is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan 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 ...

, 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 school or college student demographic. According to circulation figures accumulated by the Japanese Magazine Publishers Association, the magazine's circulation 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. It is one of the best-selling manga magazines. By March 2008, the magazine had 2,942 issues, having sold 4.55billion copies, with an average weekly circulation of . At an average issue price of ($), the magazine had generated approximately () in sales revenue by March 2008. In addition, about compiled ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes had been sold by March 2008. Jason Thompson stated that it is "more down-to-earth, as well as just a tad more guy-oriented" compared to ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...

'' and likened this magazine to "more like something you'd find in the guys' locker room."

Features

Series

There are currently 27 manga titles being serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine''. Out of them, ''Ahiru no Sora'' and ''To Your Eternity'' are currently on hiatus.

Circulation

Reception

The ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' achieved success in the 1970s and subsequently had increased sales. As a result, it became the top-selling

manga 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 u ...

magazine in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

of its period, appearing popular amongst many

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorat ...

. But the position was later occupied by ''

'', when this competitor was born in 1968, knocking ''Shōnen Magazine'' off the top spot. ''Shōnen Jump'' had begun to circulate and dominate the manga magazine market. This started from the 1970s and continued throughout the 1990s, owed mainly to Akira Toriyama's ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...

''. 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. In a rare event due to the closeness of the two magazine's founding dates, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' 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, ...

'' 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.Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday Mark 50th Anniversary (Updated) - Anime News Network
/ref> Others include ''Shōnen Magazine'', published by

Kobunsha Kobunsha ( ja, 光文社 ''Kōbunsha'') is a Japanese publishing company. It publishes literature, manga novels, and women's magazines. Company history Kobunsha was established on October 1, 1945, and belongs to the Kodansha group. The company h ...

of the same

group. ''Shōnen Magazine'' famously serialized ''

Tetsujin 28-go , known as simply ''Tetsujin 28'' in international releases, is a 1956 manga written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who also created '' Giant Robo''. The series centers on the adventures of a young boy named Shotaro Kaneda, who ...

'', the first

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...

anime from July 1956 to May 1966.

References

External links