From Maid Cafes to Canned Noodles, Akihabara Is Where It's At
A maid cafe. (C)@home cafe
Tokyo's Akihabara district is known around the world as the center of Japan's otaku culture, which includes such phenomena as anime, manga, and "maid cafes." The term Akiba culture (Akiba is short for Akihabara) has been heard a lot recently, having been coined to describe Akihabara's pop culture in general. Here we take a look at some of the latest developments in this district that continues to send out otaku culture to the world.
Changing with the Times
With its easy access to the nation's transportation networks, Akihabara originally developed as a part of Tokyo dominated by wholesalers. The black market thrived here in the aftermath of World War II, with shops handling electrical components especially common. It was from these roots that Akihabara developed into a hub for electronics and household appliances. Until recently it was best known as a place where people who were passionate about electronics, whether it be computer geeks, audiophiles, or HAM radio operators, could be sure to find the special components they were looking for.
A maid cafe. (C)@home cafe
In recent years, though, other types of shops have sprung up to cater to the various needs of otaku (anime and manga fanatics), including outlets that handle manga fan fiction and anime character merchandise. Visitors to Akihabara will also find a unique series of canned foods, including canned oden (a winter dish featuring various foodstuffs stewed in a light broth), canned ramen, and canned udon (wheat noodles). The appearance of maid cafes, where the waitresses wear maid costumes like those often featured in manga, further cemented Akihabara's reputation for quirky pop culture. Akihabara is now closely identified with otakuculture, which has spread from this part of Tokyo to all corners of the world.
Many foreign tourists visit Japan for the purpose of going to Akihabara. The Tourism Industry Association of Japan provides weekly free tours of the area for these foreign visitors called the Akihabara New Discovery Tour. This is a walking tour with an English-speaking guide, and it is extremely popular among overseas visitors with an interest in Japanese pop culture.
Canned Oden. (C)Tengu Canning Co., Ltd.
Themed Cafes Proliferate
Even more than the electronics outlets, it is original themed cafes that are flourishing in Akihabara recently, with one new place after another opening its doors. The primogenitor of this kind of business is the maid cafe, a coffee shop where visitors can enjoykosupure (costume play), as the waitresses, all dressed in maid uniforms, roll out the red carpet and address customers as "master." For an additional fee, a customer can have a favorite "maid" sing a song for him or have her listen while he sings to her. As offshoots of this, some maid-themed businesses now provide such services as having "maids" clean customers' ears, wash their hair, or even provide reflexology. With such a wide variety of maid cafes in operation, it is almost as though maid garb is the unofficial uniform of Akihabara.
There are, naturally, similar cafes that cater to women. At these places, elegantly dressed butlers address the customers as "m'lady." A number of other variants have appeared, such as a cafe where the staff members are dressed as apprentice wizards from a role-playing game. There are also cafes where strong-willed staff members intentionally treat the customers with disdain, as well as places where the customers and staff pretend to be brothers and sisters. All these different shops enable otaku to imitate the anime and manga characters they love.
If you travel to Tokyo, be sure to make some time to explore Akihabara and experience what it has to offer. In so doing, you can play a role in the evolution of Akiba culture.
Universities Launch Animation Courses
Japanese anime has avid fans the world over, a phenomenon that is sometimes known by the name Japanimation. Anime's sophisticated storylines and high level of artistic expression have for years made it an object of respect both in Japan and overseas. But until recently it was regarded only as a subcultural form and rarely as art - a situation that is now undergoing a sea change. There is a growing movement among Japanese universities and graduate schools to take an academic approach to anime and manga. Once seen as children's entertainment, these forms are coming to be viewed in an entirely new light.
The Yokohama campus of Tokyo University of the Arts. (C)Tokyo University of the Arts
Studying Animation
Epitomizing these changes is the establishment in spring 2008 (the beginning of the new academic year) of the Department of Animation at the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts. While there have been departments and courses at private universities focusing on manga or anime, this is a first for a national university. Moreover, the birth of an animation department at one of Japan's top graduate schools in the arts effectively signifies state approval of animation as an academic subject.
The curriculum is aimed at those who have graduated from art colleges or have worked in animation production, and courses will be offered in four areas: three-dimensional animation, two-dimensional animation, project planning, and story writing. Each student will be required to complete two works during the two-year master's program. The faculty will comprise leading figures in the anime industry, including Yamamura Koji, whose anime short Atama-Yama (Mt. Head) won an Academy Award nomination. The program will aim to produce animation creators through practical training, as well as develop discourse and theory on animation as a cultural form.
Changes Extend to Vocational Colleges
Departments and courses for studying anime and manga have been around for some years at several universities, including Tokyo Polytechnic University, Osaka Electro-Communication University, and Kyoto Seika University, which set up its Faculty of Manga in 2000. Classes on manga will also be offered at Nagoya Zokei University of Art & Designand Gakushuin University - the latter at graduate level - starting in April 2008.
