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animehouse-moe · 11 months

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The Weird And Interesting Existence of Japanese Manga Magazines

I don't exactly have 30,000 different magazine issues across countless publishers and demographics, but I do have a few (because they have some of my favorite series on the covers), and flipping through them they're all very different to one another, and interesting in their own ways, so I wanted to show just how different, unique, and even at times worth it, these magazines are to NA readers.

⚠️Warning: Minor/Mild Spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen, Otherside Picnic, and Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun⚠️

I'm going to break it down by magazine, and I'm going to go left to right from the above image. I'll be talking about bonuses, pricing, quality, content, and a few other observations throughout these three magazines.

Monthly Shounen Gangan

Unsurprisingly, the monthly magazine is better quality than the weekly one. Monthly Shounen Gangan is a monthly shounen manga magazine under Square Enix and carries titles such as: Otherside Picnic (manga adaptation of the LN, and the cover of the issue), Daemons of The Shadow Realm, Final Fantasy: Lost Stanger, and a few others. I wouldn't call it a "packed" magazine per se, but it's definitely got a list of recognizable titles to it.

Anyways, getting into the numbers of this magazine, they're as follows:

Cost -> 650Yen

Number of Chapters -> 21

Number of Bonuses -> 1

Build / Print Quality -> 6/10

Number of Color Pages -> 4

So, only one bonus, but I think it's a pretty solid one, as it's an Otherside Picnic clearfile. Not exactly a super decorative or functional bonus, but I really like the art on it so I'm happy with it.

Anyways, into some more detailed information about the magazine issue. The paper itself is very smooth, though it's quite literally paper thin. You won't have any real issues with it, but in lighter or blank areas on the page you can very easily see through to the next page. Similarly, the quality of the ink is pretty hit and miss. Lighter and more gray colors are preserved and displayed quite well, but anything close to or right at black is very spotty and grainy. It even shows in the black used for the panels. I don't think it's something that will really get in the way of reading the issue (if you want to do that), but I also wouldn't say it's all that great.

Weekly Shounen Jump

Weekly Shounen Jump from Shueisha is arguably the biggest/most popular magazine for manga. It's got to be accessible, it's got to be quick and it's got to be highly available. Carrying manga monsters like: Jujutsu Kaisen, Sakamoto Days, My Hero Academia, Black Clover, and countless more titles. But does it hold up?

Well, these numbers/thoughts speak to that ability.

Cost -> 290Yen

Number of Chapters -> 19

Number of Bonuses -> 0

Build / Print Quality -> 3.5/10

Number of Color Pages -> 4

So, there you have it. Dirt cheap and highly available magazines require the lowest of standards to get out there. Now, a 3.5/10 might seem a little low, but trust me when I say that this thing is barely readable. The inking is as light as possible to save a Yen or two where they can, and the pages themselves are colored, and they're not even all the same color. It's absolutely something I wouldn't recommend trying to read from period, even if it's less than $3 USD. In reality, for a North American/English reader base, this is a collectable item purely for the covers/color pages.

Yeah, I know this page isn't really a great example of the issues with the inking and page colors, but it's one of the few pages from the JJK chapter that isn't a massive spoiler for readers. Instead, take a look at this view of the open end of the magazine.

Monthly G-Fantasy

And last, but certainly not least, we've got another magazine from Square Enix: Monthly G-Fantasy. Interestingly enough, this magazine started off as a special issue of Monthly Shounen Gangan all the way back in 1992, but found its way into a fully fledged magazine of its own, sporting popular titles like Hanako-Kun, and well, a lot of titles that I don't really know that much about. Anyways, how does this second helping from Square Enix match up against its progenitor?

Cost -> 650Yen

Number of Chapters -> 22

Number of Bonuses -> 2

Build / Print Quality -> 8.5/10

Number of Color Pages -> 5

A quick interlude to show off the bonuses. You get a (one-sided) poster, and a really cool special edition dust jacket for Hanako-kun (that you have to cut out). Really awesome pieces to add to the issue.

