Bessatsu Friend

Bessatsu Friend (別冊フレンド, Bessatsu Furendo), formerly known as Bessatsu Shōjo Friend (別冊少女フレンド, Bessatsu Shōjo Furendo), is a Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Kodansha. It was originally conceived as a bessatsu, or companion magazine, to Shōjo Friend, which is no longer published. Bessatsu Friend is commonly known by the abbreviated name Betsufure (別フレ) and is published on the 13th of each month.^[3]

Bessatsu Friend

Cover of the January 2007 issue of Bessatsu Friend
Categories	Shōjo manga[1][2]
Frequency	Monthly
Circulation	70,500[2] (July–September 2016)
First issue	March 1965
Company	Kodansha
Country	Japan
Based in	Tokyo
Language	Japanese
Website	betsufure.net

The magazine originally featured manga focused on romance, but with the start of publications by manga artists like Keiko Suenobu, it began publishing such that moved away from that main focus. Betsufure publishes manga by many well known manga artists, such as Miwa Ueda, Satomi Ikezawa, Ayu Watanabe, Fuyumi Soryo, Nanba Atsuko, and Keiko Suenobu.

In October 2005, a manga serialized in Bessatsu Friend titled Flower of Eden was pulled from publication and recalled by both Kodansha and North American publisher Tokyopop, after it was revealed that the manga artist, Yuki Suetsugu, had copied art directly from Slam Dunk and Real by Takehiko Inoue.^[4] After that, official imports of Bessatsu Friend publications became scarce.

Serialization

Current

• Hana-kun to Koisuru Watashi (2011–present)
• A Girl & Her Guard Dog (2018–present)
• Yamaguchi-kun Isn't So Bad (2019–present)
• Gazing at the Star Next Door (2022–present)^[5]
• L DK Pink (2022–present)
• A Love Too Captivating (2023–present)^[6][7]

Past

1977–1989

• Akogare (1970)

1990–1999

• Mars (1996–2000)
• Peach Girl (1997–2004)
• Guru Guru Pon-chan (1998–2000)
• Girl Got Game (1999–2002)

2000–2009

• Flower of Eden (2000–2004)
• The Wallflower (2000–2015)
• A Perfect Day for Love Letters (2001)
• Othello (2001–2004)
• My Heavenly Hockey Club (2002–2005)
• Life (2002–2009)
• Senpai to Kanojo (2004–2005)
• Peach Girl: Sae's Story (2004–2008)
• Drowning Love (2004–2013)
• Love Attack! (2005–2009)
• A Song to the Sun (2006)
• Minima! (2006–2008)
• Papillon (2007–2009)
• Love's Reach (2008–2011)
• L DK (2009–2017)
• Limit (2009–2011)

2010–2019

• Kyō no Kira-kun (2012–2014)
• P and JK (2013–2020)^[8]
• Kiss Him, Not Me (2014–2019)^[9][10]
• Defying Kurosaki-kun (2014–2021)
• Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight (2015–2020)
• Star-Crossed!! (2019–2020)^[11][12]

2020–2029

• My Girlfriend's Child (2021–2024)

Related magazines

• Nakayoshi
• Shōjo Friend
• Suspense & Horror
• Dessert