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Paploo wrote:

AnnoyedWabbit wrote:

I picked up volume 3 of the Kodansha reprint of Akira just yesterday. The cover price is identical to the old Dark Horse editions, the spines are basically the same other than the logo (the Kodansha volume is maybe a few millimeters shorter) and opening to a random page, I didn't notice any difference in the print quality. The only difference that really struck me was that the paper Kodansha used is noticeably heavier.

...

Is Akira the same price as DH's? Maybe the GITS's price difference threw me off.

The price printed on the cover of the Dark Horse volumes is $24.95, the Kodansha volume is $24.99. Close enough, and since they were printed nine years apart, I'd chalk it up to inflation or increased materials prices, rather than profit-mongering. Wink

Scormio wrote:

bglassbrook wrote:

Shenl742 wrote:

All the bells and whistles Del Rey added were nice, but...I'm really just happy having manga I want in english. If Kodasha can do a decent job of that I really don't care about the take over.

Am I alone in this?

To a point, no, but treat us like a red-headed step-child and it will be time for sharp-pointy objects.

Also, what is with all the omnibus hate? You get more content at a time, generally lower (equivalent) price, and best of all most publishers print them on larger pages. Where is the consumers' down-side in this?

Because when they start turning into omnibus in the middle of the series it looks retarded on your bookshelf. Don't get me wrong, I have all of the VizBig editions of Vagabond, but that's because the series is like that. I'm halfway through Wallflower, but now I don't want to continue buying it when I'm going to have that disproportionate book sitting next to the normal size ones.

I can see your point, but if a book having a slightly odd look on my shelf is what it takes to get a title released in english at all, I'll take it.

Del Rey's omnibuses aren't bad- they kept the same trade dress as their previous volumes. I hope they opt for similar looks for Kodansha's books should they continue some less popular titles as omnibi. Anyhoo, having the ends of Mushishi and Samurai Deeper Kyo is WAY awesomer then having coherent manga shelves. I have over 900 manga trades. I don't need them to look pretty- it's nice when they do, but it's not a big deal if the trade dress changes or if I have different editions from different publishers sitting on my shelves.

Redlinks wrote:

Well, this is certainly terrible news. I also saw that Delrey has delayed the street release date for Shugo Chara vol.10. I seriously hope DelRey isn't going out of business. They're one of the best companies out there.

Del Rey is not going out of business as least as far as I know. Their manga sales might not be doing too good though. Confused

But I don't think the whole publishing company is gonna shut down.

Quote:

Ah, well, that was unexpected but Del Rey hasn't been doing so well for a while anyway. I'm going to try and be optimistic and hope this is a good thing (especially since Kodansha took their licenses away from a number of manga a couple of years ago, like Beck, and haven't done anything since), maybe they'll have more information at NYAF since that's coming up really soon?

Are they doing that badly? But it's good to be optimistic. I know Kodansha is a Japanese company in all, but I don't see this as much of a bad thing. If Kodansha is going to release their own licenses here, there is nothing for them to take away or else they're taking away from themselves. Does that even make sense?

Anime dazed

Considering most of the same staff will apparently be handling Kodansha USA with Random House distributing, it seems more of a rebranding/reevalution of Del Rey Manga, with more involvement from Kodansha, who had started DRM as a partnership with Random House.

I'm kind of pissed that just as they were dying, they decided to releases the omnibus end to Hell Girl. I hate omnibuses with a passion. It looks so tacky, to me, to have the first 8 volumes of a series then have 9-10-11 crammed into one book. If it's released as a condensed version, I'm totally cool with that. But I hate that inconsistency, and to me, it makes me lose faith in a company because it looks as though they're not doing well.

Genet wrote:

I'm kind of pissed that just as they were dying, they decided to releases the omnibus end to Hell Girl. I hate omnibuses with a passion. It looks so tacky, to me, to have the first 8 volumes of a series then have 9-10-11 crammed into one book. If it's released as a condensed version, I'm totally cool with that. But I hate that inconsistency, and to me, it makes me lose faith in a company because it looks as though they're not doing well.

Thank you, you said better then I did.

Well, this effects me in that I'm reading Princess Resurrection and Suzuka. It sucks that Del Ray will no longer be releasing them, but it's good that someone else will continue them and they won't be dropped. I'd be seriously be pissed if that happened.

At least we hear about Del Ray when it has trouble, unlike Dr. Master. Evil or Very Mad

They seemed to have quietly died off a couple years ago without telling anyone or giving us the rest of Tsukihime.

Last edited by Paploo on Mon Oct 04, 2010 8:50 pm; edited 3 times in total

Genet wrote:

I'm kind of pissed that just as they were dying, they decided to releases the omnibus end to Hell Girl. I hate omnibuses with a passion. It looks so tacky, to me, to have the first 8 volumes of a series then have 9-10-11 crammed into one book. If it's released as a condensed version, I'm totally cool with that. But I hate that inconsistency, and to me, it makes me lose faith in a company because it looks as though they're not doing well.

