CoroCoro Comic (コロコロコミック, KoroKoro Komikku) is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan, established on May 15, 1977. Its main target is elementary school aged boys, younger than the readers of shōnen manga. Several of its properties, like Doraemon and the Pokémon series of games, have gone on to be cultural phenomena in Japan.
The name comes from a phenomime korokoro (ころころ?) which means "rolling" and also represents something spherical, fat, or small, because children supposedly like such things. The magazine is A5-sized, about 6 cm (2¼ in) thick, and each issue is 750 pages long. CoroCoro Comic is released monthly with new issues on the 15th of each month (or earlier if the 15th falls on a weekend).
The magazine has two sisters: Bessatsu CoroCoro and CoroCoro Ichiban!. Both are bi-monthly.
The magazine was launched in 1977 as a magazine for Doraemon, which is one of the most popular manga in Japan. Before then Doraemon had been serialized in 6 Shogakukan magazines targeted to students of 6 elementary school grades that target audience has now increased. It collected stories of Doraemon from these magazines. It celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007 with an exhibition at the Kyoto International Manga Museum.
CoroCoro regularly promotes toys and video games related to their manga franchises, releasing stories and articles featuring them. Pocket Monsters/Pokémon's big success in Japan owes to this in a way; the Game Boy game Pocket Monsters Blue was sold exclusively through the magazine at first, which helped CoroCoro's sales as well. CoroCoro is also often a source of information about upcoming Pokémon games and movies.
Other successful tie-ins include:
Radio controlled car, Mini 4WD (with Tamiya)
Family Computer (Nintendo Entertainment System), Super Famicom (Super NES), and Game Boy (with Nintendo and third parties)
Beyblade, B-Daman (with Takara)
Bikkuriman (with Lotte)
Barcode Battler (with Epoch Co.)
Super Mario-kun (Since November 1990)
Pocket Monsters XY (Since September 1996)
CoroCoro Manga College (Since February 2001)
Fujiko F. Fujio Masterpiece Theater Doraemon (Since April 2002)
Kirby of The Stars! More Pupupu Hour! (Since December 2006)
Phantom Thief Joker (Since April 2007)
Denjyarasu Jiisan Jya! (Since April 2010)
Liar! Gokuo-kun (Since October 2011)
Zo-Zo-Zo Zombie-kun (Since December 2012)
Yōkai Watch (Since January 2013)
Danball Senki Wars (Since April 2013)
Puzzle & Dragons (Since September 2013)
Danchi Tomoo 4-koma Park (Since September 2013)
Punyu-punyu Warrior Myame-myame (Since October 2013)
Pokémon X and Y: The Legend of the Pokémon Dragon King (Since November 2013)
Hero Bank (Since November 2013)
Gundam Build Fighters (Since November 2013)
Super Mario-kun (Since February 1991)
Pokémon Pocket Monsters (Since February 1997)
Denjyarasu Jiisan Jya! (Since June 2010)
Duel Masters Victory (Since June 2011)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Since October 2012)
Lapis lazuli (Since October 2012)
Big Gathering! We are Oreca! (Since December 2012)
Yo-Kai Watch (Since January 2013)
Pokémon Torretta (Since February 2013)
A Penguin's Troubles Plus (Since April 2013)
Friendship Attached! Foot Burst (Since April 2013)
Nyaemon (Since April 2013)
Really!! Majime-kun! (Since June 2013)
Super Conversion War Mojibakeru G Beat! (Since June 2013)
Story of Duel Masters: Outrage (Since June 2013)
Cosmos Stamp (Since August 2013)
Orecabattle Oreca-Monsters Adventure-Retsuden (Since October 2013)
Wazabo (Since May 2005)
Gari-Gari-kun (Since May 2005)
Pokémon Quiz-Puzzle-land: Pikachu is a Detective (Since May 2005)
Super Refreshing TV Life: Oha Suta Boy (Since November 2005)
Duel Masters Dojo (Since September 2009)
Pokémon 4-koma Gag Picture book (Since November 2009)
I'm a Gamer! Warp-kun (Since November 2009)
This is the New Generation Plaything Institute! "Demons pretending to be Demons!" (Since November 2009)
Pokémon Adventures (Since May 2010)
Pinch Hitter Gun-chan (Since November 2010)
Kirby of Stars: Paku and Explosive Show!! (Since September 2012)
Hundred-Animal War Great Animal Kaiser (Since November 2012)
Super Mario-kun Theater (Since April 2013)
Inazuma Eleven GO 2 4-koma Gag Tournament!! (Since May 2013)
Necoro (Since June 2013)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Since July 2013)
7-Colour Hero War Shiruman (Since July 2013)
Riddle Battle! Deep Mysteries! Bonta!! (Since September 2013)
Kaibutsu-kun
Doraemon
Game Center Arashi
Bikkuriman
Oyaji-chan
Dash! Yonkuro
Ganbare, Kickers!
Honō no Dōkyūji: Dodge Danpei
(Saru Get You) Ape Escape
Crash Bandicoot
Donkey Kong
Duel Masters
Kirby
Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!!
Ore wa Otoko da! Kunio-kun (manga based Kunio-kun series)
Pocket Monsters (Pokémon)
Spyro The Dragon
Super B-Daman
Speed Racer
Super Mario-kun
Tamagotchi
Wataru
Zoids
Duel Masters
Battle B-Daman
Beyblade
Bomberman Jetters
Crash B-Daman
Croket!
Dorabase
Denjyarasu Jiisan
Hidemaru the soccer boy (ひでまる the soccer boy) - Adapted into the anime Forza! Hidemaru
Inazuma Eleven
Jak x Daxter ~Itachi de Waruika!!~
Keshikasu-kun
Kiyohara-kun
FF7AC
Keshikasu-kun
Rockman EXE
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
Ratchet & Clank – Gagaga! Ginga no Gakeppuchi Densetsu
Ryusei no Rockman
Sonic! Dash & Spin
I'm Galileo!
Kirby of the Stars
Pokémon Platinum
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Pocket Monster
Sap-kun
Tamagotchi
Baku Tech! Bakugan
Cross Fight B-daman
Danball Senki
Denjyarasu Jiisan Jya!
Future Card Buddyfight
Metal Fight Beyblade Explosion
Metal Fight Beyblade 4D
Metal Fight Beyblade Zero-G
Pokémon Black and White
Pokémon Black and White 2
Pokémon X and Y
Splatoon (manga)
Corocoro has had many rivaling children's magazine in the past, with one of them, Comic Bom Bom, closing down due to declining sales. The current competition includes V Jump and Saikyo Jump.
Shōnen Challenge (January 1979–February 1982) (Page count: 650 pages long)
100-Point Comic (January 1981–January 1983) (Page count: 370 pages long)
Comic Bom Bom (November 1981–December 2007) (Page count: 790 pages long)
One-Pack Comic (November 1985–January 1989) (Page count: 330 pages long)
Comic Bun-Bun (January 2004–October 2009) (Page count: 590 pages long)
Kerokero Ace (December 2007–September 2013) (Page count: 600 pages long)
V Jump (June 1993–Ongoing) (Page count: 500 pages long)
Shōnen Ace (December 1994–Ongoing) (Page count: 810 pages long)
Saikyō Jump (January 2012–Ongoing) (Page count: 760 pages long)
CO-CO! (Hong Kong)
CoroCoro Monthly (Taiwan)
Dragon Comic CORO-CORO (China)
