is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word means "youth", but the term " manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Manga Times'' and '' Weekly Manga Goraku,'' which write on topics of interest to male university students and workingmen. manga is distinguished from manga, which is for adolescent boys, and , which are intended for adult audiences and often contain explicit content. Some manga like '' xxxHolic'' share similarities with manga. manga can focus on action, politics, science fiction, fantasy, relationships, sports, or comedy. The female equivalent to manga is manga. Usually, Japanese manga magazines with the word "young" in the title (''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese 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 volumes under the "Y ...

,'' for instance) are . There are also mixed / magazines such as '' Gangan Powered'' and '' Comp Ace''. Other popular manga magazines include ''

Weekly Young Magazine is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine started on June 16, 1980, and is targeted at the adult male () demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the second and fourth ...

'', '' Weekly Young Sunday'', '' Big Comic Spirits'', '' Business Jump'', ''

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 bec ...

'', and '' Afternoon''.

History

manga magazines were preceded by ''Weekly Manga Times'', a weekly magazine for men that first started publishing in 1956, and by the 1959 emergence of two popular magazines: ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' and ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. The first magazines emerged in 1967 with 's ''Young Comic'' and

Futabasha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in , Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Futabasha is known for its manga works, and its 1967 magazine Manga Action first conceived of the manga category, decades before the other major companies tested th ...

's ''

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 ...

'', the latter of which scored big hits with ''

Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese media franchise created by Monkey Punch. The series follows the endeavors of master thief Lupin III (character), Lupin III, grandson of gentleman t ...

'', ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. It was serialized in Futabasha's manga magazine '' Weekly Manga Action'' from September 1970 to April 1976, with its chapters collected in 28 ' volumes. ...

'', and later ''

Crayon Shin-chan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshito Usui. ''Crayon Shin-chan'' made its first appearance in 1990 in a Japanese weekly magazine called ''Weekly Manga Action'', which was published by Futabasha. Due to the death of ...

''. Several more manga magazines began in 1968, including ''Big Comic'', 's ''Color Comics'', ''Manga Comic'' (also from ), and ''Play Comic'' (). The year 1972 saw the addition of ''Big Comic'''s sister magazine, ''

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

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

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

, known for '' Weekly Shonen Jump'' for teen boys, entered the market with ''

''. Many ''Young Jump'' series have been adapted into anime or live-action TV programs, such as '' Elfen Lied'', '' Gantz'', '' Hen'', '' Kirara'', '' Liar Game and'' '' Oku-sama wa Joshi Kōsei.''

Characteristics

manga often explore similar themes to manga, but tend to feature darker or otherwise more mature story lines which may include graphic depictions of sex or violence. Genres of manga, too, are similar to those frequently found in manga - including action,

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

, war, romance,

slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to Naturalism (theatre), naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

, and

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

- but some genres are more popular in than manga. For example, harem manga is perennially popular in publications. Sexism is pervasive in Japanese media made for young men, and manga is no exception. For example, manga often features highly sexualized images of schoolgirls meant to titillate heterosexual adult male readers, and when male nudity is present, it is typically depicted "as a form of sexual aggression and an assertion of social status".

Magazines

The following is a list of the top Japanese manga magazines by monthly circulation during the timespan of October 1 to December 31, 2024.

References

External links

Japanese Magazine Publishers Association
(archived 2 April 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Seinen Manga Anime and manga terminology Men's entertainment

History

Characteristics

Magazines

See also

References

External links