Shoujo Manga Phonebooks!

Hihi everyone! I thought that some of you out there who do not have easy access to manga might be wondering what some of the manga phonebook magazines look like. So I have decided to open up this section to display scans of the covers of some of these magazines! 

What ARE phone book manga magazines you ask? Well they are collections of many continuing manga series by many different authors all bound together in a single volume. Each magazine is printed on very cheap newprint paper and are almost always in either black and white or variations of one color and white or a paler version of that color. For example, a chapter of Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne may appear in Ribon magazine printed in purple ink on a very pale purple paper. Usually each story will be printed in a different color, though occasionally the color of ink will change suddenly in the middle of a story. There will usually be a full-color page or two at the beginning of some of the chapters in each magazine. These manga magazines are printed on various schedules. Most of them are published monthly or bi-weekly. However there are some that are printed only 4 times a year (one issue for each season), or there will be a summertime 'special issue'. Because of the newsprint paper they are printed on, and the number of stories in each issue, these manga magazines can get pretty thick (some make good doorstops!) and thus resemble telephone books. 

Each manga magazine has a target age group. There are shoujo and shounen (boys and girls) magazines, and magazines targetted at specific age groups. For example, magazines like Ribon, Nakayoshi, or Ciao are aimed at young girls, while Margaret is intended for a slightly older age group. There are also magazines with specific themes to its stories. For example, 'Asuka' and 'Eyes' often have stories containing magic or supernatural events. Most shoujo manga magazines tend to have stories revolving around romantic relationships, be it first love in middle school, love triangles in high school, or romantic affairs between office coworkers. 

One of my favorite things about the shoujo magazines aimed towards young girls is the nice bag of 'goodies' that comes with each issue. The younger the target age group a manga magazine is intended for, the more fun toys that will come with each issue. Magazines like Ribon, Nakayoshi, Lala, and Ciao all come with fun stuff like stationery paper and envelopes, paper bags, plastic bags, posters, post cards, rulers, boxes and other objects you can put together, etc. All of these items will feature characters from the various series that run in the magazine. What fun! :D 

Anyway, listed below are some scans of some of these manga magazines, please enjoy! :) 

I am not sure if this magazine, 'Chuchu' is a normally running magazine, or some sort of special. It is published by Shogakukan, and features stories by authors that usually have their work in Ciao and Sho-Comic. A lot of the stories in this issue are actually one-shot side-stories for the titles in those other magazines. Examples of authors in this magazine include Watase Yuu, Mizuto Aqua, Shinjo Mayu, Iisaka Yukako, and Rie Takada. I LOVE this volume! :)

hahah the perfect name for a shoujo manga magazine- 'Cutie'! Because shoujo manga is just so darn cute of course! Interestingly enough, the art in this actually didn't appeal to me all that much ^_^;;; Most of the stories feature high-school-aged characters, and revolve around relationship problems of all kinds. However teh art styles between stories varies wildly. There are a lot of stories with a very 'cartoony' exaggerated look, and some with a 'retro' manga look. It's very hard to describe. I didn't see any stories with supernatural stuff going on, or wild adventures.

Crimson is an extremely cool magazine! I am guessing it is aimed at girls in their early teens. It has a lot of stories with fantasy, adventure, and mystery. Yun Kouga (Earthian) and Yuri Narushima (Young Magician) often have stories running in this magazine. The general art style of all the stories is not like Margaret or Ribon, I'd say it is closer in style to Asuka.

Ciao is a lot like Nakayoshi and Ribon listed below. It's for that same elementary-school age girls target market. Most of the stories have very cute character designs with huge round eyes. There are also lots of cute animal mascots. The theme of the stories is usually young love and adventure. Lots and lots of cuteness here! I like this magazine a lot. Iisaka Yukako often has stories running in this (I review a few of her series on this site) and Mizuiro Jidai also used to run in it. Way cool!

Monthly Shoujo Teikoku is a fairly new magazine published by Kadokawa. A lot of the series in it used to run in Asuka Fantasy DX or Asuka. This magazine has a lot of cool series in it though! Beautiful artwork too! CLAMP has Legal Drug running in it, and and Chiho Saito has stories going in it also. The stories tend to have a fantasy or adventure theme, and are aimed at the same target that reads Asuka. At least this is what I think after looking at 2 issues of it. Unfortunately, just like Amie, this magazine did not last long, and has been cancelled.

