was a monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan. Although it specialized in underground or alternative manga, it also had commercially successful series. The magazine started in 2000 as a spin-off to Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits, titled Spirits Zōkan Ikki, published on a bimonthly basis, and became a standalone monthly magazine in 2003. In 2009, Viz Media launched an online English version of Monthly Ikki, named SigIkki, which serialized selected titles from the magazine. Ikki ceased publication after an almost 14-year-run in 2014, and was replaced by , which ran from 2015 to 2017, before ceasing its publication as well.
History
Editor , who spent 18 years in the editorial department of Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits, observed the increasing sophistication of manga and believed some manga artists were better suited to monthly rather than weekly serialization. He noted that weekly series often required large teams of assistants and a fast-paced workflow, whereas monthly publication allowed creators like Taiyō Matsumoto (known for Tekkonkinkreet) to work more independently and deliberately. Egami credited Matsumoto with persuading him to develop a new magazine.
Egami conceived the magazine as a monthly spin-off of Weekly Big Comic Spirits. Naming the publication proved difficult due to trademark issues. After a rejected proposal to solicit names from readers, Egami and magazine designer chose "Ikki" for its positive connotations, pleasing sound, and available copyright. The magazine launched as , releasing 13 bimonthly issues from November 30, 2000, to December 25, 2002. It became a standalone monthly publication with its April 2003 issue, released February 25.
In 2009, Viz Media launched SigIkki, an English-language online version of Monthly Ikki. Egami acknowledged the defunct American magazine Pulp as a precursor that helped pave the way for Ikkis acceptance in the United States. With the magazine's original pages already digitized, Egami saw translation as an opportunity to reach a broader audience. The digital files, which separated text and art into layers, facilitated localization. Former Viz Media editorial manager Leyla Aker noted the project was internally nicknamed "Pulp 2.0" and shared the Viz Signature imprint's goal of publishing creatively excellent and diverse content. Monthly Ikki was also Shogakukan's first manga magazine to publish digitally. The SigIkki website serialized titles online, with popular series later receiving print publication, and featured interviews with creators and editors. In January 2013, the magazine's official site, Ikki Paradise, launched , a free web manga corner serializing original online content.
After nearly 14 years, the September 2014 issue (released July 25) announced that Monthly Ikki would cease publication with the November issue (released September 25). Some series concluded in the final issue, while others transferred to different magazines. It was replaced by , which launched on March 6, 2015. Hibana itself ceased publication after two years, with its final issue released on August 7, 2017.
Style
Monthly Ikki was regarded as an underground publication and was frequently compared to American and European alternative comics for its content. It has also been sometimes referred to as "Shogakukan's Afternoon" or "Shogakukan's Garo". The magazine prioritized authorial creativity over audience expectations. As Egami explained, his boss contrasted its approach with that of Weekly Big Comic Spirits: "for IKKI, you have to see the spring that is the origin of the river, meaning you have to see the creator and work with the creator; that it's important to understand the artists' point of view." This philosophy led the magazine to advertise itself as a "comics magazine" rather than a "manga magazine" to distinguish its unconventional content.
Its slogan, "[w]e are still at the dawn of the manga era," reflected an optimistic view of the medium's potential. Egami elaborated that this meant "if you assume that the history of manga will continue for 200 years or longer, we are still at the very beginning", suggesting ample room for innovation and growth beyond the perceived saturation of the market. He further expressed a belief in the future emergence of creators who could stand alongside Osamu Tezuka.
The magazine recruited artists both from other publications and through a newcomers contest. This initiative discovered talents such as Hisae Iwaoka, author of Saturn Apartments, and , author of I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow.
Circulation and demographic Monthly Ikki circulation experienced a gradual decline, from 33,916 copies in 2004 to 10,000 by 2013. Editor Hideki Egami acknowledged the magazine's limited commercial success in Japan. While anime adaptations of series like Bokurano: Ours and Rideback boosted their respective sales, they had little effect on the magazine's overall circulation.
Although categorized as a manga publication targeting older teens and adults, the magazine deliberately avoided focusing on a specific gender or age. Egami described its target audience as "everybody" with a creative mindset, and sought to stimulate "the highest sentiments that a person could feel." Its readership was primarily in their twenties, with a significant portion consisting of older teens and readers up to their fifties. Unusually for a manga magazine, 40% of its readers were female, a figure that rose to 60% among its teenage audience. This broad appeal was partly facilitated by editorial choices, such as avoiding the use of nude photos on covers. Egami said that this was not necessarily because it would alienate female readers, but rather because it was not "that kind of nudity to begin with." Egami noted that the popularity of certain series with female readers, such as House of Five Leaves, occurred organically rather than by intentional design.