Yeah, I didn't really expect it either. G-Fantasy knocks it out of the park as a magazine, especially at its price point when compared to Shounen Gangan. The paper quality itself is pretty comparable, as both are somewhat thin yet very smooth, but the ink quality for G-Fantasy is just way ahead of Gangan. Really, if it's not better than a lot of Viz manga in terms of ink quality, it's at the very least on par with it. Wholeheartedly, I'd say that it's a better read than most modern regular sized viz manga. Massive trim size with nice paper and lovely ink quality, there's not a whole lot to complain about when you think about it being around half the price of a viz volume for such a large amount of content. So yeah, if you like Hanako-Kun, and potentially some of the other titles in here, and you want to work on your Japanese (and like bonus stuff), there's not really a big reason or limiter in keeping up with G-Fantasy.

And just a bit of a closing statement/final remark on these magazines. Alongside the chapters, the advertisements and information within were all super interesting. They were sorta all over the place, ranging from ads for pop up shops or merchandise to character information and statements to all sorts of polls and opinion panels. It's a really interesting look into how the culture surrounding manga works in Japan.

So, at the end of the day I definitely think that the monthly magazines are more likely to be worth it for NA readers, but if you're a collector and want to have a cover for your favorite series, I wouldn't really say it's a waste of money at the end of the day.

#jujutsu kaisen #呪術廻戦 #toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jibaku shonen hanako kun #地縛少年花子くん #otherside picnic #urasekai picnic #裏世界ピクニック #manga magazine #weekly shounen jump #weekly shonen jump #monthly shounen gangan #monthly shonen gangan #monthly G-Fantasy #anime and manga #manga

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prinnay · 1 year

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New Magical Girl Monthly, #1

Inspired by the Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump manga magazines from childhood!

#draw this again #magical girl monthly #fake magazine #art #magical girl

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ashitanozak · 1 month

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From 2018, for the 50th anniversary of Shonen Jump, Akira Toriyama and Takehiko INOUE met for an interview..

They talked about their work and the manga world. Some of what they said hinted at the tough times they had when they were starting out.

On the interview, Akira Toriyama revealed what kick-started his journey into Mangas. He admitted, "Honestly, I just wanted the 100,000 yen prize."

He had quit his job as a designer and was looking for something to do. While reading comics in a coffee shop, he found a magazine offering a 500,000 yen prize for new artists, but he missed the deadline to enter.

So, he tried a new monthly competition in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, which only offered 100,000 yen. Despite it being less money, Toriyama was broke and didn't have many options.

Eventually, Kazuhiko Torishima, an editor at Shōnen Jump, came across Toriyama's artwork. Then Dragon Ball was Created..

RIP LEGEND.

#akira toriyama #inoue takehiko #manga #dragon ball

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feymarche · 1 year

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favorite thing about taylor swift dndads is that he gives me an elaborate excuse to go through my old monthly shonen jump collection

#i attempted so many styles and i dont think i did any of them justice but you know what. itsthe grind that matters #FOR A JOKE NO ONE BUT ME WILL GE;T #taylor swift #dndads #dungeons and daddies

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shysheeperz · 4 months

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For your 2024 consideration:

Akane Banashi- ongoing, the female shonen jump lead we need and deserve, rakugo, girl power, all my homies hate Zensho Arakawa and you will also feel compelled to physically fight a cranky old fictional man.

Show-Ha Shoten!-ongoing, monthly, stand-up comedy, by one half of the death note duo (art by Takeshi Obata) and Akinari Asakura, would die for Broken Glass Slipper and currently rooting for them to singlehandedly destroy the patriarchy.

Mission: Yozakura Family-ongoing, on its last leg, has an anime premiering in spring and you have no excuse at this point to keep ignoring its existence. Has just over 20 volumes and is currently the fourth longest running manga in the weekly shonen jump line-up rn (don't quote me on that). Centers around a super-powered spy family and there is a character/sibling for everyone. Has a power creep that has yet to jump the shark like certain other series. MC is literally an unproblematic fav king.

Blooming Love (Hanninmae no Koibito)-ongoing, biweekly, romance/slice of life, a romance where you don't have to wait 50 something chapters for two lovesick idiots to confess. Romantic progress is made pretty steadily. Last year of high school + beyond. The main couple is super adorbs. Serialized in Shonen Jump + and can be read on mangaplus.

And as usual,

read One Piece!

#manga #manga recommendation #manga recs #there's plenty of other series i'd recommend too #but i wish to spread the word on these specifically #two of these center around performance arts btw #akane banashi #show ha shoten!#mission yozakura family #blooming love #hanninmae no koibito

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yggdraseed · 11 days

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Reflecting on Ichigo vs. Grimmjow

This past week, we lost electricity and internet for a few days. In addition to engendering a much deeper appreciation for modern amenities in me, it led me to dust off a bunch of old Shonen Jump issues I bought at Kroger when I was a kid! Someday I'd like to collect a copy of every English monthly and weekly Shonen Jump anthology, but that's not the point of this post.

No, the point is that while thumbing through them, I encountered the last chapter of Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow, and I was struck by how much of the subtext and emotion I missed as a dumb teenager. That's not to say all teenagers are dumb, I don't think they are and I think the way that adults in general look down on and bully adolescents is stupid and wrong; I'm just saying I, myself, was a teenager once, and back then, I was dumb as hell.

Anywho, I remember really, really being struck by that flashback to when Grimmjow was still an Adjuchas and running with his pack that all eventually became his Numeros. When I was a teen, I don't think I had the mental framework to understand why, but now I do. The whole concept of the Arrancar is a hell of a lot more fascinating with all the things I've learned and opened myself up to since then, and looking with fresh eyes at this one chapter of Grimmjow and his interactions with his underlings and Ichigo was a real thrill.

It's interesting how, while Shinigami get stronger by cloaking themselves in Hollow powers, Hollows get stronger by becoming more like Shinigami. They tear off their masks, assume more-or-less human forms, and store their full Hollow form as zanpakuto for the renewal and empowerment of Resurrección. And I've started to reflect a lot on what monsters taking on humanoid form means for the story's themes.

When I look at the Espada, I see these once animalistic phantoms who exist only to consume and perpetuate their own existence who have now taken on human form and the very human search for meaning in some form. Yammy's a bad example of this like he is for fucking everything, but maybe the point is that he's such a big lug with so much power to throw around that he doesn't need to try to give his life meaning? But that's a reach.

Starting from Number 9 instead, we have Aaroniero, the only Gillian in the Espada. The Gillian are the first stage of Menos Granda, resulting from the hunger that defines all Hollows becoming so great that human souls no longer can satiate them, and so they cannibalize each other in a huge feeding frenzy that eventually produces a Gillian. As a result of smashing all these Hollow personalities together, they lose their individual identity, as seen with how Gillian all have the same appearance until they metamorphose into the next phase, an Adjuchas. When this happens, an individual identity asserts itself.

I don't believe that Adjuchas are actually representative of any one living human's former identity like non-Menos Hollow are. Rather, I think that an Adjuchas is a whole new identity that originates from that congealed mess of interfeeding and assimilation that produces a Gillian. Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I don't think any of the Arrancar were once living humans, in that I think their experience as individuals begins at their emergence as Adjuchas.

Getting back to Aaroniero, he (they? it?) was probably just on the borderline between Gilian and Adjuchas. So you have this sort of very broad strokes, half-animal consciousness that's only starting to become self-aware again. Aaroniero only has a little more going on in his/their inner life than the primal desire all Hollows have to feed, and I think that bears out in how Aaroniero takes the identity of what's eaten and lives to eat. Aaroniero only has a little more than hunger, but is using that hunger as a basis for meaning and trying to create an identity by eating otthers and integrating them. Perhaps unfortunately, Aaroniero dies before completing self-actualization.

Szayel Aporro, the next rung on the ladder, is also defined by desire in a more broad sense. It's not only hunger, but also lust and more complicated forms of greed that drive him. He's a scientist, but in the sense that he's possessed of avarice for knowledge. And his Resurrección reflects a desire for power over others - over their bodies and over their fates. In that way, following his desires leads to meaning for him, to some sort of goal: acquiring knowledge and more complex, effective means to then acquire more knowledge and satisfy other desires.

