Monthly Comic Zenon
Monthly Comic Zenon is a Japanese manga anthology. It is marketed to seinen public, edited and published monthly by Coamix. From 2010 to 2020, it was formerly published by North Stars Pictures and Tokuma Shoten. It was produced as a replacement for Weekly Comic Bunch, Coamix's previous manga anthology. The collected editions of their titles are published under the Zenon Comics imprint.
Overview
After the drop of Shinchosha's Weekly Comic Bunch circulation numbers, Coamix, which edited the magazine, announced Bunchs discontinuation. Coamix marked August 27, 2010 as the day of Bunchs last release, and started to consider to launch a new magazine. In October 2010, Coamix announced a partnership with North Stars Pictures and Tokuma Shoten, stating that the new magazine Monthly Comic Zenon would debut on October 25, 2010. At the same time Shinchosha launched Monthly Comics @ Bunch, a replacement for Weekly Comic Bunch, but edited without Coamix's involvement. As a result, many of the manga artists from Bunch have been moved to Zenon.The magazine's name is based on "Kanzeon Bosatsu"—the Japanese name of bodhisattva Guanyin—, specifically the "Zeon" part, which means to "hear the voice of the worldwide". The "Z" from "Zenon" was chosen with the meaning of "ultimate" since it is the last letter from alphabet.
In order to approach more readers, Monthly Comic Zenon is published in both, print and digital editions. The website "Zenon Land" was launched, publishing the Zenons manga series only for smartphones. A YouTube channel was created to disclose Zenon-related media. Also, "Cafe Zenon", a kissaten decorated with manga motifs, in Kichijōji, a neighborhood in the city of Musashino, Tokyo, was inaugurated on November 11, 2009.
To expand its range the magazine also promotes a "silent manga" contest; first, in 2011, it was a national competition. Starting from 2013, it became an international contest, in which no dialogues were necessary. Open for professional and amateurs, the focus of the judgment was the performance of the works through art rather than exposition. The judges were manga authors Tsukasa Hojo and Tetsuo Hara, then editor-in-chief Nobuhiko Horie and the magazine editorial team. The best five received prize awards while the top three had their works published in the magazine. The first international edition received 514 submissions from 53 countries, while in the second people from 65 countries submitted 609 works. Molico Ross, a winner of the domestic competition, wrote Nobo and Her? between 2012 and 2017, and Shinigami ni Datte, Ai wa Aru is based on "Thirty and a Half Minutes", a work by the 4th international contest winner, Vietnamese female writer Snippy MJ.
In another action to expand its public, in August 2015, Coamix and The Silent Manga Audition Committee created a section called "Zenon International" on the contest website to publish the SMAC! Web Magazine. They announced plans to translate all the series and offer them for free on their site based on demand—which is based on the readers' vote. At first they made available Ikusa no Ko: Legend of Oda Nobunaga, Nobo and Her? and Arte, and in December Angel Heart became part of the catalog.
After a certain amount of chapters are serialized in the magazine they are collected into tankōbon format and published under the Zenon Comics imprint. Parallel to this label, there is Zenon Comics DX that only publishes titles former released by other publishers such as Tetsuo Hara's Cyber Blue and Kōkenryoku Ōryō Sōsakan Nakabō Rintarō. This two titles composed Zenon Comics DX first line-up, while Zenon Comics one had Angel Heart: 2nd Season, Cat's Eye, Concierge Platinum, and Waraenu Warashi: 108 no Karma. Both imprints released its first titles on March 22, 2011. The Zenon Comics level also publishes manga released on Zenons sister magazine, Web Comic Zenyon. Published online since October 25, 2012, it is the home of series such as Hokuto no Ken: Ichigo Aji and Seikai Suru Kado: Aoi Haru to Railgun.
List of works
Ongoing series are highlighted in light green.| Manga | First Issue | Last Issue | Author |
| Ikusa no Ko: Legend of Oda Nobunaga | December 2010 | September 2022 | Tetsuo Hara, Seibō Kitahara |
| Angel Heart | December 2010 | July 2017 | Tsukasa Hojo |
| DD Fist of the North Star | December 2010 | August 2016 | Kajio |
| Keiji | December 2010 | March 2014 | Tetsuo Hara, Nobuhiko Horie, Yūji Takemura |
| Papa wa Donkan-sama | December 2010 | November 2012 | Nao Sekine |
| Cat's Eye | December 2010 | March 2014 | Tsukasa Hojo, Shin Asai, Sakura Nakameguro |
| Profiling of Fridge | December 2010 | February 2012 | Saemi Endō, Izumi Satō |
| Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem | December 2010 | June 2023 | Shinya Umemura, Eiji Hashimoto |
| Mandala Daladala | December 2010 | May 2011 | Kōji Matsuka, Haruki Oka |
| Concierge Platinum | December 2010 | November 2014 | Michihiko Fujiei, Hideyuki Ishizeki |
| Waraenu Warashi: 108 no Karma | December 2010 | November 2011 | Makoto Mano |
| Valientes: Date no Oni Katakura Kojūrō | December 2010 | March 2012 | Yoshiki Tanaka |
| Saibanchō! Koko wa Chōeki 4-Nen de Dōsu ka: Boku ni Shikei to Ieru no ka | December 2010 | July 2012 | Toro Kitao, Inusuke Matsubashi |
| Cyber Blue: Ushinawareta Kodomo-tachi | January 2011 | July 2012 | Motoki Yoshihara, Tetsuo Hara |
| Haikin | February 2011 | October 2011 | Shūji Takeya, Takafumi Horie |
| Otoriyose Ōji Iida Yoshimi | February 2011 | July 2016 | Shiho Takase |
| Konkatsu no Hanamichi | March 2011 | May 2011 | Ai Sakurakōji |
| Saibanchō! Boku no Otōto Chōeki 4-nen de Dōsuka | March 2011 | July 2011 | Toro Kitao and Inusuke Matsubashi |
| The Commander in Chief Koichiro Sakuraba | July 2011 | November 2012 | Ryuji Tsugihara, Hiroshi Kanai, and Mitsuhiro Sera |
| Wakakozake | September 2011 | Ongoing | Chie Shinkyu |
| Ten-pai! | December 2012 | March 2013 | KeiYu |
| Itsuya-san | January 2012 | November 2013 | Mizu Sahara |
| Kū Neru Futari Sumu Futari | April 2012 | December 2014 | Kinoko Higurashi |
| Hatsukoi: Pioneers | April 2012 | August 2012 | Mitsuru Ōsaki |
| Nobo and Her? | June 2012 | October 2017 | Molico Ross |
| Kimi ni Tomodachi ga Dekiru Made. | June 2012 | March 2015 | Shin Hotani |
| Kanayago | September 2012 | September 2013 | Yū Hikasa |
| Cross Battlers: CyberBlue the Last Stand | December 2012 | January 2014 | Motoki Yoshihara and Tetsuo Hara |
| The Youth of Manga School | December 2012 | November 2015 | Kotaro Yamada and Ryoichi Yokoyama |
| Kinyoku no Garda: Nanto Gosha Sei Zenshi | April 2013 | August 2013 | Yoshiji Yamaguchi, Buronson and Tetsuo Hara |
| Watashi no Kare wa Shigoto ga Dekinai | April 2013 | January 2015 | Kanan Yamada |
| Bakudan Ōji Dynamite | March 2013 | January 2014 | Mon Shimizu |
| Back to the Hero | July 2013 | December 2013 | Hōzuki |
| Genocider | September 2013 | October 2015 | Takahiro Akiyoshi and Maya Miyazaki |
| Sō Kakusei no Nova | September 2013 | February 2014 | Izumi Urata |
