Forum - View topicNEWS: What's in an Exaxxion Edit?
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
RodimusBen
Posts: 25 Location: Harrisonburg, VA |
|
|||||
|
All of this fuss over a bra being digitally added, WITH the creator's consent? How utterly ridiculous.
|
||||||
|
||||||
Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
chloes_fork
 Posts: 58 |
|
|||||
|
Eh, it's the Shadow Star excuse all over again. Dark Horse may not want to shut out a portion of their readership by going "adults only" with a later volume of an ongoing release, and if you don't think the integrity of creative content should be given absolute primacy, that decision might even seem to make sense.
DH should be aware, though, that they are shutting out another category of readers entirely, those who won't tolerate the editing of content and won't buy releases that include it. And saying that it's done with the artist's consent is not a very satisfying sop, considering that if the artist really wanted it this way he would have drawn it like this in the first place, and that the changes are obviously being done only as a concession to American puritanism and squeamishness. |
||||||
|
||||||
xstylus
 Posts: 263 |
|
|||||
I'd rather not turn this into a debate, but they're effectively bootlegs where nary a penny goes to the artist. Therefore, if you don't care (and in this one rare case, I no longer do), you go for the scanlation. Thanks for the typo correction.
It's just proof of how the demographic has changed. Previously, the majority of manga fans had rather purist attitudes and wouldn't have stood for this. Now that it's gone mainstream, that's all changed. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
appleturbo
Posts: 51 |
|
|||||
|
I think an alternate edition would make sence if there was a demand for the book.
I don't mean this as poke against the book but if this was a top 10 book and there was proof of the demand that it would sell I think they would consider making another edition. As it stands I don't think they would consider it just because a few random people scream Hopefully in the future when manga moves paperless they could just offer a patch that has the edited content. That would totally rule. |
||||||
|
||||||
Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
|
|||||
I suspect that the demand thing was a big part of this decision. I was suprised Exaxxion wasn't cancelled, and it's just limping on (barely) now. A change in rating or the addition of a plastic wrap might discourage alot of comicbook stores (where most of the books are sold) from carrying it, since the sales are already low. As for the Shadow Star comparison, that was a totally diffrent manner. The graphic content in SS actually had a PURPOSE; the censored content in Exaxxion is fanservice. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
chloes_fork
Posts: 58 |
|
|||||
Maybe, but the excuse offered by DH for editing the series is basically the same in both cases: we didn't know they were going to get this graphic when they started out and we licensed them. Though in the case of SS, I believe they've said they would have "had" to edit some of the content in any case because of legal concerns over the characters' ages -- never mind that our nation's highest judicial body has already ruled otherwise. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Cowpunk
Posts: 168 Location: Oakland - near the Newtype Lab |
|
|||||
They would have lost the Canadian sales if the characters were underage. In the case of CGE what I don't understand is why more people are not picking this one up. Sonoda is doing an interesting job with this one and I would assume many readers would like it. Or is the market controlled so much by little kids that stores just are not stocking it? |
||||||
|
||||||
|
GATSU
Posts: 15297 |
|
|||||
|
Cowpunk: They're not picking it up, because it's already been done(and better) with Nadesico.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Mischief
Posts: 7 Location: Milpitas, CA |
|
|||||
|
I am a published writer. I have done both, unsolitated and commissioned work. Though I rarely do any writing these days, I still deal with writers and editors on a daily basis. I have sat in on meetings between publishers and artists discussing what can be printed and what cannot. I have a bit of an understanding between of the rights an artist and somebody that silences an artist’s work. I hope everybody will indulge me while I offer up my perspective on this topic.
