Forum - View topicManga Poverty
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barbapapa
 Posts: 224 Location: Belgium |
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Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Manga-Poverty-English-Translation-ebook/dp/B00DNVYNC4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372476131&sr=8-2&keywords=Manga+Poverty iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/manga-poverty/id659314086?mt=11 Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/330000 Must-read imo. |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1828 Location: South America |
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The manga and anime industries always paid poor salaries to their employees. In 1987, Miyazaki wrote that many of the 25,000 animators who worked in the anime industry were paid less than 100,000 yen per month he also wrote in 1983 that the anime boom was beginning to end.
So, one can say that the anime and manga industries are always in recession. |
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PrimalX3
 Posts: 104 |
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Whoa, thats a serious read, I read the sample and its quite a dose of reality. In any case, sounds like you need a very solid plan and need to be pinch every penny and eat very cost effective foods to even get through as a newcomer.
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osakaedo
Posts: 66 |
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Definitely gonna read this but gotta say, having worked in the industry... part of that blurb is a bit exaggerated. Which is standard for good marketing 
Yeah it is tough. And yes, things can get cancelled. But as as artist you'll know when that happens. And honestly mangaka need to learn how to manage their money better. Sadly some get into the business at young ages when they do not know how to manage their time or a business (and if you work for a weekly having to manage assistants or just manage your time/workload). |
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PrimalX3
Posts: 104 |
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osakaedo: I see, it looks like the exaggeration worked to sell itself to me then. I've been reading it bit by bit and its quite interesting.
What you say makes sense about the business. Thank you very much for sharing this information. When you worked in the industry, did you enjoy your work? Were you an editor or mangaka? I admit, I wasn't planning on being a mangaka, but my skill set appears to reflect that of a mangaka more closely than any other type of artist. If that is were I am lead to, I think that is the industry where I will work. Any bit of information on the industry will help me in making the most out of this possible future and helping me prepare for the challenges that await should my path turn in that direction. |
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vashna
Posts: 1313 |
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Sadly, one could say that about a lot of artists in the west too. People in certain celebrity fields will make a lot of money but they'll end up destitute because they never knew how to manage their money or develop a decent plan for themselves.
One of the other problems I've heard a lot of people talk about when it comes to mangaka is that they may hedge a total career bet on being a manga artist. Eventually when they fall from popularity they really don't have any other marketable skills to fall back on. Once again, sadly this is a problem that I would say might even be rampant among western artists as well. |
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fishiiie
 Posts: 6 |
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LOL "manga poverty". That's a first. Scary, though. =(
And it's probably (not probably, but MOST DEFINITELY) because all of us read manga online, which basically means we're leechers.. Which gives no credit to the poor mangakas at all. =\ But if we don't support the mangakas, there will be no more manga, and if there's no more manga, WHAT COULD WE LEECH, THEN? Think about that, eh. But I mean, I also understand everyone, being a leecher and all. I'm a student, I'm poor, I have no moneys, I don't buy books...  etcetc.
Bottom line, we all take manga for granted. WHICH IS NOT GOOD. If only the mangakas can do something like Youtube and get paid for the views they get from hosting their work online... o.O Ya'll understand me, right? This is a possibility... I think. Also an ideal situation for everyone. |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5572 Location: Mexico |
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People have been blaming piracy for the "downfall" of the industry, but in truth, in regions where no licenses are available -which is a big portion of the world, mind you-, it's not like said piracy is making them lose any profits since they're not putting out the media there in the first place. This argument has been done to death so I won't elaborate further, but seriously, Piracy --> Ruin of industry? That's just the excuse the execs use when their numbers go down. If anything, it's just a scapegoat.
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PrimalX3
Posts: 104 |
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fishiiie: It's already happening. Viz's Shonen Jump is hosting mangas like Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece in their online magazine, with profits going directly to the creators in the form of royalties{they mentioned this in the podcast}. If you manage to make even 25 bucks somehow, you can get an entire years worth of issues permanently.
