Announced on August 17th in both the September issue of Shonen Magazine Edge, as well as on its website, the magazine will end it’s publication with the November issue releasing on October 17, 2023 in Japan. The following is a rough English translation of the announcement:
Dear readers,
Thank you very much for your continued support of Shonen Magazine Edge.
We have an important message for you.
Shonen Magazine Edge has decided to suspend its publication with the November issue of Shonen Magazine Edge that will be released on October 17, 2023.
We would like to express out gratitude to all of the outstandingly talented writers who have gathered under the name of the magazine “Edge”, for all of the edgy manga series, and to all of the readers who welcomed us with enthusiasm. We thank you very much.
Some of current serialized series will continue in Kodansha’s manga app, “Magazine Pocket” as well as in other publications that are appropriate for the series.
We will announce where the series will be transferred to as part of the final November issue.
Thank you for your continued support for all of our series.
Please continue to support us until the final issue.
Shonen Magazine Edge Editorial Department
The magazine has published the following Hiroyuki Takei manga series:
- Nekogahara
- Shaman King (as a 3 chapter special republication)
- Shaman King: The Super Star
- Shaman King: Red Crimson
- Shaman King: Marcos
- Shaman King: Faust 8 – The Eternal Eliza (in partnership with Magazine Pocket)
Since this announcement, Hiroyuki Takei’s editor, Moriyoshi Yoshida, has tweeted some additional clarifying information. He noted that Shaman King: The Super Star will continue and that the announcement of location/timing will be on October 17, 2023.
The announcement of the Shaman King manga series continuation can help relieve some fans who were worried that the series would be cancelled again, similar to with Shaman King: Flowers. When the Jump X (Kai) magazine ended in October 10, 2014, there was no announcement on when or where the Shaman King: Flowers manga would continue. As a result, the series was effectively concluded mid-story and would not continue until many years later with the Shaman King: The Super Star manga.
At the time of the cancellation of Jump X magazine in 2014, it was having around an average 18,000 copies sold on a monthly sold. This was a sharp decline from the 34,000 monthly copies being sold in the year prior. While there aren’t public specifics of the drop in sales numbers for Shonen Magazine Edge, it does have a monthly print run of around 10,000 copies. For comparisons to other Kodansha magazines, Monthly Shonen Sirius, which has been running since 2005, has only 7,200 monthly copies (but at a higher price). Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, which has been running since 2009, has 21,000 monthly copies. Monthly Shonen Magazine, which has been running since 1975, has 171,000 monthly copies.
The metrics for success for magazines are based on a multitude of factors. While monthly circulation numbers are important, lower numbers could be still successful if the magazine has a higher price point as well as ad space sold to other companies.
Shaman King: The Super Star will continue it’s serialization in Shonen Magazine Edge next month with chapter 51. The October issue will be published on September 15, 2023 in Japan in both print and digital formats. Shaman King: The Super Star will also be featured on the cover of the October anniversary issue of the magazine. Hiroyuki Takei has drawn the cover of Shonen Magazine Edge for the October issue every year since 2015 with the exceptions of 2017 & 2019. As new information about Shaman King: The Super Star is announced we will have new articles posted.
