As a nationally distributed commercial magazine, June is credited with disseminating and systemizing shōnen-ai in Japan, a genre which had largely been confined to relatively narrow outlets such as doujinshi conventions (events for the sale of self-published media).

'aestheticism') became popular generic terms for works depicting male homosexuality, which influenced the later male-male romance genres of yaoi and boys' love (BL).

"beautiful boys", a term for androgynous men) in manga by the Year 24 Group, and submitted a proposal to Sun Publishing for a "mildly pornographic magazine for women".

[1] Sagawa recruited manga artist Keiko Takemiya – a central figure in the Year 24 Group – and novelist Azusa Nakajima as contributors.

[8] The magazine was renamed June beginning with its third issue in February 1979 due to a conflict with the Japanese fashion brand Jun [ja].

[9][10] As the dispute arose while printing for the third issue had already begun, an "E" was hastily added at the end of the magazine's title at the suggestion of the president of Sun Publishing.

[11] After ceasing publication of June, Sun Publishing received an influx of letters from readers indicating that they were willing to pay up to 1,000 yen for issues of the magazine.

[1][18] In the late 1980s, yaoi doujinshi (self-published manga and books) grew rapidly in popularity, and in the 1990s "boys' love" (BL) was established as a commercial male-male romance genre.

[10][19] Sagawa stated that he initially believed that June, which primarily depicted romance stories, could co-exist with the more explicitly pornographic yaoi and BL genres, though this was ultimately not the case.

[23] In 1996, Visualtambi June launched as a general interest magazine focused on gravures (pin-up photography), reader contributions, and information about doujinshi, but ceased publication after its second issue in April that same year.

[24] Sun Publishing also sold a variety of paperback manga books, audio cassettes, CDs, and original video animations under the June brand.

"aestheticism") to describe the editorial concept of June from its inception; the first issue of Comic Jun was subtitled with the slogan "Aesthetic Magazine For Gals", and the gravure photo section was titled Tanbi Sashin-kan (耽美写真館, transl.

[6] In the context of male-male romance fiction, tanbi broadly refers to Japanese aestheticism as it relates to an ideal of male beauty defined by fragility, sensitivity, and delicateness.

[2][g] According to Takemiya, an understanding was made with Sagawa that even heterosexual romance stories could be published in the magazine, so long as they conformed to the "June style".

[43] Media scholar Akiko Mizoguchi notes how the "semi-amateurish" quality of June engendered by its status as a tōkō zasshi meant that it was able to publish works that were more experimental relative to its male-male romance magazine contemporaries: works that were less heteronormative, that were not obliged to feature sex scenes, and which featured female and supporting characters.

[53] The section was conceived by Sagawa and inspired by the manga magazine COM, which had a similar editorial practice of publishing submissions from novice artists for the purpose of education and talent development.

[54] Edited by Azusa Nakajima, "Shōsetsu Dōjō" (小説道場, 'Novel Dojo') debuted as a monthly section of the magazine in the January 1984 issue.

The section was designed in part as a sales gimmick to combat tachiyomi, or "standing reading", the practice of browsing a magazine in a store without purchasing it.

[27] Sagawa stated that his impression of the average June reader was a girl in high school or university who was intellectual, literary, and cultured.

[68][j] Previously, shōnen-ai had been confined to the realm of doujinshi convention and other avenues with relatively limited reach, but with the creation of June as a nationally distributed commercial magazine, the genre was rapidly disseminated and systemized across Japan.