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Answerman - Are American Comics Popular In Japan?


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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13223
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:46 am Reply with quote
Quote:
How do you describe something that keeps popping up again and again in the consciousness of a country without ever being a major breakthrough hit? That would be the space where American comics lie in Japan.


So basically it's the same as how anime/manga is over here in America. Makes sense.
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Sahmbahdeh



Joined: 05 May 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:00 pm Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:
Quote:
How do you describe something that keeps popping up again and again in the consciousness of a country without ever being a major breakthrough hit? That would be the space where American comics lie in Japan.


So basically it's the same as how anime/manga is over here in America. Makes sense.


It doesn't sound like that at all. American comic book movies get wide, regular film releases in Japan, while in the US, anime films are pretty much exclusively the domain of small scale, limited releases. The article is pretty clear that American comic book properties are mainstream, just not the box office topping juggernauts they are here. There is a world of difference between that and the state of anime in America, which is on the periphery of mainstream cultural consciousness.
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Theodore Relic



Joined: 21 Aug 2017
Posts: 63
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:03 pm Reply with quote
I remember some manga in the 80s frequently had references to not only American cartoons and movies but American comics as well. One really good example was a chapter of Takahashi Rumiko's Urusei Yatsura. It was a late chapter, where everyone was at a school festival, and there were various characters dressed up as American heroes.

I recall one of the girls dressed as Supergirl, Shinobu as Wonder Woman, at least one character as Spider-Man...oh, and Lum dressed as Vampirella Smile I still have all the wideban volumes I bought in the very early 90s so I could look it up later when I am able to.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:05 pm Reply with quote
Sahmbahdeh wrote:
It doesn't sound like that at all. American comic book movies get wide, regular film releases in Japan, while in the US, anime films are pretty much exclusively the domain of small scale, limited releases. The article is pretty clear that American comic book properties are mainstream, just not the box office topping juggernauts they are here. There is a world of difference between that and the state of anime in America, which is on the periphery of mainstream cultural consciousness.


That was just for the Hollywood movies. Japan doesn't really make huge budget stuff like that in the first place to bring over. Older Ghibli movies are comparable, though, and those saw wide releases to decent receptions.

Everything else like smaller fanbases and creators citing it as influences is exactly the same.
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Lord Oink



Joined: 06 Jul 2016
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:51 pm Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:

So basically it's the same as how anime/manga is over here in America. Makes sense.


Manga is more popular in America than American comics are in America
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R. Kasahara



Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 643
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 1:02 pm Reply with quote
I remember seeing a dedicated section for superhero graphic novels (translated into Japanese) in Akihabara's Toranoana when I went to Japan, so that stuff certainly exists over there! If I recall correctly, it was a small section, taking up one side of a freestanding, single short bookcase and it featured well-known Batman books, Watchmen, and some others.

Lord Oink wrote:
Vaisaga wrote:

So basically it's the same as how anime/manga is over here in America. Makes sense.


Manga is more popular in America than American comics are in America

Yup. It's more like how manga was in the US twenty years ago, or European comics in the US now (arguably).
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2073
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 1:17 pm Reply with quote
Theodore Relic wrote:
I remember some manga in the 80s frequently had references to not only American cartoons and movies but American comics as well. One really good example was a chapter of Takahashi Rumiko's Urusei Yatsura. It was a late chapter, where everyone was at a school festival, and there were various characters dressed up as American heroes.

I recall one of the girls dressed as Supergirl, Shinobu as Wonder Woman, at least one character as Spider-Man...oh, and Lum dressed as Vampirella Smile I still have all the wideban volumes I bought in the very early 90s so I could look it up later when I am able to.


Two more examples: Dr. Slump had the Superman parody "Suppaman", and Project A-ko had cameo appearances from Superman and Wonder Woman.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 1:50 pm Reply with quote
Lord Oink wrote:
Vaisaga wrote:

So basically it's the same as how anime/manga is over here in America. Makes sense.


Manga is more popular in America than American comics are in America


And you base this on what, exactly? American superheroes have never been more popular since Marvel took over the box office.
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LouieKablouie



Joined: 14 Feb 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:19 pm Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:
Lord Oink wrote:
Vaisaga wrote:

So basically it's the same as how anime/manga is over here in America. Makes sense.


