Forum - View topicNEWS: Kodansha USA to Take Over Del Rey Manga Titles
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swanjun
 Posts: 25 |
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You beat me to this correction, but yes, the 8th and final volume of Parasyte came out in July '09. Also, I'm reasonably certain that Le Chevalier d'Eon is complete now, too, with its 8th volume being released last July. Also, for those who're worrying about Tsubasa, it won't be affected by this change because the final volume is coming out in November. |
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LKK
 Posts: 426 Location: Virginia, USA |
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$4 to $6 bucks? Are you talking cover price? Or a discounted price? Because if you're expecting $4 to $6 cover prices, I think you're going to be sadly disappointed. I doubt Kodansha will lower Del Rey's prices. In fact, if the prices change at all, I expect that they'll be higher. |
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Kalessin
 Posts: 931 |
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I really don't know what to think of this, because it's not at all clear what this will mean. How will this affect the releases? Will their quality be higher? lower? the same? Will the same people be working on them? Will prices be affected, and if so, what will they be? Will this affect how quickly titles will be released? There's nothing in this announcement to say anything about how things are going to change except that there's an organizational upheaval going on. How that's going to affect us is totally unclear.
As long as the quality (both of the translations and the printed materials themselves) stays at least as high, if not improves, as long as the prices don't go up too much, and as long as this does not negatively affect the release schedules of existing titles, I'm not sure that I see much reason to care. It may even be an improvement. But I'd hate see titles not fully released or for the quality to go down at all because of this. It seems to me that all this means is that change is coming. Whether the change is good or bad remains to be seen. |
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swanjun
Posts: 25 |
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A big "me too" on that. GetBackers is the lost license that made me saddest. I hope someone asks them about this at their NYCC panel if, indeed, they actually conduct it. |
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Generic #757858
 Posts: 1354 |
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? Please explain. Viz has been pushing their Signature lineup, which mostly consist of niche titles, a lot lately. Unless you're referring to the censorship thing with Bokurano vol. 2? As for Kodansha republishing former Tokyopop titles, I'd love to see Planetes reprinted. |
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ninjapet
 Posts: 1517 |
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Not sure how to think about it.
My only hope is that they still use the translators Del Ray hired for a few series so it stays the same. Just keep my Negima! volumes at $11 and it's all good with me 
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Viajeras
 Posts: 1 Location: New England |
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THIS. Last week I got mail from RightStuf.com saying that my pre-order of Rave 33-35 got canceled because the item was canceled. Totally NOT okay if it never gets finished considering there are only those three volumes left. After spending $320 on this series, I'd have to go on a rampage if the ending never sees the light of day in the US. I also hope to see GetBackers make a comeback, since one of my best friends is desperately hoping that somebody will finishing releasing that stateside. This sucks. DelRay was probably one of, if not, THE best manga publisher over here. |
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machetecat
 Posts: 396 |
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Monster in a box
Posts: 671 |
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They won't. This isn't Japan. Graphic Novels are overpriced because they can be. The stuff that's in English to begin with is just as much / more expensive.
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samuelp
Industry Insider
Posts: 2231 Location: San Antonio, USA |
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Not sure what decade you live in, but most new manga is sold at list price, and costs 400-700 yen ($5-$10). Go to Amazon.co.jp and find me a single manga published today that's being sold new at 200 yen or less... you can't. |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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Keep in mind that Kodansha's editions of both Akira and Ghost in the Shell are slightly more expensive than the Dark Horse editions of the same books- and Kodansha's were basically just reprints of those two. I'm guessing it's more likely we'll see a continuation of Del Rey's pricing scheme, with higher prices on deluxe editions like Akira/GITS or on omnibus editions. Tokyopop did issue Demon Sacred vol.1+2 simultaneously for $6, but that's a promotional idea they're playing with- vol.3 goes back up to the $11 standard for most of their books. Lower priced books of that sort tend not to be the norm, as manga sales at the moment don't merit it. Kodansha'll still have to pay the same rates for translation, editing, and license fees and royalties to the authors to translate the works, so their costs won't be much different then say, VIZ's. |
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kel aka gandy
 Posts: 77 |
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Like the above person said, manga in Japan is like $5-10 a volume (which is still a bit lower than English prices). The two titles that Kodansha USA has published have been seemingly over-priced, which is a bit discouraging, though they are over-sized volumes, which I would think they won't do for all their series.
I'm really hoping that they finish Shugo Chara! and finish a few that Del Rey is potentially starting in the next few months (like ARISA). Also, am I really the only one that's noticed that Del Rey's quality has been crap lately? I adored them in the beginning because they had the best quality out there, but I've stopped buying a lot of their work because it's just not what it used to be. |
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Teriyaki Terrier
 Posts: 5689 |
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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. |
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AnnoyedWabbit
 Posts: 44 Location: Santa Clara |
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I agree completely. I'm a little baffled at all the omfg the sky is falling!! stuff going on. This might turn out to be one spicy debacle, or it might be just fine.
Have you seen Japanese manga? It's cheap because it's bloody tiny, and printed on cheap paper to boot. I will take my Dark Horse and Viz Signature editions over Japanese stuff any day. 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. |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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When a book sells 30000 copies in Japan, and 2000 in the US, you can guess there's going to be a price difference. Jason Thompson's article on Firefighter showed that some less popular manga titles VIZ was putting out were selling in the 100's. So, given the smaller market, they have to charge a little more to break into profitable territories. There's also the fact that distribution costs add to things- Japan is an island, while the domestic manga market stretches across the entire continent, while also reaching into Great Britain and Australia. Although, considering domestic monthly comics [colour or b+w] cost 2.99- 3.99 for 22-30 pages, 200 pages of manga for 10 bucks isn't a bad deal mathwise. Manga also usually tends to be a little cheaper then b+w OGN's [which wander around the 11.99-14.95 territory, but being original material, are more costly/timeconsuming to make- but also worth it for many books because, hey, it's brand-new, and it's what the book costs. ShadowEyes was worth the extra bit to me.] Like you said, this isn't Japan. |
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