Jmanga was another site, but now it died due to competition with scanlations making their efforts unprofitable. CrowLia: On paper, it might appear that they "aren't" losing sales in territories where the product isn't available. BUT, when it does become available, those who have read it already via scanlations or have the files already might not spend the money. That is my theory and why I'm worried about scanlations now. I've seen people outright say "why buy it, if I got the files for free already", they don't realize that if they are going to keep it, they are making the mangaka not only lose potential money, but making it difficult for them to get out of the debt created from making a manga{since they gotta pay their assistants.} People think that the big mangaka's won't be affected, but in truth, after having read some of the manga poverty book, it appears even those that are top in the industry make anywhere from $90,000 a year to at the most, $500,000. Factor in that they have to pay a staff that helps them with the artwork, and in the end, they have much less than that. Now imagine the more niche manga that you like, they are in far worse financial situations. I can only imagine how many good manga upstarts appeared and then dissapeared with no trace due to their financial situation. According to Manga poverty, they are making about as much as if they were working at a fast food place or supermarket! Yet, have to put in more hours in order to match they pay. So it might be a job that entertains the masses, but the person behind that entertainment might be having a harder time. Some get sick afterall just trying to make the deadlines. |
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vashna
Posts: 1313 |
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For what it's worth, PrimalX3, I am a subscriber to Viz Media's releases of Weekly Shonen Jump. I don't mean to sound like I am 'holier than thou' in any way, but I do like the fact that my money goes to support the manga artists. I like that Viz offered a legal way to get people access to manga chapters with as quick a release schedule as they have. I know that my $25 or so isn't going to go a long way, but I hope that it helps both a few manga artists as well as Viz to stay afloat in these tough times.
I actually have bought a few digital tankoban volumes from Viz as well. Once again I realize that my payments aren't going to go too far, but I do like to think that if everyone just bought one volume or signed up for Weekly Shonen Jump magazine things would look a little bit on the brighter side. If nothing else, this sort of thing would certainly help Viz and other similar firms. One thing I have picked up recently is that doing one small thing to make a problem better is far superior than complaining for hours. Everyone can really do something to help out. |
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PrimalX3
Posts: 104 |
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That's good to hear. Every little act helps in my opinion. And if the entirety of the manga fandom with surplus cash invested in the right places, Viz would be able to get further ahead at a quicker pace.
The more I read this manga poverty book, the more it helps me understand some of the things I've seen. For example, remember the website J-manga? The reason they did the points system is because companies in charge of the transactions will not process small payments, so at the minimum, a person has gotta buy the $8 to $10 that was offered by J-manga's starting subscription. The section in Manga Poverty about online comics helped me understand why J-manga closed down. Setting up a site for reading comics online with security, transactions processes, etc, is very expensive. I think I see why the scanlation sites are winning out, they don't have to set up anti-hacker security or a transaction system to operate. An official licenser has to set up a lot and more before being able to get those pages up. At least Viz's website is gaining people thanks to its well designed site, series, promotions, word of mouth, and WSJ online mag. But you know, J-manga went all out with theirs too, I remember in its last days, I was experimenting with the pages and found you could zoom in super close and the quality would still be amazingly high. I actually recorded in high definition video to upload someday so people could see how high a quality the website's manga was at. |
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vashna
Posts: 1313 |
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There is a bit of good news though. A fairly mainstream news source (CNet quoted in the Broadcast Communications journal) stated that publishers are starting to enjoy some benefits from digital comics. Naturally the article in question was actually referring to DC comics, but I feel that the news was positive at least.
http://www.broadcastcommunications.com/index.php/sid/215960820/scat/d805653303cbbba8 I actually had not realized that J-manga was gone until this thread came along, because I was not a member. I am really disheartened to hear that, though. I buy digital manga through the Barnes and Noble Nook ebook store as well as through Viz's website like we said. I bought a few volumes of Bleach and Dragon Ball digitally from Viz as well as the aforementioned subscription to Weekly Shonen Jump. Now, please forgive me for I am not trying to be arrogant or brag. I am merely saying that for me, at least, these systems have worked out and I hope that they work out for other fans as well as the artists. By the way, another good resource I can think of is Akamatsu Ken's J-Comi site. If you remember that whole deal, it 'sanitizes' scans by making them legal and helps manga artists who haven't made money off some of these properties in decades to get at least a little money from them. |
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