is a
Japanese manga
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 ...
anthology. It is marketed to ''
seinen
is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word means "youth", but the term " manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Manga Times'' and '' Weekly Man ...
'' public (young adult men), edited and published monthly by
Coamix. From 2010 to 2020, it was formerly published by North Stars Pictures and
Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...
. It was produced as a replacement for ''
Weekly Comic Bunch'', Coamix's previous manga anthology. The collected editions of their titles are published under the ''Zenon Comics'' imprint.
Overview
After the drop of
Shinchosha
is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in , Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award.
Books
* Haruki Murakami: '' Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), '' Ute ...
's ''
Weekly Comic Bunch'' circulation numbers,
Coamix, which edited the magazine, announced ''Bunch''s discontinuation. Coamix marked August 27, 2010 as the day of ''Bunch''s last release, and started to consider to launch a new magazine. In October 2010, Coamix announced a partnership with North Stars Pictures and
Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...
, stating that the new magazine ''Monthly Comic Zenon'' would debut on October 25, 2010.
At the same time Shinchosha launched ''Monthly Comics @ Bunch'', a replacement for ''Weekly Comic Bunch'', but edited without Coamix's involvement. As a result, many of the
manga artist
A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga.
Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...
s from ''Bunch'' have been moved to ''Zenon''.
[
The magazine's name is based on —the Japanese name of ]bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
Guanyin
Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...
—, specifically the part, which means to "hear the voice of the worldwide". The "Z" from "Zenon" was chosen with the meaning of "ultimate" since it is the last letter from alphabet.
In order to approach more readers, ''Monthly Comic Zenon'' is published in both, print and digital editions.[ The website "Zenon Land" was launched, publishing the ''Zenon''s manga series only for ]smartphones
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as mult ...
. A YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel was created to disclose ''Zenon''-related media. Also, "Cafe Zenon", a '' kissaten'' decorated with manga motifs, in Kichijōji, a neighborhood in the city of Musashino, Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, was inaugurated on November 11, 2009.
To expand its range the magazine also promotes a "silent manga" contest; first, in 2011, it was a national competition. Starting from 2013, it became an international contest, in which no dialogues were necessary. Open for professional and amateurs, the focus of the judgment was the performance of the works through art rather than exposition. The judges were manga authors Tsukasa Hojo
is a Japanese manga artist. He studied technical design while still at Kyushu Sangyo University, where he began to draw manga. He worked on several one-shot stories before releasing his serialized works: '' Cat's Eye'', '' City Hunter'' and ' ...
('' City Hunter'') and Tetsuo Hara (''Fist of the North Star
is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 volumes ...
''), then editor-in-chief Nobuhiko Horie and the magazine editorial team. The best five received prize awards while the top three had their works published in the magazine. The first international edition received 514 submissions from 53 countries, while in the second people from 65 countries submitted 609 works. Molico Ross, a winner of the domestic competition, wrote ''Nobo and Her?'' between 2012 and 2017, and ''Shinigami ni Datte, Ai wa Aru'' (published since 2017) is based on "Thirty and a Half Minutes", a work by the 4th international contest winner, Vietnamese female writer Snippy MJ.
In another action to expand its public, in August 2015, Coamix and The Silent Manga Audition Committee created a section called "Zenon International" on the contest website to publish the ''SMAC! Web Magazine''. They announced plans to translate all the series and offer them for free on their site based on demand—which is based on the readers' vote.[ At first they made available ''Ikusa no Ko: Legend of Oda Nobunaga'', ''Nobo and Her?'' and '']Arte
Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...
'',[ and in December '' Angel Heart'' became part of the catalog.][
After a certain amount of chapters are serialized in the magazine they are collected into '']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 ...
'' format and published under the ''Zenon Comics'' imprint. Parallel to this label, there is ''Zenon Comics DX'' that only publishes titles former released by other publishers such as Tetsuo Hara's ''Cyber Blue'' (''Weekly Shōnen Jump
is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...
'') and ''Kōkenryoku Ōryō Sōsakan Nakabō Rintarō'' (''Bart 3230''). This two titles composed ''Zenon Comics DX'' first line-up, while ''Zenon Comics'' one had ''Angel Heart: 2nd Season'', '' Cat's Eye'', ''Concierge Platinum'', and ''Waraenu Warashi: 108 no Karma''. Both imprints released its first titles on March 22, 2011. The ''Zenon Comics'' level also publishes manga released on ''Zenon''s sister magazine, . Published online since October 25, 2012, it is the home of series such as '' Hokuto no Ken: Ichigo Aji'' and '' Seikai Suru Kado: Aoi Haru to Railgun''.
List of works
Ongoing series are highlighted in light green.
Notes
References
External links
Official website
{{Monthly Comic Zenon
2010 establishments in Japan
Monthly manga magazines published in Japan
Magazines established in 2010
Seinen manga magazines
Tokuma Shoten magazines
Magazines published in Tokyo