Manga is more popular in America than American comics are in America


And you base this on what, exactly? American superheroes have never been more popular since Marvel took over the box office.


I suppose if we consider physical sales of single issues and volumes then neither have ever sold crazy at least recently. Diamond Publishing has the top 10 books of January sales between the ranges of 50,000 and 150,000 issues. I don't have any manga numbers to compare but if anyone finds any that'd be helpful.

The most popular manga I've seen are those of the bigger shonen, but we don't get them published simultaneously. Which of course leads to people taking more convenient alternatives.
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Calico



Joined: 05 Jan 2013
Posts: 383
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:41 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
As one might expect, the biggest fans of Western comics tend to be manga artists, who are often looking for inspiration from other artists worldwide


Honestly, this seems pretty accurate to me. I've checked out plenty of mangaka's twitters, and a not small portion of them seem to be really enthusiastic about western superheroes, especially the movies. And I know that at least one mangaka (Kamome Shirahama) has done alternate covers for some western comics (though I think that she drew most of her covers before she started her current, most successful work).

Anyway, neat! I've been wondering about this for a while.
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thenix



Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 265
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:56 pm Reply with quote
Sahmbahdeh wrote:
Vaisaga wrote:
Quote:
How do you describe something that keeps popping up again and again in the consciousness of a country without ever being a major breakthrough hit? That would be the space where American comics lie in Japan.


So basically it's the same as how anime/manga is over here in America. Makes sense.


It doesn't sound like that at all. American comic book movies get wide, regular film releases in Japan, while in the US, anime films are pretty much exclusively the domain of small scale, limited releases. The article is pretty clear that American comic book properties are mainstream, just not the box office topping juggernauts they are here. There is a world of difference between that and the state of anime in America, which is on the periphery of mainstream cultural consciousness.


I think this is a bad comparison because Japan regularly has major releases of foreign films, whereas America doesn't. About 99% of major release films are American films, or at least English language films.
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Stuart Smith



Joined: 13 Jan 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:31 pm Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:
American superheroes have never been more popular since Marvel took over the box office.


Correction: American superhero movies have never been more popular. The comic books themselves have been on a steady decline for years now. The average superhero comic sells around 30,000 copies these days. A lot of Marvel comic book artists and writers have second jobs, or live in poverty because of how little they make. Marvel has actually stopped using a number of comic pros and instead resorted to 'alternative talent', such as artists on Tumblr and bloggers or YA writers to cut costs. The success of the movies have had zero impact on comics themselves.

I don't know what manga here sells, but it'd be hard to do worse than what comics are doing.

-Stuart Smith
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johnnysasaki



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 920
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:33 pm Reply with quote
Nobuhiro Watsuki was also heavily influenced by American comicsbon Rurouni Watsuki.It's strange he wasn't even mentioned in this topic...kinda feels like it was on purpose...
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residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2398
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 4:02 pm Reply with quote
That aborted 70s Spider-man manga is one for the ages! Not quite as bad as Sins Past and One more Day but certainly in the top 10 of the worst Spidey stories. So hunt it down right now, the whole thing is scanlated.

I would have also preferred seeing some data on the sales of US comics in Japan in the article itself.
I couldn´t fine any either, as Comichron and co only feature domestic data, but official Japanese translations of US comics have been ripped nearly day and date on manga raw sites since the start of the decade. Meaning that getting (legal) digital copies of at least DC and Marvel books is as easy as it get´s in Japan. I wonder if Japanese collectors also support the re-emerged and utterly out of control variant cover gimmicks that basically all publishers pull these days. Or is the market just too different to care about such nonsense.

I lastly don´t agree with Jason´s assessment that comic blockbusters are middle of the pack performers in Japanese cinemas. Let´s pick Wonder Woman (No.38) out of a hat. It made $12,200,000 in Japan. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=wonderwoman.htm That´s 3 more millions than it did in Germany and the film was considered a success here. The R15+ Deadpool also walked away with $18,916,494. Quite an achievement for an age restricted film.


Last edited by residentgrigo on Wed Feb 14, 2018 4:07 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Gurren Rodan



Joined: 04 Jan 2018
Posts: 262
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 4:05 pm Reply with quote
It sounds to me like one could compare Marvel's niche in Japan to Godzilla's niche here in the States: generally known to the public, but not particularly mainstream-popular.
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