Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine (メガミマガジン, Megami Magajin) is a Japanese monthly magazine which focuses on bishōjo characters from anime and Japanese computer and console games, edited by IID and published by Gakken Plus. It is known for having many posters, pinups and large pictures among the articles.

"Megami" redirects here. For other uses, see Megami (disambiguation).
Megami Magazine
メガミマガジン
April 2012 issue cover featuring Shinobu Oshino of the Monogatari series.
CategoriesAnime, Bishōjo, Video games
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation17,300[lower-alpha 1]
(July–September 2019)
First issueJuly 1999
CompanyGakken
CountryJapan
Based inTokyo
LanguageJapanese
Websitehttp://cho-animedia.jp/

Overview

Megami Magazine was originally released as an extra edition of the anime magazine "Animedia" by Gakken Kenkyusha (later Gakken Holdings). As the anime magazine Anime V (アニメV) was discontinued, publication began on July 28, 1999 for an independent Megami Magazine to fill the void with a focus on "gal games". Megami Magazine was originally released every odd month on the 28th before it was changed to every even month starting with the February 28, 2000 issue. This did not last long as the magazine was finally switched from a bi-monthly to a monthly basis release starting in November, 2000. During this time the focus of the magazine was shifted from "gal games" to "anime" due to a surge in popularity with "moe" type characters. An after effect from the monthly switch led to the split off of “Megami Magazine Special” from the main issue of “Animedia” starting in March 2003.

The Gakken Group was reorganized in October 2009 which caused Megami Magazine to briefly come under the umbrella of Gakken Publishing. This was further modified with the merging of Gakken Publishing with Gakken Marketing and others which led to Gakken Plus taking its place. Megami Magazine was converted into e-book format in April 2018 following the digital conversion of "Animedia" and "Voice Actor Animedia". On February 1, 2020 the editing and publishing business was transferred from Gakken Plus to IID along with "Animedia". The former of these two companies still officially releases the magazine under their name Gakken Plus.

Features

Adult content

Until the April 2005 issue, there was a section introducing adult anime, which included scenes of female characters with their nipples exposed. Some works even had posters attached, however that section has been discontinued.

Centerfolds and posters

Megami Magazine is unique because each issue is supplemented by more than 20 posters.

Girls Avenue

"Girls Avenue" was a section in Megami Magazine where an artist was featured and one of their illustrations was included as a pinup poster. As of Megami Magazine volume 150, the "Girls Avenue" section has been discontinued and is now released as a series of art books.

Mascot Character

Claire Froebel (Voice actor: Reiko Takagi / character design: Masa Shiranagi. The name was decided on by public readers) who is the navigator of the reader's corner "MegaTen!" had appeared in the magazine's TV commercials aired in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's and became a de facto mascot character of the magazine.

Series
Title Creator(s) First issue Last issue Full Serialization
Binchō-tan (manga)
びんちょうタン		 Takahito Ekusa November 2003 July 2005 No
Girls und Panzer (4-koma Panzer Vor!)
ガールズ＆パンツァー 4コマでパンツァー・フォー！		 Yuuma July 2012[2] July 2022 Yes
Kotoura-san (Ganbare Kotoura-san!)
がんばれ琴浦さん!		 Enokizu December 2012 May 2013 Yes
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (The Movie 1st − The Comics) Masaki Tsuzuki, Kōji Hasegawa November 2009 March 2011 Yes
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's (The Comics)[3]
魔法少女リリカルなのはA's THE COMICS		 Masaki Tsuzuki, Kōji Hasegawa August 2005 January 2006 No
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Strikers (The Comics)
魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS THE COMICS		 Masaki Tsuzuki, Kōji Hasegawa November 2006 February 2008 No
Simoun (Simoun Magical Biyūden)
シムーンまじかる美勇伝		 Wataru Akiduki August 2006 December 2006 Yes
Yotsunoha (manga)
よつのは		 Haikuo Soft, Bow Ditama March 2008 December 2008 Yes

Sister magazines & special editions

Along with the main Megami Magazine line, Gakken also publishes several other titles using the same name or content.

Name Founded Defunct Features Short summary
Megami Bunko (メガミ文庫)[4]
2004
Light novels
 Magami Bunko was established in December 2004, and is a light novel label that is aimed at a young adult male readership.
Megami Magazine (English ed)
2007
2007
Various
 On October 31, 2007 an English version of the 5th volume of Megami Magazine Deluxe was released in the United States by Digital Manga Publishing.[5] This was the first and only English language Megami Magazine to be published.
Megami Magazine Creators (メガミマガジンクリエイターズ)
2004
 Un­known
Artwork
 Showcases the artwork of individual artists typically involved with manga, games, and anime. All of the illustrations featured are printed full-page, but there are no pinup posters. It consists of original works by illustrators and re-recorded interviews from the magazine “Girl's Avenue”.
Megami Magazine DELUXE (メガミマガジンDELUXE)
2002
Prints
 Megami Magazine Deluxe is published quarterly and features full-page prints of illustrations found in the regular Megami Magazine volumes.
Megami Magazine RX (メガミマガジンRX)
2011
Ecchi
 An extra edition issue that is a collection of female characters only in underwear, bathing and semi-nude, images from the main story that are copyrighted. Due to the nature of the content, the magazine is more explicit than the main edition of Megami Magazine.
Megami Magazine Special (メガミマガジンSpecial)
2000
Anime
 This was originally released between Volumes 8 and 9 of the main Megami Magazine issue. When publication of the main magazine was changed from bi-monthly to monthly, a lot of information on gal games was reduced. The structure of the magazine had adjusted its focus on anime articles.
Comic Megami Magazine (コミックメガミマガジン)
2004
2005
Manga
 Comic Megami Magazine was an original four-panel magazine. Gakken had published manga magazines such as "Monthly Comic NORA" and "Comic Pocke" in the past, however they were all discontinued. In August 2005, the comic’s title was changed to "Comic Chirality" (see below), after being completely remastered.
Comic Chirality (コミックキラリティー)
2005
2006
Manga
 Inheriting some of the serialization from "Comic Megami Magazine", the amount of non-four panel articles was increased. The illustration essays commemorating the publication of the first volume mobilized the entire network of people from 'Animedia' and 'Monthly Comic NORA'. Notable people involved include Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Takeshi Okazaki, and Satoshi Urushihara.

Radio

In commemoration of the 100th issue of the magazine in September 2008, the internet radio program “HAMIDASE! Megami Magazine RADIO!!” was broadcast in August the same year. From October 2009, regular broadcasting started on Radio Kansai and Nippon Cultural Broadcasting's digital radio "Cho! A & G +". The program was remastered to "Hamiraji!!" since April 2012, but it ended on October 4, 2015.

See also

Notes
  1. "Japan Magazine Publishers Association" stopped publishing circulation figures for this magazine after September 30, 2019.[1]

References
  1. "メガミマガジン (第46回：2019年7月～2019年9月)". Japanese Magazine Publishers Association. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  2. Hirooka, Yūji (August 1, 2012). 雑誌「メガミマガジン」にて、特集記事を連載中！ [Feature articles are being serialized in the magazine Megami Magazine!]. Girls und Panzer Official Blog (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  3. "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's (manga)" (in Japanese). Gakken. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
  4. "Megami Bunko". Gakken. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  5. "Megami DX Artbook Volume 1". Right Stuf. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
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