Monthly Afternoon

is a Japanese monthly manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as '' Oh My Goddess!'', '' Genshiken'', '' Blade of the Immortal'' and '' Big Windup!''. It is part of Kodansha's "1day" series, which also includes the magazines ''Morning'' and ''Evening''. A spin-off magazine, named '' good! Afternoon'', started publishing on November 7, 2008.

History

The magazine was founded as a sister to ''Morning'' by the same publisher. According to Frederik L. Schodt, stories that did not convince the editors of ''Morning'' would often land in ''Afternoon''.

Many of the artists working for the magazine used to publish amateur and were influenced by amateur manga. Sharon Kinsella claims that around half of all series featured in Afternoon between 1994 and 1997 were inspired by aesthetics. She lists ''Discommunication'', ''Gunsmith Cats'', ''Assembler 0X'', ''Seraphic Feather'', ''Aqua'' ańd ''Oh! My Goddess'' as examples.

From 1999 until 2002, ''Afternoon Season Zōkan'' was published as a quarterly spin-off magazine to ''Afternoon''. After the magazine was suspended, some of its series, like '' Mushishi'' and '' Mokke'', were transferred to Afternoon.

Newcomer award

Since 1987, the magazine hands out the newcomer award ''Afternoon Shiki Shō''. In 2000, Kodansha published a selection of winners of the award in a book.

Circulation and demographic

Like with most major manga magazines, the magazine's circulation has been declining since the 1990s:

* 2004: 144.500
* 2005: 133.800
* 2006: 127.400
* 2007: 119.666
* 2016: 69.310

In the late 1990s, the magazine's editors guessed that about a third of the readers of the magazine could be called .

Features

Ongoing

There are currently 29 manga titles being serialized in ''Monthly Afternoon''. Out of them, '' Wandering Island'' and '' Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ī'' are on hiatus. '' Historie'' is serialized bimonthly. ''Nella of the Horizon'' is serialized on an irregular schedule.

Past

1980s

* by Kōsuke Fujishima (1988–2014)
* by Norifusa Mita (1989)
* by Hitoshi Iwaaki (1989–1994) (moved from ''Morning Open Zōkan'')
*'' Spirit of Wonder'' by Kenji Tsuruta (1989–1994) (originally serialized in '' Weekly Morning'')

1990s

* by Kia Asamiya (1990–1992)
* by Kenichi Sonoda (1991–1997)
* by Riichi Ueshiba (1991–1999)
* by Tsutomu Takahashi (1992–1999)
* by Kia Asamiya (1992–1995)
* by Kazuichi Hanawa (1992–1994)
* by Hiroaki Samura (1993–2012)
* by Yo Morimoto, Toshiya Takeda (story) and Hiroyuki Utatane (art) (1993–2008)
* by Daisuke Igarashi (1994–1996)
* by Shinji Makari (story) and Akana Shu (art) (1994–2004)
* by Hitoshi Ashinano (1994–2006)
* by Mohiro Kitoh (1995–1997)
*'' Blame!'' by Tsutomu Nihei (1997–2003)
* by Satoshi Shiki (1997–2003)
* by Kenichi Sonoda (1997–2004)
*'' Eden: It's an Endless World!'' by Hiroki Endo (1997–2008)
* by Mohiro Kitoh (1998–2003)
* by Kon Kimura (1998–2006)
* by Yoshito Asari (1999–2000)

