Writing about new Shogakukan manga goes without saying here-- but I think this might be the first time we've been able to introduce a whole new magazine! Shogakukan has plans to create a new magazine, CoroCiao, which will have its inaugural issue come out on December 19th. From the title of this new effort, it sounds like it's aiming for a children's (aka Corocoro and girls manga label Ciao magazine) audience. In keeping with being the hobby and toy magazine, the inaugural issue will come with an exclusive Pokemon card.
Story (rough translation, and names subject to change)
Cover from the first issue of CoroCiao. It retails for 1,280 yen, which is about double a normal magazine.
As noted above, this tome is going for about double a normal magazine's price. Japanese manga magazines are meant to be more like “previews” for the series being serialized within. (As well as marketing tools for events and merch) So, for the asking price on this magazine to be higher than usual means that this release is meant to some extent to be for collecting purposes. Put another way, it's also to emphasize how big a deal this new magazine is. However, we all know it's what's inside that counts, and Shogakukan aims to impress there too.
The webpage for CoroCiao has stated 20 top creators will serialize manga in this magazine. That leads to another reason for its price point-this bad boy is going to be huge. That being said, however, the announcements and press haven't been clear on one thing-how often will this magazine be released? We'll likely find out when the first issue releases next month what the format is, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is an irregular magazine. Or monthly at best.
As of this writing, Shougakukan has revealed a few artists who will appear in the magazine and the titles, so let's discuss them.
Images courtesy of Andys Islands on BlueSky.
The first series is entitled Juro and is by famed Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei. The second is entitled Killrate Chaos by Sesuji and TERU, and the last is Kawaii Senki by Miyuki Okumura and Inukorosuke.
Shaman King fan site Patch Café has written up an amazing introduction for Juro on their Bluesky account, which I'll link here. I'll include the synopsis for the series they wrote for convenience’s sake, but interested fans should follow them for future updates. They're an invaluable Takei-sensei resource and have been great help in giving us scoops for this new magazine.
Hiroyuki Takei's illustration for Juro
©Hiroyuki Takei/SHOGAKUKAN
Story (rough translation, and names subject to change)
In the near future, the existence of spirits has been confirmed, Shunsaku rides a magic-powered robot to fight against evil spirits.
It definitely sounds like Takei is back and doing what he does best, so I can't wait to see more.
The next series, Killrate Chaos, is billed as a horror series, and the blurb reads that it's about boys and girls hunting bizarre creatures in a world that's based on a game. The writer of the series, Sesuji is the writer of Kinki Chihō no Aru Basho ni Tsuite (About a Certain Place in the Kinki region), which was made into a movie, and even before that, it was a hit novel, selling over 700,000 copies according to this site.
TERU's illustration for Killrate Chaos
©TERU/Setsuji/SHOGAKUKAN
Shogakukan really wasn't kidding when they said they got top creators to participate in this! The last series is Kawaii Senki, which the blurb says it's a series about “too cute characters”. In it, a transfer student uses the power of “cute” to challenge a world infested with demons. The creator of this series is the designer of Sanrio's character Cinnamoroll, Miyuki Okumura.
Illustration of Kawaii Senki by Cinnamoroll creator Miyuki Okumura.
©Miyuki Okumura/SHOGAKUKAN
Meanwhile, the artist Inukorosuke has created a few Corocoro Series and was even the writer for Science Vs Magic, which was a oneshot illustrated by Yusuke "Onepunchman" Murata!
Illustration of Kawaii Senki by Inukorosuke
©Inukorosuke/SHOGAKUKAN
Science vs. Magic by Inukorosuke and Yuusuke Murata.
Inukorosuke is lesser known than some other creators on this initial rollout, but that's still an impressive get for this magazine. If this is the caliber of manga creator we can expect from CoroCiao then it's going to be an exciting magazine to keep an eye on. It's (possible?) irregular serialization schedule means that artists who have other serializations could participate, or at least offer one-shots. Who would you want to see in CoroCiao in the future? Be sure to watch our social media channels (as well as Patch Café!) for more developments!
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