Vantan Career School offers a course in Cosplay. (C)VANTAN CAREER SCHOOL
Forays into the study of anime and manga by undergraduate and graduate schools are having an effect on vocational colleges as well. In January 2008, moreover, the Vantan Career School, which has campuses in Tokyo and Osaka, launched a Cosplayers Course for studying costume production, special makeup effects, and other aspects of the art of cosplay (dressing up as characters from manga and anime).
These developments are an indication that the subculture of manga and anime and its offshoots are coming into the mainstream at various levels of society.
Original Net Animation Attracts Fans
A scene from Yawaraka sensha ((c) Rarecho/NetAnime)
Japan is currently witnessing a boom in short anime created by individuals on a computer and uploaded to the Internet. Demonstrating the popularity of some of these efforts, merchandise featuring characters from these anime have begun appearing. The Internet is providing opportunities for new anime artists to display their talents and achieve renown.
Birth of a Smash Hit
One anime that has become a runaway hit by word-of-mouth is Yawaraka sensha (Soft Tank), the creation of an artist who goes by the handle Rarecho. The protagonist of the story is a tank that takes pride in the "weakness of invincibility." The tank thinks of nothing but retreat and escape; it runs away after just being bitten by a mosquito, and it easily falls prey to tricks. Its conversations with real, older tanks are fun to read.
Anime creator Rarecho ((c) Rarecho/NetAnime)
The Internet firm Livedoor began asking people to post anime to its website "Livedoor Net Anime" in December 2005. When the first group of entries was made public, they were instant hits, and floods of offers to commercialize them followed. The site has so far hosted seven animated films at a time for free viewing, and it also sells such character-related merchandise as T-shirts, stuffed dolls, and straps for cell phones.
Few details are known about Rarecho, but rumor has it that this person became a Net anime creator after having worked as an assistant to a manga artist. Having previously released the anime Kuwagata Tsumami (Stag Beetle Tsumami), a story about a young girl born to a human and a stag beetle, Rarecho created Yawaraka sensha at the request of Livedoor. Rarecho also wrote the music and lyrics to the theme song and dubs the voices.
Technology Fuels Emergence of New Talent
Before Yawaraka sensha, another artist who made a major splash on the Internet was a creator who goes by the handle Frogman. Frogman does almost everything himself, including direction, writing, production, and voice acting, and his funny, surreal works soon became a topic of conversation in cyberspace. Some of his cartoons were broadcast on terrestrial TV this spring, and DVDs are also on sale.
The opening frame of Yawaraka sensha 5 ((c) Rarecho/NetAnime)
What Rarecho and the others use to create their anime is nothing more than a PC and Adobe Systems' FLASH software, which costs just a few hundred dollars. With this combination, it is easy to produce animated films with sound that take up a small amount of data and then to post them on the Net.
Previously, creating an animated film required a lot of man-hours and funds, so it was necessary for a creator to join a production company and work his or her way up the ladder. But now it has become possible for one person to cheaply and easily produce what he or she wants, and the loosening of these old restrictions has led to the emergence of new talent. What is not so easy, of course, is to come up with an original, enticing story that will entertain viewers.
In addition to the one operated by Livedoor, there are any number of websites where users can upload and release their own anime. Following on the heels of the success of Yawaraka sensha, more and more anime creators are making their Internet debuts in the hope of scoring a hit.
Hi, everyone this my sixth post for today, because I have enough time at hand so why not to post it right away. Okay, I’m watching IS recently and the anime itself is recently airing in TBS. Furthermore, I’m personally thinking this anime is quite good and recommend you to watch it in your 2011 anime airing schedule. Hmm, enough small talk and now let’s get to business… chop-chop
IS (Infinite Stratos) (IS〈インフィニット・ストラトス〉, IS (Infinitto Sutoratosu)) is a Japanese light novel series by Izuru Yumizuru with illustrations provided by Okiura. As of December 2010, 6 volumes have been published by Media Factory under their MF Bunko J label. A manga adaptation by Kenji Akahoshi started serialization in the seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Alive on May 27, 2010. An anime adaptation began broadcasting in Japan on January 7, 2011.
Story Plot
In the near future, a Japanese scientist engineers a powered exoskeleton called “Infinite Stratos” (IS). Possessing technology and combat capabilities far more advanced than any other weapon system, the IS threatens to destabilize the world. Faced with such an overpowering weapon, the nations of the world enact the “Alaska Treaty”, which states that IS will never be used for military combat and that existing IS technology must be equally distributed to all nations, to prevent any one nation for dominating the others. The introduction of the IS does however have a major effect on society. As IS can only be operated by women, the power balance between men and women is broken, with women coming to dominate society over men.
Ten years after the first IS were introduced, the world has entered a new age of peace. The peace is shattered, however, by an unexpected discovery. A 15 year old Japanese boy, named Ichika Orimura, is discovered to be capable of operating an IS. Realizing the potential, Ichika is forced by the Japanese government to attend the prestigious Infinite Stratos Academy, an international academy where IS pilots from all over the world are trained. Thus his busy school life surrounded by girls begins.
