YAOI magazines
Cynthia Ma
Hi all,
As a manga fan, you may be familiar with terms such as shounen manga (for
boys), shoujo manga (for girls), seinen manga (for men), or jousei manga (for
ladies). But do you know about the "June" phenomenon? New trend of manga and
novels has appeared on the market. A genre that is targeting at readers who
are not satisfied with the traditional shoujo manga. These are manga focusing
on the aesthetic love and relationship between bishounen. There was a magazine
boom last year with mainly this kind of manga. Most of them don't regard
themselves as shoujo manga, nor shounen manga. It is a unique genre which
stands alone. We called it "Yaoi manga", or "Boys' Love manga".
The manga magazine "Puff" has compiled a manual on Boys' Love magazines. Here
is the list of the ones with manga (there are novel magazines as well):
J U N E :
June magazine is the originator of Yaoi magazines. Nowadays, fans
simply refer yaoi matters as "June mono" (June stuffs), and the word
"June" is also used as a noun in conversation. Famous manga artists
such as Yoshida Akimi (Banana Fish) and Takemiya Keiko (Song of wind
and wood) has manga published in June. Another manga "Ai no kusabi" by
Yoshihara Rieko serialised in June was first animated in 1992, and the
second anime will come out soon as well.
First published : 1 Oct 1978
Publish pace : 25th on odd number months (i.e. Jan, Mar, May, etc.)
Size : B5
Price : 750 yen
Concept : Aesthetic tradition and revolution
Contents other than manga : Shounen movie history, Rock info, Video
guide, Manga guide, etc.
G U S T :
Probably the second most popular yaoi manga magazine. "Osakana wa ami
no naka" serialised in Gust is just animated recently.
First published : 10 Jul 1990
Publish pace : 3rd of even number months (i.e. Feb, Apr, Jun, etc.)
Size : A5
Price : 600 yen
Concept : The royal road to yaoi book
Contents other than manga : Doujinshi info, Various experiences from
manga artists (e.g. going to a haunted mansion, etc), etc.
G E N E R O U S :
This magazine contains only one-off manga.
First published : 10 Mar 1993
Publish pace : 15th of odd number months
Size : A5
Price : 900 yen
Concept : All one-off bright and cheerful Yaoi manga.
B E x B O Y :
There are a lot of manga from good manga artists with wide varieties
in this magazine.
First published : 7 Mar 1993
Publish pace : monthly on the 7th
Size : A5
Price : 550 yen
Concept : Shoujo manga about "boys & boys"
Contents other than manga : Info on CD and videos which are based on
manga.
A S U K A C I E L :
Ciel has an official fanclub which makes it unique. The editors put
the readers in the top priority and organise parties and interviews
with manga artists regularly.
First published : 31 Sep 1993 as an extra edition to Asuka
30 May 1994 as an individual magazine
Publish pace : 30th of odd number months
Size : A5
Price : 500 yen
Concept : "Ciel" means "Sky", which is the main image as well. Bright
and refreshing manga and novels published in high quality style and
form.
Contents other than manga and novels : movie and video info, CD info,
shoujo manga previews, fortume telling, info on Ciel official fanclub.
S H Y :
Gathered with cute boys....
First published : 23 Jul 1993
Publish pace : Mid-Feb, May, Aug & Nov
Size : A5
Price : 700 yen
Concept : Bright, cute, healthy shounen stories. Virtually happy
ending. Cover design usually cute.
Contents other than manga : 1-2 novels, doujinshi corner, manga
artists interviews, etc.
C H A R A D E :
Carries a "pop" image, with a lot of one-off manga. Also contains
manga by current doujinshi artists. Contains some novels too.
First published : 29 Jan 1994
Publish pace : 29th of odd number months
Size : A5
Price : 750 yen
Concept : From school life to serious stories, it contains a variety
of boys' love novels and manga.
Contents other than manga and novels : movie, TV, music, anime
previews, doujinshi previews.
