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Revolutionary wrote:

This wasn't expected?

I'm sorry, I know it's not necessarily 'fair' to those who live in other countries, but this is a big move for the manga industry right here. Everything starts small, but then gets bigger.

The vice president pretty much said that himself. They will see about expanding it to other countries if it is a success for them in USA and Canada.

I wouldn't be too surprised if this increases piracy instead of reduces it in territories that are going to get screwed over because of Viz's short-sightedness and arrogance!

I have a love/hate relationship where Viz is concerned although it's more hate than anything and their so-called European division is a huge joke as it's based in Germany rather than London which is where the majority of European divisions of worldwide publishers are based.

If they really cared about other English-language markets then they would have gotten worldwide English language rights like most manga publishers did, such as Yen Press and Kodansha.

What's the odds that Viz's reputation is going to go down the crapper even more after this huge feck up...

BorgmanJayce wrote:

I wouldn't be too surprised if this increases piracy instead of reduces it in territories that are going to get screwed over because of Viz's short-sightedness and arrogance!

I have a love/hate relationship where Viz is concerned although it's more hate than anything and their so-called European division is a huge joke as it's based in Germany rather than London which is where the majority of European divisions of worldwide publishers are based.

If they really cared about other English-language markets then they would have gotten worldwide English language rights like most manga publishers did, such as Yen Press and Kodansha.

What's the odds that Viz's reputation is going to go down the crapper even more after this huge feck up...

As I said in my earlier post, this is a HUGE step. VIZ media and Shueisha probably both think of it as a risk. They don't want to start something that they think is a risk worldwide and risk losing a lot of money.

You know there are ton of factors going on here: Manga is not that popular outside of Japan, the little bit of popularity that manga has outside of Japan is not fully profitable because it partially consists of pirates who won't even consider using Shonen Jump Alpha, and we're in a bad economy, etc.

It's not like they have no reason whatsoever to be cautious in this case.

I would honestly be very unhappy if I lived in one of the countries that isn't getting it, but I would understand that their decisions are not simple and are not made to screw over other countries. They may look like it from a distance, but that's not the case.

TheGameNinja wrote:

Did the print magazine circulate in other countries?

On Mexico you can find it in comic book shops, and on ocasion on places that sell magazines, either at the street or in the airport, or at places like Samborns with the imported magazines, it probably was a extremely small part of the market, but it was there.

Hellfish wrote:

TheGameNinja wrote:

Did the print magazine circulate in other countries?

On Mexico you can find it in comic book shops, and on ocasion on places that sell magazines, either at the street or in the airport, or at places like Samborns with the imported magazines, it probably was a extremely small part of the market, but it was there.

Do you mean Viz's english versions (imported) or localized Spanish versions?

Revolutionary wrote:

As I said in my earlier post, this is a HUGE step. VIZ media and Shueisha probably both think of it as a risk. They don't want to start something that they think is a risk worldwide and risk losing a lot of money.

They have nothing to loose when there are no local licensees in those countries. The only exception is probably France. And it's not just about the Anglosphere as much of the world can read English.

Paploo wrote:

rubixcubd60 wrote:

Wait...rental...really? And only four weeks at that, they could at least let us keep it for the duration of the subscription. I had been considering subscribing but I don't think I will now. With the print version I at least got to keep the issues and reread them. This seems suspiciously like a money grab to me, get fans to pay for the subscription to read their favorite series, and then make them buy the volumes to reread them later. With most digital services like this you either pay for unlimited access to a large library of content (e.g. Netflix or Marvel unlimited) or purchase specific items and get to keep access (amazon etc.) At this point there simply isn't enough content here for me to bother with it, especially if I can only access said content for such a limited time.

Its only 4 weeks if it's one issue. Being arental keeps the price low. http://manga.about.com/od/mangaeditorsinterviews/a/Shonen-Jump-Alpha-Alvin-Lu-and-Hisashi-Sasaki.htm however annual Subscribers get access for 52 weeks. So there you go. Now support it people Smile

1 year still isn't very long. I'm going to be able to read and reread my print copies of SJ until the day I die. Why would I bother paying for something that I won't even own?

Honestly, I'm just pleasantly surprised that Canada is included. The words "Viz", "Online" and "available in Canada" are rarely found together.