Anime
An anime adaptation for Infinite Stratos was first announced on June 21, 2010 and its official website opening on August 8, 2010.The adaptation will be directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi who also directed Macross Frontier with Eight Bit, who also handled Macross Frontier, animating the adaptation. The character designer and chief animation director of the anime will be Takeyasu Kurashima and the mecha designer will be Takeshi Takakura. The script will be handled by Atsuhiro Tomioka, Chinatsu Hōjō, and Fumihiko Shimo. Shimo will also be handling the series’ composition. The anime began airing in Japan on January 7, 2011 on TBS. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the anime in North America. The Anime Network will simulcast the series on their website. The first 3 episodes will premiere on January 23, 2011, followed with a new episode each week.
The anime’s soundtrack is composed by Hikaru Nanase. The opening theme song for the anime is “Straight Jet”, performed by Minami Kuribayashi. The ending theme song is “Super∞Stream”, with first episode version sung by Yōko Hikasa and the second and third episode version sung by Yōko Hikasa and Yukana. The CD single for “Straight Jet” will be released on January 26, 2011 and the CD single for “Super∞Stream” will be released on February 16, 2011. Both singles will be published under the Lantis label.
What is Doujin?
In Japan, Doujin usually refers to activities which people with same interest get together and create things like comics(Manga), novels, games and other goods. These people are not necessary professional artists or writers. Many of doujin products are created by armatures as a hobby and often published by their own expense.Group formed by people with common Doujin theme is often called "Circle". Within Circle, creators exchange their ideas and show works to each other. Doujinshi or software is often published by Circle.
There are hundreds of Doujin Circles in Japan. Many of the Doujin products are publicized by Circle rather than by individual.
Doujin Circle and community is becoming Japan's huge art culture and manga industry's phenomenon.
History of Doujin
Definition of "Doujin" was first acknowledged when Shotaro Ishinomori gathered artist friends and established "East Japan Comic Society" to publish a corroboration magazine "Manga-Shonen". Then Doujin Circle activities gradually started to prosper through the "reader's communication page" on a magazine "COM" (Now discontinued), which was first publicized in 1967. At that time, self publication was costing a fortune, thus one bundled comics were passed from one Circle member to another, by adding their pages and circulating among the creators for viewing.
The realm of "Doujin" has grown as the number of participating creators increased. Circles started to form within educational institutions such as high schools and universities. In that case, Circles were able to receive funds from their institution, thus it made it possible for their Doujinshi to be printed. (Offset Print)
Individual Doujin activities started to increase when the animation series, "Gatcha-Man" was televised around 1972. Yet it was still not a widely spread trend and only small group of Circles were gathering and exchanging their works. Doujin community was still a closed realm.
Comic Market held in 1975 has contributed a great deal for the general acknowledgement of Doujin culture. It begun with 32 Circles, and 700 participants, forming a place to exchange and sell each other's Doujin art works. The Comic Market gradually became as a major Doujin event from year to year.
At beginning, many of the Doujinshi were featuring animation parody, but then gradually gained more erotic components which have made an erotic Doujinshi a very popular theme.
Once a certain Doujinshi gains its popularity, the number of creators who participate to its Circle increases. Therefore, they are able to afford more costly printing method such as offset. As a result that made the quality of such Doujinshi better.
Doujin Circles which did not have enough financial resource would publish their Doujinshi by copying or printing out of a printer. In the past, printing was pretty expensive, but now days it has become cheaper.
As many animation came out on TV in the 80th, more Doujinshi featured such anime themed Parody, including Yaoi and erotic Doujinshi. Some of the popular titles featured by Doujin creators then were: "Gundum" (1981), "Urusei-Yatsura - Only You" (1983), "Macross – Remember Love" (1984). In the late 80th, titles such as "Saint Seiya" (1980) and "Top o Nerae" became a huge hit which raised excitement among Doujin creators.
Around this time, Yaoi Doujinshi started to acquire a general acknowledgement because of popular anime titles such as "Saint Seiya" and "Samurail Trooper", which featured friendship between men.
Also, "Doujin Software" started to appear around this time because PC was starting to become a popular domestic tool. Similar to "Comiket", an event "Pasoket" was formed as a place to sell and exchange PC Doujin software. NEC's PC-9801 series, Fujitsu's FM-TOWNS and Sharp's X68000 were popular hardware, thus Doujin software and CG were mainly designed to run on these platforms. Among those, X68000 especially attracted many core-users because of its high machine spec which resulting in many sophisticated Doujin software titles to be born.
In the 90th, a title such as "Sailor Moon" became a huge hit among kid and even adult. "Sailor Moon" became also a popular theme among Doujin creators. Since characters from "Sailor moon" were "Bisyoujyo Character" (Pretty Girl Character), many erotic and lesbian themed Doujinshi were created out of Sailor Moon.
In the mid 90th, Game themed Doujinshi started to gain popularity. Most of them were featuring an erotic scene and Yaoi theme of in-game characters. Number of game company that featured "Bisyoujyo Game" (Pretty Girl's Game) has increased and many Doujin creators started to focus on Bisyoujyo Game because of its demand and popularity.
