Jump’s motto of friendship, effort, and victory has basically become the image of Jump’s titles. With most of Jump’s titles having these concepts interwoven into their narratives in some way or another. Whether they’re romcoms, action, sport, or gag titles, any of these genres can have the motto that represents Jump. Aside from DeathNote I struggle to name too many other big Jump titles that don’t have these concepts in someway interwoven into their stories (if you have any more examples feel free to tell me). So, where did this motto come from and what’s the history behind it? Well, most people would probably point to Dragon Ball for creating it, that is if they only know 10 shonen series and don’t do their research. And with that, let me sit you down and explain the history of Jump’s motto.
The 60’s - Pioneer(s)
It’s interesting to note that Jump was at one point not the biggest shonen magazine, or even the biggest magazine period, and that mainly has to do with the fact that it’s several years younger than two of its biggest competitors, Shonen Sunday and Shonen Magazine which already had strong followings due to early success in the 60’s thanks to titles such as Gegege no Kitaro and Star of the Giants for Magazine, and Osomatsu-kun and Dororo for Sunday. Jump had no identity, and was the newborn baby of the shonen manga world. So what the editorial staff decided to do, was instead of hiring veterans like Tezuka or Ishinomori, they got young and unheard of rookies do come in and start publishing manga to get Jump moving, and it worked. In particular there was one title that I want to focus on that came from this batch, and that manga is Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daisho which is the first Shonen Jump manga to receive a TV anime adaptation, and was a major pioneer in what would eventually become Jump’s identity. I won’t be going into too much detail about Otoko Ippiki as there is a really good twitter post going into great detail about the manga and it’s editorial influence which I will link as I highly recommend it. Basically, Otoko Ippiki is Jump’s first battle manga, it’s a manga about a young boy who wants to be the strongest gang leader and who gets into a lot of fights with other gangs before the manga becomes a political commentary in the second half. The manga is the embodiment of friendship, effort and victory, and these concepts were massively tied into its narrative from the friendship of the main character and his followers, to the effort he puts into becoming the strongest gang leader, to the victories he achieves in his fights.Hell the manga was one of, if not the first to have a noticeable female fanbase as well, with it attracting plenty of female readers. However, despite this, Otoko Ippiki was not the title to coin the motto, it was mainly a title that simply had these themes and concepts embedded into its narrative and that was all. But, it did lead to that motto being coined, as the manga would go on to become a big influence to a little known high schooler by the name of Masami Kurumada. 
The 70’s - Establisher(s)
It is important to note that Otoko Ippiki wasn’t the only title to have the concept of friendship, effort, and victory implemented in its manga before Jump’s motto was coined, as sports titles like Play Ball and Samurai Giants also very much carried these concepts into their stories which are fairly common in sports titles. But to leave off from where we left off in the 60’s, a highschooler by the name of Masami Kurumada was heavily inspired by Otoko Ippiki to eventually become a mangaka and write battle manga with similar themes and concepts that resonated with him from Otoko Ippiki. These themes and concepts of course being what would later go on to become Jump’s motto. This, combined with Kurumada’s influence from another manga by the name of Ashita no Joe, would lead to the creation of his super powered boxing title Ring ni Kakero. If Otoko Ippiki was Jump’s first battle manga, than Ring ni Kakero was the first one with super powers. Ring ni Kakero, was huge during its publication. I won’t go into much detail on the manga as there is a great blog post that talks about what the manga is about and gives it more justice than I ever could (which I will also link, as it’s a good read). Ring ni Kakero, was very successful, and the manga would go on to be credited as the title that helped Jump reach 3 million readers, and because of all the money it was making it ended up helping in creating a new building for Shonen Jump. But that’s not all, the title is also credited as the one that officially established Jump’s motto of friendship, effort, and victory, which is the motto that defines the magazine to this day. Ring ni Kakero was even listed as the title that helped bring female readers into Jump permanently, carrying over from what Otoko Ippiki did. But even with all of that, that isn’t all it did.
Kurumada ended up also inspiring a duo of mangaka that he was good friends with, this duo was Yudetemago, the duo who created Kinnikuman. With how successful Ring ni Kakero was as a battle title, Yudetemago became inspired to switch Kinnikuman from a gag manga, to a battle manga about pro wrestling, and Kinnikuman went a long way in helping establish the blueprint of Jump’s motto by having these concepts being tied to every aspect of the manga’s story when the focus shifted, which helped inspire many young children at the time, with many of these children going on to become mangaka for the magazine themselves and to name a few these authors include: Eiichiro Oda, Tite Kubo, and Yoshihiro Togashi, who have all cited Kinnikuman as an influence in some way or another. I will leave you on that.
The 80’s - Solidifier(s)
With the 80’s came the conclusion of Ring ni Kakero, and after all it had done for the magazine, Shonen Jump went out of their way to give it a fully colored final chapter as a send off, and as a thank you for everything it ended up doing for Jump. This fully colored final chapter is an honor that only 3 other titles have received since Ring ni Kakero’s conclusion. The 80’s also saw the explosion in popularity of romance titles, with series like Touch and Urusei Yatsura being two of the biggest, and every magazine was starting to jump on the bandwagon to ride off the success, though ironically Jump did not jump on this bandwagon, which we can mainly thank the author of Otoko Ippiki; Hiroshi Motomiya who told the editorial staff to instead go against the trend, and to focus on creating battle titles. This idea, would later go on to create Fist of the North Star, as Jump teamed up Buronson and Tetsuo Hara to create a popular battle title, and boy was it ever popular. Fist of the North Star, took the blueprint of Jump’s motto that Ring ni Kakero laid out, and took it in it’s own direction while still carrying the core concepts.
