User:Ranmashiro/Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine (メガミマガジン)is a Japanese monthly magazine which focuses on bishōjo characters from anime and Japanese computer and console games. It is known for having many posters, pinups and large pictures among the articles. Digital Manga Publishing released compilations of what it determined to be the best of the magazine beginning in mid-2007.

Megami MAGAZINE is a bishoujo character magazine focusing on Japanese anime, edited by IID and published by Gakken Plus. Its abbreviations and nicknames are ("Megamagazine '' ? Or "Megamaga"?) and "Megami". Released on the 30th of every month (varies if the 30th is Sunday in February / December and other months).

Overview
Megami Magazine was published on July 28, 1999 as a separate volume using the empty space left by the discontinuation of “Looker” which was published as an extra edition of the anime magazine "Animedia" by Gakken Kenkyusha (later Gakken Holdings). Initially it was released every odd month on the 28th,then from Vol. 4 (released on February 28, 2000), it switched to every even month of the 28th. Then from Vol. 6 (released on June 30, 2000), the release date was set to the 30th. The magazine became a monthly publication on the  29th of November 2000 with the release of an extra special edition issue known as: “Megami Magazine Special”, which was launched independently from the main issue of “Animedia” from Vol. 34 (in March 2003). At the beginning of the publication, it focused on so-called gal games, but has since shifted to an anime focus due to a surge in moe anime immediately after it became a monthly publication.

Immediately after the first issue, many minor works were discovered, and the magazine was one of the first to feature an article on “Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san☆”, which was rarely featured in anime magazines. Back when the first issue came out, the price was 680 yen. However, it was sold at a premium price of 780 yen until around 2006. Then the regular price became 780 yen. As of today, in 2022, the prices have been raised to 1,500 yen (book version) / 1,263 yen (electronic book version). It’s unique because each issue is supplemented by more than 20 posters. As of July 2013, the number of works handled was over 1,000; large and small. The magazine is primarily for a male audience because, It prominently depicts female characters wearing unrealistic skimpy designs of swimsuits and underwear. It may also include bathing scenes that show semi-nudity of these fictional female characters.

Similar magazines with a concept centered on Moe anime have been published as extra editions and mooks by other companies, but both have been relatively short-lived. Until the April 2005 issue, there was a section introducing adult anime, which included scenes of female characters with their nipples exposed. Some works even had posters attached, however that section has been discontinued since. Adult games continued to be introduced, however no sexual scenes were shown. By the September issues 2008 release, the magazine had finally achieved a total of 100 issues. With the reorganization of the Gakken Group in October 2009, Gakken Publishing became the publisher. It celebrated its 10th anniversary of the first issue in the same year. Gakken Plus became the publisher since the December issue, after the merging of Gakken Publishing with Gakken Marketing and others. In April 2018, following "Animedia" and "Voice Actor Animedia", sales of the e-book version started along with "Otomedia". As of  February 1st 2020,the editing and publishing business was transferred from Gakken Plus to IID along with "Animedia". As a result, after the April issue of the same year (released on February 29), editing and publishing are done by IID, and released by Gakken Plus.

Number of Copies
2006 (September 2005 - August 2006) 47,717

2007 (September 2006 - August 2007) 64,391

2008 (October 2007 - September 2008) 74,600

Number of copies sold (after April 2008) (Japan Magazine Publishers Association)

Special Issue/Spin-offs
Along with the main Megami Magazine line, Gakken also publishes several other titles using the same name or content.

Megami Magazine Special
Released on November 29, 2000, in between Vol.8 and Vol.9. After that, the pace of publication changes to monthly instead of bi-monthly. Once the transition to monthly publication started, a lot of information on gal games was reduced. The structure of the magazine had adjusted its focus on anime articles.

Megami Magazine DELUXE
Megami Magazine Deluxe is published quarterly and features full-page prints of illustrations found in the regular Megami Magazine volumes. Most volumes of Megami Magazine Deluxe include a large double-sided poster. A collection of posters from the previously published issues of the magazine, in addition to copyrighted images from the sister magazine “Animedia”. Since Vol. 3, it has typically been released sometime in March and August every year.


