Weekly Shōnen Magazine

Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Japanese: 週刊少年マガジン, Hepburn: Shūkan Shōnen Magajin) is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a large portion of its readership falling under the male high school or college student demographic. According to circulation figures accumulated by the Japanese Magazine Publishers Association, circulation of the magazine has dropped in every quarter since records were first collected in April–June, 2008. This is however, not an isolated occurrence as digital media continues to be on the rise.

Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Cover of first issue, featuring sumo wrestler Asashio Tarō III
CategoriesShōnen manga[1][2]
FrequencyWeekly
Circulation883,804[1]
(July–September, 2016)
PublisherKodansha
First issueMarch 17, 1959 (1959-03-17)
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
WebsiteShōnen Magazine

It is one of the best-selling manga magazines. By March 2008, the magazine had 2,942 issues, having sold 4.55 billion copies, with an average weekly circulation of 1,546,567. At an average issue price of ¥129 ($1.29), the magazine had generated approximately ¥590 billion ($5.9 billion ) in sales revenue by March 2008. In addition, about 1 billion compiled tankōbon volumes had been sold by March 2008.[3]

Jason Thompson stated that it is "more down-to-earth, as well as just a tad more guy-oriented" compared to Weekly Shōnen Jump and likened this magazine to "more like something you'd find in the guys' locker room."[4]

Features

Series
Main article: List of series run in Weekly Shōnen Magazine

There are currently 24 manga titles being serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine.

Series Title Author Premiered
A Couple of Cuckoos (カッコウの許嫁) Miki Yoshikawa January 2020
Ace of Diamond Act II (ダイヤのA Act II) Yūji Terajima August 2015
Ahiru no Sora (あひるの空) Takeshi Hinata December 2003
Bakemonogatari (化物語) Nisio Isin, Oh! great March 2018
Beast No. 6 (獣の六番) Kohei Nagashii September 2020
Blue Lock (ブルーロック) Mineyuki Kaneshiro & Yūsuke Nomura August 2018
Danshi Kōkōsei o Yashinaitai Onē-san no Hanashi (男子高校生を養いたいお姉さんの話) Hideki April 2018
Edens Zero (エデンズ ゼロ) Hiro Mashima June 2018
Fire Force (炎炎ノ消防隊, En'en no Shouboutai) Atsushi Ōkubo September 2015
Hajime no Ippo (はじめの一歩) George Morikawa October 1989
Hitman (ヒットマン) Kōji Seo June 2018
Kangi Banka (カンギバンカ) Imamura Shougo, Megumi Kouji November 2020
Kanojo mo Kanojo (カノジョも彼女) Hiroyuki March 2020
Koi ka Mahō ka Wakaranai! (恋か魔法かわからない！) Attsun December 2020
Majō ni Sasageru Trick (魔女に捧げるトリック) Shizumu Watanabe August 2020
Mokushiroku no Yonkishi (黙示録の四騎士) Nakaba Suzuki January 2021
Rent-A-Girlfriend (彼女、お借りします, Kanojo, Okarishimasu) Reiji Miyajima July 2017
Seitokai Yakuindomo (生徒会役員共) Tozen Ujiie July 2008
Sentai Daishikkaku (戦隊大失格) Negi Haruba February 2021
Shangri-La Frontier (シャングリラ・フロンティア, Shangurira Furontia) Katarina, Ryōsuke Fuji July 2020
Smile Down the Runway (ランウェイで笑って, Runway de Waratte) Kotoba Inoya May 2017
Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru (それでも歩は寄せてくる) Sōichirō Yamamoto March 2019
Tesla Note (テスラノート) Nishida Masafumi, Tadayoshi Kubo, Sannomiya Kouta January 2021
To Your Eternity (不滅のあなたへ, Fumetsu no Anata e) Yoshitoki Ōima November 2016
Tokyo Revengers (東京卍リベンジャーズ) Ken Wakui March 2017

Circulation
Circulation
Date(s)January–MarchApril–JuneJuly–SeptemberOctober–DecemberMagazine salesRef
March 1959 to March 2008 1,546,567 4,550,000,000 [3]
April 2008 to December 2008 — 1,755,000 1,720,000 1,691,667 67,166,671 [5]
20091,664,1671,633,3341,614,6161,593,637 84,574,802 [6]
20101,571,2311,565,0001,556,2501,551,819 81,175,900 [7]
20111,529,6931,491,5001,489,5841,472,084 77,777,193 [8]
20121,447,5001,436,0171,412,5841,404,834 74,112,155 [9]
20131,376,7921,357,0001,324,2091,308,117 69,759,534 [10]
20141,277,5001,245,4171,211,7501,192,267 64,050,142 [11]
20151,156,0591,127,0421,107,8401,085,110 58,188,663 [11][12]
20161,038,4501,015,659995,017986,017 52,456,859 [1][13]
2017964,158932,713883,804840,667 47,077,446 [13]
January 2018 to March 2018 815,458 — — — 10,600,954 [13]
March 1959 to March 2018 1,512,692[3][13] 5,236,940,319

Reception

The Weekly Shōnen Magazine achieved success in the 1970s and subsequently had increased sales. As a result, it became the top selling manga magazine in Japan of its period, appearing popular amongst many otaku. But the position was later occupied by Weekly Shōnen Jump, when this competitor was born in 1968, knocking Shonen Magazine off the top spot. Shōnen Jump had now begun to circulate and dominate the manga magazine market. This began from the 1970s and continued throughout the 1990s, largely owed to Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. In the middle of the 1990s, Shōnen Jump suffered the loss of Dragon Ball, as the franchise had come to an end in 1996, and thus lost much of its readership. Shōnen Magazine had now made a comeback in October 1997, regaining its original position as the top selling manga magazine of its day until this was brokered in 2002. Currently, the two magazines have competed closely in terms of market circulation. Sales of the two magazines now remain very close. Circulation has dropped below two million.[14] In a rare event due to the closeness of the two magazine's founding dates, Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday released a special combined issue on March 19, 2008. In addition, other commemorative events, merchandise, and manga crossovers were planned for the following year as part of the celebrations.[15] Others include Shōnen Magazine, published by Kobunsha of the same Kodansha group. Shōnen Magazine famously serialized Tetsujin 28-go, the first anime Mecha from July 1956 to May 1966.

See also

References
  1. "Boy's Manga" (in Japanese). Japanese Magazine Publishers Association. September 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  2. Thompson, Jason (2007). Manga: The Complete Guide. Del Rey Books. pp. 338–339. ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8.
  3. "Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday Mark 50th Anniversary (Updated)". Anime News Network. March 18, 2008. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  4. Thompson, Jason (February 2, 2012). "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Harlem Beat". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  5. 2008 circulation figures:
  6. 2009 circulation figures:
  7. 2010 circulation figures:
  8. 2011 circulation figures:
  9. 2012 circulation figures:
  10. 2013 circulation figures:
  11. "Top Manga Magazines' Circulation Dropped 10%+ in 1 Year". Anime News Network. April 28, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  12. 2015 circulation figures
  13. "Circulation figures "Boy's Manga" January-March, 2016". Japanese Magazine Publishers Association. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  14. "Weekly Shonen Magazine Circulation Drops Under 2M".
  15. Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday Mark 50th Anniversary (Updated) - Anime News Network
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