Series featured in Ikki Ongoing titles in the final issue Series titleAuthorPremieredNotesKumiko SuekaneBabelNarumi ShigematsuCompleted publication via compiled volumes.Daisuke NishijimaPrototype version published in Kadokawa Shoten's from 2004 to 2005.Continued in Futabasha's Monthly Action as Dien Bien Phu: True End in 2017.Q HayashidaTransferred to Hibana.Natsume OnoTransferred to Hibana.Est EmCompleted publication via compiled volumes.Yasuto MiuraTransferred to Monthly Sunday Gene-X.Shunju AonoShunji EnomotoCompleted publication via compiled volumes.Seimu YoshizakiCompleted publication via compiled volumes.Yanboru ChūōLeviusHaruhisa NakataContinued with a sequel titled Levius/est in Shueisha's Ultra Jump.Tsuyoshi MatsumotoTransferred to Hibana.Isami NakagawaAlso published (and continued) in Shogakukan's Monthly Big Comic Spirits, Shōnen Sunday S and Pucchigumi.Ayumi OsadaIne ArinagaCompleted publication via compiled volume.PeriodSakumi YoshinoShunju AonoTransferred to Hibana.SongbookKNOTSNaoko MatsushimaCompleted publication via compiled volumes.SunnyTaiyō MatsumotoTransferred to Monthly Big Comic Spirits.
Previously serialized works
2000–04 by Naoki Yamamoto (2000–2002) The Beetles by Atsushi Nobuzawa (original story) and Toshihiro Katagiri (art) (2000–2001) by Akira Sasō (2000–2001) by Yoko Nihonbashi (2000–2003) by Seiho Takizawa (2000–2002) by Ryo Nagata (2000–2002) by Sakuya Hikochi (2000–2002) by Nawoki Karasawa (2000–2003) by Taiyō Matsumoto (2000–2005) by Iou Kuroda (2000–2002) by Nakatani D. (2001–2003) by Jiro Matsumoto (2001–2009) by Yumi Unita (2001–2003) by Hirohiko Yokomi (story) and Naoe Kikuchi (art) (2001–2006) by Kazuo Hara (2002–2009) by George Asakura (2003–2005) Rideback by Tetsurō Kasahara (2003–2008) by Daisuke Igarashi (2003–2004) by Hiroko Matsuda (2003–2006) by Hideyasu Moto (2003–2009) by Rokuro Shinofusa (2003–2007) by Mohiro Kitoh (2003–2009) by Suzuki Matsuo (story) and Naoki Yamamoto (art) (2004) by Hisae Iwaoka (2004–2005) by Yukito Ayatsuji (story) and Noriko Sasaki (art) (2004–2006)
2005–09 Swweeet by Kei Aoyama (2005–2006) by Daisuke Igarashi (2005–2011) by Tetsu Kasabe (2005–2006) by Natsume Ono (2005–2010) by Hisae Iwaoka (2005–2011) by Osamu Mizutani (original story) and Seiki Tsuchida (art) (2005–2009) by Wisut Ponnimit (2006–2010) by Kōichi Kiba (2006) by Kō Akita (2006–2009) by Natsuo Kirino (original story) and Den Ishida (art) (2006–2007) by Shunju Aono (2007–2012) by Koji Aihara and Kentaro Takekuma (2007–2008) by Masahiko Kikuni (2008–2010) (moved from Weekly Young Sunday) by Puncho Kondoh (2009–2012) by Nanki Satō (story) and Akira Kiduki (art) (2009–2012) Wombs by Yumiko Shirai (2009–2010) (continued publication via compiled volumes) by Hirohiko Yokomi (story) and Kanoko Hoashi (art) (2009–2013) Junkin' Gap Clash by Jinko Kobayashi (2009–2014) by Motoyuki Ōta (2009–2012)
2010–14 by Ching Nakamura (2010–2012) (moved from Kodansha's ) by Michi Urushihara (2010–2014) by Mikio Igarashi (2010–2013) by Dowman Sayman (2010–2014) by Romeo Tanaka (original story) and Takuya Mitomi (art) (2011–2012) by Romeo Tanaka (original story) and Takuya Mitomi (art) (2012) by Ayako Noda (2012–2014) by Shunju Aono (2012–2013) Kūya Shōnin ga Ita by Taichi Yamada (original novel) and Hideki Arai (2013–14)
Circulation figures Year / Period Monthly circulation Magazine sales () Sales revenue () Issue price September 2003 to August 2004 33,916 September 2004 to August 2005 29,000 September 2005 to August 2006 18,584 September 2006 to August 2007 16,000 October 2007 to September 2008 14,917 October 2008 to September 2009 13,750 October 2009 to September 2010 11,500 October 2010 to September 2011 11,000 October 2011 to September 2012 10,584 October 2012 to September 2013 10,000 September 2003 to September 2013 2,031,012
Explanatory notes
References
Further reading
External links