Shonen Sunday
Encyclopedia
, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen
manga
magazine
published in Japan by Shogakukan
. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.
, the star player of the Yomiuri Giants
on the cover, and a congratulatory article by Isoko Hatano, a noted child psychologist.
Despite its name, Shōnen Sunday is published on Wednesdays of each week. The "Sunday" in the name was the creation of its first editor, Kiichi Toyoda, who wanted the title to be evocative of a relaxing weekend.
Shōnen Sunday' s distinctive "pointing finger" that appears in the lower corner of every page on the left side of the magazine made its subtle debut in the 4/5 issue from 1969. This understated feature, ever present but easily overlooked, was referenced as a plot element in 20th Century Boys
. Sundays more noticeable mascot, a helmeted fish debuted in the 1980s.
Prior to the 1990s and 2000s no serial in Shōnen Sunday had run over 40 volumes, but that began to change with series such as Meitantei Conan, MAJOR
, InuYasha
, and Karakuri Circus
, which maintained a high level of popularity. Consequently, another change that has met with mixed feelings is the early discontinuation of series by non-veteran manga artist
which has led to newer artists, Kōji Kumeta
for example, leaving for other publishers' magazines.
In a rare event due to the closeness of the two magazine's founding dates, Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Weekly Shōnen Magazine
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.
and Shotaro Ishinomori
to Rumiko Takahashi
, Mitsuru Adachi
and Gosho Aoyama
, some of the biggest names in the industry have called Shōnen Sunday their home.
also confirmed that Viz Media
plans on launching Shonen Sunday titles in the U.S. Starting with Rumiko Takahashi
's Rin-ne
manga adaptation, which will be released on October 20, 2009.
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
published in Japan by Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.
History
Shōnen Sunday was first published on Tuesday, March 17, 1959, the same day as its rival Shōnen Magazine. The debut issue featured Shigeo NagashimaShigeo Nagashima
is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager.Nagashima was by far the most popular figure in Japanese baseball during his career. His contributions to the development of the sport in Japan are immeasurable.-Biography:...
, the star player of the Yomiuri Giants
Yomiuri Giants
The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
on the cover, and a congratulatory article by Isoko Hatano, a noted child psychologist.
Despite its name, Shōnen Sunday is published on Wednesdays of each week. The "Sunday" in the name was the creation of its first editor, Kiichi Toyoda, who wanted the title to be evocative of a relaxing weekend.
20th Century Boys
is a science fiction-mystery manga created by Naoki Urasawa. It won the 2001 Kodansha Manga Award in the General category, an Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival, and the 2003 Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category. The last two volumes of the story were serialized under...
. Sundays more noticeable mascot, a helmeted fish debuted in the 1980s.
Prior to the 1990s and 2000s no serial in Shōnen Sunday had run over 40 volumes, but that began to change with series such as Meitantei Conan, MAJOR
Major (manga)
Major is a sports manga series by Takuya Mitsuda. It has been serialized in Shōnen Sunday and has been collected in 78 tankōbon volumes...
, InuYasha
InuYasha
, also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008...
, and Karakuri Circus
Karakuri Circus
is a manga by Kazuhiro Fujita, also the manga artist of Ushio and Tora. The manga was published in the Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine . The manga is currently available as individually compiled and bound tankōbon....
, which maintained a high level of popularity. Consequently, another change that has met with mixed feelings is the early discontinuation of series by non-veteran manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
which has led to newer artists, Kōji Kumeta
Kōji Kumeta
, is a Japanese gag manga artist. His most famous works are Go!! Southern Ice Hockey Club, Katte ni Kaizō and Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei. His other major works include √P Root Paradise, Sodatte Darling!! and...
for example, leaving for other publishers' magazines.
In a rare event due to the closeness of the two magazine's founding dates, Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Weekly Shonen Magazine
, also known as Shōnen Magazine, is a shōnen manga magazine published by Kodansha, first published on 17 March 1959. Despite some unusual censorship policies , it's mainly read by an older audience, with a large portion of its readership falling under the male high school or college...
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.
Currently running manga-series
| Series title | Author | Premiered |
|---|---|---|
| Mitsuru Adachi Mitsuru Adachi is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Maebashi Commercial High School in 1969, Adachi worked as an assistant for Isami Ishii. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kieta Bakuon, based on a manga originally created by Satoru Ozawa... |
||
| Tsubasa Fukuchi Tsubasa Fukuchi is a Japanese manga artist best known for creating The Law of Ueki and its sequel, The Law of Ueki Plus. His most recent manga Takkoku!!! debuted in March 2009 in Shōnen Sunday Super.The law of Ueki was adapted into a 51 episodes anime series.... |
||
| Yuu Watase Yuu Watase is a female Japanese shōjo manga artist. She received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Ceres, Celestial Legend in 1997. Since writing her debut short story "Pajama de Ojama" , Watase has created more than 80 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series... |
||
| Motoyuki Tanaka | ||
| Takuya Mitsuda Takuya Mitsuda is a Japanese manga artist from Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture. He has published his works primarily in Shogakukan's manga magazine, Shōnen Sunday.... |
||
| Jin Kyouchikutou, Mitsuhiro Mizuno, Junichi Komiya | ||
| Takeshi Azuma | ||
| Gosho Aoyama Gosho Aoyama , born on June 21, 1963 in Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, Japan is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan .-Educational background:Aoyama was talented in drawing even at an early age... |
||
| Kenji Sugawara | ||
| Kazuhiro Fujita Kazuhiro Fujita ' is a Japanese manga artist. He graduated from Nihon University. He made his professional manga debut in Shōnen Sunday in 1989. He is most famous for the manga Ushio and Tora, for which he won Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 1992 and the Seiun Award in 1997, and the long-running Karakuri... |
||
| Hiromu Arakawa Hiromu Arakawa is a Japanese manga artist from Hokkaidō. Her renowned manga, Fullmetal Alchemist, became a hit both domestically and internationally, and was later adapted into two television anime series. She often portrays herself as a bespectacled cow.-Biography:... |
||
| Shun Fujiki | ||
| Kenjiro Hata Kenjiro Hata is a Japanese manga author. He is notable for the creation of the series Hayate the Combat Butler. He likes to collect anime related items, such as figurines. He was once an assistant of Kōji Kumeta.- Works :* Hayate the Combat Butler... |
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| Yuka Katano, Youju Takakura, Aki Hamanaka | ||
| Hiroshi Fukuda | ||
| Tamiki Wakaki Tamiki Wakaki is a Japanese manga artist and graduate of Kyoto University, notable for his manga series, .-One-shots: is a Japanese manga artist and graduate of Kyoto University, notable for his manga series, .-One-shots: (January 2000, Weekly Shōnen Sunday Tokubetsu Zōkan R) (March 2001,Weekly Shōnen... |
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| Hiroyuki Nishimori Hiroyuki Nishimori is a Japanese manga artist. His series Cheeky Angel won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 2001, and has been translated into English by Viz Media.... |
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| Aya Hirakawa | ||
| Rumiko Takahashi Rumiko Takahashi is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages... |
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| Shinobu Ohtaka Shinobu Ohtaka . is a Japanese manga artist, and the author of Sumomomo Momomo manga series and recently, Magi-Labyrinth of Magic.-References:... |
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| Mitsuru Kaga, Hirofumi Katou | ||
| Jin Kusude, Mitsuhisa Tamura | ||
| Kazuyuki Samukawa | ||
| Irie Kenzou, Takashi Hashiguchi Takashi Hashiguchi is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his manga series Yakitate!! Japan, for which he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 2004... |
||
| Hirokazu Kobayashi | ||
| Shun Matsuena | ||
| Takashi Shiina Takashi Shiina is a Japanese manga artist who writes primarily for the weekly Shogakukan manga publication Weekly Shōnen Sunday. When he started at the company in 1989, he began with an anthology of various shorts and one-shots collectively known as Shiina Department Store... |
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Other well-known Sunday series
In its nearly fifty year history Shōnen Sunday has been host to many series that are considered classics of their genre. From the works of Osamu TezukaOsamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
and Shotaro Ishinomori
Shotaro Ishinomori
was a Japanese manga artist who became an influential figure in manga, anime, and tokusatsu, creating several immensely popular long-running series such as Cyborg 009 and Himitsu Sentai Goranger, what would go on to become part of the Super Sentai series, and the Kamen Rider Series...
to Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi
is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...
, Mitsuru Adachi
Mitsuru Adachi
is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Maebashi Commercial High School in 1969, Adachi worked as an assistant for Isami Ishii. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kieta Bakuon, based on a manga originally created by Satoru Ozawa...
and Gosho Aoyama
Gosho Aoyama
, born on June 21, 1963 in Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, Japan is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan .-Educational background:Aoyama was talented in drawing even at an early age...
, some of the biggest names in the industry have called Shōnen Sunday their home.
Circulation
- 2000 - 2.02 million
- 2002 - 1.53 million
- 2003 - 1.31 million
- 2004 - 1.16 million
- 2005 - 1.06 million
- 2006 - 1.01 million
- 2007 - 0.94 million
- 2008 - 873,438
- 2009 - 773,062
- 2010 - 678,917
Editors
- 1991 - 1993
- Takashi Hirayama
- 1994 - 2000
- Toyohiko Okuyama
- 2000 - 2002
- Shinichiro Tsuzuki
- 2002 - 2004
- Shinichi Mikami
- 2004–present
- Masato Hayashi
North American edition
Anime News NetworkAnime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
also confirmed that Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
plans on launching Shonen Sunday titles in the U.S. Starting with Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi
is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...
's Rin-ne
Rin-ne
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It began serialization in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday manga magazine on April 22, 2009...
manga adaptation, which will be released on October 20, 2009.