June (magazine)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
June

description Manga magazine
Area of ​​Expertise Shonen Ai
language Japanese
publishing company Sun Shuppan → Magazine Magazine ( Japan )
First edition 1978
attitude 2012
Frequency of publication bi-monthly
Sold edition 100,000 (1994) copies
()
Web link www.june-net.com

June ( own spelling in capitals , also Comic June ) is a Japanese manga magazine by Sun Shuppan , which is dedicated to stories about love between men and is aimed at a female readership. It is considered the first magazine of the Shōnen Ai and later Boys' Love genre. This is how the name of the magazine became synonymous with the genre. The approximately 300-page editions in B5 format appear every two months and sold around 100,000 times at the height of the manga market in the 1990s. Hardcover editions are also available for a higher price.

From 1982 to 2003, the sister magazine Shōsetsu June ( 小説 JUNE) appeared every two months, alternating with June, with prose short stories about love between men. In 1996 a large-format June illustrated with pictures of young men was also published, as well as two editions of Roman June ( ロ マ ン JUNE) in 1995 and 1996 , which contains prose and manga with “real” homoerotic stories for an older readership. The original magazine received the addition Comic June ( コ ミ ッ ク JUNE). Sun Shuppan published successful series from the magazine as collective editions, adapted as radio plays or anime . The last issue under the name Comic June was published on December 28, 2012 (issue 2/2013).

From April 6, 2006 to January 19, 2009, Koi June ( 恋 JUNE ) was a magazine with manga, prose and DVD in seven editions, and on February 9, 2007 a similar sister magazine called DVD June . Both were then merged and since June 18, 2009 have been published irregularly under the title DVD June .

Story and content

The concept of June was developed in the 1970s by the later editor Toshihiko Sagawa. He recognized a niche in the market for girls' comics in Japan for stories about androgynous men and homoeroticism, as was already apparent in the works of the group of the 24s , but also in other areas of pop culture - such as the female glam rock fan scene . In 1978, Sun Shuppan , a publisher specializing in erotica, launched June, a magazine that revolved around these topics. This first attempt was discontinued in 1979. In 1981 the second start of June followed , again with Toshihiko Sagawa.

Because of the low budget, mainly young cartoonists who are themselves part of the female Manga fan scene are hired, and the fees are correspondingly low. Even later, the magazine's authors and staff remained largely female in order to maintain the perspective of the readership. This consists almost exclusively of women, from high school students to housewives in their forties.

The stories in the magazine revolve around the love between men, who usually have to overcome great social obstacles to love, and are dedicated to the beauty inherent in these dramas and tragedies. The love of an older man for a significantly younger one is also often an issue. The men are mostly portrayed androgynous according to the ideal of the Bishon . In the first few years of the magazine, many stories ended in suicide and played in exotic, that is, western, locations. Later on, happy endings became more common. The stories are often very explicit, but don't have to contain sex scenes.

From 1990 onwards, the magazine's stories had an impact on the development of Japanese homosexuals and their identity, says Sandra Buckley. Sales peaked at around 100,000 in the mid-1990s, after which they declined to around 40,000 in 1998.

Artist

The following artists worked for the magazine:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Frederik L. Schodt : Dreamland Japan - Writings on Modern Manga . Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley 2011, ISBN 978-1-933330-95-2 , pp. 120-123 .
  2. ↑ JUNE. In: く だ ん 書房 . Retrieved March 22, 2017 (Japanese).
  3. ↑ June. In: 国立 国会 図 書館 サ ー チ . National Library of Parliament , accessed March 22, 2017 (Japanese).
  4. ↑ 恋 JUNE ・ 他 . In: June-net. Sun Shuppan, February 2009, archived from the original on February 15, 2009 ; Retrieved March 22, 2017 (Japanese).
  5. ↑ 恋 JUNE ・ 他 . In: June-net. Sun Shuppan, December 2009, archived from the original on March 17, 2010 ; Retrieved March 22, 2017 (Japanese).
  6. ↑ a b c d Mizoguchi Akiko: Male-Male Romance by and for Women in Japan: A History and the Subgenres of Yaoi Fictions . US-Japan Women's Journal 25 , 2003, pp. 49-75.
  7. ↑ Jason Thompson: Manga. The Complete Guide . Del Rey, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8 , p. 414. (English)
  8. ↑ Marc McLelland: The "Beautiful Boy" in Japanese Girls' Manga. In: Toni Johnson-Woods (Ed.): Manga - An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives . Continuum Publishing, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-8264-2938-4 , pp. 79f.
  9. ↑ Keith Vincent: A Japanese Electra and Her Queer Progeny . In: Mechademia 2 , 2007, pp. 64-79
  10. ^ Sandra Buckley: 'Penguin in Bondage': A Graphic Tale of Japanese Comic Books . In: C. Penley, A. Ross (Eds.): Technoculture . University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 1991, ISBN 0-8166-1932-8 , p. 181.