Monday, July 18, 2011

Manga Mondays (59): Manga Magazines


I've fallen a bit behind in my manga reviews lately, so today's Manga Mondays post is more of a question for all you manga lovers.

Do you read manga magazines? If so, which ones?

I have actually never picked up a manga magazine. Manga is still relatively new to me (I've been reading it for about 18 months), so there are plenty of things that I don't know about or haven't experienced. One of those things is magazines about manga.

What manga magazines do you like?

A few I've heard of are Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump. But I don't know what's out there beyond that.

What is in a manga magazine?

Are there previews of manga? Original content? I'm assuming it's a bit of both. I'm also guessing there are spaces for readers to send in their own drawings. What is the main part of each issue?

Please share your knowledge of manga magazines with me and maybe I'll pick up a few and comment on them in future Manga Mondays

13 comments:

  1. I'm not a regular manga reader but I've picked up the occasional cheap issue of Shonen Jump. The ones I've seen have several different titles serialized in the magazine, like an anthology. For example, an issue might have 10 pages of Title 1, 12 of Title 2, 6 of Title 3, etc. and next issue will be the next part of each series. My understanding is that many manga are released in magazines before they are collected into the digest books. Does that help?

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  2. I have not read any manga magazines actually, and never heard of any until now, so thanks for sharing that. I started reading some manga last week and even had a chance to review one of the books I read, so thank you for that too :D

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  3. I've never read any manga magazines either. To tell you the truth, I never know where to buy them from! I prefer reading volumes, I think. But then the wait is much longer, whereas I'm pretty sure in a manga magazine, a new chapter of a particular manga comes out every week or so...

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  4. Do you read manga magazines? If so, which ones?
    Now that I think about it I used to a lot when I was in high school, whenever my family went to the grocery store I would check the magazine rack for ...oh geeze I can't remember the name but I had stacks of it at home, I'll have to go check if there are any left but it wasn't a manga magazine but an anime magazine so there wouldn't be that months chapter for the mangas in the magazine but reviews on episodes, interviews with voice actors, talks of upcoming shows that were going to be released on AdultSwim or Funimation. Aww I loved that magazine.

    What manga magazines do you like?

    I've been interested in subscribing for YenPlus which is Yenpress' monthly online magazine but if I start I'll be in the middle of a bunch of different manga series and I can't start in the middle I need to start from the beginning even though if you subscribe with the magazine you'll get to read series before they are published in the manga.

    What is in a manga magazine?

    I've only read a copy of ShonenJump which is actually really thick and doesn't look like a manga at all. My friend gave it to me and from what I remember you get that month's chapter update of the manga's being currently serialized in the magazine. I can't remember anything else because that's all I was interested I believe.

    Sandy
    My Manga Monday Post

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  5. Oops correction:

    I've only read a copy of ShonenJump which is actually really thick and doesn't look like a magazine at all...

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  6. I've read a few when I lived in Japan, and then a few more when my boyfriend picked up some at Kinokuniya here in NY. I don't really read manga, but there were some stories that he showed me that he thought I'd enjoy. They're fun, especially when you just have to know what happens next - a vicious cycle.

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  7. Ah, I used to be such a hardcore manga fan! I never read the magazines, but I have a whole bunch of serieses. My favourite shoujo series is Full Moon wo Sagashite by Arina Tanemura -- LOVED that one. I also really love Fullmetal Alchemist and BLEACH although those are shounen.

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  8. I used to read Shonen Jump, which isn't like a magazine at all. It features different manga series by chapter. I think that the idea is like an anthology but for manga. For example, when I did read Shonen Jump it had a chapter for Naruto, Fairy Tail, and Dragon Ball (not Z, just Dragon Ball). It was all this guy stuff so I stopped reading it. My sister has kept the one copy of Shonen Jumnp for over ten years that featured her fan art in it. I wonder if she still has that?

    ♥ Trish

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  9. Thanks everyone for the great comments. I'm planning on doing a few of an issue of a magazine soon.

    Also, @Jinny - Thanks for the recommendations!

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  10. I did a little digging online (cause I couldn't find my old magazines) and I strongly believe that the anime magazine I used to read was Wizard Anime Invasion/Insider

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  11. In the U.S. there aren't so many manga magazines available. Shonen Jump, Shojo Beat, Yen Press are some of the top ones.

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  12. Manga magazines feature a chapter or two of usually about six to ten different manga series. They often include little pieces about Japanese culture and fashion, interviews with manga-kas, and always reader art at the back.

    Shojo Beat used to be the best!! But it was discontinued nearly a year ago :( I received Shounen Jump for a year afterwards, since I had paid for a two-year subscription, and really enjoyed those. I also used to get Yen Plus, but it was also discontinued.

    In France, they have Coyote, which I enjoyed despite not knowing much French. (The similarity between French and Spanish helped me to decipher the issues.) The US really needs a new and great manga magazine, preferably one with shojo and shounen-type titles! Hope you find a good mag to check out-- I do recommend Shounen Jump. :)

    Kat @ A Myriad of Books

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