R E I J I N :
Hard and heavy stuff targeted at adults.
First published : 29 Oct 1993
Publish pace : Early Feb, May, Aug & Nov
Size : B5
Price : 720 yen
Concept : High quality revolutionary adult aesthetic manga.
R U F F & R U F F :
Contains both hard and soft stuffs. Mainly one-off manga with 2-3
serialising manga. Mail order corner for doujinshi.
First published : 16 Mar 1994
Publish pace : 23th of Mar, Jun, Sep & Dec
Size : A5
Price : 600 yen
Concept : Delivering the passionate message of pure white shounen,
with bright happy beautiful manga.
Contents other than manga : doujinshi info & preview.
M A U R I S :
A lot of "sexy" stories, in a trendy sense.
First published : May 1993
Publish pace : 16th of even number months
Size : A5
Price : 600 yen
Concept : Love & anxious
Contents other than manga : doujinshi info, readers' page.
H O M M E :
Used to be called "Xi", this magazine contains works from more popular
manga artists with a lot of high grade one-off manga. Takaguchi
Satosumi ("Hana no asuka gumi!") has a manga called "Lucky-kun"
serialised in it.
First published : 16 Jun 1994
Publish pace : 16th of even number months
Size : A5
Price : 700 yen
Concept : Consists of manga of this unique genre that appeal to readers.
Contents other than manga : doujinshi previews, Murata Junko
("Kyaa--!")'s bishounen introduction page, manga artists interviews,
readers' page, relay free talk of manga artists, etc.
R A N M A R U :
A new magazine with manga that has "personality" (!?). The first issue
contains a long interview with Yoshida Akimi ("Banana Fish").
First published : 25 Jun 1994
Publish pace : 18th of Mar, Jun, Sep & Dec
Size : A5
Price : 900 yen
Concept : A "shounen" manga for "shoujo" by "shoujo" (Please notice
how indistinguishable between "shounen" & "shoujo" this genre is in
comparing to the ordinary shounen and shoujo manga...)
H A N A O T O :
Focusing on the "storyline" of the manga, this new magazine targets
at readers who are a bit older.
First published : 14 Sep 1994
Publish pace : 15th of odd number months
Size : A5
Price : 500 yen
Concept : With the new feeling of the love & romance world with
boundless beauty setting on the stage of fantasy in office & school
about the love & friendship between boys.
C O M I C I M A G E :
Mainly long stories, along with readers's page and essays, this
magazine carries a trendy image with bright picture manga.
First published : 11 Dec 1991
Publish pace : 9th of even number months
Size : A5
Price : 880 yen
Concept : Boys' Love Comic (Pretty straightforward, isn't it? ^_^)
AOKI Takehiko
> As a manga fan, you may be familiar with terms such as shounen manga (for
> boys), shoujo manga (for girls), seinen manga (for men), or jousei manga (for
> ladies). But do you know about the "June" phenomenon? New trend of manga and
> novels has appeared on the market. A genre that is targeting at readers who
> are not satisfied with the traditional shoujo manga. These are manga focusing
> on the aesthetic love and relationship between bishounen. There was a magazine
> boom last year with mainly this kind of manga. Most of them don't regard
> themselves as shoujo manga, nor shounen manga. It is a unique genre which
> stands alone. We called it "Yaoi manga", or "Boys' Love manga".
YaOI is from origin, YAmanashi, Ochinashi, Iminashi. Almost nonsence.
In this mean is YAmashii, Ozomashii, Iyarashii. It's
a category for girls based on Aestheticism and Decadence.
I don't read that manga.
--
A-OK!
Takehiko AOKI
(-ko ga tsukukedo Onnanoko ja naiyo)
ITO Takayuki
cyn...@wapiko.apana.org.au (Cynthia Ma) writes:
>J U N E :
Note that this title reads not as English but as Roma-ji, i.e. "Jew-nay."
Dunno the etymology.
--
ITO Takayuki <yu...@is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
Graduate student, Department of Information Science,
Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan.