Tag Archives: Shonen Manga

Fun With Numbers: Scarce Demand for Simulmanga

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This past year, viz media pulled off a first for the non-Japan manga industry. I’m referring to Shonen Jump Alpha, a digital “magazine” offering same-week release of the chapters of some 11 Weekly Shonen Jump manga. It’s pretty cool, and at 26$/year for 48 issues (and a buck per back issue), it’s not a totally unreasonable subscription fee. But that specific business model, one of same-week releases for official translations, is unfortunately not something that’s likely to be transferable to the majority of manga. Especially seinen and josei series with smaller fanbases. If you’ve ever wondered if the manga translation industry will catch up to where the anime industry is now with simulcasts, this article discusses the depressing reality of the situation and why such an outcome is relatively unlikely.

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Manga Olympics for Bloggers (Shonen/Seinen Round 1c): Mid-Major Manga and the Merits of a Struggling Artist Set [Slightly] Free

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I’ve been writing about shonen for the past 2 weeks of this competition, and Keima only knows if I’ll make it out of the first round, so I might as well use the freedom I’ve got to coin a term that’s been percolating in my head for a while and talk about seinen (and some shonen, as well) while people are listening. I’ve taken to calling some manga Mid-Major because they’re great in a way that screams “improbable” and “unsustainable”, but because of that are even more fun to watch than consistently great ones. Clearly not top-tier, but clearly blessed with enough potential to make a little legend, like Dunk City FGCU demolishing Georgetown in this year’s NCAA Tourney.* There’s an appeal to watching the little engine that could suddenly transform into a giant robot and dropkick a galaxy, and nowhere (other than sports) does this phenomenon happen more often than in the world of monthly manga.

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Manga Olympics for Bloggers (Shonen/Seinen Round 1b): Shonen Manga Up and Comers – Part 2 (Sakamoto Desu Ga?)

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Manga in Japan can be hard to break into, and most manga take time to become big sellers. That is why it is always amazing when the first volumes of certain series do so well so quickly. In the past year, there have been many big starts, with one of them being:

Sakamoto Desu Ga? – 677,000 copies sold of the first volume since release this January 

All the girls want him. All the guys want to be him. In fact, literally everybody at school does. He’s Sakamoto. Whether it’s cooking, writing, studying, or anything else, he is the best at it. From writing with two hands at the same time to being able to sit on a chair even when it has been pulled out from underneath him, he is seemingly able to do *anything. No wonder he’s one of the most talked about people in school! But what happens when people interact with Sakamoto? And what does Sakamoto do to them?

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Manga Olympics for Bloggers (Shonen/Seinen Round 1): Shonen Manga and Redefining Manliness

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This post represents the first of three entries our blog is submitting to the Manga Olympics for Bloggers. Voting begins in a few days on June 16th, so just enjoy the article for now. Or check out our illustrious competition.

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Shonen manga, as literally defined, are manga marketed towards young boys. There are several implications of this definition, but I’m going to zero in on one in particular for the moment. Because shonen manga is popular with and being marketed towards younger boys, it must to some degree adhere to their notions of manliness, but still holds a unique opportunity to redefine what they see as cool, manly traits to aspire to. Let’s dive right in and take a look at some of the many shonen manga that subtly teach kids life lessons.

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