2000s

* by Shohei Manabe (2000)
* by Iou Kuroda (2000–2002)
* by Riichi Ueshiba (2001–2003)
* by Kenji Tsuruta (2001–2002)
* by Yoshito Asari (2001–2009)
* by Shimoku Kio (2002–2016)
* by Daisuke Igarashi (2002–2005)
* by Yuki Urushibara (2002–2008) (moved from ''Afternoon Season Zōkan'')
* by Takatoshi Kumakura (2003–2009) (moved from ''Afternoon Season Zōkan'')
*'' Shadow Skill'' by Megumu Okada (2003–2006)
* by Minoru Toyoda (2003–2005)
* by Tooru Fujisawa (2003–2004)
* by Kia Asamiya (2003)
* by Akira Hiramoto (2003–2008) (transferred to ''Young Magazine the 3rd'')
* by Makoto Shinkai (original work) and Sumomo Yumeka (2004–2005)
* by Masaru Katori (story) and Jiro Ando (art) (2004–2008)
* by Yuzo Takada (2004–2008)
*'' Gunsmith Cats BURST'' by Kenichi Sonoda (2004–2008)
* by Harutoshi Fukui (original novel), Takashi Nagasaki and Takayuki Kosai (2005–2007)
* by Mahiro Maeda (2005–2008)
* by Mami Kashiwabara (2005–2011)
* by Makoto Shinkai (original work) and Sumomo Yumeka (2005–2006)
* by Riichi Ueshiba (2006–2014)
* by Daisaku Tsuru (2006–2010)
* by Yutaka Tanaka (2006–2009)
* by Kazuki Nakashima (original story) and Una Hamana (2007–2009)
* by Hitoshi Ashinano (2007–2013)
* by Haru Akiyama (2008–2011)
* by Shimoku Kio (2008–2010)
* by Yoshiki Tanaka (story) and Narumi Kakinouchi (art) (2009)
* by Tsutomu Nihei (2009–2015)
* by Yuki Urushibara (2009–2010)

2010s

* by Yoshiki Tanaka (story) and Narumi Kakinouchi (art) (2010)
* by Makoto Shinkai (story) and Seike Yukiko (art) (2010–2011)
* by Kenichi Sonoda (2010–2012)
* by Tetsuya Imai (2011)
* by Kenshin Hidekawa (2011–2015)
* by Yoshiki Tanaka (story) and Narumi Kakinouchi (art) (2012)
* by Haruko Ichikawa (2012–2024)
* by Yoshiki Tanaka (story) and Narumi Kakinouchi (art) (2012–2013)
* by Ao Akato (2013)
* by Kaori Ozaki (2013)
* by Makoto Shinkai (story) and Midori Motohashi (art) (2013)
* by Yuri Shibamura (story) and Daisuke Kimura (art) (2013–2021)
* by Daisuke Igarashi (2015–2019)
*'' Black-Box'' by Tsutomu Takahashi (2015–2019)
* by Makoto Shinkai (story) and Tsubasa Yamaguchi (art) (2016)
* by Ao Akato (2016)
* by Yu Yoshidamaru (2016–2019)
* by Yuki Shirono (2016–2018)
* by Kaori Ozaki (2017–2019)
* by Shimoku Kio (2018–2022)
* by Yuki Urushibara (2018–2020)
* by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (2018–2024)
* by Makoto Shinkai (original work) and Wataru Kubota (2019–2020)
* by Uhei Aoki (story) and Kumichi Yoshizuki (art) (2019–2021)
* by Yukito Ayatsuji (story) and Hiro Kiyohara (art) (2019–2022)
* by Kenji Takigawa (story), Ryū Suenobu (art) and Hiroaki Samura (collaboration) (2019–2024)

2020s

* by Mikumi Yuuchi (2020–2021)
* by Kaze Miura (2020–2021)
* by Hideo Nishimoto (2020–2023)
* by Michi Ichiho (story) and Nori Arashiyama (art) (2021)
* by Fiok Lee (2021–2022)
* by Yasuhiro Yoshiura (original story) and Megumu Maeda (art) (2021–2022)
* by Shu Sakura (2021–2022)
* by Richard Woo (story) and Seimu Yoshizaki (art) (2022–2023)
* by Daiki Yamazaki (2022–2024)
* by Makoto Shinkai (story) and Denki Amashima (art) (2022–2023)
* by Bomhat (2022–2025)
* by Hinohiruko (2022–2025)
* by Yuchi Mikumi (2023–2024)
* by Seki Ayumu (2023–2024)

References

External links

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{{Kodansha manga magazines

1986 establishments in Japan
Kodansha magazines
Magazines established in 1986
Magazines published in Tokyo
Monthly manga magazines published in Japan
Seinen manga magazines