Shinichiro Tsuzuki
Chief editor
Shonen Sunday (Weekly
boy’s magazine)
Syonen
Sunday
Editor, Mr. Shinichiro Tsuzuki (46 or 47 yr.) He has worked about 25 years at the publication of
Syojo (Girls) weekly, bi-monthly, and monthly magazines.
April,
2000, started to work at Weekly Comic & Hobby Magazine, Shonen Sunday as a
chief editor.
Shonen
Sunday: weekly circulation 1.5 millions.
Shojo
(Girls) comic: monthly circulation 200,000.
1.
He
was a child who was reading manga and did not stop reading them after finishing
school. He was interested in creating publications.
About manga (Girls vs. Boys)
2.
There
are big differences between Shojo (girls) and Shonen (Boys) manga: 1) the focus
of the content, 2) the
relationship between editors and mangaka, and 3) the volume of the manga. 1)
Boys’ manga focuses on the theme of victory or defeat, which is the
process of how the hero grows in the process of success.
Girls’manga’s theme is always how the heroin’s love is
accomplished. 2) Boys’ manga is created by a
group of mangaka, editors, and readers. Girls’ manga is created
based on the female mangaka as the center…since the theme of girls’
manga is mainly love based on their experiences and/or expectations as a
private life novel. 3) Generally, there are 20(-28) major stories in
boys’ weekly magazine and each has about 18 pages. There are about 10
main stories and each has 40 pages in Monthly girls’ manga magazine.
3.
The
numbers of girls’ magazine’s readers are rapidly decreasing more
than boys’ magazine.
There are a couple of reasons. One is that girls tend to read fashion
magazines rather than manga
magazines. Another reason is
that the theme of love in girls’ magazine does not attract girls’
diverse interests anymore unlike 20 years ago. (However, Mr. Tsuzuki cannot say
if girls’ manga should change to create diverse themes like boys’
manga. It might be still okay to continue to depict the universal theme of
love.)
4.
Although
The company of Shogakukan is a kind of educational publications company, there
are many manga magazines depending on the age group in gender. Each magazine is
independent and does not share ideas to catch each age group of reader.
5.
The
age group of Shonen Sunday is from 4/5 graders (10 yr olds?) to 30s.
However, the majority are college/university students (18-22?).
6.
There
are about 22 editors and each editor has about 2 pro mangaka and 5 new mangaka
who are trained as future pro mangaka.
7.
New
mangaka are developed round through monthly competitions and bi-annual
Shogakukan
competitions (the first prize is about 20,000 dollars). Also, mangaka
themselves contact editors.
8.
Whether
the content is enjoyable or not is more important for readers than whether it
is easy to read. In other words, if the story is interesting, children will
read it even if the picture is
busy and it is not easy to read visually.
9.
He
cannot judge if the existence of Comike is good or bad. But, it is true that
Comike is a closed world where people share their own taste and preferences.