Around this time, lawsuits about copyright issue between commercial and Doujin publication stared to rise. Creating Doujinshi out of copyrighted characters was considered legal because it was based on the idea that these Doujinshi were created for non-commercial purpose, but for leisure. There were no licensing fee and business agreement between the copyright holder and Doujin creator. As a result, copyright holder was not able to restrict copyrighted character themed Doujinshi even though he did not like how these characters were presented on these Doujinshi. Although this has been a continuous problematic issue in the industry and it is being said that there should be some kind of law to set a rule. (Text by: Torakichi Hayama)
Category of Doujin
Original
Doujin works which all story and characters were originally created by the creator.
Ani-Paro
Anime Parody. Featuring already existed anime characters or anime theme.
Yaoi
Doujin work which features love or sex between male. Sometime it is called Boy’s love.
Yuri
Doujin work which features love or sex between female. This word was born as an opposite of "Bara" (Rose) which features male homosexuality. The term "Yuri" was said to be originated from a film called "Yuri-zoku series" by "Nikkatu Roman Porn".
Loli-Con
Abbreviation for Lolita Complex. Doujin works featuring Child Pornography. It was said that the term was originated from a novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov, a middle age man loving an underage girl. **In the United States, Loli-con that presents child obscenity and pornography is illegal by CPPA (Child Pornography Prevention Act). Please be aware to understand the law carefully if you are planning to write Loli-con themed Doujinshi. This law applies to virtual characters as well.
Shota-Con
Doujin work which features underage boy love affair. The term originated from a character named Shota Kaneda from "Taiyou no Shisya Tetsujin 28 Gou".
Neko-Mimi
Doujin work which features female characters with cat ears. Basically, most of the main Neko-Mimi characters are female. Their personality is very similar to Neko (Cat) and act like it. On Doujinshi, these characters might talk like "~meow" at the end of their words.
Kemono
Different from Neko-Mimi, but this Doujin work features human looking character with partially animal-like.
The Japanese System That Keeps the Hits Coming
Japan’s manga culture has legions of fans around the world. One thing overseas readers often want to know is: Why Japan? What is it about the Japanese system that has enabled it to produce one high-quality hit after another? We take a look behind the scenes at some of the factors that have made Japanese manga an artistic genre with the diversity and depth to stand alongside novels and movies.
Close Collaboration between Artist and Editor.
One reason often given for the high quality of Japanese manga is the prominent role played by the editor. The first stage in the serialization of any manga starts with the artist and editor sitting down together to confer on a story. The artist then draws up a rough storyboard called the “name.” At this stage, the manga is just a crude sketch featuring simple drawings with dialogue. Once the editor gives this draft the go-ahead, work gets started on the real thing. This is the stage when decisions need to be taken on plot and characters development. Depending on the type of manga, the artist may carry out research interviews at this stage. If the artist gets stuck, the editor is the perfect person to provide advice. Many manga works have been lifted to a higher level by a touch of timely advice from the editor. From the artist’s point of view, the editor is a creative partner and close friend, sharing the artist’s anxieties and making sure that work proceeds smoothly. It has been said that the editor contributes around 30 percent of what makes a manga successful.
In Japan, the editor also acts as a link between artists and readers, visiting bookstores to sound out readers’ opinions in person and
conducting surveys to find out how readers are reacting to each episode as it appears. Often this feedback can have a direct effect on how the manga unfolds. The editor also acts as a promoter, organizing reader events, offering autographed gifts, and coming up with ideas to boost sales. Another important part of the editor’s job is to unearth and nurture new talent.
A Japanese System for Producing Outstanding Manga
The unique editorial system in place at Japanese manga magazines has played a crucial part in making manga a global success. One good example of how this system works can be seen in the voting system introduced by the Shonen Jump manga magazine. Each issue of the magazine includes a postcard that asks readers to vote for their favorite series. The editors then rank the various series by popularity in the next issue, with the most popular stories appearing closer to the front of the magazine. Unpopular series are often cut based on the results of these surveys. Editorial departments at other magazines are similarly ruthless. Once readers lose interest in a story, a magazine is highly unlikely to continue with its serialization—no matter how well known its writer happens to be.
Nakada Kenichi, a Japanese manga editor with many years’ experience at Shogakukan, one of Japan’s major publishers, says that Japan’s unique editorial infrastructure is one of the major strengths of the Japanese manga industry. “I’d say it took almost half a century to build the system we have today, capable of producing such a volume of high-quality manga. The huge stock of old manga is another strength for the industry in Japan. We have a long history of trial and error—all kinds of different ideas have been tried in every kind of genre. It goes without saying that having such a huge stock of ideas has been a huge benefit for manga in Japan.”
Competition is another important element in Japan, according to Kumagai Kyoko, one of Nakada’s popular manga artists. “There’s an urge to be better than the next person, to come up with a big hit. This sense of competition spurs people on and helps refine their skills” she says. “The presence of talented assistants is also important. I have two series on the go at the moment—with an installment due every two weeks. Each episode is 30 pages. It would be impossible for me to come up with that much material on my own, so I always work with the help of five assistants. Little details are important—the background to a panel, things that the characters are holding in their hands, and so on. The quality of the overall product suffers if you neglect the details, so I always insist on getting every just right, down to the smallest details.”