Ribon! It's the one shoujo manga magazine that I collect with some regularity right now. The stories in this are aimed at a younger audience, and ususlly feature cute romantic comedies or magical girl stories. My favorite series running in this right now are Mint na Bokura and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne.

Nakayoshi is very much like Ribon in target reader group and type of stories. I think magical girl stories are more likely to run in Nakayoshi than in Ribon though. Right now my favorite Nakayoshi series is Card Captor Sakura! Series that have run in this in the past include Sailor Moon and Saint Tail. The art style in this usually consists of REALLY large, round eyes and a maximum amount of CUTE.

Margaret is aimed at a slightly older crowd than Ribon or Nakayoshi. It features a lot of high-school angsty romance stories, and the classic mega angsty yaoi melodrama 'Bronze'. One of the more popular series that runs in this is Hana Yori Dango. Right now HYD is pretty much the only reason I purchase this. I do not like the art in the other series that much.

This is a magazine that always gets confused with Margaret. This is "Betsuma" Margaret. I am not exactly why they felt the need to publish this under this name. Well, the stories in this are similar to regular Margaret. In fact they are pretty much the same as the other Margaret. However, the reason I must now collect this magazine is because Akuma de Sourou runs in it! That series alone has such neato artwork! I wish the rest of the series were as cool!

I only have one issue of this, and I actually have no idea how many times a year this thing comes out. This is Deluxe Margaret. Why do they have to publish so many versions 'Margaret'? Makes things confusing for people (namely silly people like me :) looking for basic plain 'Margaret'. The stories in this seem to be the same type that are in the other two.

Asuka, published by Kadokawa Shoten, is a nice collection of stories that often involve magic and fantasy elements. For example, CLAMP's popular 'X' series runs in this. I like the srt style of most of the series that run in this. The cover of this issue pictured here looks really odd though O.o

Sho-comi is the manga magazine that such popular titles as Fushigi Yuugi and Ayashi no Ceres ran in. Right now Shinjo Mayu's Kaikan Phrase manga also ran in this. The target is older than Ribon and Nakayoshi. The characters are usually high school students, but they engage in some rather adult activities sometimes :)

I love this magazine! "Cheese" is such a perfect name for it! Yes, I did buy this one because of the nice 'H' headline across the front :P I will actually buy more of this manga monthly because it has a lot of series I own tankoubon for in it! I was very surprised when I got it! I had no idea some of the series I like, such as My Dear Lion or Towa Kamoshirenai ran in this magazine :) All of the artwork in this is rather nice, and the stories revolve around the romantic entanglements of a slightly older age group- late high school to early 20's I'd say. There is almost always some sort of sexual activity in the stories, but it is always very romantic and shoujo-ish ^_^ Hooray for shoujo smut! :)

Like Asuka, Eyes is another magazine that has a lot of Fantasy type stories in it. I get it occasionally because 'Alichino' runs in it :)

For yaoi fans out there, Be x Boy is one of the most popular of the yaoi magazines. Yaoi and shounen ai stories (featuring male/male relationships) are the main feature in this magazine. Expect to see a lot of cute, vulnerable young boys and worldly older guys having angst-filled relationships in this one. (I like it though, hehehe)

This is another shounen ai/yaoi magazines like Be x Boy. I didn't like the art in this one as much.

Wings! My favorite name for a magazine! :) This is yet another magazine that has a lot of action or fantasy type stories in it. Yuri Narushima's Young Magician ran in this. Another popular manga that was featured in this was the 'WeiB Kreuz' manga called 'An Asassin and White Shaman'. The size of this magazine is smaller than others like Asuka or Eyes, but the artwork inside is very nice!

Wah! One of my FAVORITE manga magazines! Hana to yume has so many cool series in it right now, in a variety of genres! It contains the gothic fantasy/drama story Angel Sanctuary, the action/yakuza/romantic comedy Tokyo Crazy Paradise, the gender-confused romantic comedy Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, the gender bending 'W Juliet', and many more! I love the artwork of just about all the stories in this! I can't express how genki I am when I manage to find this at the store! This is the one I REALLY want to get a subscription for!

This one, Betsuma Comi is like the Sho-comi version of Betsuma Margaret. In other words, it is pretty much the same as Sho-Comi, and seems to exist for the purpose of confusing people trying to buy Sho-Comi. ^_^ the stories in this are young adult-relationship type, with the occasional fantasy element thrown in.

