Manga Reviews

Shojo Beat is a shojo manga magazine published in United States and Canada by the American company Viz Media. A shojo magazine is simply one that reaches out to female demographics, while a shonen is one that reaches out to male demographics. The Shojo Beat made its debut in June 2005 as a sister magazine for Shonen Jump, also released by VIZ Media. Shojo Beat magazine features serialized chapters from six manga series as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty. Since its initial launch, the magazine has been redesigned twice, becoming the first English anthology to use the two-color tone pages common in Japanese manga anthologies. Viz launched related "Shojo Beat" imprints in its manga, light novel, and anime divisions to coordinate with the magazine's contents. Shojo Magazine is targeted at girls ages 16–18, and the first issue of magazine was published with a circulation of 20,000 copies. By 2007, average circulation reached about 38,000 copies. Half of Shojo Beat’s circulation comes from subscriptions rather than store sales.

VIZ Media is an American company that is co-owned by the large Japanaese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha. In fact, among several magazines, Shueisha publishes Weekly Shonen Jump, the most popular manga magazine in Japan. The Weekly Shonen Jump influence quickly spread overseas to North America, and hence the publication of similar Shonen Jump and sister magazine Shojo Beat. All three companies produce and manage and do much more with manga related content, such as anime, DVDs, magazines, books, merchandise, and other things.

As a manga anthology, most of the Shojo Beat's content consists of its manga chapters. Other features include a letter from the editor, manga related news, a preview chapter from another Viz manga title being published under their "Shojo Beat" label, and articles on Japanese culture, current trends in Japan, and fashion and beauty. The end of the magazine has fan related sections, including fan art, letters from readers, manga drawing lessons, and cosplay how-to guides and highlights. The Shojo Beat’s official website features more articles, downloads of templates for dressing up the magazine's panda mascot "Moko", and online previews of many of the manga series being published under the "Shojo Beat" label. Additionally, the Shojo Beat web site allows users to view online manga of each individual volume released from any series.

So far Shojo Beat has published a total of 14 manga series, with half of them already completed. The list of ongoing manga publications in the magazine include Crimson Hero by Mitsuba Takanashi, Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ by Tohko Mizuno, Honey and Clover by Chika Umino, Honey Hunt by Miki Aihara, Sand Chronicles by Hinako Ashihara, Tail of the Moon by Rinko Ueda, and Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino.