Mag Talk Seinen and Alternative Manga Magazines

[Kaiten]

This thread is the result of a conversation in the seinen hangout thread. It was noted that their are few resources or information about seinen publications, aside from a few well known magazines. Below is a list, organized by publisher of magazine. I would like to add additional information about magazines. If anyone can find media guides or confirmed publisher information it would be nice to have demographic breakdowns, circulations, and historic information included. I already have the Shueisha Media Guide, so no need for that. Consider this thread a continuous work in progress. For now I am only going to post currently published magazines.

Spoiler: Akita Shoten

• Young Champion
  *Bi-Weekly, second and fourth Tuesday
• Young Champion Retsu
  *Bi-Monthly, even months
• Play Comic
  *First published 1968
  *Bi-Weekly, second and fourth Thursday

Spoiler: ASCII Mediaworks

• Dengeki Maoh
  *Mixed media magazine including seinen manga, light novels, video game information and articles.
  *Mostly bishoujo and moe manga
  *Monthly, 27th
  *First published October 27, 2005
• Dengeki Moeoh
  *Bishoujo, moe, and loli magazine
  *Bi-Monthly, even months
  *First published March 2002

Spoiler: Enterbrain

Beam Comix

• Comic Beam
  *Formerly ASCII Comic
  *Alternative Manga
  *Advertised as "A Magazine For Comic Freaks"
  *Monthly, 12th
  *First Published November, 1995
• Fellows!
  *Alternative Manga
  *Bi-Monthly, even months
  *First published October 14, 2008

Spoiler: Futabasha

Action Comics

• Manga Action
  *B-Weekly, first and third Tuesday
  *Formerly a weekly publication
  *First published July 7, 1967
• Manga Town
  *4Koma
  *Monthly, 5th
  *First published November 5, 2000
• Comic High!
  *Promoted as the first shoujo magazine for men: "Girlish Comics for Boys and Girls"
  *Primarily bishoujo, moe, yuri, and romance manga
  *Otaku magazine
  *Aimed at men 15-35 years old
  *Monthly, 22nd
  *First published March 2, 2004
• Comic Sumomo
  *Primarily bishoujo, moe, and romance manga
  *Otaku Magazine
  *Aimed at men 15-35 years old
  *Bi-Monthly, even months
  *First published August 10, 2010
• Pachisuro V7
  *Manga about playing slot machines
  *Monthly, 20th
  *First Published September 1993

Spoiler: Gentosha

Birz Comics

• Comic Birz
  *Monthly
  *First published July 1996

Spoiler: Hakusensha

Jets Comics

• Young Animal
  *Originally named Animal House
  *May have been a seinen continuation of Monthly Shounen Jets, canceled in the late 1980's
  *Bi-Weekly, second and fourth Friday
  *First published in 1989, name changed to Young Animal in 1992
• Young Animal Arashi
  *Primarily ecchi manga
  *Monthly, first Friday
  *First published March 2000

Spoiler: Hobunsha

Manga Time Comics

• Weekly Manga Time
  *Claim to be the first weekly manga magazine
  *Nicknamed "Shuuman"
  *Weekly, Friday
  *First published November 1956
• Manga Time
  *4Koma magazine
  *The first magazine to exclusively serialize 4koma
  *Monthly, 7th
  *First published June 1981
• Manga Time Jumbo
  *4Koma
  *Monthly, 4th
  *First published April 1995
• Manga Time Original
  *4Koma
  *Monthly, 27th

Manga Time KR Comics

• Manga Time Kirara
  *Primarily 4koma and moe
  *Monthly, 9th
  *First published May 2002
• Manga Time Kirara Carat
  *Primarily 4koma and moe
  *Monthly, 28th
  *First published January 2003
• Manga Time Kirara Forward
  *Primarily moe manga
  *Monthly, 24th
  *First published March 23, 2006
• Manga Time Kirara MAX
  *Primarily 4koma and moe
  *Monthly, 19th
  *First published September 29, 2004

Spoiler: Kodansha

• Young Magazine
  *Currently the best selling seinen magazine
  *Weekly, Every Monday
  *First published June 16, 1980
• Morning
  *Intended for a working class audience
  *Tends to feature more realistic manga than other Kodansha magazines
  *Weekly, Thursday
  *First published in 1982 as Comic Morning
• Afternoon
  *Monthly, 25th
• Evening
  *Bi-Weekly, second and fourth Tuesday
• Morning 2
  *Monthly, 22
  *Began as a seasonal special of Morning in 2006
  *Became a monthly magazine with April 30, 2008 issue
• good! Afternoon
  *Bi-Monthly, odd months
  *companion of Afternoon

Spoiler: Ohta Books

Fx Comics

• Manga Erotics F
  *Alternative manga
  *B-Monthly, Odd Months

editorial blog

Spoiler: Seirinkogeisha

• AX
  *Underground and Avant-Garde comics.
  *Successor to legendary gekiga/avant-garde publication Garo
  *Bi-Monthly

Spoiler: Shogakukan

Big Comics:

