ABSTRACT
Manga are renowned for tackling weighty human concerns in long narratives, for comic-book-style stories that are not just for children. This chapter looks at shojo manga within the context of shojo manga magazines. Examining shojo manga through the material object of a magazine shows how these visual narratives are shaped by their media form, as well as how the magazine context intertwines shojo manga with broader trends in girls' culture. Thus Cookie serves as an example of a shojo manga magazine in print that was conceived in the digital age yet preserves the sampling features of the magazines that preceded it. Even though nearly all manga are first released in manga magazines, the publishing houses do not make money on the magazines. The chapter demonstrates how shojo manga magazines, and thus shojo manga themselves, developed in response to changes in the media landscape across the late twentieth century.
