Jump SQ seems to of had a pretty solid 2018, especially with the return of a series with a controversial author that has still managed to sell quite well. I'll admit that now that my beloved
Chihaya-san wa Sonomama de Ii has concluded, there's not a whole lot that I personally follow in this magazine at the present, and half of what I am following (I'm looking at you
Demon Tune) is struggling quite a bit.
Dokyuu ****** HxEros seems to be doing fine for now, so at least I have that going for me lol. Besides that, it seems like a pretty standard year for the magazine: 6 new series premiered and 5 lived to see the light of 2019. 7 series either ended or were transferred elsewhere during 2018.
Time for some stats!
Dokyuu ****** HxEros cranked the ecchi up a notch and managed to secure the most color pages this year, with 6 out of the 12 issues being color pages for it! 9 series managed to have perfect attendance in all 12 issues:
Houkago no Ouji-sama,
Salaryman Exorcist: Okumura Yukio no Aishuu,
Sousei no Onmyouji,
Masuda Kousuke Gekijou: Gag Mangabiyori GB,
Yuukoku no Moriarty,
Kemono Jihen,
Dokyuu ****** HxEros,
Yuugai Shitei Doukyuusei, and
Majo no Kaigashuu. The lowest standard deviation (lower = position in TOC changes less each issue; higher = position changes more each issue) goes to
Owari no Seraph in a positive way and
Sentaku no Toki in a negative way. The highest standard deviation went to
Märchen Mädchen before it was axed now belongs to
Untrace.
What does 2019 hold for Jump SQ? The answer is simple:
World Trigger! The much anticipated return of the WSJ favorite resulted in a transfer to SQ beginning in Issue 1, so I'm expected in will do quite well in its new home. Besides from that, I think what has been doing well in the old guard will likely continue to thrive and last throughout 2019. As for the newer series, I doubt most of the series that premiered this past year will last for too much longer. The majority of them already are trending toward nearly the bottom of the TOC over the last couple issues of 2018, so if more space is ever needed, my guess is that these will be the first to go, rather than telling an established series to wrap things up. I've been seeing some people on here hoping that
Platinum End will conclude since its sales have fallen so much, but with the new serializations of 2018 largely not connecting with readers, it may stick around just because it still moves volumes, albeit less than before. Regardless, hopefully Jump SQ can start things off well in 2019!