It is thanks to Japan’s unique editorial system and the work of the passionate artists and writers who have dedicated their lives to their craft that Japanese manga have become a global phenomenon.
Comics About Calligraphy and Tea Ceremony Prove Popular
"Tomehane!"
"Ocha Nigosu." (C)Nishimori Hiroyuki/Shogakukan Inc.
Autumn has long been considered a season for cultural pursuits in Japan. With its cool, pleasant weather, this is the perfect time of year for getting involved in the arts. In the past few years, a series of manga about school students enjoying traditional pastimes such as the tea ceremony and calligraphy as part of their extracurricular activities have become bestsellers, and more young people are becoming interested in traditional pursuits as a result.
As Passionate as SportsUntil recently, a typical manga aimed at young readers would be set in a school sports club, its storyline focusing on the friendships and rivalries among team members. Over the past two or three years, however, comics have started to appear whose main characters are involved not in baseball or basketball but in traditional cultural pursuits not usually associated with teenagers. These include shodo (brush and ink calligraphy), the tea ceremony (in which green tea is prepared and served according to strict rules of etiquette), and rakugo (traditional comic storytelling).
The manga "Tomehane! Suzuri Koko Shodobu" (Suzuri High School Calligraphy Club) currently being serialized in the magazine Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan Inc.), is a comedy featuring a high school student who returns to Japan from overseas and joins the calligraphy club at his new school. The story follows the students' determined efforts to be chosen for the International High School Shodo Exhibition, known as the "Koshien of Calligraphy" after the prestigious high school baseball tournament held every summer at the Koshien stadium near Kobe.
As well as showing the students learning the basics of their hobby, there are also scenes featuring innovative "performance calligraphy," in which the students dance as they use thick brushes to daub characters onto huge sheets of paper. Real students from schools regularly nominated for the International High School Shodo Exhibition help draw the calligraphy that appears in the comics, and the students themselves appear in the performance scenes. The exhibition takes place every year; this year students from 23 foreign countries took part, as well as budding calligraphers from schools throughout Japan. Performance calligraphy is a world away from the quiet image of traditional calligraphy, and some youngsters become deeply engrossed in it. The popularity of performance calligraphy has spawned national competitions and led to performances being shown on TV. The calligraphy manga will be serialized as a TV drama starting January 2010.
Card CultureAnother bestselling manga is "Chihayafuru," winner of the 2009 Manga Taisho (manga of the year prize) voted for by manga-loving bookstore employees around Japan. "Chihayafuru" has been serialized in the Be Love women's manga magazine published by Kodansha since 2008. The manga tells the story of a high school girl and her friends in the after-school karuta (Japanese playing cards) club.
The story's heroine becomes engrossed with a traditional karuta game played with cards featuring the One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets, a famous compilation of Japanese waka poems compiled in the thirteenth century. In the game, one person reads the opening line of a poem while everyone else competes to find and pick up the card inscribed with the rest of the poem as quickly as possible.
"Ochiken." (C)Kawashima Yoshio, Futabasha Publishers Ltd.
As well as being an entertaining story of the friendships and rivalries that develop as the girls pit their skills against one another, the manga is also a mine of information on the meaning and history of waka poetry and a fun way for readers to learn about classical Japanese literature. Karuta games can get extremely competitive, with players trying desperately to outpace each other. It is enjoyed by people of all ages, and keenly fought championships to find the "king" and "queen" of karuta are televised every January. Competition is so intense that competitive karuta has been described as a martial art fought on tatami instead of judo mats.
Another example of a popular manga dealing with an unlikely traditional subject is "Ocha Nigosu" (A Bad Boy Drinks Tea!), about a school rebel who learns maturity and good behavior thanks to the tea ceremony. One of the pinnacles of traditional Japanese culture, the tea ceremony teaches the tenets of proper etiquette and respect for others.
"Ochiken" (Storytelling Club), meanwhile, is a four-panel comic strip that has also been anthologized in book form. The story depicts three college girls who join their university rakugoclub. Manga such as these are providing a new perspective on traditional culture and bringing ancient pursuits to life for a new generation.
As print magazines fold and eBook devices like the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle are gaining favor with readers, the conventional wisdom is that it's a lousy time to launch a manga/comics anthology magazine. 'Print is dead,' they say -- or is it?
From this time of uncertainty comes a new breed of do-it-yourself publishers who want to defy this industry trend by taking matters into their own hands. One such effort is F*X*T (pronounced "fix it"), a comic and art print magazine being developed by San Francisco-based graphic designer Fawn Lau, with a little help from the online microfunding site, Kickstarter.
As Lau envisions it, F*X*T will be quarterly magazine, featuring serialized and one-shot comics stories, illustrations and articles, to "to showcase the talents of creators that don't quite have the chance to realize their ideas in print." For the first issue, Lau has assembled a line-up of pro and semi-pro artists who'll be offering the first taste of what F*X*T will offer to fans: a variety of story and art styles presented in a "magazine that is substantial in content and reminds everyone about the awesomeness that is print."
