Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Cover of the first issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine, published in 1959
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| Categories | Shōnen manga |
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| Frequency | Weekly |
| Circulation | 995,017 (July–September, 2016) |
| Publisher | Kodansha |
| First issue | March 17, 1959 |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Website | 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 in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. Despite some unusual censorship policies (until just recently, it was one of the only shōnen magazines to forbid the depiction of female nipples), it's 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.
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. 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. 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.
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