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Eden is STILL Struggling


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HellKorn



Joined: 03 Oct 2006
Posts: 1669
Location: Columbus, OH
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:43 pm Reply with quote
From Phillip Simon, editor of Eden: It's an Endless World!, over at the Dark Horse message board:

Phillip Simon wrote:
EDEN volume 10 will be released on May 7, 2008. Believe me, I'm trying my best because I love this series, too. If sales can't support quarterly releases, would you still buy EDEN if it came out once or twice a year?
--FIghtin' Philip


It's times like these that make the angry elitist within me come out and wonder why the hell folks can't look outside the mainstream of mainstream. Naruto and company aren't the only titles out there, folks.

I understand that this is a developing niche industry over here, and there will be titles that both slip through the cracks and fail, but it's annoying when so many titles that you like might/will not see the light of day in English. Dark Horse does struggle with their release dates in bookstores, but if there isn't enough demand for the books than they (and comic stores) aren't going to carry them.

So, folks, buy Eden if you like it or if you think it will be to your tastes. If it isn't available at your local comic/book store, then request it.
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DarkWarLord



Joined: 03 Aug 2005
Posts: 141
Location: Tucson, Arizona
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:01 pm Reply with quote
Wow, sales for Eden are that bad? I would really like to get into the series, but I haven't seen it at my local Borders yet. Every time I look, I can only find vol 3 and up. I really hope they don't change the release dates to once or twice a year, this series looked interesting to me.
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Monumension



Joined: 03 Jul 2005
Posts: 268
Location: Norway
PostPosted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:53 am Reply with quote
It's sad to see Eden is having trouble, I've enjoyed the first eight volumes immensely. Personally though I don't think they should worry about the loyalty of the series' fans, even if we're talking about only one release each year. I have no qualms about this. Some of my favorite series like Last Order has got one volume per year anyway so I'm used to long waits.

Have there been any indications of why the sales haven't been better? Can it be because of the relatively down-to-earth atmosphere and/or the lack of a fantasyrelated setting that makes seinens like Berserk such a hit?
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sinemente



Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 45
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:54 am Reply with quote
Eden is great. And Dark Horse is one of my favorite publishers. However, the first things that come to mind when thinking about Eden sales are the constant delays (which admittedly may be because of the poor sales, but then again, delaying releases seems to be a Dark Horse company policy), the difficulty of finding the volumes on my bookstore shelves until long after the already delayed release date has passed, and the confusingly high price point ($13 per volume?). Yes the translation and adaptation are top notch, and I really do love the series, but form my manga-collecting experience, because of the way its releasing is handled, I am not surprised Eden is floundering.

Besides, how many volumes are being released per year right now? Three? Four? It's already pretty frustrating, I don't think cutting that down would do much. Besides, there are currently only 16 volumes released in Japan. We're not that far behind that at the current release schedule, we won't soon catch up.

Blah blah blah...
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Althalus



Joined: 20 Mar 2004
Posts: 47
Location: NRW / Germany
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:12 am Reply with quote
sinemente wrote:
However, the first things that come to mind when thinking about Eden sales are the constant delays

Problem with that is that Eden has come out like clockwork every three months, for the past two years. No irregular schedule, and each volume shipped exactly as solicited, as far as I could see on the list I'm keeping to keep track of DH (since they do have a lot of delays, just not on this particular series).


~Althalus
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BigTokyo#1



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 3:03 am Reply with quote
Tonnes of Eden's available in Toronto, I've only just finished the first one.
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Hon'ya-chan



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 973
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:24 am Reply with quote
According to Amazon:

Quote:
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
A gay man, near death from the paralysis that has killed billions already, and two teenagers--one his best friend's son--live in a huge experimental facility, now dilapidated, that was built to foster plague-resistant individuals. The teens are its only success stories. Now the boy's father, his brain joined to a mechanical body, returns with soldiers and UN personnel. Amid revelations of friendship betrayed, a fight breaks out. With the help of an AI the boy has reanimated, the teens prevail. Twenty years later, the boy's son, accompanied by the same AI, explores a deserted city, and three men and a seeming girl capture him. Endo mutes manga distinctives for realism's sake (e.g., eyes look normal, not the size of saucers), keeps the violence short and sharp, inserts a few low-key satiric jibes at late-twentieth-century sociopolitics, and paces the narrative to facilitate milieu and character development. He conjures a postapocalyptic aura of near-palpable mystery. Why did what happened occur? Fortunately, this is just volume 1. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
Eden Volume One is both a brilliant love song to the post-apocalyptic survival genre and the beginning of a deep exploration on man's role in the natural order. In the near future, a large portion of humanity is wiped out by a brutal, new virus that hardens the skin while dissolving internal organs. Those who aren't immune are either severely crippled or allowed to live with cybernetically enhanced bodies. Taking advantage of a world in chaos, a paramilitary force known as the Propater topples the United Nations and seeks world domination. Elia, a young survivor searching for his mother, travels towards the Andes Mountains with an artificially intelligent combat robot. When he encounters a group of anti-Propater freedom fighters, a maelstrom of unique characters unfolds. Graphic, cyberpunk, and philosophical, Eden is a place where endearing heroes face a constant struggle for survival and violent surprises wait around every corner!