Zommari is marked by fanatical love. Love is interesting in that it's simultaneously a desire and a virtue: to love someone or something is to desire them, but also to desire their wellbeing. It's a need to meet the needs of someone or something besides yourself. And yet, Zommari has this very immature, incomplete love: he makes all of these adulations towards love, but in the end, his Resurreción forces others to love him and serve him. He's unable to go outside of himself at this stage, but while he's beginning to see the big picture, it all still comes down to his own primal desire to have, to possess, even if not necessarily to consume.

I could keep going up the list, but I'm going to stop at Grimmjow for now because he's the one on my mind the most due to recency bias. He and his pack of Adjuchas ended up settling on a very different desire from any of the foregoing Arrancar: power. Not consumption, not possession, but growth and evolution. Obviously the latter is attained by and makes it easier to attain more of the former, but the point is that it's a very different relationship to the world and the self from what Aaroniero, Szayel Aporro, and Zommari have going on.

Grimmjow and his underlings have as their primary, guiding objective not to fill their stomachs or secure possessions, but to evolve further and realize their latent potential. This is no longer in the realm of meeting some primal need like hunger, security, or some other form of tangible, useful abundance. Self-improvement for its own sake is something very abstract and symbolic, something downright esoteric if you're only looking at biological utility. It's something almost unspeakably human, to do something not for the benefit of survival, but because you've decided it's meaningful.

That's Grimmjow and his pack. They've declared that strength has meaning even if it doesn't meet your needs and desires, and so they make sacrifices on the altar of strength. And it's why his subordinate Adjuchas are so distraught when they realize they can't go further. Strength is their meaning, their tether guiding them through the dark desert of existence, and now they've obtained all of it that they can. Not for lack of trying, but because they had a built-in limit. I think you could argue that wanting Grimmjow to eat them is partly a suicidal response to realizing they're at the end point of their chosen meaning and can't proceed further with it.

However, it's also fascinating that rather than just ending it themselves in some way, they all choose to offer themselves up to Grimmjow. They see him as the embodiment of strength and of the law of the jungle, the might makes right philosophy that gave their existence meaning and let them continue to try and live. And so they want to sacrifice themselves so that he can reach his full potential and go further beyond, to the frontiers of strength they know they can never reach. It's visceral, animalistic, and short-sighted, but you can't call it anything else than compassion. They choose to give up their needs and desires for the needs and desires of someone else.

And so when Grimmjow's always pushing himself to assert his pride and to get as strong as possible, to defeat anyone and everyone that he can, sure, it's his ego motivating him. However, it's also the fact that now, he's the one carrying the symbolic meaning of strength on his back for his Numeros. Getting stronger is no longer just his own meaning, but it's a responsibility he owes to his comrades who weren't able to get stronger with him. And that meaning keeps him moving forward on a collision force with greater challenges.

Like one Ichigo Kurosaki. When you look back at Ichigo's characterization in early Bleach, it starts to click why he makes this connection with Grimmjow. He sees himself in him - or maybe just a person he could have become if things went differently. Ichigo's kind of a punk who likes to fight and flex his muscles, but he became that way because his natural orange hair he inherited from his mom made him look like a delinquent and turned him into a lightning rod for conflict. Some people see a nail that sticks out and can't rest until they hammer it down, and Ichigo had to learn to fight and to enjoy fighting in order to protect himself and his self-respect. He could just do something as simple as dye his hair black, but then, that would be hiding something he inherited from his dead mother just to make life go a little smoother. It would be stepping on something important to himself just so he could take the easy way out.

Grimmjow is someone who finds meaning in conflict and strength for its own sake. Ichigo finds meaning in conflict and strength only to assert his own self-worth and, with time, to protect the friends who have gradually gathered around him. He's not just some punk slugging people for getting on his case over something as stupid as hair color, his strength represents a responsibility to the people he loves. And that element of strength as meaning, strength as a responsibility to others, ties him and Grimmjow to each other.

