Forum - View topicNEWS: ICv2: North American Manga Sales Down 20% in 2009
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Mawdryn
 Posts: 240 Location: St. Louis, MO. U.S.A. |
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As already noted more than once, of all the reasons given for the decline in manga sales in the U.S., the downward turn of the economy was noticeably not one of them. Kinda hard to buy a lot of manga when the price of everything else you need has risen. Given a choice between buying a manga and eating, well...
In general it seems that a lot of manga is now around $10.99 or higher. I used to buy around ten or so volumes of manga a month between 2003-2006, but then as the market reached its saturation point and retailers started cutting back on their orders, I naturally started buying less (less new stuff to choose from). The loss of my local Waldenbooks store really curtailed my manga spending more than anything else though. The nearest Borders superstore is a 2-hour round trip for me, so I don't go there very often... |
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ShindoW
 Posts: 88 Location: TX |
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There's just a multitude of problems on my behalf, most which were already mentioned:
1) Price. It was easier to get manga for around $8 a peice rather than up to $12 with tax for some manga, especially when all you read is aimed at older audiences. 2) I'm very picky with manga. I don't get series like Naruto because its just too long to bother wasting money on. The last manga I got were: MPD Psycho, Ghosttalker's Daydream, Death Note, and I picked up Dorothy of Oz because Im into the WoOz fandom... My only finished series are Angel Sanctuary and Death Note... I got AS when it was originally being published, so... I almost always see DN on the shelves, though. God forbid I try to find the volume I'm missing of any of the other titles, though... seems they always have 1, 2, 4, 7.. lol It's not a huge problem since the books can be ordered, but again, price. This has been my problem with anime as well. I got Solty Rei and Evangelion 1.11. I can't remember the last time I actually bought something from the store since its always cheaper online (manga, too). I am a big fan of stuff like Lain, Ghost Hound, Haibane Renmei, Hell Girl... but with GH, they didn't even dub it. I could just get it for free subbed online if I wanted to if you're not going to bother dubbing it (although I heard they put a ton of good effort into the translation, even correcting a few things). I think HG is just now getting season 2 out and its been more than a year since it was out in Japan. 3) Availibility. I know of only about 2-3 bookstores in a 2 hr radius near me. Our mall recently closed and they didn't carry much of anything to begin with. They used to have maybe half a wall but it was reduced to maybe half that before the mall closed. Maybe if the twilight crap hadn't taken over the manga section, you know? Luckily, the Borders near us seems to have a steady size of manga, always a good 4-6 shelves of it including a small amount of food and artbooks. However, either the volume I want isn't there or the price is too high.  As someone who only gets $50 a week and would rather have a new DS game over manga... =/
I've never needed scanlations unless something wasn't released, and even then, its more for doujinshi than manga. |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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FYI--- TP has switched Suppli's release pattern slightly. While they list it as a 19.99 version of Vol.4l, it's actually that they've relreasing vol.4+5 as an omnibus in place of Vol.4. http://twitter.com/TOKYOPOP/status/12116436308 |
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Bored_Ming
 Posts: 242 Location: The Edge of ...... |
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The whole economy is down in the US. Every market segment has taken a hit. Even the billion dollar juggernaut known as video gaming has reported fewer sales of new releases. Don't be surprised if 2010 has another drop. With a Government that thinks it can continue to spend its way out of a recession, I see no immediate recovery.
Re : Scanlations. Even if US releases were just a week behind the Japan release I can't see where that would help sales. The folks who think their Manga should be free would still use scanlations. The result would just be more expense for the US companies and lower quality because of rushed releases. |
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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I'd have to disagree. If the publishers here manage to get some sort of online subscription service (think maybe 2-bucks a pop for a ton of chapters a week, or maybe a montly fee) I'd be willing to pay it to keep up to day with the release in Japan on such titles like Naruto, Skip Beat, Gakuen Alice, Ouran Host Club, etc. I'm also a former scanlator, and I can tell you the main reason people scanlate is mainly because they're fans that either 1) want to bring a title to people here who can't get it legally or 2) want the latest chapter and can't wait however many months/years it'll take for the chapter to be released. The common habit of scanlators (the majority I've seen) are fans who really do care about whatever title they're scanlating, and usually they stop scanlating if a series is picked up by a US company. I think that if suddenly a legal alternative to let's say Naruto were given to people online, 2-5 days after the Japanese release (Japan releases it around Tuesday, scanlaters give me the chapter by Wed/Thur) most scanlators would probably stop because there'd be no point to all their hard work. Scanlating a chapter, and doing it fast is a lot of hard work, and no fan would like to be seen as working against the title and stealing money from the author. All reasons for a scanlator to scanlate would be removed. There will always be the exception of random jerks who like to post free crap online to go against the "man", but true fans actually want to support the product, and I'm pretty sure they outnumber the scanlators who don't care. The fans who are looking for stuff for free are another story, but if there's no one supplying the product, they'll have to find it by other means, more than likely the legal way. Example of a scanlation splash page to give you an idea of what I mean: 
Last edited by littlegreenwolf on Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:18 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Animehermit
 Posts: 964 Location: The Argama |
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even so, most entertainment industries generally tend to be reciession proof. even so, with the rising cost of manga coupled with how quickly you can read one, these results don't surprise me. |
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littlegreenwolf
Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Eh, I think books as a whole have been doing poorly during this downturn in the economy. The bookstore I've been working at have seen their sales cut down in half with people cutting back on their book purchases as a whole, or looking to buy them for cheaper prices at walmart. Publisher salesmen I've spoken with say orders aren't what they used to be, and I've seen publishers cut back on expenses. To save money they stopped sending seasonal book catalogs to bookstores (tried to go digital only), only to have the stores demand they continue them (they did, but they're a lot cheaper that what we used to get) and advance reader copies that used to come in by the piles here have dwindled to maybe a 5 titles a month. Book sellers are hurting right now. It's getting so bad my store is going to have to move in hopes of finding a place with cheaper rent because they aren't making enough to support the current place. |
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akhu
Posts: 14 |
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I think the lack of publicity undermines the sector, publishers should invest in promoting their products.