 * 1) Released on December 12, 2002
 * 2) Released on December 17, 2003
 * 3) Released in August 2004
 * 4) Released in March 2005
 * 5) Released in August 2005
 * 6) Released on March 22, 2006
 * 7) Released on August 22, 2006
 * 8) Released on March 20, 2007
 * 9) Released on August 22, 2007
 * 10) Released on March 14, 2008
 * 11) Released on August 22, 2008
 * 12) Released on March 25, 2009
 * 13) Released on August 25, 2009

Megami Magazine Creators
Megami Magazine Creators showcases the artwork of individual artists typically involved with manga, games, and anime. All of the illustrations featured are printed full-page, but there are no pinup posters. It consists of original works by illustrators and re-recorded interviews from the magazine “Girl's Avenue”. Most volumes of Megami Magazine Creators include a large double-sided poster.

Comic Megami Magazine
Comic Megami Magazine was an original four-panel magazine. Gakken had published manga magazines such as "Monthly Comic NORA" and "Comic Pocke" in the past, however they were all discontinued. This was one of the first manga magazines they had published in a very long time. In August 2005, the comic’s title was changed to "Comic Chirality", after being completely remastered.


 * 1) Released on December 16, 2004
 * 2) Released in March 2005

Comic Chirality
Inheriting some of the serialization from "Comic Megami Magazine '', the amount of non-four panel articles had been increased. The illustration essays commemorating the publication of Vol. 1 mobilized the entire network of people from 'Animedia' and 'Monthly Comic NORA', including Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Takeshi Okazaki, Kaoru Ohashi, Yuichi Hasegawa and Satoshi Urushihara. The title "Chirality" is derived from the title of the manga serialized by Satoshi Urushihara in Comic NORA. However, this magazine did not last long and was discontinued with Vol.2.


 * 1) Released on August 30, 2005
 * 2) Released on January 13, 2006. Since this issue, the structure had been changed to the A5 paper format that "Monthly Comic NORA" used to use.

Megami Magazine RX
An extra edition issue that is a collection of female characters only in underwear, bathing and semi-nude, images from the main story that are copyrighted. Due to the nature of the content, the magazine is more explicit than the main edition of Megami Magazine, but there is no age restriction.


 * 1) Released on October 14, 2011
 * 2) Released on September 11, 2012
 * 3) Released on August 16, 2013
 * 4) Released on August 28, 2014
 * 5) Released on August 29, 2015
 * 6) Released on August 29, 2016
 * 7) Released on August 31, 2017

Girls Avenue
"Girls Avenue" was a section in Megami Magazine where an artist was featured and one of his or her illustrations was included as a pinup poster. As of Megami Magazine volume 150, the "Girls Avenue" section has been discontinued and is now released as a series of art books.

Megami Magazine Goods+
Megami Magazine Goods+ is expected to first be published in August 2013. Each volume will include extras that are of greater value than those found in the regular Megami Magazine.

Mascot Character
Claire Froebel (Voice actor: Reiko Takagi / character design: Masa Shiranagi. The name was decided on by public readers) who is the navigator of the reader's corner "MegaTen!" had appeared in the magazine's TV commercials aired in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's and became a de facto mascot character of the magazine.

Remarks
On the introduction page of the program for anime broadcast, there was an error saying that  “Suite PreCure ♪” was broadcast on Sundays at 3:30 PM on the “Miyazaki Broadcasting Channel.” Somehow the error was there, even though “Suite PreCure ♪” was not released yet, when the broadcast schedule was published. In addition, there was a similar mistake in the previous program about the anime “Heart Catch PreCure!”. In addition, “Miyazaki Broadcasting” broadcasted works from the same time slots 16 days later  (The delay was half a year, until mid-July of 2012. However, the delays were shortened because two episodes were broadcasted together until mid-November of 2012. Then it was discontinued in March 2018.on Tuesday at 3:30 PM. It seems to have been a typographical error in the description of this time slot, but no one understands how the mistake went undiscovered for so long.

Radio
In commemoration of the 100th issue of the magazine in September 2008, the internet radio program “HAMIDASE! Megami Magazine RADIO!!” was broadcast in August the same year. From October 2009, regular broadcasting started on Radio Kansai and Nippon Cultural Broadcasting's digital radio "Cho! A & G +". The program was remastered to "Hamiraji!!" since April 2012, but it ended on October 4, 2015.

Individual Megami Magazine Details
Details on the cover illustrations and extras included in individual magazines are shown in the following table.

= English Release = On October 31, 2007 an English version of the 5th volume of Megami Magazine Deluxe was released in the United States by Digital Manga Publishing, this was the first and only English Megami Magazine to be published. The target demographic was 16 years or older.