Eulogy for Shojo Beat

May 19, 2009

The rumors started yesterday, but David Welsh of Comics Reporter  confirmed it today with Viz’s Evelyn Dubocq via Twitter that the rumors were trueShojo Beat is being cancelled.

sbcover01The manga magazine that started in 2005, about 2 years after it’s older brother Shonen Jump, took over from another Viz publication, Animerica.  I know this very well, since I had just subscribed to Animerica after taking a hard look at the anime/manga magazines at the time.  One month after my first issue, I got the news that it was switching to Shojo Beat.

At the time, I wasn’t reading any shojo.  I think the only shojo series I had read any of was Ceres Celestial Legend.  I’m not into too many chick things, and being told my magazine of choice was going to be replaced with one about “fashion, cooking and beauty” didn’t make me too happy.  I thought I would hate the magazine.  But I decided to get the first issue and check it out.  Much to my surprise, I actually liked the titles that premiered.  Godchild and Nana sucked me in.  Kaze Hikaru and Baby and Me entertained, while Crimson Hero and Absolute Boyfriend passed the time.

sbcover47Over the last 4 years, Shojo Beat has changed it’s titles a few times, some for better (Sand Chronicles, Honey & Clover), some not so better (Vampire Knight), but it was always a fun read.  Even some of the articles were interesting.  The Video games and the DIY crafts usually caught my eye.  I couldn’t see trying to cook, let alone eat some of the recipes, but then, I’m not very adventurous with food.  The manga spotlights were good too, as there was a lot of shojo I hadn’t read.  The previews that they ran also got me into other titles like La Corda d’Oro.

So, it is with great sadness that I bid farewell to Shojo Beat.  I never regretted reading any of it’s titles even if not all of them thrilled me.  The magazine opened me up to a whole new world of manga that I probably wouldn’t have taken a chance on before.  So thanks Shojo Beat for all the girly stuff you brought into my life.  You will be sorely missed.

7 Comments

  • Pira May 20, 2009 at 2:57 am

    Oh the irony of it all!

    I was just clearing out my years of accumulated clutter and tossed all my back issues of Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat ~ reflecting on the fact that I’d just let the subscription to the former expire because I was tired of the stories in Shonen Jump and really hadn’t read an issue in over 6 months.

    On the other hand Shojo Beat barely makes it in the front door before I’ve the wrapper ripped off and I’m flipping to my favorite serials, so it had been renewed for 2 years.

    I won’t argue with the economics of the decision ~ but they have GOT to be kidding to think that we’d want to recieve SJ instead of a refund. SB has been such a breath of fresh air and a delight but here the girls are, back at square one ~ feeling our reading needs are taking a back seat to the boys again, just like when they cancelled Animerica Extra. =__=

    It’s disappointing to say the least. I’m sure they will find other avenues to bring us shojo since they’ve created a market for shojo (whether online, libraries or in the bookstores)…but I’ve been cringing at the thought that they’d pull the rug out from under me regarding Crimson Hero and sure enough it’s happened….

    …although not as greedily managed as they did with Backstage Prince, where they kept running the serial in the magazine until the last 2 chapters and then pulled it and made us buy the books to find out how it ends. >O<

    I will miss my monthly dose of Shoyo love a lot.

    Sayonara SB!

  • Lori Henderson May 22, 2009 at 5:49 pm

    Actually I don’t mind too much, since I subscribe to SJ already, I’ll take a credit on it. 🙂

    I hope Viz is encouraged by the Online work they’ve been doing with Rin-Ne and now this new Ikki magazine project. Seeing Shojo Beat returned as an online mag would be really awesome. I’m more likely to buy something I’ve previewed than not. Hopefully Viz sees that and will give us girls something back.

  • Kat June 6, 2009 at 8:15 pm

    Found this post on Google, and I was horrified to discover that the world’s best magazine…ever… is being cancelled!

    And I just read two today!

    I’m not actually a subscriber, but I adore Shojo Beat, and I eagerly look forward to each issue that comes out, snatching it off the shelf as soon as it arrives at the library. I would also be much more likely to by something that’s been previewed in Shojo Beat…

    Shojo Beat, I will mourn your death.

  • Heather Ward June 8, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    Wow, I never thought this would happen. Looking at the volume of subscriptions for Shojo Beat, it blows away earlier manga anthologies Manga Vizion, Animerica Extra and Pulp, but it still managed to not survive. Shojo Beat is the second big magazine cut this year. Anime Invasion the first one was just cancelled the month before. I really wish the publishers would give the fans a chance at finding more subscribers. Yes, shoujo manga is a tough sale, but I am sure if fans were given an option they would happily endure a higher cost or work at improving subscriptions to libraries.

    Well my money will now focus on Yen Plus, since I already have a Shonen Jump subscription. I will pick up Sand Chronicles and Honey & Clover, since those series really remind me of the turmoil of co-ed friendships and the emotional growth. I also look forward to what Ikki may offer.

    With great saddness I bid farewell to Shojo Beat. Thank you for bringing lots of wonderful shoujo to America.

  • Tiffany July 23, 2009 at 6:09 am

    There’s a petition to ‘bring shojo beat back’ at gopetition.com

  • Shallah October 1, 2009 at 8:38 am

    i was wondering if they had stopped producing shojo beat because i was looking around in stores trying to find it and i believe if you look in the last issue published they dont say anything about this being the last issue to be publish which is kind of stupid….

  • Lori Henderson October 1, 2009 at 6:14 pm

    The closest they got to admitting it was the last issue was at the end of each title, it said what volume the story would be continued in, not “Next month..” I was disappointed there was no real goodbye. That was left for us bloggers to do.

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