Industry experts felt its loss would leave female comic fans without a magazine of their own but praised Viz for its choice to continue using the Shojo Beat imprint and branding for its shōjo manga and anime releases.

Marketed as a sister publication of Viz's existing Shonen Jump, the magazine started with six manga titles: Crimson Hero, Kaze Hikaru, Baby & Me, Godchild, Nana, and Absolute Boyfriend.

[14] With the magazine's first anniversary issue, dated July 2006, Shojo Beat switched to using cyan and magenta ink tones for the manga pages rather than black-and-white.

The new design included more vivid color schemes and fonts and introduced a new "Girl Hero" column to spotlight women Viz felt were charitable and selfless and who would inspire readers.

[17] With the first copy of Shonen Jump sent to former subscribers, a letter informed them of the transfer and how to request a refund for the unfilled portion of their subscriptions if they would prefer.

Sections toward the back of the magazine featured fan-related material, including fan art, letters from readers, manga drawing lessons, and cosplay how-to guides and highlights.

[23][24] In February 2006, Viz launched the "Shojo Beat Home Video" line for releasing anime titles primarily designed for female viewers.

To promote the new anime line, Viz included a preview disc of the first volume of Full Moon in the June 2006 issue of Shojo Beat.

[27] Shojo Beat was nominated for a 2008 Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Award in the category of "Best Publication", but lost to Japan's Newtype.

She felt it looked and read "like a teenie-bopper magazine" and referred to the issue's cover as a "bright, hot-pink, migraine-inducing, bubble-lettered spectacle".

She considered the contents boring, and disagreed with Viz's selection of series, noting, "it's as if Viz had taken everything from their backed-up reject pile and tried to pull one over on the female populace.

[33] Katherine Dacey, the former senior manga editor for PopCultureShock, remarked that the magazine had offered "just the right mixture of new stories, continuing series, and articles" and praised it for having a "funky, DIY vibe".

[34] The staff of the School Library Journal called the magazine "one of a kind" and felt that its loss would leave a void for female fans, a generally under-acknowledged group of comic and manga readers.

Staff member Brigid Alverson felt Shojo Beat was a great overall package that "featured intelligent articles that allowed the reader to be enthusiastic about Japanese pop culture without being geeky" making it distinct from other magazines for girls that were normally "filled with brainless celebrity stories or service articles tied to commercial products".