is an editorial category of

Japanese comics Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

marketed toward

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''

Weekly Manga Times is a Japanese weekly seinen manga magazine published by Houbunsha since November 1956. The publisher claims it was Japan’s first weekly manga magazine, and the magazine is published every Friday. While its name resembles that of its sister maga ...

'' and ''

Weekly Manga Goraku is a Japanese weekly manga magazine published since 1968 by Nihon Bungeisha which targets a demographic of adult men. The magazine is published every Friday. Serialized works Listed alphabetically by title. *''69 Denashi'' (Yasuhito Yamamoto) * ...

'' which cater specifically to men's interests, and are marketed towards a

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...

of young adult men between the ages of 18 and 40. ''Seinen'' manga are distinguished from ''shōnen'' manga which are for young teen boys, although some ''seinen'' manga like '' xxxHolic'' share similarities with ''shōnen'' manga. ''Seinen'' manga can focus on action, politics, science fiction, fantasy, relationships, sports, or comedy. The female equivalent to ''seinen'' manga is ''josei'' manga. ''Seinen'' manga have a wide variety of art styles and variation in subject matter. Examples of ''seinen'' series include: '' Berserk'', '' AKIRA'', ''

20th Century Boys is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It was originally serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1999 to 2006, with the 249 chapters published into 22 '' tankōbon' ...

'', ''

One Punch Man is a Japanese superhero manga series created by One. It tells the story of Saitama, a superhero who, because he can defeat any opponent with a single punch, grows bored from a lack of challenge. One wrote the original webcomic manga v ...

'', ''

Golden Kamuy is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Satoru Noda. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from August 2014 to April 2022, with its chapters collected in thirty-one ''tankōbon'' volumes. The s ...

'', ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the seinen manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized in 1989 under the subtitle of ''The Ghost in the Shell'' ...

'', ''

Hellsing ''Hellsing'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's ''seinen'' manga magazine '' Young King OURs'' from May 1997 to September 2008, with its c ...

'', ''

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

'', ''

Initial D is a Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 ''ta ...

'', ''

Maison Ikkoku is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1980 to 1987, with the chapters collected into 15 ''tankōbon'' volumes. ' ...

'', ''

Master Keaton is a Japanese manga series created by Hokusei Katsushika, Naoki Urasawa, and Takashi Nagasaki. It was serialized in '' Big Comic Original'' from 1988 to 1994, with the 144 chapters collected into 18 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. An ...

'', ''

Mushishi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Urushibara. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Afternoon Season Zōkan'' from 1999 to 2002, and in ''Monthly Afternoon'' from December 2002 to August 200 ...

'', ''

Oh My Goddess! , or ''Ah! My Goddess!'' in some releases, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from September 1988 to April 2014, ...

'', ''

Outlaw Star is a Japanese anime Television show, television series produced by Sunrise (company), Sunrise and Seinen manga, ''seinen'' manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Itō. The series takes place in the "Toward Stars Era" universe i ...

'', and ''

Tokyo Ghoul is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' between September 2011 and September 2014, and was collected in four ...

'', as well as the formerly ''shōnen'' manga series ''

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly ''seinen'' manga ...

'' and ''

Trigun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. ''Trigun'' was first serialized in Tokuma Shoten's Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Shōnen Captain'' from April 1995 to January 1997, when the mag ...

''. A common way to tell if a manga is ''seinen'' is by looking at whether ''

furigana is a Japanese reading aid consisting of smaller kana or syllabic characters printed either above or next to kanji (logographic characters) or other characters to indicate their pronunciation. It is one type of ruby text. Furigana is also known ...

'' is used over the original

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

text: if there are ''furigana'' on all kanji, the title is generally aimed at a younger audience. The title of the magazine it was published in is also an important indicator. Usually, Japanese manga magazines with the word "young" in the title (''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's ''Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in ''tankōbon'' v ...

'' for instance) are ''seinen''. There are also mixed ''shōnen''/''seinen'' magazines such as ''

Gangan Powered is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mark ...

'' and ''

Comp Ace is a Japanese PC game, computer game and manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. ''Comp Ace'' began as a special edition version of another one of Kadokawa Shoten's magazines, ''Comptiq''. The first issue was released on March 26, 2005, and ...

''. Other popular ''seinen'' manga magazines include ''

Weekly Young Magazine is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at the adult male ( ''seinen'') demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the seco ...