• Big Comic Spirits
  *Weekly, every Monday
  *First published October 14, 1980 as a bi-weekly magazine
  *First published as a weekly magazine in April 1986
• Gekkan! Spirits
  *Monthly, 27th
  *First Published August 27, 2009
• Big Comic Superior
  *Bi-Weekly, second and fourth Friday of the month.
  *First Published July 1, 1987
• Big Comic Original
  *Bi-Weekly, 5th and 20th
  *First Published in 1972
• Big Comic
  *Bi-Weekly, 10th and 25th
  *First Published February 29, 1968

Sunday GX Comics

• Monthly Sunday GX
  *Monthly, 19th
  *First Published July 19, 2000

IKKI Comix

• IKKI
  *Alternative Manga
  *Monthly, 25th
  *First published as bi-monthly Spirits Zoukan IKKI, November 2000
  *First published as a monthly magazine with the April 2003 issue

Spoiler: Shueisha

Young Jump Comics

• Weekly Young Jump
  *Weekly, Every Wednesday
  *Number two seinen magazine in terms of circulation, behind only Kodansha's Young Magazine
  *First published 1979
  *Gender: 84.6% Males, 15.4% Female
  *Age: 16 - 4.2%, 17~19 - 13.5%, 20~23 - 21.2%, 24~27 - 25.8%, 28 - 35.3%
• Ultra Jump
  *Focused on Action, Fantasy, and Science Fiction manga
  *Monthly, 19th
  *First published October 19, 1999
  *Gender: 94.8% Male, 5.2% Female
  *Age: 19 - 29.4%, 20~24 - 25.7%, 25~29 - 23.5%, 30 - 21.4%
• Miracle Jump
  *Intended to blur the line between shounen and seinen but maintains ties to Weekly Young Jump
  *A re-branding of Monthly Young Jump
  *Focused on Fantasy and Science Fiction manga
  *Bi-Monthly
  *First Published January 13, 2011
• Business Jump
  *Salary man magazine, intended for an middle age audience
  *Bi-Weekly, 1st and 15th
  *Final Issue is scheduled for October 5, 2011
  *Will be merged with Super Jump
  *Gender: 89% Male, 11% Female
  *Age: 19 - 2.8%, 20~29 - 16.4%, 30~39 - 31.7%, 40~49 - 34.4%, 50 - 14.7%

Jump Comics Deluxe

• Super Jump
  *Originally intended for readers who outgrew Weekly Shounen Jump but were to young for Weekly Young Jump. Has since become a salaryman magazine.
  *Bi-Weekly, second and fourth week
  *First published December 20, 1986
  *Final issue scheduled for October 12, 2011
  *To be merged with Business Jump
  *Gender: 89.5% Male, 10.5% Female
  *Age: 15~19 - 3.2%, 20~24 - 6.6%, 25~29 - 22%, 30~34 - 37.1%, 35 - 31.1%

• Grand Jump
  *To replace Business Jump and Super Jump
  *Bi-Weekly
  *First issue scheduled for November, 2011

2011 Shueisha Media Guide.

Spoiler: Square Enix

Young Gangan Comics

• Young Gangan
  *Bi-Weekly, first and third Friday
  *First published December 3, 2004

Will be updated with other publishers as I get the time.

 

[Kaiten]

Re: Weekly Shonen Jump [2011] - Discussion and TOC Talk - Part 2

1day refers to the 3 magazines of Kodansha named after a part of a day (morning, afternoon, evening). I'm not sure if there is an editorial coherence between the 3, Kaiten probably knows more about that
fx comic is the label under which are printed the manga prepublished in Manga Erotics F in particular

They are independent but meant to compliment each other. Rather than have one magazine that appeals to a broad audience they have three, each appealing to a slightly different segment and different age groups. There is a degree of stylistic coherence between the three but they are more independent than say WSJ and SQ are from each other. There are some very famous 1Day manga that most casual manga fans would know: Genshiken, Vagabond, Chi's Sweet Home, Mushishi, Blade of the Immortal, Vinland Saga, Oh My Goddess, and Historie come to mind.

Manga Erotics F is a bi-monthly alternative manga magazine similar to IKKI or Comic Beam. It is not ****** if anyone is wondering.

 

[Josef]

Aren't all magazines pretty much mainstream? Or is the alternative label about something different? I mean is there such a thing as "underground" magazines? Though I suppose some web releases like Paperakyu could fall into alternative, or more independent ways of placing the manga "out there".

 

[Ecchi Boy]

my favorite seinen magazine would be Weekly Young Jump I really want to read a manga from Grand Jump
plus would Jump X considered a Seinen magazine too.

 

[kewl0210]

Yeah, Jump X is seinen.
Most of these are still fairly mainstream. Non-mainstream would be like, the self-published stuff or webcomics like NEET-sha. But these are slightly lesser known. Once in a while there's a jem among them.
I think the idea was these are "Seinen magazines" and also "Alternative magazines". Not "Alternative Seinen Magazines". Alternative being like, really weird stuff like this:
http://kotonoha.monkey-pirate.com/category/alternative/

Obviously, something like Young Animal isn't an alternative magazine, having Berserk and 3-Gatsu no Lion which are two of the most popular manga in Japan in them.

