber boy that Zorro is still alive. Mihawk tells Zorro to become stronger and he will wait until then. Zorro swears to Ruffy that he will never be defeated again until he defeats Mihawk. Ruffy sends his crew after Nami, and gets ready to fight the pirates of Creek's fleet.