They found a way to complete a series you wouldn't of been able to finish otherwise- what's so bad about that? And based on my experiences with the Kyo and Mushishi finale omnibi, we get just as good quality as the single releases.

This is even more illogical than people whining about sub-only releases. Someone's doing you a service- I don't really get why people have to get so mad about it. I think people would appreciate this stuff way more if this was their only choice to enjoy these titles. Yeah, it makes your shelves look a little different in one spot, but it's not the end of the world, and if you really like the manga, you're going to get it anyways, and you'll be saving a few bucks in the end [people keep harping about prices, but also harp about this, so I guess manga companies can't win with some folks]

People are being extremely negative about this despite the fact that things seem far better then when this whole thign initially started- it seems a lot of Del Rey's staff and freelancers should be okay, many of their titles will continue, and we'll have a sort of new-ish outlet for new manga titles to replace them/continue their work.

Takeyo wrote:

Teriyaki Terrier wrote:

Just as Genshiken two (manga) is announced, Del Ray essentialy throws in the towel. I am not saying that said series was licensed yet, but since the last series was, there was a chance.

Now that fifty percent chance of that said series now becomes a question mark. Well, hopefully this doesn't hit the fan and end up being a gigantic mess.

It's been said before, but I'll say it again, Huston we have a problem here.

If it make you feel better, it should be noted that Genshiken was published in Afternoon, one of Kodansha's magazines.

Actually it does, at least there is a chance now. Not much of one, but better than nothing.

Paploo wrote:

Genet wrote:

I'm kind of pissed that just as they were dying, they decided to releases the omnibus end to Hell Girl. I hate omnibuses with a passion. It looks so tacky, to me, to have the first 8 volumes of a series then have 9-10-11 crammed into one book. If it's released as a condensed version, I'm totally cool with that. But I hate that inconsistency, and to me, it makes me lose faith in a company because it looks as though they're not doing well.

They found a way to complete a series you wouldn't of been able to finish otherwise- what's so bad about that? And based on my experiences with the Kyo and Mushishi finale omnibi, we get just as good quality as the single releases.

This is even more illogical than people whining about sub-only releases. Someone's doing you a service- I don't really get why people have to get so mad about it. I think people would appreciate this stuff way more if this was their only choice to enjoy these titles. Yeah, it makes your shelves look a little different in one spot, but it's not the end of the world, and if you really like the manga, you're going to get it anyways, and you'll be saving a few bucks in the end [people keep harping about prices, but also harp about this, so I guess manga companies can't win with some folks]

People are being extremely negative about this despite the fact that things seem far better then when this whole thign initially started- it seems a lot of Del Rey's staff and freelancers should be okay, many of their titles will continue, and we'll have a sort of new-ish outlet for new manga titles to replace them/continue their work.

While you are right about people complaining about price, I don't mind personally paying $10 extra to get 3 individual volumes instead of 1 big one.

It feels like a cop-out, and I'd be upset if this became the norm. I don't mind omnibus, but I think its better as an alternative to get the volumes and save money, but not replace individual volumes.

Scormio wrote:

It feels like a cop-out, and I'd be upset if this became the norm. I don't mind omnibus, but I think its better as an alternative to get the volumes and save money, but not replace individual volumes.

Its replacing imaginary individual volumes: if the publisher thinks the next individual volume will sell well enough to recover their costs and margin, they'll keep going on.

If not, well, the book has got to earn its keep to get printed. If the publisher believes that an omnibus is a viable alternative to dropping the title mid-series, it seems like its the better of the two alternative.

Maybe they decided to let Kodansha take over because people can't spell Del Rey. I dunno.

Oh yeah, Hell Girl was released as individual volumes up to 6, and the omni is volumes 7-9, 9 being the last volume of the series.

Just saying...

Sorry to see Del Ray in dire straights. Kodansha have a high quality mark to live up to. I will give them a chance to find their legs, but judging by Kodansha's re-release of GitS and Akira, they have a lot to learn.

EG: GitS done by DarkHorse (and Titan Books in the U.K) , had no edits to the content. (Us fans hate edits with a passion, unless really necessary). The new Kodansha cut has more edits. This proves, that Kodansha do not understand, or care to listen to what fans want. Akira might have also suffered in this way too. Right now, I'd rather seek out the Dark Horse cuts.

Sure, with Del Ray staff knowlwedge of the industry outside japan, if the listen, understand and respond, Kodansha can reap the rewards. Thing is I sense a Bandai like stance coming, where its their way or the highway.

If Kodansha can keep the honorifics, the translation notes, and the extra that Del-Rey Manga for their translation then I'll earn their respect. I like Del-Rey Manga because of the extras they put and also they put a lot of translation note in the manga. That's what make them unique from other publisher (well, Yen Press does this also).