Raijin Comics was a manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 anthology published in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 by the now-defunct Gutsoon! Entertainment

Gutsoon! Entertainment

Gutsoon! Entertainment, Inc. is a now defunct publisher of English translated manga. The company, headquartered in Encino, Los Angeles, served as the US subsidiary of Coamix, which was founded by Nobuhiko Horie and manga artist Tsukasa Hojo. The company published the English manga anthology Raijin...

 and largely backed by the Sega

Sega

, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

 Corporation at its inception. The collected volumes of Raijin Comics titles were published under the Raijin Graphic Novels imprint

Imprint

In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

.

The comics were aimed at an older audience. The magazine's first issue was published with the cover date of December 18, 2002. Raijin Comics was initially a weekly publication, but it later became a monthly magazine on issue #37 (the October 2003 issue). In July 2004, the magazine stopped circulation with issue #46 and the brand was put "on hiatus". Raijin Comics failure to break in the U.S. market has been attributed to competition (indirect or otherwise) with the North American version of Shonen Jump

Shonen Jump (magazine)

Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, is a shōnen manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date...

, which launched at the same time as Raijin Comics, although both magazines were aimed at different audiences.

On May 5, 2005, Raijin lost control of the raijincomics.com domain name

Domain name

A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....

 to domain squatter

Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting , according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else...

s. The corporate website, gutsoon.com remained in operation for many years but wasn't updated after June 2004, and as of mid 2010 has been taken over by domain squatter

Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting , according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else...

s. Since the folding of Raijin Comics, two of its titles (Slam Dunk and Guardian Angel Getten) have since been licensed to other companies.

Series published by Raijin

The following series were serialized in Raijin Comics:

• Baki the Grappler
  Baki the Grappler
  Grappler Baki , or Baki the Grappler, is a manga series written and illustrated by Keisuke Itagaki. It was originally serialized in the Weekly Shōnen Champion from 1991 to 1999, lasting 42 collected volumes...
  
  
• Bomber Girl
  Bomber Girl
  is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Niwano.The series is about , a bounty hunter who uses her sex appeal to defeat enemies. is a police officer who initially opposes Emi's methods....
  
  
• Bow Wow Wata
  Bow Wow Wata
  is a manga by Kazumi Umekawa that was initially serialized in Weekly Comic Bunch from 2001 throughout 2004. After the serialization was pulled from Comic Bunch, it was picked up by Comic Rex, where it was retitled Gaugau Wāta 2, continuing its publication as a monthly serial until 2009...
  
  
• City Hunter
  City Hunter
  is a hardboiled manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo, published by Shueisha in the Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1985 to 1991. The manga was adapted into an animated television series by Sunrise Studios in 1987...
  
  
• The First President Of Japan
• Fist of the Blue Sky
  Fist of the Blue Sky
  is a martial arts/noir manga series by Tetsuo Hara with plot supervision by Buronson that was serialized in the Weekly Comic Bunch from 2001 throughout 2010. It is a prequel to Fist of the North Star, which Hara originally illustrated and co-wrote with Buronson...
  
  
• Guardian Angel Getten
  Guardian Angel Getten
  is a manga by Minene Sakurano which was serialized in the monthly magazine Shōnen GanGan from 1997 to 2000. A continuation was published in Comic Blade titled from 2002 to 2005. The manga was adapted into a 22-episode TV anime series produced by Toei Animation which aired from 1998 throughout 1999...
  
  
• Nemuri Kyoshiro
• Keiji
• Mountain Climbers Saga
• Revenge of Mouflon
• Slam Dunk
  Slam Dunk (manga)
  is a sports-themed manga series written by Takehiko Inoue about a basketball team from Shōhoku High School. It was first serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan from 1990 to 1996 and had also been adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation which had been broadcast worldwide,...
  
  

Imprinted manga series

Title	Author/Illustrator
Fist Of the North Star Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and drawn by Tetsuo Hara that was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1983 to 1988, spanning 245 chapters, which were initially collected in a 27-volume tankōbon edition by Shueisha...	Art: Tetsuo Hara Tetsuo Hara is a Japanese manga artist famous for drawing the series Fist of the North Star , which he co-authored with Buronson... , Story: Buronson
Twisted Tales	Art and Story: Tsukasa Tsuji
Irasshaimase, Japan!	Art and Story: Jun Hanyunyu

External links

• Raijin Comics (Waybacked)