| Hanakaku: The Last Girl Standing | October 2013 | September 2015 | Katsunori Matsui |
| Gifū Dōdō!! The Tactician of Wind: Kuroda Kanbei | November 2013 | February 2017 | Toshiaki Yamada, Tetsuo Hara, Nobuhiko Horie and Hiroyuki Yatsu |
| Detective Appli | November 2013 | April 2014 | Yū Sugimoto |
| Mononoke | November 2013 | January 2015 | Yaeko Ninagawa |
| Arte | December 2013 | Ongoing | Kei Ōkubo |
| Basketmono | December 2013 | May 2014 | Hirofumi Takezoe |
| The Mermaid Prince | January 2014 | December 2015 | Yuana Kazumi |
| Zero no Shiniki | February 2014 | February 2015 | Hana Shinohara |
| Koishikarikeru | April 2014 | September 2014 | Rio Misumi |
| Keiji | May 2014 | December 2018 | Tetsuo Hara, Nobuhiko Horie, and Masato Deguchi |
| Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga | June 2014 | October 2021 | Una Megurogawa |
| Arte Tokubetsu-hen | October 2014 | March 2015 | Kei Ōkubo |
| Good Morning's and Good Night's | June 2014 | June 2017 | Machita |
| Forensics Girl Hayama-san | June 2014 | August 2014 | Izumi Sato |
| Rainy Sometimes Bochan | August 2014 | April 2015 | Saya Usato |
| Onna to Hanashitai | September 2014 | November 2014 | Hyper Wanabee |
| Hana Musubi: Power of the Wonderful Flower | October 2014 | March 2015 | Subaru |
| Suzuki Just Wants a Quiet Life | November 2014 | April 2016 | Hirohisa Sato |
| Do-do-ma | December 2014 | February 2016 | Jun Shiraishi |
| Granny Girl Hinata-chan | December 2014 | June 2022 | Asa Kuwayoshi |
| Concierge Imperial | January 2015 | November 2017 | Michihiko Tōei and Hideyuki Ishizeki |
| Hakoniwa and Papillon | April 2015 | August 2015 | Saki Akamura |
| Delicious Foods, Delicious Faces – Narusawa-kun Loves Scrumptious Looks | May 2015 | August 2017 | Rei Yamada |
| Mononoke: Zashikiwarashi | May 2015 | November 2015 | Yaeko Ninagawa |
| Tokyo Share Story | June 2015 | May 2016 | Rikeo Tada and Motoko Takahashi |
| Tabemono Kemono | July 2015 | February 2016 | Akamaru Enomoto |
| Aragami | August 2015 | December 2015 | Yūshi Hashimoto |
| Konpeitō no Hanayome | September 2015 | February 2016 | Satono Okazaki |
| Shiawase no Popochi | November 2015 | October 2016 | Saya Usato |
| Grendel: A Tale of the World Without Dragons | December 2015 | July 2017 | Mako Oikawa |
| Evil Star and Silly Goddess | January 2016 | December 2016 | Takuya Mori |
| Nishi Ogikubo Run Through | February 2016 | January 2018 | Ringo Yuki |
| Trace | March 2016 | April 2023 | Kei Koga |
| Meshinuma | March 2016 | Ongoing | Amida Muku |
| Bungo Act | April 2016 | February 2017 | Fukutaro Masaki |
| Mononoke: Nue | May 2016 | November 2016 | Yaeko Ninagawa |
| Chiruran: Nibun no Ichi | July 2016 | January 2018 | Shinya Umemura and Eiji Hashimoto |
| Marion, la fille du cinq-centenaire | August 2016 | November 2018 | Yuu Hikasa |
| Kasuka no Chō Nibun no Ichi Chōme Tantei Jimusho | September 2016 | October 2019 | Izumi Urata |
| Takaoka's Memo on Imaginative Accounting | October 2016 | One-shot | Pikomaro |