Just by the descriptions alone, the manga to me isn't that appealing. It looks too specialized and too offbeat to be appealing.
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:19 pm Reply with quote
I'm not quite sure how you are getting that feel by reading that review, but I do see how the first volume could make people not really want to continue, at least to an extent. The first chapter takes up about 2/3 of the book and then it skips 20 years forward with a new main character and the remaining chapters in the book are relatively boring and not much happens.

But once you get to volume 2, there's nothing "off beat" about it and it has a great story along with plenty of violence and occasional sex (which people tend to like).
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blind_assassin



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 755
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:26 pm Reply with quote
That review is actually pretty terrible. It's somewhat representative of the first volume but the first volume is pretty removed from the rest of the series. The first volume tells you the setting and thats pretty much all. It barely even introduces the main character and hardly even scratches the surface of what the series is really like. Thats not saying that the first volume is bad but I suggest reading the first two as a kind of one-two punch. That way you get the background and a proper introduction at the same time.
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:52 pm Reply with quote
blind_assassin wrote:
That review is actually pretty terrible. It's somewhat representative of the first volume but the first volume is pretty removed from the rest of the series.


That doesn't make it a bad review as it IS just reviewing the first volume. It just means that the first volume doesn't do a good job of getting people interested in reading more.
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Hon'ya-chan



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 973
PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:15 am Reply with quote
HitokiriShadow wrote:
I'm not quite sure how you are getting that feel by reading that review, but I do see how the first volume could make people not really want to continue, at least to an extent. The first chapter takes up about 2/3 of the book and then it skips 20 years forward with a new main character and the remaining chapters in the book are relatively boring and not much happens.

But once you get to volume 2, there's nothing "off beat" about it and it has a great story along with plenty of violence and occasional sex (which people tend to like).


But how it's executed might be the sticking point. It's like delaying the appearance of Ruika and the background of the Soul Society in Bleach V#1 to V#2, or focusing on Naruto's studies for 2/3rds of the manga and delaying the appearance of Kakashi to the next volume.

Of course, you have a company notoriously known for not advertising their wares, a high price point, and what other factors.
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Panzerkunst



Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 17
PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:03 pm Reply with quote
I've just recently ordered volume 1-3 of "Eden: Its an Endless World" and it should be arriving any day now. I can't find any volumes of this series at local book stores, so I decided to order it online.

Now I haven't even read one chapter of this series, but after looking at the amazing art work and reading so many good reviews about it - I decided to purchase it.

If you haven't heard of the series I can't rightfully recommend you to buy it since my order hasn't arrived yet, but I can recommend that you at least check it out, read some reviews, be blown away by the art work and perhaps look for it next time your in the book store.
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Ningensei



Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 333
Location: Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:18 pm Reply with quote
This has been on my list of manga series to start collecting for awhile and I am sad to hear that it is in trouble. With this news, I will definitley start collecting it soon because I really want to read it and I don't want Dark Horse to stop releasing it or something similar because of cost or sales issues.

Congratulations, HellKorn, you have just converted me! Plus, you probably don't know but I really respect your opinion and reviews of manga and try to read series that you recommend.
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Panzerkunst



Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 17
PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:53 pm Reply with quote
Update:

My "Eden: It's an Endless World!" volumes have arrived! I haven't got a chance to crack open the first volume yet, but I couldn't help but take a quick look at the art. I should of waited because I am now drooling all over my keyboard.

I'm having my way with these books tonight! Twisted Evil
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Not a Jellyfish



Joined: 21 Feb 2007
Posts: 539
Location: Boston, MA
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:52 am Reply with quote
I was stoked when the first volume finally hit shelves like 2 years ago (or almost). It was a series I had been following and waiting to see released here. So I picked up the first one immediately and couldn't even get through the firs half. The writing was just stale. I liked the idea behind it, but like I said, it fell flat with me. But if everyone says that it really picks up in the second volume I may go ahead and force my way through it and continue on with the series.

And as much as I absolutely LOVE Dark Horse and buy just about everything they translate, I just can't continue paying the $13-$14 price point. Berserk is killing my wallet enough, the last thing I need is more epic series to break my bank.
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