Weekly Shōnen Magazine

Weekly Shōnen Magazine (週刊少年マガジン, Shūkan Shōnen Magajin) is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Kodansha. It is sold every Wednesday each week, except during holidays (like Christmas, New Years, and Golden Week) where it releases as double issue the prior week. It also sometimes releases on a Tuesday if Wednesday is a holiday.

History

Weekly Shōnen Magazine reaching 55 years.

It was first published on March 17, 1959, the same year as it's rival in Weekly Shōnen Sunday. The magazine was originally released on Thursday at 40 yen. The magazine had some early success with series like Harris no Kaze (ハリスの旋風) by Tetsuya Chiba in 1965. Later on, it had more success with two sports series in a baseball series, Star of the Giants - (巨人の星) and boxing series, Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー) by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba. Weekly Shōnen Magazine also started posting gravure idols on it's cover in order to attract an older audience. By 1967, it had over 1 million subscribers. However, by the time those series ended in 1971 and 1973, the magazine started losing some of it's popularity.

Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday 50 year mark,

In 2009, Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sundaycelebrated 50 years anniversary together with a rare cross over cover with Ippo Makunouchi and Shinichi Kudo from Detective Conan shaking hands. As part of the anniversary, they also released three video games, collectable stamps and coins, and other special merchandise.

Weekly Shōnen Magazine reaching 50 years and Kodansha's 100th anniversary.

In 2015, Weekly Shōnen Magazine started releasing a weekly digital issue on it's website. However, Jōji Morikawa did not want his series, Hajime no Ippo, included with it, or sold digitally online, causing Weekly Shōnen Magazine to release two version of the magazine each week, the digital version which doesn't not include it, and the physical published version. When Hajime no Ippo appeared on the cover, there were usually two different version as well due to the two different magazines.

In 2019, Weekly Shōnen Magazine celebrated 60 years of their magazine. Hajime no Ippo was also celebrating 30 years as a manga series. In Issue 42 and 43, the series reached it's 30 year mark. A stage play based on the series was scheduled to perform in January 2020. Morikawa was also set to have an art exhibit in November 2019.

In 2021, the Weekly Shōnen Magazine revealed on June 19 that Hajime no Ippo would be published in the digital version of the magazine starting July of that year.^[1]

List of Various Manga Series Published

For the full list of series published in the past and present, visit the Wikipedia article: List of series run in Weekly Shōnen Magazine.

Current Series (as of Issue 50, November 2025)

A Couple of Cuckoos (カッコウの許嫁 ) by Miki Yoshikawa (Began: January 2020)
Ahiru no Sora (あひるの空) by Takeshi Hinata (Began: December 2003)
Ao no Miburo (青のミブロ) by Tsuyoshi Yasuda (Began: October 2021)
Banjō no Orion (盤上のオリオン) by Naoshi Arakawa (Began: January 2024)
Blue Lock (ブルーロック) by Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Yūsuke Nomura (Began: August 2018)
Dream⭐︎Jumbo⭐︎Girl (ドリーム☆ジャンボ☆ガール) by Hiroyuki (Began: May 2025)
Four Knights of the Apocalypse (黙示録の四騎士, Mokushiroku no Yonkishi) by Nakaba Suzuki (Began: January 2021)
Gachiakuta (ガチアクタ) by Kei Urana (Began: February 2022)
Go, Go, Loser Ranger! (戦隊大失格, Sentai Daishikkaku) by Negi Haruba (Began: February 2021)
Hajime no Ippo (はじめの一歩) by Jōji Morikawa (Began: October 1989)
Idolatry (アイドラトリィ) by Shin Ohtaka, Homare (Began: July 2025)
Ikita Gari no Jinrou (生きたがりの人狼) by Shigeki Tange (Began: March 2025)
Kagari-ke no 8 Kyoudai (篝家の8兄弟) by Sora Daichi (Began: March 2025)
Kaijin Fugeki (灰仭巫覡) by Oh! great (Began: May 2024)
Kanan-sama wa Akuma de Choroi (カナン様はあくまでチョロい) by nonco (Began: June 2022)
Kuroiwa Medaka ni Watashi no Kawaii ga Tsūjinai (黒岩メダカに私の可愛いが通じない) by Ran Kuze (Began: May 2021)
Kurotsuki no Yaergnacht (黒月のイェルクナハト) by Kou Suzumoto (Began: April 2025)
Mayonaka Heart Tune (真夜中ハートチューン) by Masakuni Igarashi (Began: September 2023)
Rent-A-Girlfriend (彼女、お借りします, Kanojo, Okarishimasu) by Reiji Miyajima (Began: July 2017)
Seitokai ni Mo Ana wa Aru! (生徒会にも穴はある!) by Muchimaro (Began: April 2022)
Shangri-La Frontier (シャングリラ・フロンティア, Shangurira Furontia) by Katarina, Ryōsuke Fuji (Began: July 2020)
Suruga Meteor (スルガメテオ) by Drill Tanaka (Began: January 2025)
Yashō no Kito (夜鐘のキト) by Genri Natsume (Began: May 2025)
Yowayowa-Sensei (よわよわ先生) by Kamio Fukuchi (Began: November 2022)
Yumene Connect (ゆめねこねくと) by Kou Sawada (Began: September 2024)
Zero to Hyaku (ゼロとヒャク) by Shoichiro Edo (Began: November 2025)

List of Issues Since Hajime no Ippo Began by Year

Reception

The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a large 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, circulation of the magazine 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 best-selling manga magazines. By March 2008, the magazine had 2,942 issues, having sold 4.55 billion copies, with an average weekly circulation of 1,546,567. At an average issue price of ¥129 ($1.29), the magazine had generated approximately ¥590 billion ($5.9 billion) in sales revenue by March 2008.

Links

References

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