Mag Talk Bessatsu Shonen Magazine

[Kaiten]

Shonen sirius has Yozakura Quartet, one Snk spin off and they use the magazine to make manga adaptations of anime.

Yozakura is not a bestseller. It sells less than 100,000 per volume. It's a great manga, it's had success in other areas, but it's not a big seller.

On Monthly Shonen Magazine they have a few mid hits.
Mashiro no Oto
Noragami
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Those are the type of series Betsumag probably see as their best case scenario.

For Japanese fans, they are willing to spent tons of money for their favorites than trying new things.

Not on magazines. Manga magazines have been declining for decades. Shingeki fans might be willing to spend a lot on memorabilia, the majority probably never buy the magazines, only tankobon. Even with a circulation boost, Betsumag is still a small, specialty magazine.

---------- Post added at 12:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 PM ----------

Who in Kodansha is bigger than Mashima. I thought he's one of biggest name in Kodansha already.

---------- Post added at 12:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 AM ----------

Well, Clamp is. but they're busy writing Gate7 and xxxholic Rei.

Isayama, Inoue, Urasawa

It's worth noting that Fairy Tail is not Kodansha's best selling manga. Just off the top of my head Shingeki, St. Young Men, Vagabond, and Uchuu Kyoudai all outsell Fairy Tail. There's a whole bunch that sell almost as much as Fairy Tail. Series like Giant Killing, Billy Bat, and Say I Love You sell less, but not a lot less.

 

[Bomber D Rufi]

Isayama, Inoue, Urasawa

It's worth noting that Fairy Tail is not Kodansha's best selling manga. Just off the top of my head Shingeki, St. Young Men, Vagabond, and Uchuu Kyoudai all outsell Fairy Tail. There's a whole bunch that sell almost as much as Fairy Tail. Series like Giant Killing, Billy Bat, and Say I Love You sell less, but not a lot less.

Thank you for being able to capture what I was originally trying to say. If you're gonna invoke the name of a mangaka to save a mag or something, Mashima really shouldn't be the guy who's first to mind. Though the series you listed are all seinen, while FT is a shounen and this is a shounen magazine we're talking about. Still, I'm sure there are other shounen that sell better than FT even in Kodansha's stable.

 

[Kaiten]

Thank you for being able to capture what I was originally trying to say. If you're gonna invoke the name of a mangaka to save a mag or something, Mashima really shouldn't be the guy who's first to mind. Though the series you listed are all seinen, while FT is a shounen and this is a shounen magazine we're talking about. Still, I'm sure there are other shounen that sell better than FT even in Kodansha's stable.

That's the big difference. Isayama is already serialized in Betsumag, the rest are seinen artists. Mashima is arguably the best known Shounen Magazine Comics mangaka. The bigger problem is the notion being peddled (not by you) that Mashima is doing a special in Betsumag to "save" the magazine or boost sales. It's synergy, a fairly basic marketing strategy. Mashima does things like this every now and again. Crossover specials, special chapters, etc. I doubt anyone at Kodansha is naive enough to think that a Mashima crossover will boost sales significantly, just like I don't think anyone is naive enough to believe that Betsumag is adding new series to find "hits", when none of Kodansha's magazines are run like that.

 

[vinceled]

I've only read the first chapter, but Fukuchi featured the series a lot on his twitter. It seems he and the mangaka for Lovers are friends or something. I like what I saw of the first chapter though and I hate buying a single volume of manga (was gonna buy Anagle's finale this month, So I may throw in three volumes of Fujimi.)

Yeah since the series ended this issue I thought I might as well wait for the 3rd volumes to go on sell then buy all three of them together. I don't buy volumes that much except for series I really like or that I translate or from authors, artists that are my favorite. A shame novels are hard to find except on amazon...

 

[Bomber D Rufi]

Yeah since the series ended this issue I thought I might as well wait for the 3rd volumes to go on sell then buy all three of them together. I don't buy volumes that much except for series I really like or that I translate or from authors, artists that are my favorite. A shame novels are hard to find except on amazon...

That's what I'll probably do too. By then the next Nejimaki volume should be out and I'll just by Fujimi 1-3, Anagle 5, and Nejimaki 13. I normally try to buy everything I translate just to support the series, and I buy series from authors like Nakayama and Fukuchi because I really like their art. I'm not at a level where I can read novels yet (I can barely read seinen.) so I don't look for those. Who knows, maybe if I have time I might even translate Fujimi. I don't much like romance, but the awesome art may trump the genre.