If Asuka doesnt have enough sci-fi/fantasy/adventure for you, you can also get Asuka Fantasy DX. As its title would suggest, fantasy/adventure stories are the usual in this. I used to get this magazine occasionally because Cowboy Bebop ran in it :)

'South' is another GORGEOUS collection of fantasy type stories. I LOVE this magazine! The artwork in this so nice and crisp! Maybe it just looks this way because the whole magazine is printed in black ink on pale grayish newsprint paper instead of the pastel colors like Ribon or Nakayoshi. Lots of lovely bishounens can be found in this. Series running in South include 'Diamond Century', 'Lumen Lunae', 'Genjuu Bunsho' and 'Komisch'. South is a bi-monthly magazine.

Bouquet reminded me a lot of Margaret when I first looked through it. Then I realized it is published by the same company :) Hmm the audience for this magazine seems to be about the same as Margaret. The characters in this seem to be in their early 20's, though I notice a few stories that have high school characters in this. Most of these are relationship type stories. I did notice one story that seemed to be about a cat though, or it was told from the cat's point of view. I kind of liked that one. :)

I think I like this magazine, 'Princess' a bit more than Margaret or Sho-Comi. I like the art style in here a bit more. It is like a cross between the Ribon art style of big eyes and large/roundish faces and the cool angular look you can find in 'Wings' or 'Hana to Yume'. It is really hard to explain.

It says right on the cover of this Petit Comics magazine that it is a 'Comic for Young Girls'. So there's your target audience :) The stories in this vary. Most of them are, once again, relationship stories with characters in high school or just out of high school. The art varies also. Some of it is kind of plain or scratchy, while others, such as the story 'Ready Masquerade' by Chiho Saito (who also did Shoujo Kakumei Utena) have very nice art. The art on the cover is nice as well, for this issue :) I really like the story about the young married couple ^_^ I need to find the tankoubon for it... Gotta wonder about that 'Love Clinic' series though O_O

What? You can't get enough Margaret? Well don't worry, here is yet ANOTHER type of Margaret magazine! This one is called 'Za Margaret' (The Margaret). It is smaller in size than the other types of Margaret magazines, but this one is a LOT thicker. It is like a huge BRICK. Definite doorstop material. Anyway, The Margaret is cool because it has so many pages, which means a LOT of stories in it. AND, most of the stories in this are complete, one-shot stories, so you don't need to keep buying this thing all the time to follow continuing stories. You will find a lot of high school relationship stories with a few stories of other genres like fantasy or adventure thrown in here and tehre as well. This Magazine often features short stories by artitsts who have regular continuing stories running in one of the other Margaret books.

I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up this phonebook manga. I had never bought it before, but I am glad I did. Juliet is filled with romance/relationship stories among high school students. The art style is not exactly my favorite (It's similar to the art style in Margaret), but I really liked the stories. Most (not all, but I'd say about 80%) of the stories in this particular issue are one-shot complete stories. And I was happy, the first story in this issue I have is by the author of 'Dynamite na Honey', one of the manga series I summarize on this site :) I will probably be getting this manga more often!

It took me a while to get a hold of a copy of Melody. The manga store I live near doesn't get very many copies of this, so it can be hard to find. I like the cover of this particular issue :) However despite the pretty cover (I really like him ^_^ ) the interior art is not that spectacular, in my opinion. In general, the art is very simplistic and not very well proportioned. There are a couple of manga artists I like in this , including Tateno Makoto and Okano Fumika, but the rest of the art was only so-so. Subject matter varies. Most of it looks dramatic. There are a couple of historical stories, a little bit of light shounen ai, and other serious relationship stories

It took me even longer to get a copy of this than it did to get the Melody book listed above. The store near me just does not carry it. I had a couple of really old issues of this, but it wasn't until a little vacation that I found this issue. I'm always happyto find manga monthlies I haven't covered in here before ^_^ The art in this magazine varies, but there was more I liked than didn't. Lots of supernatural themes in the stories here, which is a lot of fun. There is also some shounen Ai, and I was happy to find a series I have been looking for, 'Gravitation' running in this magazine. The art in that series is so cool :)

LaLa! I LOVE this magazine! It has such a nice variety of stories, ranging from high school romance/drama like Karekano, to fantasy adventure like Harukanaru toki no naka de! The art style in this magazine is very strong, and of high quality. I also love Fun Fun Factory that runs in this. It is so adorable!