[TL Note] Seishun Shounen Magazine 1978-1983 – Part 3

And we’re finally here! The last and final part of my long rants related to Seishun Shounen Magazine! I’ll be closing off with a few words on Three Wood Creation, Akatsuka Fujio, and the Golden Age of WSM that was alluded to towards the end of the series.

Here’s the chapter release if you haven’t got to them yet: MANGADEX LINK

1, 2, no Sanshiro’s string of six consecutive covers

As a reminder, this is part 3 of the three part companion piece I’m doing with the release of Seishun Shounen Magazine 1978-1983:

• Part 1 (Ch. 1-4) – Weekly Shounen Magazine 1978 Issue No. 46 Table of Contents
• Part 2 (Ch. 5-8) – 1, 2 no Sanshiro, Kajiwara Ikki, and Tezuka Osamu
• Part 3 (Ch. 9-END) – Golden Age of Weekly Shounen Magazine

Also checkout my overview of the weekly shounen manga scene in the 70s and early-80s.

• State of (Weekly) Shounen Manga Magazines in the 1970s
• State of (Weekly) Shounen Manga Magazines in the early-1980s

Three Wood Creation

As depicted in the Chapter 11 of series, Three Wood Creation is a special collaboration oneshot that was featured on Weekly Shounen Magazine 1982 Issue No.18, where every series that was serialized in the magazine at the time was put on a murder-mystery gag setting. The title is derived from the name of then editor in chief, Miki Sousaku, whose name is translated as Three Wood (Miki 三樹) Creation (Sousaku 創作).

Because this oneshot was never reprinted anywhere else, this particular issue of Weekly Shounen Magazine is a collector’s item that is valued at 15,000 yen.

Akatsuka Fujio, the King of Gag Manga

One of Tezuka’s “disciples” from Tokiwa-sou, Akatsuka Fujio is the author of countless comedy classics during the 60s and 70s, earning the title “King of Gag”. Originally a shoujo mangaka, Akatsuka considered giving up on manga early in his career, but thanks to the encouragements of his pupils in Tokiwa-sou such as Terada Hiroo and Fujiko Fujio, he made the transition to gag manga and went on to become one of the most influential mangaka of that era.

Akatsuka Fujio’s notable works include Osomatsu-kun, Himitsu no Akko-chan, Tensai Bakabon, etc.

Golden Age of Weekly Shounen Magazine

The mid-90s to early-00s are considered the “Golden Age” of Weekly Shounen Magazine. Although the time period was marked by the complete and utter dominance of Weekly Shounen Jump, the late-80s and early-90s helped WSM build the foundation of their historic rise. “Shounan Junai Gumi” (1990) and “Chameleon” (1990) helped establish delinquent genre as a staple of WSM, while “Hajime no Ippo” (1989) and “SHOOT!” (1990) continued the strong sports manga tradition. Meanwhile, “The Kindaichi Case Files” (1992) became a national sensation, kicking off the detective manga boom that spread to other magazines such as Shounen Sunday with “Detective Conan” (1994). “Sushi no Shota” (1992) established itself as a food manga classic, while “BOYS BE…” continued the magazine’s rom-com lineage.

In the late-90s, the once unstoppable Weekly Shounen Jump went on a slump after struggling to cope with the end of “Dragon Ball” and  “Slam Dunk”. However, WSM maintained its momentum throughout the decade as the aforementioned early-90s hits remained strong, while the magazine continued to find new success in series such as “Great Teacher Onizuka”, “Love Hina”, “Rave Master”, “Get Backers”, etc. This all culminated in Weekly Shounen Magazine finally reclaiming the title of “Highest Selling Manga Magazine in Japan” for a brief period from 1998 to 2002, putting the magazine back on the very top of the industry for the first time since 1973.

Concluding Marks…

And that’s all folks! Thank you for sticking around till the end in this super long breakdown of the manga industry in the 70s and 80s, and the various key figures that were featured in Seishun Shounen Magazine. I’m so glad I was able to get this thing finally out the door.

Special thanks to iZN, FlinklockHS, Delux, Kirigozen, and TheDamnCanuk for making this all happen. Couldn’t have done it without all your help.