That's the big difference. Isayama is already serialized in Betsumag, the rest are seinen artists. Mashima is arguably the best known Shounen Magazine Comics mangaka. The bigger problem is the notion being peddled (not by you) that Mashima is doing a special in Betsumag to "save" the magazine or boost sales. It's synergy, a fairly basic marketing strategy. Mashima does things like this every now and again. Crossover specials, special chapters, etc. I doubt anyone at Kodansha is naive enough to think that a Mashima crossover will boost sales significantly, just like I don't think anyone is naive enough to believe that Betsumag is adding new series to find "hits", when none of Kodansha's magazines are run like that.

Of course. Mashima's got the energy to consider doing a weekly series and another one so why not have him do crossover specials and whatnot? Might as well benefit from his ability to draw a whole lot very quickly. FT's anime is set to return as well so having special chapters to advertise that is a good idea. What most seem to be forgetting is that Shingeki is at best a happy accident for Betsumag. There's no reason for them to believe they'll hit another Shingeki in this mag or another one. Editors aren't looking to create the newest Shingeki (or One piece), they're looking to turn a buck. If it so happens that a series gains enough favor with fans that it becomes a massive hit then that is just a bonus. If everyone was just looking for the next super hit, then a lot of lesser magazines and series would die in infancy. That's something I feel like people should remember. (Not saying you don't.)

 

[Kaiten]

Of course. Mashima's got the energy to consider doing a weekly series and another one so why not have him do crossover specials and whatnot? Might as well benefit from his ability to draw a whole lot very quickly. FT's anime is set to return as well so having special chapters to advertise that is a good idea. What most seem to be forgetting is that Shingeki is at best a happy accident for Betsumag. There's no reason for them to believe they'll hit another Shingeki in this mag or another one. Editors aren't looking to create the newest Shingeki (or One piece), they're looking to turn a buck. If it so happens that a series gains enough favor with fans that it becomes a massive hit then that is just a bonus. If everyone was just looking for the next super hit, then a lot of lesser magazines and series would die in infancy. That's something I feel like people should remember. (Not saying you don't.)

That is probably the real reason he's doing a special chapter. Mashiro is not there to give Betsumag a boost, Betsumag is promoting Fairy Tail, giving the series a little extra publicity ahead of the new anime. I imagine his new series will be in the magazine that replaces Rival, to provide an established name for the new anthology. It will probably be just like how he started Monster Hunter Orage in the first issue of Rival.

I don't think Kodansha's business strategy is built around bestsellers. Each demographic has a ton of magazines. There's usual one "mainstream" magazine per demographic (Weekly Shomag, Young Magazine, Dessert, and Kiss) with the others targeting very specific niches within their demographics. Their operational style lends itself to a large number of niche titles, not mega-best sellers. It's a pretty common strategy in the entertainment industry. Some companies look for two or three Biebers, depending on blockbusters to support the rest of their line up. Other companies look for numerous artists, who sell more modestly, but sell to specific, desirable audiences. They make up for lower sales with bulk, five artists selling 200,000 copies each is the same as one selling a million. Possibly better, the former strategy does not depend on a single (or small number of) artist supporting sales.

 

[jagman1x3]

Yeah, I know. SnK is basically just feeding this magazine by itself, if it wasn't for SnK, this magazine should experience very, very hard time. Right now, we should better to call this magazine as Bessatsu Shingeki no Kyojin than Bessatsu Shounen Magazine.

Kodansha's actually pretty much doing that already. The new issue of good! Afternoon announced that next month's issue will have a special chapter of BSM's Abyss series, and they're advertising it as "from Shingeki no Kyojin's Bessatsu Shounen Magazine." I don't remember it saying that for the Tomodachi Game special chapter though, which is weird.

---------- Post added at 03:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------

I've only read the first chapter, but Fukuchi featured the series a lot on his twitter. It seems he and the mangaka for Lovers are friends or something. I like what I saw of the first chapter though and I hate buying a single volume of manga (was gonna buy Anagle's finale this month, So I may throw in three volumes of Fujimi.)

I've got pretty much the same problem, but combining that with the $1 section at the used book store means I literally buy stuff faster than I can read it. Not a good combination...
As for Lovers, I remember seeing it a while back but never got around to reading it. It had two chapters in this issue though, with the second one being the last. Not sure why they'd do that instead of just having it be one big final chapter, but I guess whatever works for the author.

 

[vinceled]

As for Lovers, I remember seeing it a while back but never got around to reading it. It had two chapters in this issue though, with the second one being the last. Not sure why they'd do that instead of just having it be one big final chapter, but I guess whatever works for the author.

The second chapter had a kind of "epilogue" feeling to it. That might be why.

 

[Newkerzy]

That's the big difference. Isayama is already serialized in Betsumag, the rest are seinen artists. Mashima is arguably the best known Shounen Magazine Comics mangaka. The bigger problem is the notion being peddled (not by you) that Mashima is doing a special in Betsumag to "save" the magazine or boost sales. It's synergy, a fairly basic marketing strategy. Mashima does things like this every now and again. Crossover specials, special chapters, etc. I doubt anyone at Kodansha is naive enough to think that a Mashima crossover will boost sales significantly, just like I don't think anyone is naive enough to believe that Betsumag is adding new series to find "hits", when none of Kodansha's magazines are run like that.

Yeah, this is pretty much what I think as well. BessShonen isn't in a rush to find the next Shingeki or anything. They're just doing specials for FT to hype the anime in the coming months. You could say that the magazine is just taking it easy. Unlike Jump who IMO is desperately finding series that can establish themselves as frontrunners to replace their long-standing series which are about to end (Bleach, Naruto). I think they're in jitters that their long-standing series are all about to end. And Oda has several times stated that he would like to end OP in the coming years, so they know that even OP won't last forever.

Speaking of comparing Mashima and Isayama, both of them aren't any better than each other since they both have entirely different approaches to their manga. So it's completely pointless to compare them. But if you insist, I would say Mashima has the advantage of being a longer-established mangaka with Rave and FT. If you had to ask a general anime fan to name 3 mangakas off the top of their mind from Kodansha, Mashima and Akamatsu would be the first mentioned followed by Isayama.

P.S.: Is there an ETA for next month's mag? how does the Edited Manga schedule for BessShonen work? (or more appropriately, SnK?) I'd like to know if we can get a rough ETA for the FT special.

 

[Blader]

P.S.: Is there an ETA for next month's mag? how does the Edited Manga schedule for BessShonen work? (or more appropriately, SnK?) I'd like to know if we can get a rough ETA for the FT special.

Bessatsu release every 9th of each month. SnK Edited Manga released around 6-8th. but for Fairy Tail special I assume scan would come later. since from now on SnK seem bit more popular than FT(I'm talking about westerner. not Japanese) especially the special chapter that fandom seem to not care as much as real one.

 

[Newkerzy]

Actually, when you have the second most prominent guild in the series that also houses the last two DS in the series being out of the spotlight for a while, a lot of people would definitely be more interested in just what the heck is going on with them. They're by far one of the important core characters in the series, like the Tenrou group solely due to their DS.

But that's enough rambling. Thanks for the info

 

[Heiji]

3 new series in april issue (08/03) :

-Hiroaki Itô / Gambaru! Stalker.
-Navar (Chinese author) / Carrier.
-Watari Rei / BB.Hell.

-OKAZAKI Junpei (Diablo no Soup) will start new serie in june. But no sure will be in Bessatsu Shônen Magazine.

 

[Kaizou 10]

-Hiroaki Itô / Gambaru! Stalker.

-Navar (Chinese author) / Carrier.

-Watari Rei / BB.Hell.

 

[Reverberate]

Hope one or more of the 3 new series get some traction and become a hit (300k-500k range) or at least be a modest seller like Aku no Hana or Sankarea.

 

[Bomber D Rufi]

Hmm. They all look like they have potential, but I'm keeping my eye on BB.Hell. Though it seems to be a thing now to bring artists/writers from outside countries, which is something I support.

 

[Blader]

Hope one or more of the 3 new series get some traction and become a hit (300k-500k range) or at least be a modest seller like Aku no Hana or Sankarea.

300k range is too much. and base on Bessatsu's reputation and policy(transfer to core magazine if it show sign of success) even make tank sales as much as Aku no Hana is kinda difficult.

 

[Reverberate]

So SnK was supposed to be transferred to WSM according to the policy?

 

[Kaizou 10]

So SnK was supposed to be transferred to WSM according to the policy?

If SnK transfer to WSM, then BSM will die.

 

[vinceled]

Well, it's not like WSM gets only popular series series from BSM. I mean the latest series that transferred (forgot the name) was only running as a 4-koma in BSM so... As for Kamisama no Iutoori I only think the author transferred because Part 1 had ended and starting Part 2 might have made for more of a boost and change and maybe because the author wanted to. Shingeki wouldn't and won't ever be transferred to weekly. The author also probably has a say in this. He's been running the series in BSM for roughly 5/6 years now and the series is the pillar of the magazine. Like Kaizou said BSM would die without it and they might already be looking for new popular series they started. No series will ever get close to how popular Shingeki is today and that's why they also brought popular authors to the magazine to increase sales. For example Arakawa Hiromu (Fullmetal Alchemist and Silver Spoon) or even Watanabe Shizumu (Shisunki no Iron Maiden, Kigurumi etc) who is currently doing Real Account in BSM.

 

[Kaizou 10]

even Watanabe Shizumu (Shisunki no Iron Maiden, Kigurumi etc) who is currently doing Real Account in BSM.

I don't think Watanabe is considered as popular author since he didn't have any successful series yet.