| Backstage! | November 2016 | November 2017 | Okushou, Niimaruyuu |
| Gas Masquerade of Miasma | December 2016 | February 2018 | Yoshiki Tanaka, Mizuki Mizushiro |
| Fumino-san no Bungu na Nichijō | December 2016 | September 2019 | Akamaru Enomoto |
| Shiga Hime | January 2017 | May 2019 | Hirohisa Sato |
| Yano Nanako, Hakkyū o Pu: Take Me Out to the Stadium | February 2017 | April 2018 | Tokihiko Tamaru |
| Sasakawa-san Chi no Aineko Shiro | April 2017 | September 2017 | Ema Saegusa |
| A Side Character's Love Story | May 2017 | September 2018 | Akane Tamura |
| Mononoke: Noppera-bō | May 2017 | November 2017 | Yaeko Ninagawa |
| Hiiro no Bunraku | June 2017 | October 2018 | Komao Kita |
| Hakoniwa no Toriko | June 2017 | One-shot | Mizu Sahara |
| Arthur Bright | July 2017 | April 2018 | Kairi Shimotsuki |
| Yokozuna Haō Densetsu: Kiseno Sato | August 2017 | October 2017 | Toshiaki Yamada |
| Surfingman | August 2017 | July 2018 | Haruto Umezawa |
| Kyō Kara City Hunter | July 2017 | Ongoing | Sokura Nijiki |
| Watashi to Watashi | October 2017 | One-shot | Mizu Sahara |
| Shinigami ni Datte, Ai wa Aru | November 2017 | October 2018 | Izumi Urata, Makiko Yoshida |
| Fist of the Blue Sky | December 2017 | October 2025 | Hiroyuki Yatsu, Hideki Tsuji |
| Record of Ragnarok | January 2018 | Ongoing | Azychika, Shinya Umemura, Takumi Fukui |
| Kono Machi Kinema | February 2018 | June 2019 | Fujiko Segawa |
| Mōryō Shōjo | March 2018 | October 2021 | Jun Shiraishi |
| A Tail's Tale | May 2018 | July 2021 | Mizu Sahara |
| Haru to Ao no Obentōbako | May 2018 | August 2020 | Machita |
| Mononoke: Bakeneko | May 2018 | September 2019 | Yaeko Ninagawa |
| Madori wa Dore ni suru? | June 2018 | January 2020 | Jing Takao |
| Unsung Cinderella | July 2018 | Ongoing | Arai Mamare |
| Antagonist | August 2018 | April 2021 | Michihiko Fujiei, Takayoshi Kuroda |
| Akaten no Kaijū | February 2019 | February 2020 | Hatsuki Sokawa |
| Maeda Keiji Kabuki Tabi | May 2019 | Ongoing | Tetsuo Hara, Nobuhiko Horie, and Masato Deguchi |
| Shūmatsu no Valkyrie: Ryo Fu Hō Sen Hishōden | December 2019 | January 2023 | Takeo Ono |
| The War of Greedy Witches | December 2020 | Ongoing | Homura Kawamoto, Makoto Shiozuka |
| Uchi no Chīsana Jochū-san | January 2021 | Ongoing | Kana Osada |
| Saba & Buri | January 2021 | November 2022 | MK |
| Kū Neru Futari Sumu Futari Zoku | April 2021 | July 2023 | Kinoko Higurashi |
| Smoking Maid Romance | August 2021 | October 2022 | Sera Izumi |
| Buta no Fukushū | September 2021 | Ongoing | Sau Nitō, Takayoshi Kuroda |
| Gals Can't Be Kind to Otaku? | October 2021 | Ongoing | Norishiro-chan, Sakana Uozumi |
| Tengen Hero Wars | October 2021 | Ongoing | Kubaru Sakanoichi, Yasu Hiromoto |
| Hokuto Gaiden | December 2021 | Ongoing | Nattō Gohan, Sokura Nishiki |
| Tokyo Cannabis Tokku: Taima-ō to Yobareta Otoko | January 2022 | Ongoing | Yuto Inai |
| Touken Ranbu Side Story Tale Of Ayakashi'' | February 2022 | Ongoing | Yaeko Ninagawa |