Broken Frontier

VIZ Media, LLC. (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive manga and animation licensing and publishing companies, has announced notable content for the January 2006 issue of SHOJO BEAT magazine, which hits newsstands and bookstores nationwide on December 20.

SHOJO BEAT launched in July 2005 as a sister publication to the tremendously popular SHONEN JUMP magazine, which celebrates its third anniversary in January 2006 with a special expanded issue. SHOJO BEAT is aimed at the growing number of shôjo manga and anime fans and carries a “T+” rating for older teens. Due to the popularity of the magazine, December marked the successful rollout to mass market stores such as  grocery stores and superstores, expanding from the current availability at book and specialty stores.

Each month SHOJO BEAT presents six ongoing manga serials that currently include ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND, BABY AND ME, CRIMSON HERO, GODCHILD, KAZE HIKARU and NANA.  The January issue will also feature a pair of exclusive interviews with Mitsuba Takanashi, author and artist of CRIMSON HERO, a shôjo volleyball manga, and Novala Takemoto, author of KAMIKAZE GIRLS, which VIZ Media released theatrically earlier this year. The film, which was derived from Takemoto’s original novel, will be released on DVD in January 2006 and VIZ Media will also publish the manga in February.

Bundled with the issue will be a special VIZ Media SHOJO BEAT 2006 calendar featuring art selections from all of the anthology’s serialized manga and an Anime Guide with classic as well as new titles, up-and-coming directors, upcoming films, and a selection of fan favorite role-model anime heroines. The lucky winner of the first-ever SHOJO BEAT car contest, which VIZ Media held at several major anime and comic conventions nationwide last summer, will also be announced.
“VIZ Media has been a driving force behind the shôjo manga phenomenon, which has become very popular among tens of thousands of teenage girls in North America,” states Yumi Hoashi, editor-in-chief of SHOJO BEAT and vice president of VIZ Media’s magazine division. “The proven success of SHONEN JUMP magazine encouraged us to develop a compelling sister publication aimed specifically at young girls and these readers have responded enthusiastically, proving that shôjo manga has a definite place in the mass market. The January 2006 issue of SHOJO BEAT will offer over 260 pages filled with manga, articles on fashion, culture and history in an exciting format that girls have embraced with growing fervor. With its unique content, striking presentation, and exclusive stories and critiques, SHOJO BEAT is unlike any other magazine published in North America and we look forward to cultivating its continued success."