It's why Ichigo frustrates Grimmjow so much. He sees himself in Ichigo, but he also sees something not-himself. He sees someone who has pushed himself to get stronger, but someone who doesn't worship at the altar of strength like he does. Instead, he sees someone with this over-abundance of strength who doesn't assert it, doesn't make more sacrifices than necessary for it, but just uses it as a means to an end: that end being the safety of people he cares for.

This creates friction inside of Grimmjow because strength is his rock, his one singular meaning in a dark, barren, stupid world. For strength to just be the means to an end is hard to process. Yet in Ichigo, he starts to see what lies beyond strength for its own sake: a way that strength can form bonds and maintain them, act as the seedbed for new meanings without losing its meaning in itself.

When Ichigo pleads with Grimmjow, "We don't need to fight to the death. Isn't it enough for us to fight each other again and again?" It's him extending an olive branch. He doesn't want to see more death and destruction than necessary anymore, but he knows now that the world of Arrancar like Grimmjow is defined by those things. If he wants to end this conflict without killing an opponent he respects, then he has to meet Grimmjow in the middle. He has to make a commitment to get stronger and fight Grimmjow again, as many times as he wants, if it means Grimmjow will lay down his arms and stop trying to get to him through his friends.

Of course, Nnoitra has to show up and fuck it all up like he does most things he involves himself with. I've come to find Nnoitra an interesting character in his own right and might have more to say about him in the future, but for now, I'll say that I think the fact that Grimmjow ends up helping Ichigo and Co. during the final arc indicates he's accepted Ichigo's terms and is expanding his horizons beyond fighting and killing to grow and assert his strength and nothing else besides that.

He's definitely evolved his fashion sense. Did you see those boots? Faboo! To die for! Or, perhaps, to live for?

#bleach #grimmjow jaegerjaquez #ichigo kurosaki #tite kubo #bleach spoilers #existentialism #existentialism in my shonen manga yippee

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shiro-s2e2-erukinzu · 3 months

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I don't really have many regrets in my life, but something that I do regret is not reading Undead Unluck a lot sooner than I did...!! 😩

I remember reading the first chapter back in 2021 with my brother and our best friend and it really piqued my interest, just after the first chapter alone...!! But, even though I was interested in it, I didn't get around to reading it... Maybe it's because I was just so focused on one series at the time (Spy × Family) and didn't really want to branch out and start a new series, but then again, I went out of my way to read Burn The Witch (because it's made by Tite Kubo, but it's limited series and hasn't come back yet), Ruri Dragon (but it's been on an indefinite hiatus) & Gokurakugai (but that comes out monthly), so maybe I was just being lazy... 🤷

Anyway, one day, I saw the first trailer for the Undead Unluck anime and I was super excited for it and thought that I'll probably just watch the anime when it comes out. Then, when I saw who was directing the anime, I was immediately worried because it was gonna be the same guy that directed the first season of Fire Force, Yuki Yase...!! Which for me and my brother, we did not like a lot of the choices that he made for the anime adaptation, especially since we are fans of the original manga...! 😤

So at that point, I was determined to read the manga before the anime came out, but I still didn't jump at the chance to read it...! 😅 But, after being constantly recommended different videos about Undead Unluck on YouTube and seeing The L Reads (who I follow here on Tumblr) talk about it, I finally decided to read it in the middle of August 2023, and...:

I WAS IMMEDIATELY HOOKED!!! 😆😆😆

It took me until September 3rd at like 1 o'clock in the morning to finally catch up to the series, and now I'm a huge fan!! 😁 All I really want now for this series is for more people to give it a chance because I think it's one of the best Shonen series that I've ever read...!! So if anyone else is interested in this series, then "Let's Enjoy Life" together...! 💗

#undead unluck #undead + unluck #udul #ramblings #personal #Please give Undead Unluck a chance...!! ✊#I thought that I should make a seperate post about Undead Unluck so that anyone that follows me can check it out...#...but only if they want...!! 😊#I can't stress how UNderrated and UNderappreciated this series is...!! 😩#But I'll continue to love this series regardless if more people check it out or not...!! 😁