"I just see so much hesitation and basically good intentions from most people, but extreme caution from the rest," said Lau. "I think (that there's) so much potential, but I also fully understand why things are so slow," she said. "There's not enough people taking risks in print, but I LOVE print!"
While publishers, large and small are shying away from publishing work by up-and-coming, but unproven new artists, where do the comic stars of tomorrow hone their skills and get their first big break? Nowadays, mostly online through webcomics and artists community websites like Deviant Art -- but Lau and some of the F*X*T creators still see the value in print as a medium for comics.
"There's something official about a comic in print, something more joyful of seeing art on paper, which is why i wanted to have F*X*T as a magazine instead of a website," Lau explained.
The artists participating in the inaugural issue of F*X*T also mentioned that the promise of seeing their work in print was also part of the appeal of participating in this project.
When asked whether it makes a difference to see his comics in print rather than just online, Powflip, the creator of Tracks replied unequivocally, "Print is better. Ask a movie director, or a screenwriter - would they feel better if their movie got shown on YouTube or in a theater?" He continued, "There's nothing wrong with getting it out there on the Internet, but what's most convenient for distribution isn't always the best way to enjoy the medium. It's not just about the artist's ego either - it's better for the reader. Exponentially better."
Comics creator (and F*X*T cover artist) Christy Lijewski agreed, adding "There's just something about holding a finished book in your hands and seeing your months of hard work bound into a neat little volume that I can't explain. It's a great feeling." She continued, "Sure, with the Internet you have instant feedback and a large audience but it's still missing the feeling of satisfaction you get when you see your work in actual print. A book is something you can take anywhere, read anytime, as many times as you want, whenever you want, it pays respect to the work by making it permanent."
"Fawn has some serious truffle-hunting skills," said Schwartz. "She can uncover people who hide in the dark, moist corners of Deviant Art and make them do incredible things."
From this time of uncertainty comes a new breed of do-it-yourself publishers who want to defy this industry trend by taking matters into their own hands. One such effort is F*X*T (pronounced "fix it"), a comic and art print magazine being developed by San Francisco-based graphic designer Fawn Lau, with a little help from the online microfunding site, Kickstarter.
As Lau envisions it, F*X*T will be quarterly magazine, featuring serialized and one-shot comics stories, illustrations and articles, to "to showcase the talents of creators that don't quite have the chance to realize their ideas in print." For the first issue, Lau has assembled a line-up of pro and semi-pro artists who'll be offering the first taste of what F*X*T will offer to fans: a variety of story and art styles presented in a "magazine that is substantial in content and reminds everyone about the awesomeness that is print."
"THERE'S SOMETHING JOYFUL ABOUT SEEING ART ON PAPER"
With a lifetime of love for comics, and over seven years of experience as a production artist and designer for publishing companies, including a few manga publishers (and a few smaller but cool publishing projects like le Grand Grimoire), Lau knows the hows and whys behind the industry's current reluctance to publish comics anthologies."I just see so much hesitation and basically good intentions from most people, but extreme caution from the rest," said Lau. "I think (that there's) so much potential, but I also fully understand why things are so slow," she said. "There's not enough people taking risks in print, but I LOVE print!"
While publishers, large and small are shying away from publishing work by up-and-coming, but unproven new artists, where do the comic stars of tomorrow hone their skills and get their first big break? Nowadays, mostly online through webcomics and artists community websites like Deviant Art -- but Lau and some of the F*X*T creators still see the value in print as a medium for comics.
"There's something official about a comic in print, something more joyful of seeing art on paper, which is why i wanted to have F*X*T as a magazine instead of a website," Lau explained.
The artists participating in the inaugural issue of F*X*T also mentioned that the promise of seeing their work in print was also part of the appeal of participating in this project.
When asked whether it makes a difference to see his comics in print rather than just online, Powflip, the creator of Tracks replied unequivocally, "Print is better. Ask a movie director, or a screenwriter - would they feel better if their movie got shown on YouTube or in a theater?" He continued, "There's nothing wrong with getting it out there on the Internet, but what's most convenient for distribution isn't always the best way to enjoy the medium. It's not just about the artist's ego either - it's better for the reader. Exponentially better."
Comics creator (and F*X*T cover artist) Christy Lijewski agreed, adding "There's just something about holding a finished book in your hands and seeing your months of hard work bound into a neat little volume that I can't explain. It's a great feeling." She continued, "Sure, with the Internet you have instant feedback and a large audience but it's still missing the feeling of satisfaction you get when you see your work in actual print. A book is something you can take anywhere, read anytime, as many times as you want, whenever you want, it pays respect to the work by making it permanent."
SHOWCASING NEW TALENT BEYOND BEING AN "AMERI-MANGA ANTHOLOGY"
So far, several creators answered Lau's call for stories and artwork, including published pros like Lijewski (RE:Play, Samurai Host Club) and up-and-coming talents like Mia Schwartz, Helen Cho, Anna Bongiovanni, and Sloane Leong. Some, like Lijewski, knew Lau from her work in the manga publishing industry, as a production artist and graphic designer for several companies. Others heard of F*X*T's call for artists through word-of-mouth or through the F*X*T Kickstarter page."Fawn has some serious truffle-hunting skills," said Schwartz. "She can uncover people who hide in the dark, moist corners of Deviant Art and make them do incredible things."