 

[Kaiten]

Aren't all magazines pretty much mainstream? Or is the alternative label about something different? I mean is there such a thing as "underground" magazines? Though I suppose some web releases like Paperakyu could fall into alternative, or more independent ways of placing the manga "out there".

There is a tradition of underground manga in Japan dating back to the late 50's, preceding even many of the earliest seinen magazines. Garo, which began publication in 1964, is probably the most famous of the older alternative magazine. There continues to be magazines that follow in Garo's footsteps with IKKI, Manga Erotics F, and Comic Beam being the most famous. AX, Garo's successor, is also a well known example of alternative publications. So is the now defunct Comic Cue. Alternative manga do not have to be serialized in alternative magazines. Some of the best known Japanese practitioners of the La Nouvelle movement such as Matsumoto Taiyo, Taniguchi Jiro, Oda Hideji, and Anno Moyoko have seen most of their work serialized in mainstream magazines. Others alternative artists such as Igarashi Daisuke have been serialized in both mainstream and alternative publications. Furuya Usamaru has even been serialized in such legendary underground magazines as Garo and Comic Cue, but has also twice been serialized in Jump SQ. Aside from a few "pure" alternative publications (AX, NEET-Sha) it's kind of nebulous terrain.

Yeah, Jump X is seinen.
Most of these are still fairly mainstream. Non-mainstream would be like, the self-published stuff or webcomics like NEET-sha. But these are slightly lesser known. Once in a while there's a jem among them.
I think the idea was these are "Seinen magazines" and also "Alternative magazines". Not "Alternative Seinen Magazines". Alternative being like, really weird stuff like this:
http://kotonoha.monkey-pirate.com/category/alternative/

Obviously, something like Young Animal isn't an alternative magazine, having Berserk and 3-Gatsu no Lion which are two of the most popular manga in Japan in them.

Shueisha declined to give Jump X a demographic, instead describing it (I paraphrase) as a "pure manga magazine". Instead they gathered mangaka with experience in seinen, josei, shounen magazines, and dumped them all in one anthology. Shueisha seems to be edging away from defining demographics recently. Chorus was recently rechristened Cocohana and curiously promoted as "a shoujo magazine for adults".

If anyone is interested: Garden, the first title in the page Kewl linked to, is by the mangaka of Genkaku Picasso and Teiichi no Kuni.

 

[gananime]

I didn't find a thread specific to Afternoon (I found one for Morning though), I wanted to know: Is Kabu no Isaki ongoing or has it ended? It has been getting regular updates these days, hence I asked. I was of the opinion that it's an irregularly serialized series and hence so less chapters..
On a side note, I love Ashinano sensei's works...Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is my all time favorite (I wonder why it's not getting licensed in English)...and Kabu no Isaki is pretty good too.
I wonder if he'll start another series!

 

[Heiji]

Is Kabu no Isaki ongoing or has it ended?

End.

 

[Erinyes]

I dont know where to post this as i didnt find any other thread. Just wanted to share this from Akiko Higashimura Twitter where she mentioned her interest for this manga , The Bear Hunter by Yabuto Ajima published in Kurage Bunch mag (Shinchosa)

I really like the vibes it gives in the cover ( it's currently in its 5th volume)

 

[Erinyes]

No josei & shojo section ?
Just wanted to share that lovely Ao no Hana Utsuwa no Mori's color page from last Flowers montly issue (Shokagukan). This manga caught my attention, but sadly only one chapter is available in scan, sp far...

 

[Erinyes]

Ousama Ranking vol 12 (it's seemingly the last volume)

Spoiler

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 18, 2021, Original Post Date: Nov 12, 2021 ---

 

[Erinyes]

That s great, I wanted so badly to see that manga translated !

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 10, 2022, Original Post Date: Jul 5, 2022 ---

Ousama Ranking vol #14

 

[Erinyes]

Oh
Love that art!

 

[Mammo]

Nikiichi Tobita (Dragon Quest Bonfire NEET doujin) started an official Elden Ring manga lol

it already have an official English translation

ELDEN RING　The Road to the Erdtree

Aseo, a poor, Tarnished wretch, finds himself cast out into Limgrave—naked, penniless, hopeless, and maidenless. His only hope in his harsh, unforgiving new home is a mysterious woman named Melina. She urges him to follow the guidance of grace to the Erdtree that looms over the Lands Between...

comic-walker.com

 

[Erinyes]

Kimi wa Nazo Toki no Ma Cherie vol #3

Spoiler

 

[Erinyes]

Kawasemi-san no Tsurigohan Vol.7

Spoiler

 

[Erinyes]

Noboruda vol #3

Spoiler

 

[Mammo]

an original pokemon manga by Drifting Dragon author on paper sounds like a great concept but this looks like it' going to be a throwaway thingy
hopefully i'm wrong

 

[Erinyes]

Made in Abyss vol #12

Spoiler

 

[Mammo]

after what happened to Hoshi no Samidare I'm going to curb my enthusiasm