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NEWS: UK Manga Demand Growing


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Deltakiral



Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 3338
Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK)
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:11 am Reply with quote
Dear lord
Quote:
100,000 units ($2.8 million) in 2001 to nearly 600,000 units ($10.3 million) in 2005.


That quote right there tells you how popular Manga is becoming. And this is for the UK, I thought that other places like France had a high demand for Manga, but damn. In a four year span half a million unit increase, that is great business if you ask me. Question to our UK fans here, did you notice a change in bookshelf space for Manga?
Till next time,

Delta Kiral
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bazurk



Joined: 23 Sep 2005
Posts: 2
Location: england
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:08 am Reply with quote
there has always been a big potential manga market in the uk the thing that changed is the avalability of manga in mainstream bookshops
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BorgmanJayce



Joined: 11 Feb 2004
Posts: 298
Location: Hades via UK
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:25 am Reply with quote
I'm glad that there's an increased demand for manga in the UK but I'm concerned at the fact that certain anime distribution companies [one in particular being the distributor of a certain show involving alchemy] treat the UK market as a second rate one compared to the likes of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa of all places...

I find it silly that Viz won't let me subscribe to Shonen Jump but they'll let me order back issues from their online store and as for ADV, they won't let me order from their online store either because I live in the UK and yet I find myself buying imported DVD's from the States due to there being a wider choice plus they're much cheaper than the UK releases...
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bazurk



Joined: 23 Sep 2005
Posts: 2
Location: england
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:52 am Reply with quote
i agree completely the uk market is getting better but its got a long way to go and its a uphill battle for companies to recognize the huge uk market

at the moment the uk anime market is in the same place the uk video games market was 5 or 6 years ago

i think more tv coverage would help but thats a discussion for another time and place
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:18 am Reply with quote
BorgmanJayce wrote:
......and as for ADV, they won't let me order from their online store either because I live in the UK and yet I find myself buying imported DVD's from the States due to there being a wider choice plus they're much cheaper than the UK releases...
Seeing as ADV has a UK division They're not about to let you by-pass it by importing from their US division. Be pointless having the UK division running, wouldn't it?
I too have seen more manga on the selves in UK book stores and more is coming as well. I still get mine on-line because of discounting but it's still good to see it on the Shelves.
I was in my local Ottakar's last December checking out what they had available. When I arrived there were a few tweeny girls fingering through a few titles but shortly after I was there I noticed more adults coming over and fingering a few titles as well. One bloke asked me "are these any good?" I said "yes very good" and recommended "Fruits Basket". He was still reading the first volume when I left. Wink
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cultnirvana



Joined: 12 Sep 2004
Posts: 13
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:56 am Reply with quote
Yeah, the shelf space that manga has been taking over has really grown at an astonishing rate lately over here. I got into manga around 1999, and back then there was only a small section of manga in a local comic store, stocking US imported stuff (God, how glad I am that the day of paying at least £12 for a single volume of manga is gone).

Now said comic store has a full section stocking a couple of hundred manga volumes at a time, and most bookstores stock the UK releases of titles. And with the amount Tanoshima are geared to publish over the next few months so they can quickly catch up to the North American releases, it's going to get even more crowded.

But us Brits do need to make sure to buy the UK releases (not just in relation to manga but DVDs as well) as much as possible to keep things going the way they are.
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BorgmanJayce



Joined: 11 Feb 2004
Posts: 298
Location: Hades via UK
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 9:21 am Reply with quote
As I said, I'm glad that there's an increased demand for manga but what concerns me a lot is the fact that the DVD's are not only a lot more expensive than the releases in America, we don't even get a choice of regular or limited edition versions a lot of the time whereas the Aussies [damn you guys for beating Japan a few days ago!] get releases similar to those in the States.

I'd love to see a situation where we can have cons equal to those in the States and DVD's available at reasonable prices, but sadly as long as certain companies see the British market as a second-class one [as I mentioned in my original post], it won't happen anytime soon even if manga is the biggest growing market comics-wise here.

Yes, I know about how if more people buy the DVD's, the more releases we'll get but considering how a lot of the UK releases are missing certain extras that are in the US ones plus the prices of them, I think I'll take my chances with the US releases.

Don't get me wrong, I'll support UK manga releases in the form of the TokyoPop releases [I'd rather burn in Hades than support Viz's UK releases considering the way they treat us Brits and I'll get their US ones instead] but I'm truly concerned about the UK anime DVD market more than anything.

On another note, I'd rather have the chance to buy from ADV's US store because of the wider choice of anime not available over here [St Seiya and Borgman anybody?] plus they have some kickass sales that the UK store don't even have...

