Shojo Beat was a shōjo manga magazine published in North America by Viz Media. Launched in June 2005 as a sister magazine for Shonen Jump, it featured serialized chapters from six manga series per issue, as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty. Viz launched a related imprint of the same name for female-oriented manga, light novels and anime. Targeted at women aged 16 to 18, the first issue of Shojo Beat launched with a circulation of 20,000. By 2007, the average circulation was approximately 38,000 copies, with half coming from subscriptions rather than store sales. It was well received by critics, though some found the early issues boring and poorly written. In May 2009, Viz announced that it was discontinuing the magazine; the July 2009 issue was the last released. Fans were disappointed at the news. Industry experts felt its loss left female manga fans without a magazine of their own, but praised Viz for continuing the Shojo Beat imprint and branding for its shōjo manga and anime releases.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shojo_Beat
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1889:
Bangui, the capital and largest city of the present-day Central African Republic, was founded in French Congo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui
1996:
Irish crime reporter Veronica Guerin was murdered while stopped at a traffic light, an event that helped establish Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_Guerin
2015:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges (plaintiff pictured) that the right of same-sex couples to marry is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obergefell_v._Hodges
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
indri: One of the largest living lemurs, Indri indri, which is native to Madagascar. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/indri
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
No art can be judged by purely aesthetic standards, although a painting or a piece of music may appear to give a purely aesthetic pleasure. Aesthetic enjoyment is an intensification of the vital response, and this response forms the basis of all value judgements. The existentialist contends that all values are connected with the problems of human existence, the stature of man, the purpose of life. These values are inherent in all works of art, in addition to their aesthetic values, and are closely connected with them. --Colin Wilson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Colin_Wilson