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authorbettyadams · 5 months

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Why Was Hiei Raising an Army at the Beginning of Yu Yu Hakusho (Very Old Spoilers)

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#YYH #ShonenJump #Manga #Anime #Yokai

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Barnes & Nobel

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Kobo by Rakuten

Google Play Books

Why Was Hiei Raising an Army at the Beginning of Yu Yu Hakusho (Very Old Spoilers)

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#YYH #ShonenJump #Manga #Anime #Yokai

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rainbowdonkee · 1 year

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Fire Emblem Engage has been officially picked up by Shonen Jump + for a monthly serialization! It will start receiving full scale serialization starting April but the prologue chapter will be released on March.

Art will be done by Kazuro Kyo.

#fe #fe17 #fe engage #fe alear #fe manga #fire emblem engage #fire emblem engage manga #fe framme #fe clanne #fe vander #nintendo #nintendo manga

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yyh4ever · 6 months

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104th Hop Step Award - H☆S (October, 1993)

Togashi-sensei's Direct Instructions! The road to conquer all areas of manga!

Mass Recruitment for the 104th (October 1993 Term) H☆S Award!! This month's judge is Yoshihiro Togashi-sensei!

The Hop☆Step Award (H☆S Award) was a monthly recruitment project by Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) that took place from March 1985 to July 1996.

I already translated Togashi's ten "4-koma" that he drew during the Yu Yu Hakusho serialization to give advice to the participants of the H☆S Award - October 1991 & 1992 Terms.

This time, I am translating the October 1993 Term, where he gives the newcomer manga artists more tips and advice on how to create different styes of manga. The winner of this edition was Eiichiro Oda with the one-shot "Ikki Yakō" (一鬼夜行). At the time, Yu Yu Hakusho was in the Black Chapter Arc.

Togashi gives instructions to help creating gag, love comedies, sports and fantasy manga. He used a little bit of all those elements in Yu Yu Hakusho.

Part 1. Gag Manga

T/N: Chain letters (letters of misfortune) were popular in Japan during the Showa era. A ''letter'' or ''postcard'' was delivered to your home/work in the style of ''If you do not send it to a certain number of people, you will be unhappy.'' The sender is unknown. Chain letters were also a hot topic in magazines and manga, like Doraemon and a bunch of gag manga.

Source: Weekly Shounen Jump N°44, 1993. Shared by katsura_00

The funny versions of Yanagizawa, Kido and Kaito represent the editors in charge of:

Jungle King Tar-chan/DNA² (Kaoru Kushima);

Lucky Man/JoJo (KAITO Katsuhiko);

Yu Yu Hakusho/Monmonmon (Tomoyuki Shima)

Waiting for powerful works that will break these guys territories! !

They were responsible for the screening, checking all the applications and eliminating the mediocre works before passing them on to Togashi. Inside their territories, works with "characters that are all very similar," "characters with no strong personality at all" or "just imitations of existing characters" were mercifully discarded.

Part 2. Romantic Comedy

Source: Weekly Shounen Jump N°45, 1993. Shared by katsura_00

Part 3. Sports Manga

Source: Weekly Shounen Jump N°46, 1993. Shared by katsura_00

Part 4. Fantasy Manga

Source: Weekly Shounen Jump N°47, 1993. Shared by katsura_00

T/N: The fantasy illustration of Botan, Keiko, Yukina, Shizuru and Atsuko in medieval clothes was designed to the opening page of Yu Yu Hakusho volume 11, tankobon edition.

🏆 Winner: Eiichiro Oda

Oda-sensei was the inner of this edition! Togashi-sensei reviews his 31-page one-shot, "Ikki Yakou", that was published in the 1994 Shonen Jump Spring Special, and later reprinted in 1998 as part of Wanted!, a compilation of Oda's pre-One Piece stories.

Source: Weekly Shounen Jump N°2, 1994

#Yoshihiro Togashi #Yu Yu Hakusho #hop step award #Weekly Shounen Jump #1993 #H☆S Award #gag manga #romantic comedy #Eiichiro Oda #sports manga #Togashi's advice #一鬼夜行 #Night Parade of One Demon #fantasy manga

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