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ANNCast - Super Manga Pals Tokyo Drift

The current readers, like myself, were not enthused about the concept to say the least, and getting a bunch of new readers isn't necessarily worth it if a big portion of the current readers bail. Heck, Wonder Woman was going to wear pants permanently, right up until they saw the backlash against it.

I've also wondered where exactly DC has gotten the data that would support the idea that all these teens are just waiting for a massive reboot. I certainly understand that they need to do something since the average comic reader is aging progressively, but I'm not convinced that these supposed new readers are really there in the numbers that DC thinks, or hopes. If there is some sort of data, then I could at least concede that it's a smart business decision, even if I don't personally like it.

And even if they did reboot, history has shown that it'll just get complicated and scary to new readers again. Crisis on Infinite Earths was meant to consolidate and simplify the continuities, and here we are 25 years later doing it again.

If something is to be done, I'm partial to the idea of creating "seasons." Each volume gets to maybe 12 issues, and then it's the end of that season. Then you start a new one. If nothing else, that would stop them from getting to those oh so scary high numbers and having to renumber again and again.

Greed1914 wrote:

The current readers, like myself, were not enthused about the concept to say the least, and getting a bunch of new readers isn't necessarily worth it if a big portion of the current readers bail. Heck, Wonder Woman was going to wear pants permanently, right up until they saw the backlash against it.

But that right there is why I think they're mistaken. Anyone that bloody opinionated about Wonder Woman's pants is so invested that you'll never get rid of them. At the end of the day, fanboys are going to bitch and moan about a lot of things but at the end of the day they're still gonna turn around and buy your product. Yeah, if you truly rebooted the series there would be mass fanboy rage. But really, if for once, instead of caving in, DC puts their foot down then what are these people gonna do? Just stop reading comics? Yeah right.

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I've also wondered where exactly DC has gotten the data that would support the idea that all these teens are just waiting for a massive reboot. I certainly understand that they need to do something since the average comic reader is aging progressively, but I'm not convinced that these supposed new readers are really there in the numbers that DC thinks, or hopes. If there is some sort of data, then I could at least concede that it's a smart business decision, even if I don't personally like it.

I'd say Hollywood has proven pretty definitively that in the correct context these characters still have massive appeal. Of course, just because someone went to see the Dark Knight doesn't mean they're gonna start reading comics but then, I'd say manga's popularity has proven that there's still a huge market for comics out there. Hence, it's pretty safe to say that there is indeed a lot of potential fans out there.

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And even if they did reboot, history has shown that it'll just get complicated and scary to new readers again. Crisis on Infinite Earths was meant to consolidate and simplify the continuities, and here we are 25 years later doing it again.

A few points:

-You ask too much. Obviously nothing they do is going to last forever. Obviously they'll eventually have to reboot or something again. The simple fact is that you cannot tell a story forever. I mean, even the immortals of the manga world end eventually. So it is for DC. They have to accept that nothing lasts forever. At some point you've got to end the current story and start a new one. That's fine though. If they could do a reboot and run that new series for another 25 freakin' years then then great. That's a massive success.

-It's also too much to expect that it doesn't stop being accessable after a few years. If you want your story to be at all serial in nature then you people aren't going to be able to just jump in part way. But hey, that's fine. Nobody does this with manga. You don't walk into a bookstore and pick up Berserk volume 28. You pick up volume 1. Again, that's the reason we need a self contained, finite story with consistent continuity. Fans need to be able to start at volume one and catch up instead of being expected to jump in half way through. This is reason number one why manga attracts new fans and DC doesn't.

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If something is to be done, I'm partial to the idea of creating "seasons." Each volume gets to maybe 12 issues, and then it's the end of that season. Then you start a new one. If nothing else, that would stop them from getting to those oh so scary high numbers and having to renumber again and again.

I'm sorry but people are not that dumb. You can't fool them into buying the same problematic content just by slapping a lower number on it. Yeah, maybe people will see "Batman #1" on a shelf and pick it up but then if they read it and find it's the exact same impenetrable bullshit they'll just put it back down. They're not coming back for volume 2.

