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In "Hitagi Rendezvous", Araragi speaks to Ononoki after Senjougahara proposes a date for the next day. Ononoki is shown reading something while lying on Araragi's bed.

Ononoki with cover of volume

Do we know what she is reading? Does it correspond to any work that exists in real life? I tried Googling アガジソ, which I believe to be the correct order of the katakana on the cover and spine, but there weren't any results that made sense to me. (It makes more sense for the katakana on the cover to be read right to left than for the identical string of katakana on the spine to be read bottom to top.)

Maroon
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  • We also later see a few pages of the manga Ononoki is reading, but I haven't been able to get a screenshot of those yet. – Maroon Aug 15 '17 at 00:28
  • Tsukihi was reading a different issue of the same "Agajiso" magazine in _Tsukimonogatari_: http://ameblo.jp/junsb/image-11971901707-13176985479.html – senshin Aug 15 '17 at 00:29

2 Answers2

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Do we know what she is reading?

You're correct, she is reading アガジソ (Agajiso) magazine. No doubt about that.

Does it correspond to any work that exists in real life?

Just like you, I googled アガジソ and there's no obvious result if it's a real magazine or not (no official site, no Wikipedia link, etc). However, it's interesting that it's sometimes referred in 2channel (Japanese BBS) on unrelated topics:

  • Since there's a free time, should we talk? (part 8436)

    951 :優しい名無しさん:2012/03/14(水) 21:30:35.84 ID:JVhZ/yD/
    サッカー飽きた (I'm bored with soccer)
    マガジソよむお (Let's read Magazine)

    958 :優しい名無しさん:2012/03/14(水) 21:31:40.53 ID:dTAPK6Vg
    >>950
    こんばんは~
    >>951
    アガジソ読めお (Let's read Agajiso)

  • How to earn money by resale (part 1903)

    937 :名無しさん(新規):2016/10/28(金) 10:39:23.84 ID:7o+oUknk0.net
    週間ザンテー 週間シャンプ 週間アガジソ (Weekly Sunday Weekly Jump Weekly Agajiso)
    どうぞ (Go ahead)

Last but not least, the site that Senshin mentioned on the comment also has this caption on the image:

アガジソ(マガジン?)
Agajiso (Magazine?)

Apparently, there's a magazine called... Weekly Shonen Magazine (週間少年マガジン)

It's a Japanese word play involving similar kana substitution.

アガジソ (A -ga-ji-so)
マガジン (Ma-ga-ji- n)

In this case:

  • マ (ma) and ア (a) have the same top stroke and similar voicing (ending in -a)
  • ソ (so) and ン (n) are almost identical, and it's a popular character pair to be substituted

The conclusion is, no, there's no Agajiso magazine, but it seems to be a parody of Magazine magazine.


Even Google seems to know the reference... googling 週間アガジソ (Weekly Agajiso) shown the result for 週間マガジン (Weekly Magazine) instead

Aki Tanaka
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I'm sure the manga she's reading is Bishounen Tanteidan/Pretty Boy Detective Club, written by the same author of Monogatari light novel series, Nisio Isin. I don't know the exact name of the magazine that appears there, but Bishonen series it has been serialized in different magazines so.. that seems it's publicity or just a nice reference.enter image description here

Kudryavka
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  • Looks like [*Pretty Boy Detective Club*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Boy_Detective_Club) was previously serialized in *Aria*, then *Shonen Magazine Edge*. – Aki Tanaka Oct 02 '20 at 13:11