ArtiMo wrote:

Paploo wrote:

rubixcubd60 wrote:

Wait...rental...really? And only four weeks at that, they could at least let us keep it for the duration of the subscription. I had been considering subscribing but I don't think I will now. With the print version I at least got to keep the issues and reread them. This seems suspiciously like a money grab to me, get fans to pay for the subscription to read their favorite series, and then make them buy the volumes to reread them later. With most digital services like this you either pay for unlimited access to a large library of content (e.g. Netflix or Marvel unlimited) or purchase specific items and get to keep access (amazon etc.) At this point there simply isn't enough content here for me to bother with it, especially if I can only access said content for such a limited time.

Its only 4 weeks if it's one issue. Being arental keeps the price low. http://manga.about.com/od/mangaeditorsinterviews/a/Shonen-Jump-Alpha-Alvin-Lu-and-Hisashi-Sasaki.htm however annual Subscribers get access for 52 weeks. So there you go. Now support it people Smile

1 year still isn't very long. I'm going to be able to read and reread my print copies of SJ until the day I die. Why would I bother paying for something that I won't even own?

Buy the volume releases. The magazine is only meant to promote the volumes anyway for when they come out...many people in Japan recycle their weekly issues of Jump as time goes on as it is printed on very cheap paper.

TheGameNinja wrote:

Did the print magazine circulate in other countries?

No.

The Viz version of Shounen Jump is a North America only franchise. It does not retail in Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa or any other English speaking country.

If you live outside of North America you must get a thrid party retailer to bulk buy it in for you. A lot of people outside of the US have to go through third part importers.

Only a handful of US Manga publications ever publish internationally. New Type was one of them, but it cost something list 25% for an international subscription.

perfectblue wrote:

TheGameNinja wrote:

Did the print magazine circulate in other countries?

No.

The Viz version of Shounen Jump is a North America only franchise. It does not retail in Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa or any other English speaking country.

If you live outside of North America you must get a thrid party retailer to bulk buy it in for you. A lot of people outside of the US have to go through third part importers.

So generally non-R1 fans aren't really missing much with the switch to digital mainly. Laughing

I think this is so short-sighted. The magazine Shonen Jump is available to a lot of younger children (who will become the next generation of paying manga fans in a few years) through their school or public libraries. When it shifts to online-only, a lot of those kids won't have the smartphones, or willing adult with a credit card, necessary to keep reading this legally.

Revolutionary wrote:

You know there are ton of factors going on here: Manga is not that popular outside of Japan,

You mean for the West?

In Taiwan, manga is EXTREMELY popular. You can find manga in all three languages (Mandarin, Japanese and English). Mandarin translated manga cost less than $3 USD, which is a stark difference from English language book prices. You can also find a horde of translated visual novels. The Taiwanese really love to read anything! You'll find people sitting on the floors of every nook and cranny of the bookstore. (Which reminds me of all the people sitting in the manga aisles of Borders over here in the West...)

Sunday Silence wrote:

Look at books in particular. Initial releases: Hardcovers for the USA, Paperbacks for the rest of the world. Hell, manga is much smaller in Japan to boot!!

Hell that's always been the case in Japan anyway for decades.

Hellfish wrote:

TheGameNinja wrote:

Did the print magazine circulate in other countries?

On Mexico you can find it in comic book shops, and on ocasion on places that sell magazines, either at the street or in the airport, or at places like Samborns with the imported magazines, it probably was a extremely small part of the market, but it was there.

There's always an import store or business that gets stuff like that if they can acquire it.

ssjwill4 wrote:

Buy the volume releases. The magazine is only meant to promote the volumes anyway for when they come out...many people in Japan recycle their weekly issues of Jump as time goes on as it is printed on very cheap paper.

Don't make me scan off a page to prove that! Twisted Evil

Hey.

I would really like to buy the Alpha. Mainly because I would like to support the mangaauthors as directly as possible and where i am you only get a third party distributer that is very expensive and has terrible translations. (think 4 kids but with less effort).
Futhermore i like reading electronically more than paper. (i read the mangas online that I buy)

Here is my question: Do you think it would work if I use modify header in order to fake to be in the US?
It works with some Regional Restricted Content like Southpark and similar.

And I am not asking legally.
Because I really want to contribute to the author but I don't care about the paper.
Basically I would be fine with Scanlations and a "Donate to JUMP"-Button.

Pippin4242 wrote:

Gee, thanks a lot, Viz. The language originates in my country but you can't work out the licensing so we can read it too? :/
I HATE region-coding.

- Pips

Welcome to my world then!

Ermat_46 wrote:

Since when did American localization companies made an effort to expand to other countries?

Certainly they aren't like the regular US publications that could afford to branch out to other territories through subsidiaries or licensees.

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