, stylized as ''mimi'', was a Japanese '' shōjo''

manga magazine are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...

. It was published in a monthly and partially semimonthly rhythm between August 1975 and December 1996 by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

. It was one of the first manga magazines targeted at an audience of girls in their late teens. The magazine is best known for publishing

Waki Yamato is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1966 with the short story ''Dorobō Tenshi''.｢あさきゆめみし PerfectBook｣ p.181 Special Interview Since her debut, Yamato steadily created and published a variety of works in the genre of ...

's ''The Tale of Genji''.

History

The magazine was founded in August 1975. At this time, ''shōjo'' manga was undergoing a transformation, with a new generation of women around the

Year 24 Group The is a grouping of female manga artists who heavily influenced ''shōjo'' manga (Japanese girls' comics) beginning in the 1970s. While ''shōjo'' manga of the 1950s and 1960s largely consisted of simple stories marketed towards elementary ...

and others pioneering new visual and narrative forms. ''Mimi'' was one of the first manga magazines targeted at an audience of girls in their late teens and young women, founded before '' Bouquet'' (1978) and ''

Petit Flower was a Japanese '' shōjo'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. Founded in 1980, the magazine ceased publication in March 2002, when it was replaced by the magazine ''Flowers''. History Shogakukan began publishing ''Petit Flower'' as a regula ...

'' (1980). The catchphrase written on the cover of its first issue was "to you, just in the spring of life", referring to its target group of readers who had read manga already in elementary school or junior high school and had now grown older. In its first years, the magazine was specialized in publishing short stories. Some of its early contributors were

Machiko Satonaka is a Japanese manga artist. She made her professional debut in 1964 during her second year of high school with the one-shot ''Pia no Shōzō'' ("Portrait of Pia"). She has since created nearly 500 manga in a variety of genres. Two of her most ...

Shinji Wada was a Japanese manga artist in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, and best known for the creation of the ''Sukeban Deka'' franchise in 1979. History When Hakusensha published ''Sukeban Deka'' in 1979, Wada's work became very popular. He was com ...

, Suzue Miuchi, Yōko Shōji, as well as two members of the Year 24 Group,

Minori Kimura is a Japanese manga artist. Critics and scholars often count her among the Year 24 Group, a nebulous group of female artists considered to have revolutionized manga (Japanese comics for girls) in the 1970s. She made her professional debut i ...

and Toshie Kihara. In the late 1970s, first series started to appear. In 1983, the magazine's rhythm was changed from monthly to semimonthly. With the March 1992 issue, the rhythm was changed back to monthly. The magazine was released on the 28th of each month. Kodansha described the magazine in 1996 as a magazine for young adult women, adding that trendy single women around the age of 20 were the core audience. In the 1990s, most of its editors were young women in their 20s themselves. Four magazines were published as supplementary magazines of ''Mimi''. ''Mimi DX'' existed from 1979 until 1987, ''Mimi Excellent'' (mimiエクセレント) from 1985 until 1993 and ''Mimi Carnival'' (mimiカーニバル) from 1987 until 1997. The fourth supplementary magazine ''Kiss'' was founded in 1992.

Tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

of manga published in ''Mimi'' and its supplementary magazines were released under the imprint ''Mimi KC''. The last issue was the February 1997 issue released in December 1996. The editorial team of ''Mimi'' switched to being in charge of its successor, its former supplementary magazine ''Kiss'' and also some of its artists worked for ''KIss'' after ''Mimi'''s closure. ''Kiss Carnival'' was started in 1997 as a successor to ''Mimi Carnival''.

Legacy

''Mimi'' as one of the first magazines for girls in their late teens and young women is credited with influencing a genre known as "young ladies". Young ladies was introduced to denote an intermediate category between ''shōjo'' manga for girls and ''josei'' manga for adult women, when magazines like ''

Young You was a Japanese josei manga magazine published by Shueisha, based in Tokyo and first published in 1986. It ran for 22 years before being cancelled in October 2005. After the magazine's closure, Shueisha moved several series serialized in ''You ...

'', ' and '' Feel Young'' appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The magazine published several critically acclaimed or commercially successful manga. The best known title of the magazine is

's ''

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...

,'' which was published between 1979 and 1993. Books of the series were sold more than 20 million times, making it one of the best-selling ''shōjo'' manga. Yumiko Suzuki's ''

Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu! is a '' shōjo'' romantic comedy manga by Yumiko Suzuki. It was published by Kodansha in the magazine '' Mimi'' from 1988 to 1992 and collected in seven ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series was adapted as an anime OVA produced by Ajia-d ...

'', published between 1987 and 1992, was adapted into a popular live-action TV series, won the 1989

Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...

and its volumes were sold 17 million times. Junko Karube's ''Kimi no te ga Sasayaiteiru'' also won the Kodansha Manga Award in 1994 and its volumes were sold 3.5 million times. Mayumi Yoshida won the Kodansha Manga Award in 1980 for ''Remon Hakusho'' and won it in 1990 for ''Pride''. Suzue Miuchi's 1975 short story ''Shiroi Kagebōshi'' is considered a classic of ''shōjo'' horror manga. The magazine marked the career start of several artists. Naka Marimura (1979), (1979), Yumiko Suzuki (1982), Rinrin Takaguchi (1996) and Mitsurou Kubo (1996) all published their debut work in the magazine or its supplementary magazines.

Serialized manga (selection)

''Mimi''

* ''Shiroi Kagebōshi'' (白い影法師) by Suzue Miuchi (1975) * ''Asunaro-saka'' (あすなろ坂) by

(1977–1980) * ''Remon Hakusho'' (れもん白書) by Mayumi Yoshida (1978–1979) * ''Ten no Hate, Chi no Kagiri'' (天の果て地の限り) by

(1978–1979) * ''

'' by Waki Yamato (1979–1993) *''Umibe no Kain'' by

(1980–1981) * ''Idol wo Sagase'' (アイドルを探せ) by Mayumi Yoshida (1984–1987) * ''Kunitachi Monogatari'' (くにたち物語) by Morii Ōno (1987–1992) * ''

'' by Yumiko Suzuki (1987–1992) * ''Long Thai Baby'' (ロンタイBABY) by (1988–1996) * ''Valentine'' (バランタイン) by (1988–1992) * ''Pride'' (プライド) by {{ill, Naka Marimura, ja, 万里村奈加 (1989–1991) * ''blue'' by Mari Ozawa (1990–1991) *''Kimi no te ga Sasayaiteiru'' (君の手がささやいている) by Junko Karube (1992–1996) *''Tenshi no Kajitsu'' (天使の果実) by Waki Yamato and Shizuka Ijūin (1993–1994) * ''Niji no Natasha'' (虹のナターシャ) by Waki Yamato and Mariko Hayashi (1995–1997)

Supplementary magazines

* ''Tenjō no Niji'' (天上の虹) by

(''Mimi DX'', ''Mimi Excellent'', 1983–1993, afterwards released directly in book form)

References

External links

List of all ''Mimi'' issues
at

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

(Japanese) Magazines established in 1975 Magazines disestablished in 1996 Monthly manga magazines published in Japan Shōjo manga magazines Kodansha magazines Magazines published in Tokyo