, formerly known as , is a Japanese manga magazine published by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

, aimed at teenage girls. It was originally conceived as a , or companion magazine, to ''

Shōjo Friend was a shōjo manga magazine formerly published by Kodansha, beginning in 1962. Kodansha used the knowledge gained from publishing magazines aimed at young girls, including ''Nakayoshi'' and '' Shōjo Club'', as well as the experience from publi ...

'', which is no longer published. ''Bessatsu Friend'' is commonly known by the abbreviated name and is published on the 13th of each month. The magazine originally featured manga focused on romance; however, with the start of publications by manga artists like

Keiko Suenobu is a female Japanese shōjo manga artist from Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka. She graduated from the School of Art and Design at the University of Tsukuba with a major in sculpture. In 2006, Suenobu's manga series, ''Life'' won the Kodansha Manga Award fo ...

, it began publishing such that moved away from that main focus. publishes manga by many well known manga artists, such as

Miwa Ueda is a Japanese manga artist, known for her works like ''Peach Girl'' and ''Angel Wars''. In 1999, she received the Kodansha Manga Award for '' shōjo'' for ''Peach Girl''. Miwa was born on September 29 in Hyōgo, Japan. She worked for some time ...

Satomi Ikezawa is a Japanese manga artist. Her works include '' Guru Guru Pon-chan'', '' Othello'' and '' Sue-chan wa Himitsu''. In 2000, she received the Kodansha Manga Award in the '' shōjo'' category for ''Guru Guru Pon-chan''. Works *'' Anatomy of a Se ...

, Ayu Watanabe,

Fuyumi Soryo is a Japanese manga artist. Life Soryo was born in Beppu, Oita, Japan. She is a graduate of the Oita prefectural Geijutsu Midorigaoka High School. She was born into the home of a master of the Kanze school of Noh. In her childhood she liked ...

, Nanba Atsuko, and Keiko Suenobu. In October 2005, a manga serialized in ''Bessatsu Friend'' titled ''

Flower of Eden is a Japanese manga created by author Yuki Suetsugu. Story Midori Wakatsuki is a beautiful but introverted girl who simply cannot connect with her peers and wants to run away from home. The reason for her unsociability is that after her paren ...

'' was pulled from publication and recalled by both Kodansha and North American publisher

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

, after it was revealed that the manga artist,

Yuki Suetsugu is a Japanese manga artist. Career She debuted in 1992 in Kodansha's ''Nakayoshi'' magazine with ''Taiyō no Romance''. Her works later moved to ''Bessatsu Friend'' magazine, also published by Kodansha. Her career was put on hiatus in October ...

, had copied art directly from ''

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

'' and ''

Real Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

'' by

Takehiko Inoue is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the basketball series ''Slam Dunk (manga), Slam Dunk'' (1990–1996), and the ''jidaigeki'' manga ''Vagabond (manga), Vagabond'', which are two of List of best-selling manga, the best-selling man ...

. After that, official imports of ''Bessatsu Friend'' publications became scarce. __TOC__

Serialization

Current

*'' Hana-kun to Koisuru Watashi'' (2011–present) *'' A Girl & Her Guard Dog'' (2018–present) *''Wotadol: Oshi ga Watashi de Watashi ga Oshi de'' (2019–present) *''My Girlfriend's Child'' (2021–present) *'' L DK Pink'' (2022–present)

Past

1977–1989

*''

Akogare is a Japanese slice of life romance '' shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Chieko Hosokawa. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Bessatsu Friend'' manga magazine and a total of five volumes were published. A 24-episode live action tel ...

'' (1970)

1990–1999

*''

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

'' (1996–2000) *''

Peach Girl is a Japanese shōjo manga series by Miwa Ueda. A high school drama centered on character Momo Adachi, her love life, friendships and rivalries, it was published in Japan by Kodansha in ''Bessatsu Friend'' from 1998 to 2003 and collecte ...

'' (1997–2004) *''

Guru Guru Pon-chan is a Japanese manga series by Satomi Ikezawa about a Labrador puppy, named Ponta, who turns into a human and falls in love with Mirai Iwaki, who's very popular in his school. In 2000, it won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. It was publi ...

'' (1998–2000) *''

Girl Got Game ''Girl Got Game'', originally published in Japan as ''Power!!'', is a manga series written and illustrated by Shizuru Seino. Originally serialized in ''Bessatsu Friend'' from 1999 until 2002, the individual chapters have been collected and pub ...

'' (1999–2002)

2000–2009

*''

'' (2000–2004) *'' The Wallflower'' (2000–2015) *''

A Perfect Day for Love Letters is a Japanese manga short story series written and illustrated by George Asakura. Each story depicts a relationship that revolves around the use of love letters. The stories were originally published by Kodansha in the '' shōjo'' (aimed at ...

'' (2001) *''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'' (2001–2004) *''

My Heavenly Hockey Club is a manga series written and illustrated by Ai Morinaga. It is published by Kodansha in Japan and Del Rey Manga in America. The series ran for 14 volumes, ending in 2005. The first eight volumes were released in North America. Series Over ...

'' (2002–2005) *''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' (2002–2009) *'' Senpai to Kanojo'' (2004–2005) *'' Peach Girl: Sae's Story'' (2004–2008) *''

Love Attack! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shizuru Seino. It was serialized in the Japanese manga magazine ''Bessatsu Friend'' from September 2004 to July 2009 for a total of 13 volumes. The individual chapters were collected and ...

'' (2005–2009) *''

A Song to the Sun is a 2006 Japanese film directed by Norihiro Koizumi starring Yui. Upon release, ''A Song to the Sun'' was financially successful and helped launch Yui's music career. In addition, Yui also won the Best Newcomer Actress at the 30th Japan Academy ...

'' (2006) *'' Minima!'' (2006–2008) *'' Papillon'' (2007–2009) *'' Love's Reach'' (2008–2011) *'' Drowning Love'' (2009–2014) *''

L DK ''L DK'', stylized as ''L♥DK'', is a shōjo manga by Ayu Watanabe, serialized in the Japanese manga magazine ''Bessatsu Friend'' since 2009; it has been adapted into a live-action film that was released in 2014. The story tells about the ...

'' (2009–2017)

2010–2019

*''

Kyō no Kira-kun is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Rin Mikimoto. It is published by Kodansha on ''Bessatsu Friend''. The first volume was published on 13 January 2012. A live-action adaptation was released on February 25, 2017. P ...

'' (2012–2014) *'' P and JK'' (2013–2020) *''

Kiss Him, Not Me ''Kiss Him, Not Me'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese romantic comedy '' shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Junko. It was serialzed in Kodansha's ''Bessatsu Friend'' magazine from April 2013 to February 2018. Fourteen ''tan ...

'' (2014–2019) *''

Defying Kurosaki-kun is a Japanese '' shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Makino. It is published by Kodansha since 2014, with serialization on ''Bessatsu Friend''. A live-action film adaptation with the international title ''The Black Devil and t ...

'' (2014–2021) *''

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight is a Japanese manga series by Rin Mikimoto. ''Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight'' was serial (literature), serialized in the monthly List of manga magazines, manga magazine ''Bessatsu Friend'' from April 13, 2015 to May 13, 2020. A live-actio ...

'' (2015–2020)

Related magazines

* ''

Nakayoshi is a monthly ''shōjo'' manga magazine published by Kodansha in Japan. First issued in December 1954, it is a long-running magazine with over 60 years of manga publication history. Notable titles serialized in Nakayoshi include ''Princess Knight ...

'' * '' Shojo Friend'' * ''

Dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...

References

External links

* * {{Kodansha manga magazines 1965 establishments in Japan Kodansha magazines Magazines established in 1965 Magazines published in Tokyo Monthly manga magazines published in Japan Shōjo manga magazines