I realize the whole DC thing is big, and they talked about it on the show, and comics and manga share the same medium.... but it is eclipsing the Jmanga.com beta opening..... can we please be a little more....manga centric.

And yet, there is that risk. Imagine how it would feel to have whoever makes something you like say, "Screw you, buddy. We're after the new crowd." It's not great for customer relations. Like I said as a personal example, I picked up each issue of Birds of Prey each month, but now I'm done with that series because I don't like what they're doing with it.

And movies don't seem to result in huge numbers of new readers, at least not the long-term ones. I know my local shop will see a decent influx of people during the summer movie season, and then it's back to the regulars by around October.

Except that superhero comics have been designed to continue indefinitely. Lots of smaller stories lasting a few issues, and gradual changes.

Also, I'm saying that just like a TV show, these seasons would largely be self-contained and only make basic references to previous seasons. TV shows use flashbacks constantly, and that concept could be applied in some manner here.

I realize the whole DC thing is big, and they talked about it on the show, and comics and manga share the same medium.... but it is eclipsing the Jmanga.com beta opening..... can we please be a little more....manga centric.

The problem with jmanga is that they are trying a risky game of chicken with the publishers:

First launch with the preferred pricing scheme of the individual publishers (high priced pay-per-series), get feedback and sales figures and use that data to force them to reconsider their demands.

samuelp wrote:

The problem with jmanga is that they are trying a risky game of chicken with the publishers: First launch with the preferred pricing scheme of the individual publishers (high priced pay-per-series), get feedback and sales figures and use that data to force them to reconsider their demands.

Huh? This reads as if JManga is setting the prices, and the publishers are leaning on them about the prices JManga sets.

I believe its a bit simpler and less involved than that.

JManga is launching with the preferred pricing scheme of the publishers because each publisher sets the price for each title. If the prices are changed, it will be because one or more publishers changes their pricing strategy.

agila61 wrote:

samuelp wrote: The problem with jmanga is that they are trying a risky game of chicken with the publishers: First launch with the preferred pricing scheme of the individual publishers (high priced pay-per-series), get feedback and sales figures and use that data to force them to reconsider their demands. Huh? This reads as if JManga is setting the prices, and the publishers are leaning on them about the prices JManga sets. I believe its a bit simpler and less involved than that. JManga is launching with the preferred pricing scheme of the publishers because each publisher sets the price for each title. If the prices are changed, it will be because one or more publishers changes their pricing strategy.

No, I read samuelp's statement to mean exactly how you described it--that the publisher is setting the prices. However, the presumption (see unquoted part), is that Jmanga is using that as a way to pressure the publishers into changing prices later on by letting them experience some failure for themselves.

No, I read samuelp's statement to mean exactly how you described it--that the publisher is setting the prices. However, the presumption (see unquoted part), is that Jmanga is using that as a way to pressure the publishers into changing prices later on by letting them experience some failure for themselves.

configspace wrote:

No, I read samuelp's statement to mean exactly how you described it--that the publisher is setting the prices. However, the presumption (see unquoted part), is that Jmanga is using that as a way to pressure the publishers into changing prices later on by letting them experience some failure for themselves.

"Pressure" HOW?

The Crunchyroll people were hired by the consortium of manga publishers to build a platform. Each publisher uses the distribution rights it can get together to set the prices they want to set on the titles they make available on the platform.

For the JManga side to be "pressuring" the publishers, there has to be something they are doing that is different to what they would do if they were not pressuring the publishers.

So what is that action that JManga is doing to "pressure" publishers?

JManga is not pressuring the publishers, but the fans sure are

Greed1914 wrote:

Also, I'm saying that just like a TV show, these seasons would largely be self-contained and only make basic references to previous seasons. TV shows use flashbacks constantly, and that concept could be applied in some manner here.

Actually, that is an intriguing idea. Perhaps this might indeed be a way to return to the more traditional style of episodic storytelling while still allowing at least some degree of overlying plot. Still, it would have to be vastly, vastly scaled down from the current universe style storytelling. (It's so so so not as simple as just slapping a 1 on it).

Anyway, at $8.99 a volume, I can get a lot of book copies of manga, so...I'd honestly rather wait for a published version to come out in the US and just get that, ...