Forum - View topicNEWS: Dark Horse's Manga Sales Up 13%, Vertical Also Up 18%
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14758 |
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The trick is, release manga that doesn't have many scanlations in the first place. 
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Tamaria
 Posts: 1512 Location: De Achterhoek |
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Sadly, that didn't work for CMX
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loka
 Posts: 373 Location: Pittsburgh, PA |
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I wish Dark Horse would license Elfen Lied already.
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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Ahh, news that manga is doing well and selling books is good news!
 It also adds some weight to my theory that the goons at DC who decided to cancel CMX are Baka, baka, baka!!! Grrr!
I read the interview with Ed Chavez yesterday, and the news about Black Jack put some warmth in my heart. I've been buying each volume as they come out, and I've found (by lending it out to everyone I can think of) that it's a tween-frendly, adult pleasing timeless title that non-manga fans enjoy. It amazes me how much of the science fiction in the stories are medical realities today (limb transplants, for example. Was Tezuka psychic?)! I even got my dad to read some BJ, and he hates sci-fi, fantasy and fantastical stories in general. But he likes Black Jack! 
I'm really glad to hear the news about Dark Horse, too. I love (and collect) Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, and have enjoyed some of their other manga as well (like Translucent. Which dissapeared from their catalog, and needs to come back!). I just started reading Eden, and am blown away by it's fast paced action, plot, and well-developed esemble cast. I didn't even realize DH put it on hiatus. When did that happen? Both these publishers show how to make a profit by releasing quality titles, getting them into bookstores and on online booksellers, connecting with customers (I met up with Ed Chavez at two different events this spring)! I wish them lots of luck and profits in the future! |
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Tokyopop still has a few good shoujo titles that I would be surprised to see no doing well. Maid-sama for example, I'm sure is about to get a huge boost in sales now that the anime counterpart is out, and then they still have titles like Gakuen Alice. As long as Tokyopop keeps managing to grab some of the most popular shoujo in Japan, they'll find buyers here. Don't forget they're about to release Hetalia which comes with a giant horde of fangirls, along with the Alice in Wonderland fangirls who have been buying Alice in the Land of Hearts. They're going for things they know are doing well with girls in Japan, and things that have a cult status here. Then there's the whole "Warriors" oel, which is much like what Yen Press has done with Maximum Ride and Twilight. Warriors is a best selling YA series, and every once in a while I get a kid I've never seen buy manga, asking for the comic in my store. |
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Tamaria
Posts: 1512 Location: De Achterhoek |
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Volume 12 was released last summer IIRC. Volume 13 hasn't been announced yet and Dark Horse has said the series isn't very popular on multiple occasions. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15298 |
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Agent: I think DC gettin' out was the smartest move, actually. They weren't doing anything except adding to the glut, and companies like Yen and Tokyopop can promote their titles better than CMX ever could. As for the limb transplants, I think those were actually abnormal back then. There's other stuff he wrote which might seem more visionary nowadays. For example, pick up Phoenix 9.
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Vertical_Ed
Company Representative
Posts: 278 Location: New York, NY |
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Well getting books into libraries sure does help the bottom line. However that does not guarantee success. There is a common sentiment in publishing about books that are only found in libraries...people don't want to buy them but they have cultural value. Thankfully at least in the case of Black Jack, Buddha and Twin Spica those books are generally carried by major book store chains (though not shelved in every store).
Interesting point there, VFF. It is really hard to get concrete facts about the correlation between scan proliferation and the defense against scans in regard to financial success. However, at least from a public relations perspective I don't want to devalue my content by allowing others who don't have the rights to exploit my authors' work. Manga is never free. And unless the mangaka we work with agree to distribute their content in that manner we will defend their works as it is our duty as their business partners. |
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Vertical_Ed
Company Representative
Posts: 278 Location: New York, NY |
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Oh I don't know, I think we both are releasing "trendy" titles... Dark Horse has published Berserk, Gantz, CLOVER, Cardcaptor Sakura, Evangelion...Those are established names in fandom. We are just starting off with our "trendy" line but Dororo, Twin Spica, Guin Saga, Chi's Sweet Home and Peepo Choo should all find a way into reader's book shelves. |
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Vertical_Ed
Company Representative
Posts: 278 Location: New York, NY |
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I'd be curious also especially since I know the CLAMP releases are doing more than well enough  CLOVER in particular is a huge huge success.
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Vertical_Ed
Company Representative
Posts: 278 Location: New York, NY |
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Can I ask why you believe this to be the case? We personally do not get any significant traffic from CR. And I have not seen much of a shift in sales based on when CR began to host the BJ anime. |
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ABCBTom
 Posts: 183 |
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It's not on hiatus per-se, so much as that Dark Horse has continually cut back its release schedule from quarterly, to biannually, to annually, to whenever we feel like it. This is most likely due to the struggle between the fact that nobody buys it and the fact that Dark Horse recognizes that it has a true gem that needs greater exposure. There is no excuse for it to sell so poorly. It should appeal to the same audiences that read Berserk, Gantz, MPD Psycho, Akira, Ghost in the Shell and their other titles. Before Tim Maughan mentioned it in the last podcast, though, I never hear anybody talk about it ever. Except me. Eden is from the same guy who wrote Tanpenshu, BTW, which has a much higher ranking in ANN's manga listings. If you liked Tanpenshu, chances are you'll like Eden. And Eden's scanlations do not complete: Dark Horse is really the only game in town here for people who don't know Japanese. In closing, buy Eden. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15298 |
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Vertical:
Yeah, but you must be getting books purchased from some of those viewers, at least. Plus, the anime's been good for exposure of and awareness to the franchise as a whole.
Well, your company said sales started going up around last year, right? And that's aboout when the anime was uploaded to CR, too. |
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Vertical_Ed
Company Representative
Posts: 278 Location: New York, NY |
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Actually the sales numbers started to go up before those episodes were up. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15298 |
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Vertical: Yeah, but the article notes a recent boost, too, so those eps must've somewhat contributed to sales. [I hope.]
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