Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. 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 4.55billion copies, with an average weekly circulation of. At an average issue price of , the magazine had generated approximately in sales revenue by March 2008.
Jason Thompson stated that it is "more down-to-earth, as well as just a tad more guy-oriented" compared to Weekly Shonen Jump and likened this magazine to "more like something you'd find in the guys' locker room."
Features
Series
There are currently 22 manga titles being serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine.| Series Title | Author | Premiered |
| Ace of Diamond | Yūji Terajima | |
| Ahiru no Sora | Takeshi Hinata | |
| Bakemonogatari | Oh! great | |
| Blue Lock | Mineyuki Kaneshiro & Yūsuke Nomura | |
| Kakkō no Iinazuke | Miki Yoshikawa | |
| Danshi kōkōsei o yashinaitai Onēsan no Hanashi | Hideki | |
| Days | Yasuda Tsuyoshi | |
| Edens Zero | Hiro Mashima | |
| Fire Force | Atsushi Ōkubo | |
| Hajime no Ippo | George Morikawa | |
| Hitman | Kōji Seo | |
| Kanojo mo Kanojo | Hiroyuki | |
| Narenohate no Bokura | Utsumi Yae | |
| Orient | Shinobu Ohtaka | |
| Rent-A-Girlfriend | Reiji Miyajima | |
| Seitokai Yakuindomo | Tozen Ujiie | |
| Shangri-La Frontier Kusogehanta, Kami ge ne Idoman to su | Ryōsuke Fuji | |
| Smile Down the Runway | Kotoba Inoya | |
| Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru | Soichiro Yamamoto | |
| To Your Eternity | Yoshitoki Ōima | |
| Tokyo Babel | Karin Sora, Ran Kuze | |
| Tokyo Revengers'' | Ken Wakui |
Circulation
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 Shonen Magazine off the top spot. Shōnen Jump had now begun to circulate and dominate the manga magazine market. This began from the 1970s and continued throughout the 1990s, largely owed to Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. In the middle of the 1990s, Shōnen Jump suffered the loss of Dragon Ball, as the franchise had come to an end in 1996, and thus lost much of its readership. Shōnen Magazine had now made a comeback in October 1997, regaining its original 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 anime Mecha from July 1956 to May 1966.