"I like that this project is reaching out to creators and giving them a chance they might not get without it," said Lijewski. "I also like the idea of spreading the work of independent artists and creators who may not be able to go a mainstream route with their non-mainstream ideas."
PowFlip also echoed this sentiment, mentioning that the current U.S. "indie" publishing scene hasn't quite embraced the fact that there's a generation of artists who are heavily influenced by Japanese and European comics, but aren't necessarily drawing "Ameri-manga" -- they're creating something that's different and new.
"There's a new wave of comic art and artists that is starting to gain momentum right now, and publishers are just not cued into what is going on so they don't tend to pay these new artists much attention," he said. "There's sort of this expectation of what "indy" or alternative comics look like, that draws heavily on the past of those genres in the U.S. - so now that kids are picking up and playing with conventions and styles that draw more from European and Japanese comics (instead of just copying R. Crumb) - they just don't get it."
He continued, "And while there's good reason to be afraid of psuedo-manga, nobody seems to get that this new wave of artists who've been inspired by foreign comics is what alternative American comics ARE these days. There's just no appreciation for it in the industry. Sure there have been a few artists taking these influences and running with them like Corey Lewis or Becky Cloonan, but there aren't much."
Anna Bongiovanni, Minneapolis-based creator of Gehenna had this to add about what makes F*X*T special. "Fawn is treating the artists with real respect. She's not trying to get us to make as much as possible for as little as possible. I think she's really concerned about quality when it comes to the magazine so when people buy it, they can be assured it's a worthy purchase."
KICKSTARTING F*X*T WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM ONLINE FRIENDS
"We've already confirmed our lineups both for the ongoing series and also the one-shots," said Lau, "but we are still accepting illustration applications for our illustration sections. If Kickstarter succeeds, I hope to be able to include more illustrators. If year one of F*X*T succeeds, I hope to include more creators for year two."But before she can layout or publish a single page, Lau (and F*X*T) needed funds. So what did she do? She tapped into the power of an online micro-financing site, Kickstarter. She set a goal of $10,000, and asked for supporters to donate a few dollars to get this project going. In return for this initial infusion of capital, Lau is offering incentives to supporters, like buttons, prints and copies of the first issue when it gets printed. Pledge amounts start at $1 and provide different "thank you" gifts in return for various pledge amounts, from $10, $25, $50 and upwards to $300 as the top level.
She isn't the first comics creator to use Kickstarter to fund her project. James Kochalka (American Elf, Monkey vs. Robot), and Becky Dreistadt (Tigerbuttah) used Kickstarter to get their books published and Newsarama recently profiled Mitch Gerads and Mike Dillion (Johnny Recon) and Steve Bryant (Athena Voltaire), who also financed their respective comic book projects through Kickstarter.
If F*X*T reaches its fundraising goal, Kickstarter investors can expect to see the first issue appear in their mailboxes on or shortly before January 2011. Otherwise, readers can order issues of F*X*T online, purchase them from the participating artists at various comics shows, or look for them at select bookstores and comics shops.
"FIXING" FRUSTRATION WITH MAINSTREAM PUBLISHING, D.I.Y. STYLE
So why call it "F*X*T?" "This project has been in my head in one way or another for a couple of years but somehow I'm always the one waiting to be asked to do something," explained Lau. "I've always loved participating in projects when people ask me to, but getting older though, I realized I can't wait for someone to allow me to do it, I can't wait for someone to ask me to make this thing I want to make, so I forced myself to "fix" my way of thinking. I had to "fix it" myself to get it done.""In life I make it a point not to curse, so the spelling of F*X*T came from the usual way of bleeping expletives since I would always 'bleep' myself," she laughed. "...plus it looks nice I think? It begins with an F! My name begins with an F! Decision made!"
The other decisions that have already been made for the first issue of F*X*T is its line-up of artists and stories. Here's what's scheduled for F*X*T issue 1:
- Creator spotlight/interview with Christy Lijewski
Lijewski will also create the cover art for the first issue of F*X*T. - Plastic by Mia Schwartz (continuing series)
2 Girls, 1 Trip - When you live in a world of cartoon logic, what kind of life would you lead? - Tracks by PowFlip (continuing series)
A cliché story about love and death, and death. When Elise moves with her father into the family's old countryside bungalow - she finds herself a victim of unbearable ennui. The only thing within miles providing even the faintest amusement is the expired penny candies at the local general store. That is, until she meets a mysterious young man... - Gehenna by Anna Bongiovanni (continuing series)
Growing up is never easy, but Gehenna is not an escape. Rather than grow up, Erik's older sister Maddie's spirit flees to the underworld of Gehenna, but Erik must confront rats, ghosts and an Owl as well as his own fears of becoming an adult to rescue her. - Musik Non Stop by Helen Cho / MBP (continuing series)
Why do YOU rock? Four musicians, four lies, four different agendas and one big pile of money. Also, music! - Beastie Lore by Sloane Leong (one-shot story)
A few young, mythical creatures try to survive an era that has little imagination by attempting to live and pass as plain ol' humans themselves. Transgressinal cuteness abounds.
