:: kirai ja nai

I've scanned some stuff to show you what I'm talking about, so just click on the links to see the pics in a new window.

Ribon is a monthly shoujo manga magazine published by Shueisha, where Kodocha initially ran in chapter-long installments from 8/94 to 11/98. Magazines like Ribon run at around 500 pages and carry several short and continuing stories by different authors (who many times get different works published by the same magazine -- for example, Miho Obana's stories have been appearing in Ribon for years).

Most manga magazines tend to have a sort of general tone to their stories, which has to do with their target audience (but there are plenty of exceptions to this general rule). Ribon is for younger girls, so it has pretty cute stories with a lot of colorful artwork.

Ribon's general art and character style is pretty distinctive. For example, compare Kodocha's art to that of a few other series from Ribon: Mint Na Bokura and Marmalade Boy (both by Wataru Yoshizumi), and Max Lovely (by Erika Kurahashi). I think a lot of times Kodocha gets wrongly labeled "Marmalade Boy on Crack/Acid/Speed/[insert drug of choice here]" because of the apparently similar character design (although that's true mostly when it comes to the anime versions of the series).

[Must get away from the MB issue without starting a bitter, bitter rant…]

Each series in Ribon is printed in different color paper and ink, which doesn't necessarily stay constant (here you can see Kodocha printed in light blue ink).

Manga magazines like Ribon can include a color page of the stories they carry and one or more pages of full-size artwork at the beginning of their more popular series. In the case of Kodocha, which has no artbooks, Ribon is basically the only source of full-size color artwork.

Something that's very nice about magazines for younger girls is that they carry fun "furoku" or supplements/freebies. That means that with each issue you get things like stickers, stationary, things to put together, etc. for selected series.

If you're wondering what similar magazines there are, a couple of other shoujo manga magazines I can think of are Nakayoshi (Cardcaptor Sakura), Ciao (Mizuiro Jidai/Blue-Green Years), and Margaret (Hana Yori Dango).

If you're interested in subscribing to Ribon or just getting a single copy, I recommend Kinokuniya Bookstores (see the shopping guide).