Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant 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, the magazine's circulation 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.
It is one of the List of [Japanese manga magazines by circulation|best-selling manga magazines]. By March 2008, the magazine had 2,942 issues, having sold 4.55billion copies, with an average weekly circulation of. At an average issue price of , the magazine had generated approximately in sales revenue by March 2008. In addition, about compiled tankōbon volumes had been sold by March 2008.
Jason Thompson stated that it is "more down-to-earth, as well as just a tad more guy-oriented" compared to Weekly Shōnen Jump and likened this magazine to "more like something you'd find in the guys' locker room."
History
The magazine, launched on March 17, 1959, was the first weekly manga magazine, followed rapidly by Weekly Shōnen Sunday by rivalling publisher Shogakukan. Throughout the 1960s, Weekly Shōnen Magazine was the top selling weekly manga magazines besides Weekly Shōnen Sunday and . During the first years of its run, the magazine was not solely focused on manga, but also published other content for children.From 1965 onwards, the chief editor of Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Masaru Uchida, invited artists associated with the movement to work for the magazine. The movement had a style marked by dramatic, realistic storytelling often aimed at mature audiences. Blending children's manga with adolescent gekiga themes and styles attracted new readers to manga magazines. In a short time, the readership of the magazine expanded rapidly and was at nearly one million by the end of 1966.
Features
Series
There are currently 23 manga titles being serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. Out of them, Ahiru no Sora is on indefinite hiatus.| Series title | Author | Premiered |
| A Couple of Cuckoos | Miki Yoshikawa | |
| Takeshi Hinata | ||
| Blue Lock | Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Yusuke Nomura | |
| The Blue Wolves of Mibu | Tsuyoshi Yasuda | |
| Dream Jumbo Girl | Hiroyuki | |
| Even the [Student Council Has Its Holes!] | Muchimaro | |
| Four Knights of the Apocalypse | Nakaba Suzuki | |
| Kei Urana | ||
| Go! Go! Loser Ranger! | Negi Haruba | |
| George Morikawa | ||
| Idolatry | Shin Otaka, Homare | |
| Oh! great | ||
| Mistress Kanan Is Devilishly Easy | Nonco | |
| Kurotsuki no Yaergnacht | Kou Suzumoto | |
| Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms | Ran Kuze | |
| Orion's Board | Naoshi Arakawa | |
| Rent-A-Girlfriend | Reiji Miyajima | |
| Shangri-La Frontier | Katarina, Ryosuke Fuji | |
| Suruga Meteor | Tanaka Drill | |
| Tune In to the Midnight Heart | Masakuni Igarashi | |
| Kamio Fukuchi | ||
| Yumene Connect | Kou Sawada | |
| Shōichirō Edo |
Circulation
''Magazine Pocket''
Magazine Pocket, or MagaPoke, is an online web comic site run by Kodansha and tied in to their Weekly Shōnen Magazine line. It runs original manga created for the site as well as manga moved from one of the print magazines related to Weekly Shōnen Magazine. It opened on August 3, 2015.Reception
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 Shōnen Magazine off the top spot. Shōnen Jump had begun to circulate and dominate the manga magazine market. This started from the 1970s and continued throughout the 1990s.In October 1997, Shōnen Magazine reclaimed its 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 mecha anime from July 1956 to May 1966.