*Still wonders why Funi's online store won't ship to the UK when they'll ship to practically everywhere else in the world... And before the Funi-fanboys get on their drokkin high horses and flame me, I have nothing against the company, I just don't like the fact that they won't ship to the UK unless I get a friend in the US to buy the stuff for me and I pay him for the items plus P+P]
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SoulSlayer



Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 14
Location: Tokyo/Kansas
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:10 am Reply with quote
Just showing the overall popularity of manga catching on worldwide. Is it any wonder that Hollywood has taken notice and started working on anime based movies?
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IanC



Joined: 26 Sep 2004
Posts: 685
Location: Essex, England
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:13 am Reply with quote
Deltakiral wrote:
Question to our UK fans here, did you notice a change in bookshelf space for Manga?

Oh yes, over the last year or two manga has taken over the Graphic Novels section at 3 bookstores i go to.
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MIBlackburn_d6



Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 19
Location: UK
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:31 pm Reply with quote
Over the past few years, the size has dramatically increased. Manga now occupies at least 6 to 8 shelves in my local major bookshops (Ottakas, Waterstones, Borders).
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Gawyn



Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 19
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:55 pm Reply with quote
It's not particularly surprising that the manga market has shot up somewhat last year given that that was the first year in which the UK saw its first domestic manga publishing. Tokyopop worked hard with one of the largest bookstore chains in the UK, Waterstones and got an agreement from them to have manga selling from every one of its store across the UK. Other stores have also been trialling the manga market and many now seem to have a similar policy of stocking manga.

BorgmanJayce wrote:
Don't get me wrong, I'll support UK manga releases in the form of the TokyoPop releases [I'd rather burn in Hades than support Viz's UK releases considering the way they treat us Brits and I'll get their US ones instead] but I'm truly concerned about the UK anime DVD market more than anything.

What Viz UK releases? There is no Viz UK. They sublicence their product to UK companies (MVM and Manga Entertainment have both licenced anime from them and Gollancz publishing have made a deal to publish many Viz manga titles). Manga Ent's Naruto box is an absolute bargain at £25RRP for the first 13 episodes.

You hugely overestimate the UK anime market. It is not even close to the size of that in the US and the strength of GBP to the USD is a massive factor as to why imports are so much cheaper.
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ojamajolilac



Joined: 23 Apr 2004
Posts: 22
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:00 pm Reply with quote
I agree, the UK market for anime and manga had "grew" but still no match compare to the US market.

From 2 years span, the shelf for mangas from Borders (the one I go to) has grew from 1 shelf to 3 shelves. The comic store also stock much more manga then before. I remember 1 year ago there was only Battle Royale in Water Stones (And the one I go to is as big as a cathedral) Now they have some shelves all for manga.

I notice that on Tokyo pop's manga now also have the UK's price tag in pounds (As seen on ma Pita Ten Art Book and Magical x Miracle)
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IanC



Joined: 26 Sep 2004
Posts: 685
Location: Essex, England
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:24 pm Reply with quote
Gawyn wrote:
Manga Ent's Naruto box is an absolute bargain at £25RRP for the first 13 episodes.

Cheaper than the US boxes RRP ($49.99) as it goes Smile
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Armagguedes



Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 41
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:43 pm Reply with quote
Now all i need is for UK shops to start shipping for the rest of EU for cheap (otaku.co.uk is wayyy to expensive, and archonia.com (belgium) charges handsomly in S&H).

Does anyone know of good UK stores btw (US is too expensive)?
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:54 am Reply with quote
BorgmanJayce wrote:

On another note, I'd rather have the chance to buy from ADV's US store because of the wider choice of anime not available over here [St Seiya and Borgman anybody?] plus they have some kickass sales that the UK store don't even have...

Then you want to try DVDpacific.com, or Amazon.co.uk mate and you'll get a better price and all.

Quote:
*Still wonders why Funi's online store won't ship to the UK when they'll ship to practically everywhere else in the world... And before the Funi-fanboys get on their drokkin high horses and flame me, I have nothing against the company, I just don't like the fact that they won't ship to the UK unless I get a friend in the US to buy the stuff for me and I pay him for the items plus P+P]
MVM is FUNi's sales rep for the UK is why mate. You have got to remember that the UK market will never be as big as the US even if every person on this island became anime and manga fans. Also just because a title is licensed and available in the US doesn't automatically mean it will be available in the UK. We are a completely seperate market which needs a seperate license applied for. Simple geography should tell you why. It's very expensive to acquire a license for just one market let alone two so it should be a no brainer as to why some titles get licensed here and some do not. Sure it's not like in the US but compared to what it was like just 6 years ago, we are swimming in it and the tide keeps coming in.
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