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Why is Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix out of print?




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#850575



Joined: 12 Jan 2016
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:33 am Reply with quote
Isnt this considered one of his best works? Why has such a legendary manga been out of print for so long?
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Alan45
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Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9809
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:58 am Reply with quote
I assume you are speaking of the English language edition.

You would have to ask the publisher, but it is likely that it didn't sell well enough to warrant additional print runs. Quality and popularity are not the same thing.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:21 am Reply with quote
Licenses expire so the publisher may not be able to reprint it, or as Alan said, the publisher may also not consider another print run worthwhile. There's lots of possible reasons, but I think it highly unlikely the publisher will say why.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2651
Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:06 pm Reply with quote
Looking at the encyclopedia page makes me think that it was never very popular here. Only 168 people have read any of it and only 67 rated it. I did not rate it because I usually do not rate a series that I did not finish.

I borrowed the first volume from the library and just could not get interested in it. I did finish the book and am not really sorry that I read it, but I have no desire to read more of it.

I had the same result with Astro Boy, one volume and done.
Black Jack worked much better for me. I read all five volumes that the library has and I would not mind trying more, but I guess that I am just not really a fan of Tezuka's work.
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Alan45
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Joined: 25 Aug 2010
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Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 2:40 pm Reply with quote
A classic is a work that everyone talks about and wants to have read, but very few actually want to read. Tezuka's works are classics. My impression is that a lot of his titles are a very hard sell. They wouldn't be resorting to digital only and crowd funding if there was a demand consistent with his stature as the founder of modern manga.

I find his titles to be hard to read. He, reportedly, borrowed his art style from early Disney cartoons. These were mostly funny animal shows and the characters are intended to be funny in appearance. Unfortunately he uses that style for very serious human stories. The contrast between the cartoony art and the serious stories simply doesn't work for me.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:07 pm Reply with quote
It's still on Kindle, though.
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