Shōjo Friend (少女フレンド, Shōjo Furendo) was a shōjo mangamagazine formerly published by Kodansha, beginning in 1962. Kodansha used the knowledge gained from publishing magazines aimed at young girls, including Nakayoshi and Shōjo Club, as well as the experience from publishing Weekly Shonen Magazine. Shōjo Friend is considered the successor to Shōjo Club. In 1963, Shueisha began publishing Margaret, and the two magazines became fierce competitors. Shogakukan entered the market competition in 1968 with Shōjo Comic.
During this time, popular series such as Haikara-san ga Tōru (by Waki Yamato) and Seito Shokun! (by Yōko Shōji) were published in Shōjo Friend. Despite the popularity of these series, the circulation began to decline and the magazine dropped from weekly to bi-monthly publication, and then finally to monthly publication.
The final issue was released in September 1996, an event which surprised many people as Shōjo Friend had been ranked third, following Nakayoshi and Ribon. The cessation of publication was reported widely in the TV news as well. The remaining content which was supposed to have been published in Shōjo Friend was absorbed in Dessert and The Dessert as special inserts through 1999.
