Shojo Beat - History

History

In February 2005, Viz Media announced the creation of a new manga anthology, Shojo Beat. Marketed as a sister publication of Viz's existing Shonen Jump, the magazine started with six manga titles: Crimson Hero, Kaze Hikaru, Baby & Me, Godchild, Nana, and Absolute Boyfriend. Of the six titles, two each came from Japanese publishers Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Hakusensha. The first issue, released in June 2005, featured Nana Komatsu of Nana on its July cover.

Yumi Hoashi was the publication's original editor-in-chief. In November 2006, Hoashi left Viz, and Marc Weidenbaum replaced him as the magazine's editor-in-chief. Weidenbaum remained the magazine's editor until February 13, 2009, when Viz announced that he had left the company, though the magazine continued to list his name in the role through the May 2009 issue. Starting with the June 2009 issue, publisher Hyoe Narita was listed as the editor-in-chief.

The magazine's panda mascot, Moko, was first introduced in the October 2005 issue, though he remained nameless until the July 2006 issue. He later was given his own MySpace account run by Viz. With the July 2007 issue, a new mascot, Beat Girl, was introduced. Included in each issue on the "Editor's Letter" page as the magazine's "illustrated spokesperson," she was drawn by different artists each time. A third mascot, a star-shaped figure named Hoshiko, was introduced with the March 2008 issue as a friend for Moko.

With the magazine's first anniversary issue, dated July 2006, Shojo Beat switched to using cyan and magenta ink tones for the manga pages rather than black-and-white. Though this mirrors the format of Japanese manga anthologies, it was a first for manga anthologies published in North America. Shojo Beat launched another redesign with the January 2007 issue. The new design included more vivid color schemes and fonts and introduced a new "Girl Hero" column to spotlight women Viz felt were charitable and selfless and who would inspire readers. The existing columns were also expanded.

In May 2009, the magazine stopped accepting new subscriptions and ceased publication with the release of the July issue. Existing Shojo Beat subscriptions were transferred to Viz's Shonen Jump magazine. With the first copy of Shonen Jump sent to former subscribers, a letter informed them of the transfer and how to request a refund for the unfilled portion of their subscriptions if they would prefer. In a press release, Viz stated that the "difficult economic climate" was behind the magazine's cancellation.