Dark Horse had seven options when it was time to deal with the material CGE volume 5, none of these options were favorable. 1) They could have chosen to stop releasing CGE, denying all of the fans (unable to read Japanese) from legally obtaining English version of the story. That choice would not only have cost Dark Horse any income from that material, it would have also been a betrayal of their loyal readership. 2) They could have chosen to release CGE unedited, without warning labels, so that the CGE’s entire fan base could enjoy the unaltered product, knowing that they would be putting themselves, their distributors and the stores that carried CGE at risk to law suits. Lawsuits which could result in heavy fines, imprisonment, store closures, and the unavailability of comic shops to those areas where those shops are forced to close down. It is reasonable to assume from hints about CGE’s unpopularity, that a single store closure could Dark Horse a combined readership equal to 5-10% of their CGE. 3) They could have chosen to release CGE unedited and labeled, thereby depriving the 75+% of the fan base that could no long purchase CGE of the ability to finish reading the story, just because those readers were suddenly too young for the material. With a marginally profitable title. Such as CGE, a 75% loss in readership would make printing the product a money losing proposition. 4) They could have printed two versions of CGE. Even if you ignore the problems that would result should an adult might pick up an edited and then grab a sealed copy (without noticing the difference in audience) for a minor. There is still the fact that you nearly double the production cost of producing the title. In my experience, presses are still the most cost effective way to produce printed material, with the majority of the cost taken up by the plates. Correcting a typo (a rather small task) can cost hundreds of dollars, making an entirely new plate costs significantly more. For a marginal title, a publisher risks losing money. 5) They could have altered the material without consulting Sonoda, which would have been within their legal rights. Though this may have caused problems between Sonoda and Dark Horse. When I mentioned choices 2-4 to somebody else in the publishing industry, he looked at me like I grew a second head. Fortunately, Dark Horse chose a different option. They consulted Sonoda and made edits to CGE that would allow everybody a chance to continue to read the story. While it was not an ideal outcome, it was the least of seven evils. That right there is a seventh option. Depending on the wording of the contract between Sonoda and Dark Horse, Dark Horse may very well be within their right to sue Sonoda for damages do to lost revenue resulting from Sonoda choosing to change the product that Dark Horse had purchased without consulting Dark Horse on the matter. Dark Horse is bound laws and realities of industry. This was a situation where it would be impossible to make everybody happy. Dark Horse did their best with a bad situation, resulting from behavior beyond their control. I would ask that before anybody cries foul over undesired censorship, that you try looking at the realities of the situation first, including those that you might not know about. Dark Horse is as much of a victim of this as everybody else, just for different reasons. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
GATSU
Posts: 15297 |
|
|||||
Except the readers for CGE are essentially hardcore Sonoda fans, not underage teens like those who were purchasing the Ghost in the Shell manga after seeing the movie.
That's bs. They knew what kind of material to expect from him when they edited Gunsmith Cats. And they're the ones who picked up a niche title, just because it had the same creator. So why should Sonoda be at fault, because DH was too greedy to do the research? |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Mischief
Posts: 7 Location: Milpitas, CA |
|
|||||
Do you have the sells figures proving this?
That's bs. They knew what kind of material to expect from him when they edited Gunsmith Cats. And they're the ones who picked up a niche title, just because it had the same creator. So why should Sonoda be at fault, because DH was too greedy to do the research?[/quote] Keep in mind that the censored material had not been created when he sold the rights to DH. Sonoda knew the addience that DH was aiming for, when he sold DH the rights to CGE. DH demonstrated that they could not release certian type of material. Sonoda had a responsibility to take that into account when he created content that DH could no longer use. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Mohawk52
Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
|
|||||
Sonodas main market is in Japan is it not. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Mischief
Posts: 7 Location: Milpitas, CA |
|
|||||
Keep in mind that manga had not reached regular book stores until CGE had begun its run as a monthly title. CGE was bought with the intent to sell to the demigraphic most likely to be making purchases in comic book stores (males 12-17). Any readership still remaining in that demigraphic when the title went "Adults Only" would be lost. If the age difference was large enough, the former reader might not even remember CGE when he could finally purchase it again. |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group