'', ''

Weekly Young Sunday was a weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan since the first issue on March 27, 1987. It replaced '' Shōnen Big Comic'' in Shogakukan's lineup of shōnen titles, and many of the titles in ''Shōnen Big Comic'' were continued in ...

'', ''

Big Comic Spirits is a weekly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. The first issue was published on October 14, 1980. Food, sports, romance and business are recurring themes in the magazine, and the stories often question conventional va ...

'', ''

Business Jump , was a Japanese seinen manga anthology published by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga of ''Business Jump'' were published under the "Young Jump Comics" line. This magazine's mascot was an anthropomorphic, Western-style mous ...

'', ''

Ultra Jump is a Japanese monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Originally, the magazine was a special issue of ''Weekly Young Jump'' which was first issued in 1995. On October 19, 1999, the special issue beca ...

'', and ''

Afternoon Afternoon is the time after solar noon. It is the time when the sun is descending from its peak in the sky to somewhat before its terminus at the horizon in the west. In human life, it occupies roughly the latter half of the standard work and s ...

''. One of the earliest manga magazines published in Japan was a ''seinen'' publication: ''

'', was released in 1956. It was aimed squarely at middle-aged men, featuring erotic fiction and manga and talestwo of the main ''shōnen'' manga titles appeared: ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine 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 significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

'' and ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...

''. Then in 1967, the first of the magazines aimed at younger men appeared: ''

Weekly Manga Action is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Futabasha. It is currently published twice a month, on the first and third Thursday. The magazine was originally formed as and began publishing weekly from July 7, 1967. It is considered the f ...

'', which scored big hits with ''

Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène ...

'', ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, and is ...

'', and later '' Crayon Shin-chan''. ''

Big Comic is a semimonthly ''seinen'' manga magazine published since 18 February 1968 by Shogakukan in Japan. It was originally launched as a monthly magazine, but switched to twice monthly on the 10th and 25th beginning in April 1968. It is paired wit ...

'' followed in 1968, perhaps best known for its series ''

Golgo 13 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic'' since October 1968. The series follows the title character, a professional assassin for hire. ''Golgo ...

''. The year 1972 saw the addition of ''

Big Comic Original is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan, aimed at an older adult and mostly male audience. It is a sister magazine to ''Big Comic'', the biggest difference being that it goes on sale twice a month in the weeks ''Big Comic ...

'', which featured ''

Tsuribaka Nisshi is a Japanese fishing-themed manga series written by Jūzō Yamasaki and illustrated by Kenichi Kitami. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Original'' since 1979. It won the 28th Shogakukan Manga Awa ...

'', a manga about two older men who enjoy fishing; the manga was made into a series of popular movies. In 1979, the publisher

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

, known for ''

Weekly Shonen Jump Weekly, The Weekly, or variations, may refer to: News media * ''Weekly'' (news magazine), an English-language national news magazine published in Mauritius *Weekly newspaper, any newspaper published on a weekly schedule *Alternative newspaper, als ...

'' for teen boys, entered the ''seinen'' market with ''

''. Many ''Young Jump'' series have been adapted into anime or live action TV programs, such as ''

Elfen Lied is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Young Jump'' from June 2002 to August 2005, with the 107 chapters collected into twelve ''tankōbon'' volumes. ''Elfen ...

'', ''

Gantz ''Gantz'' (stylized as ''GANTZ'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from June 2000 to June 2013, with its chapters collected i ...

'', ''

Hen Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a village in Ringer ...

'', '' Kirara'', ''

Liar Game ''Liar Game'' (stylized as ''LIAR GAME'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shinobu Kaitani. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from February 2005 to January 2015. It was adap ...

'', ''

Oku-sama wa Joshi Kōsei is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiyoko Kobayashi. It started in the supplementary edition of Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'', ''Young Jump Zōkan Mankaku'' in January 2001, before being tran ...

'', and ''

Zetman ''Zetman'' (stylized as ''ZETMAN'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masakazu Katsura. The series started as a 49-page one-shot in the 1994 Autumn Special of Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. ...

''.

Magazines

A list of the top Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazines by circulation in the time-span from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010.

References

External links

Japanese Magazine Publishers Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seinen Manga Anime and manga terminology Men's entertainment

Magazines

See also

References

External links