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NEWS: Aurora's Former Staffers Launch Manga Factory




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The Mad Manga Massacre



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 1166
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:56 pm Reply with quote
Will Manga Factory finish finish up series previously licensed by Aurora (i.e. Walkin' Butterfly)? Or will it only be licensing new series?
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corinthian



Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 264
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:03 pm Reply with quote
I was under the impression Walkin' Butterfly was finished, though admittedly I haven't got the fourth volume yet.

On topic, good for them. It gives more opportunities to American creators, and they get to lead the first foray digital publishing.
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Cait



Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 503
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:22 pm Reply with quote
It sounds a little bit like what ADV did, though not with all the sketchiness (ok, so not very much like it). It seems like they've shaken off the parent company in Japan in the hopes that they can start again. Hopefully it will work out for them this time. Too bad it seems their licenses have been transferred to Animate for digital distribution, but maybe they can relicense some of those unfinished/unpublished series now.
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Bara_Megami



Joined: 08 May 2004
Posts: 106
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:35 pm Reply with quote
corinthian wrote:

On topic, good for them. It gives more opportunities to American creators, and they get to lead the first foray digital publishing.


I'm pretty sure you've misunderstood. The "All-American" part of the article just meant that they're not a subsidiary of Ohzora, a Japanese company. So now, they have the freedom to pick manga from a variety of Japanese publishers (save ones like Shogakukan and Shueisha that are exclusively with Viz). In fact, from the genres listed, it sounds like they're going back to normal.

Also, you know Americans don't create manga, they create comics Laughing. </startingshit>.
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Fletcher1991



Joined: 14 Apr 2009
Posts: 514
Location: Long Island, NY
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:35 pm Reply with quote
I only read Shonen or Seinen so this doesn't help me much at all. But I guess its pretty good.
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:26 am Reply with quote
Good for them, but shoujo, yaoui and josei...sell VERY poorly in USA.
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Mytopia



Joined: 16 Sep 2009
Posts: 78
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:50 am Reply with quote
DmonHiro wrote:
Good for them, but shoujo, yaoui and josei...sell VERY poorly in USA.

Uh, shoujo doesn't sell? You do know that Fruits Basket was one of the best selling manga series in the US? Vampire Knight also hasn't done badly at all, and there are several other series that also come to light. I really don't think you know a lot about the manga industry in the US.

On the topic, good to see a company that cares about diversity. If there's a way, you've got to build a tunnel.
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poisondusk



Joined: 08 Aug 2006
Posts: 60
Location: Brighton, UK
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:32 am Reply with quote
I hope things work out for them this time, although I'll be impressed if they can get josei material to sell well.

DmonHiro wrote:
Good for them, but shoujo, yaoui and josei...sell VERY poorly in USA.


Josei manga certainly hasn't had a very good track record, but for shoujo there have been plenty of popular titles. I know Tokyopop have released a lot of terribly mediocre shoujo just to try and sell it to the crowd who bought stuff like Fruits Basket, but I'm pretty sure the good stuff has done just fine.

As for BL manga, if it wasn't selling well then I don't think DMP would still be around given that it's virtually all they license now. I don't think any of the BL publishers who have failed have done so specifically as a result of poor sales of BL manga (CPM's line had a rights conflict with the Japanese license holder and then the whole company went bankrupt anyway, Drama Queen couldn't seem to handle the business side of things). BL has the advantage of having a lot of older fans, despite its reputation for being full of squealing teenage girls, and those older fans are more likely to have the will and money to spare to support the genre. It may not be selling on the level of the latest Jump titles, but it seems to be faring okay as a niche genre.
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swanjun



Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 25
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:41 am Reply with quote
corinthian wrote:
I was under the impression Walkin' Butterfly was finished, though admittedly I haven't got the fourth volume yet.


They never did release that fourth and final volume, unfortunately. I've already emailed the address on the Manga Factory page to ask about it.
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streexanime



Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Posts: 78
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:51 am Reply with quote
I will say this sounds like good news to me. It's rather hard to find decent Josei series. As much as I like other shoujo series, it's nice to finally have scenarios that coincide with situations that happen in my own life. Not all fans are under eighteens crushing on that cute boy at school.

Moving manga to a digital format might make other publishers slowly switch as well. It will hopefully be more affordable as well.
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LKK



Joined: 31 Oct 2007
Posts: 426
Location: Virginia, USA
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:49 am Reply with quote
The Mad Manga Massacre wrote:
Will Manga Factory finish finish up series previously licensed by Aurora (i.e. Walkin' Butterfly)? Or will it only be licensing new series?

That's a question I'd like answered as well. Aurora only published one of Queen of Ragtonia's volumes. Being a big fan of Chika Shiomi's work, I consider that to be so very wrong.
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firedragon54738



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 3113
Location: wisconsin
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:18 am Reply with quote
I wounder if there going to bring Ga Rei, Working!! and Needless
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PingSoni
Subscriber



Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 195
Location: Lansing MI
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:49 am Reply with quote
Good news; I hope this business model will be more sustainable in the current economy.

I'll cast another vote for finishing Walkin' and add that I also really love Hitohira, so much so that I imported the rest of it and the TV anime, but I'd still buy additional volumes in translation.
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Extalia



Joined: 13 Jun 2009
Posts: 29
Location: In the Human Body
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:00 pm Reply with quote
My question would be if they were going to change their print quality in some way.
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swanjun



Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 25
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:09 pm Reply with quote
streexanime wrote:
I will say this sounds like good news to me. It's rather hard to find decent Josei series. As much as I like other shoujo series, it's nice to finally have scenarios that coincide with situations that happen in my own life. Not all fans are under eighteens crushing on that cute boy at school.


In happy josei news, the omnibus of vols 4-5 of Suppli comes out tomorrow! Smile
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