Great shojos as Gakuen Prince not have the necessary promotion, so they are not consumed at levels that the industry needs and releases are delayed for months (the readers are desperate with this title). About shojo fans who have grown up, think manga licenses must grow as well, not only with josei, shojo, but also with a bit more mature and appealing to attract a greater number of readers, from the youngest to the adults, such as Akuma to love song, Switch Girl, long before other shojo was licensing like Demon Sacred. For me the best for 2010 releases until now are Stepping on roses and Butterflies, flowers. |
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littlegreenwolf
Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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If you think Stepping On Roses is one of the best shoujo releases for 2010 that just goes to show how bad of a selection we girls have over here in terms of comics. That comic is one of the most derogating shoujo titles I've read since Hot Gimmick. Stepping on Roses unfortunately doesn't have anywhere near the amount of juicy drama Hot Gimmick had that made up for the insult to female kind (to most), making it a popular guilty pleasure. |
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sdhd
Posts: 169 |
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I have somewhat stopped buying manga because it seems must new licensed manga are either yaoi, BL, or vampire along with supernatural and gender bender so they don't interest me. I have pretty much lost interest in manga.
I believe Netcomics.com charged like $0.25 per chapter. The price of $0.25 is not bad. I did not subscribe because there was only one manga that I was interested in. I bought the manga. Maybe if they offer a flat rate to read like 3-5 manga/manhaw instead of per chapter that will get me interested to read other titles that they have. I rather pay for a hard copy to own anyway if I like the manga/manhaw.
This does not do justice for people who are collecting manga and comic. When collecting manga the person is buying from 5 to 100+ volumes per title. |
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littlegreenwolf
Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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If they did something like that I know I'd completely forgo scanlations IF they offered me the latest chapters. Then the series I'd really like I'd continue buying when the volumes come out. To speed releases up I wouldn't even care if they skipped translating sound effects, just as long as the volume had those done. This would also give people more incentive to buy the volume to get non-released chapters that are common extras in shoujo manga. I'd like to see a company here try it out, maybe even Viz can attempt bringing back Shoujo Beat like in digital format (titles like Skip Beat, Ouran, and Kimi ni Todoke are really popular in scanlations). They can even manage to throw in advertising from sponsors or their own titles in the panels left open that magazines usually have for adverts. The problem now facing the publishers I think is the fanbase is getting more and more used to the idea of a weekly to bi-weekly chapter with their favorite titles. I know I've gotten in the habit, especially when something really juicy happens with a title and I go "I can't wait for next week's chapter", even if it's only 20 pages. It's like waiting for your favorite tv show, just on a smaller scale. We already know a weekly Shonen Jump magazine publican for viz is an impossibility to to the lack of people to support it and that magazines are a dying breed, but digital format is another story, and more than likely an inevitability publishers have to face and experiment with at some point. |
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Sailor S
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Oh? It's the common habit of scanlators to stop when they're picked up by a US company?
Those are all picked up by a US company, so other than a few scumbags trying to stick it to the man, no one should be scanlating it then, right? And why would you wanna read scanlations done by scum? |
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littlegreenwolf
Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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First off, I didn't call anyone scum. Yes, it's a common habit for scanlators to drop a series once it gets licensed, and I can name off several for you right now: Dengenki Daisy, Alice in the Land of Hearts, Walking on Roses, etc. These are groups that scanlated them because they liked the titles and no English alternative is available. They helped bring these titles to the attention of publishers and created a fanbase for those publishers to sell to. They're to be congratulated in some instances; They've helped bring to light those titles like few fans can. Never once did I claim I DIDN'T read unlicensed scanlations. Others claim that moral high ground, I never did such a thing. The scanlators who are working on these titles are supplying a rabid demand on super popular series that currently have no legal alternative (by that I mean chapter release.) The only way I can give the proper license holders the money for this habit is by buying the volume when it's released, and I do this plenty. I've already explained why I read scanlations by your so called scum in earlier posts. |
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sdhd
Posts: 169 |
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For your first reply, I believe it is common knowledge by the fans that scanlators will drop a title if it is picked up by an American licensee in the old days. That may not apply today in some cases. For your second reply, those titles have been picked up by VIZ. The releases of the manga in the States are so slow. VIZ have an opportunity to use the internet to promote Skip Beat! Ouran, and Kimi ni Todoke by offering a paid subscription to read the manga on Crunchyroll or on one of their online site either by paid chapters/monthly or charge the users by how many title/volumes they would like to read (like Netflix models). Shueisha and VIZ should partner together to promote the manga and give the readers a legit way to access the manga. People who want to buy the manga will. Those who don't have contributed money in a legit way to the publishers. VIZ should published the manga online where there is a high traffic of users to promote the paid subscriptions. |
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Charred Knight
 Posts: 3085 |
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even in the early days of the scanslating community people who dropped a series depended on the person, when Naruto was liscensed the guy who ran Toriyama's World asked to coninue, Viz refused, he dropped it, and someone else continued.
If the people honestly want to see the series get popular then they will stop, if they are translating it for the praise than they will continue |
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