Battle titles weren’t the only things carrying these concepts, as I stated sports, romance, and gag titles all did it as well. With series like Dr. Slump, Captain Tsubasa, and Kimagure Orange Road being some of the biggest titles for these individual genres at the time. They all tied Jump’s new motto into their stories and took off in their own directions. Kimagure Orange Road in particular being one of Jump’s most popular romcoms ever, embodies the motto of Jump, from the friendship that the main trio develops, to the effort they put into their daily lives as students, to the victories that come with their successes in life.
The 90’s: The Continuer(s)
With the 90’s, Dragon Ball continued its dominance in Jump, and a surge of battle manga started appearing, shifting Jump’s focus for many years to come. Popular titles like Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho, Ninku, and Hareluya II BOY all came out at this time and they all helping in laying down Jump’s identity in the same way the 80’s did. Of course these weren’t the only titles, as Dragon Quest Dai no Daibouken and Rokudenashi Blues still continued alongside Dragon Ball, and they too were massive contributors in this path that Jump would continue. Battle manga weren’t the only thing thriving however, Slam Dunk was also publishing during this time and was on par with Dragon Ball with it’s popularity, if not even more popular, and it too went out of it’s way to continue solidifying Jump’s identity. Speaking of sports titles, Captain Tsubasa showed it still had the power to captivate Japan even with Slam Dunk exploding in popularity, with its sequel based on the World Championship being a huge success and similar to Kurumada, Yoichi also continued where he left off in helping solidify Jump’s status.
The 2000’s: World Wide Mainstream
Our final decade (won’t be covering the 2010’s-modern era as I feel that Jump’s popular enough nowadays to the point where everyone is aware of the modern era), is the 2000’s, a time where Jump had recently recovered from the Dark Age after the endings of Dragon Ball and Slam Dunk in 1995 and 1996 respectively, with their final chapters being published in full color, becoming the 2nd and 3rd titles in Jump history to receive the honor. The ending of both titles caused a 2.5 million drop in circulation for the magazine, which caused a panic of sorts, and with the endings of titles like Yu Yu Hakusho, Dai no Daibouken, Rokudenashi Blues, and many more also happening from 1994-1997, the magazine scrambled to create new series to help keep the magazine alive. Luckily titles like Hareluya II BOY, Houshin Engi, Rurouni Kenshin, and Hell Teacher Nube helped keep the magazine a float for the beginning of the 2000’s where brand new titles would penetrate the western audiences, introducing the magazine to the western world along with its legacy, its influence, and of course, it’s motto. Series like the Big 3 and Yu-Gi-Oh not only helped Jump recover from the Dark Age but also helped it reach a western audience like never before. Along with older Jump titles that were also having their anime adaptations airing in the west like Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Rurouni Kenshin, Jump began to captivate and influence the west, with this era introducing them to the legendary magazine and a alongside it, its motto that is so ingrained into the magazine and its stories, which is a trend that remains to this day. The 2000’s brought Jump to a modern, mainstream audience outside of Japan and boy did it succeed. Not just that, but also continued to flourish in Japan as well, with the Big 3 all being huge titles that to this day remain as some of the magazines best selling manga in the magazine, with the big one being One Piece, the best selling manga of all time, and a manga that has captivated the country of Japan even to this day. Naruto and Bleach were also huge titles themselves, spawning millions of fans all over the world, and both becoming some of the best selling manga of all time. The big 3 embodied Jump’s motto to its fullest and most raw form, and they went a long way to introduce the concepts of Jump’s motto to a new audience. 
Even with all of this, the 2000’s had titles like The Prince of Tennis, Bleach, and Reborn which all brought huge amounts of female readers to the magazine similar to Otoko Ippiki in the 60’s, Ring ni Kakero in the 70’s, Saint Seiya and Captain Tsubasa in the 80’s, and Rurouni Kenshin in the 90’s. And all of these titles went a long way in introducing the identity of Jump to a new demographic and bringing in a permanent female audience. And with that, we end up in the modern era where Jump continues its legacy even after the finale of popular titles like Bleach which is still beloved by its fans today, to Kochikame which ended after 40 years of publishing and over 200 volumes, to Naruto which received its final chapter in full color, becoming the 4th title in Jump’s history to do so. Despite all of this, Jump continues to thrive and evolve, as it proceeds to continue what all of these different era’s helped to usher in, continuing Jump’s identity and motto, with the new titles continuing to carry these core concepts and further exploring them in new directions, to new audiences, and to new heights. With all of this in mind, I have no doubt that Jump will continue to thrive and evolve for many years forward, after all, just like its motto entails, anything can be accomplished with friendship, effort, and victory.
Links: https://twitter.com/shonensalto/status/1025739149473718275?lang=en
http://landofobscusion.blogspot.com/2013/05/ring-ni-kakero-1-manga-it-all-starts.html
