Categories Seinen manga First issue October 14, 1980 Country Japan | Frequency Weekly Company Shogakukan | |
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Circulation 150,000
(July-September, 2016) |
Big Comic Spirits (ビッグコミックスピリッツ, Biggu Komikku Supirittsu) is a weekly Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Shogakukan and aimed at adult males. It originally launched on October 14, 1980. The culture of food, sports, love relationships, and business provide the themes for its featured series, which often question conventional values. In 1996 Frederik Schodt characterized the typical reader as a twenty-eight-year-old systems engineer who works at a finance company, eats at ramen noodle shops and is seriously considering using a matchmaking service. The magazine is printed every Monday and is available at a price of ¥280. Circulation in 2008 averaged over 300,000 copies, but by 2015 had dropped to 168,250. In 2009 Shogakukan launched a new companion magazine, Monthly Big Comic Spirits.
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History
Big Comic Spirits launched on October 14, 1980 as a monthly magazine. The following June, it changed to a semimonthly magazine released on the 15th and 30th day of each month. Beginning in April 1986, the magazine switched to a weekly release, with new issues being released on each Monday.