Shojo Beat

Shojo Beat

Shojo Beat Volume 1, Issue 1, cover dated July 2005
Editor-in-Chief	Hyoe Narita
Former editors	Yumi Hoashi Marc Weidenbaum
Categories	Shōjo manga
Frequency	Monthly
Circulation	38,000 (2007)
Publisher	Hyoe Narita
First issue	July 2005
Final issue Number	July 2009 Volume 5, Issue 7
Company	Viz Media
Country	United States
Based in	San Francisco, California
Language	English
Website	shojobeat.com
ISSN	1932-1600

Shojo Beat is a shōjo manga magazine formerly published in North America by Viz Media. Launched in June 2005 as a sister magazine for Shonen Jump, it featured serialized chapters from six manga series, as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty. After its initial launch, Shojo Beat underwent two redesigns, becoming the first English anthology to use the cyan and magenta ink tones common to Japanese manga anthologies. Viz launched a related imprint of the same name for female-oriented manga, light novels and anime.

Targeted at teenage women, the first issue of Shojo Beat launched with a circulation of 20,000. By 2007, the average circulation was approximately 38,000 copies, with half coming from subscriptions rather than store sales. It was well received by critics, who praised its mix of manga series and the inclusion of articles on Japanese culture, though some critics found the early issues boring and poorly written. In May 2009, Viz announced that it was discontinuing the magazine; the July 2009 issue was the last released. Fans were disappointed at the sudden news. Industry experts felt its loss would leave female comic fans without a magazine of their own but praised Viz for its choice to continue using the Shojo Beat imprint and branding for its shōjo manga and anime releases.