In Japan, Weekly Shonen Jump is one of the most popular manga magazines, featuring some of the biggest selling manga series in the world, including One Piece, Bleach and Naruto. In North America, VIZ Media has been publishing an English language edition since its January 2003 debut issue.
Now almost eight years later, Shonen Jump Magazine is re-launching with a new look in the January 2011 issue, and the Shonen Jump website will also debut new, subscriber-only features in December 2010. I spoke with Shonen Jump Senior Editor Joel Enos about these changes to this manga monthly, and how fans can help shape its future, both in print and online.
Q: For readers who might not be familiar with you, can you explain a little bit about your role and the kind of work you do at VIZ Media.
Joel Enos: My title is Senior Editor, and I’m the Senior Editor for the Shonen Jump imprint. I edit Naruto and for the last year, I’ve been editing Ultimo, the manga by Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei. I recently handed that title to another editor, and now most of my position for the last year has been actually been running Shonen Jump Magazine.
So, I still have a very strong hand in the manga, but only related to how it runs in the magazine. I work with the other editors to oversee the general structure for my own series, Naruto, but also One Piece and anything that we preview or showcase in Shonen Jump Magazine.
Joel Enos: It means a lot of different things, really. But specifically, the most exciting thing for us, the editorial team is that we're able to show off a different look to the magazine after eight years. Visually, it looks different, it looks fresh. It looks very organized.
The original version of Shonen Jump looked good for the time when it came out, but you've got to keep current, and keep up with what's out there. I think this change makes the magazine look more contemporary.
The most exciting thing for the fans is that we're bringing back Yu-Gi-Oh. We'll be serializing Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's every month. We're also launching a new series by a relatively new manga-ka; it's called Psyren. It's a science fiction adventure story. It's really, really cool. The first two chapters will be featured in the January 2011 issue too.
Q: You've been getting feedback from fans over the years. What are the top two or three requests from fans that you're addressing with this redesign?
Joel Enos: One of the things we've heard from readers… well, I wouldn't say that they've been saying that the mix of manga has been getting stale, but that they'd like to have access to more variety, more series, more stories.
I've been the editor for Naruto for almost five years now. I can't tell you how much I appreciate how much fans enjoy reading it, but it is on chapter 500 now. But I also think it's important to make it easy for new readers to get into a story.
Honestly, we haven't had a new series in the magazine in a while. We hadn't found stories that were the perfect fit for the magazine, but I think we have now with Psyren, and with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. We also want to offer more manga, so that's one reason why we're doing the online serialization.
Now, of course, we won't be taking Bleach, or Naruto or One Piece out of the print magazine. Those are the fan favorites, and our favorites as well. But with a print magazine, we're restricted by page count. We just can't go bigger than 300 pages. With online serialization, the possibilities are endless. We can feature all kinds of content, all kind of manga series. So we can give readers more manga in more ways.
Q: Speaking of more manga, there’s a ton of Shonen Jump titles in Japan that haven't been released yet in North America. How do you decide what gets published in the U.S.? Are there certain factors that you take into account?
Joel Enos: Well, first and foremost, if any of the editors here on the team look at something and they are very enthusiastic about it, they'll champion that title to acquire it here. We pretty much look at everything and then it’s pretty much a huge ongoing pow-wow where we editors explain why we think it would work. We’re using our experience and expertise as editors, as far as what’s going on in the U.S., what’s going on with manga, which manga are working (here). We ask questions like, 'Are we getting a little too far into the intellectual stuff?' Is there a really good action?' So we definitely consider the variety (of our line-up) too.
Q: In the first five years of Shonen Jump Magazine, there were several long-running series that stayed there for years. Now, it seems like you're doing a more cyclical rotation, where you have some mainstays stories like Bleach and One Piece, then previews of new stories cycle in to appear for an issue or two.
Joel Enos: Well, the reason why we're doing that is exactly what you said. The magazine has been around for almost eight years now. It’s not a new magazine anymore, but there are new readers coming to the magazine, as well as to manga all the time.
When Shonen Jump first launched as a magazine here in the States, it caught the interest of a lot of people who not only weren’t so much into magazines because this kind of manga magazine hadn’t existed in the U.S. before. We introduced a lot of readers to these manga series. I think Naruto started in the second issue. And now, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece… I mean, the success of those titles is astronomical. They’re now a part of American pop culture as well.
Since then, I think the audience has changed, pop culture has changed. The "manga trend" may be on the decline, but manga's place in mainstream popular culture is firm now. That changes the way people read the magazine, and that it makes it a little bit more exciting.
Now almost eight years later, Shonen Jump Magazine is re-launching with a new look in the January 2011 issue, and the Shonen Jump website will also debut new, subscriber-only features in December 2010. I spoke with Shonen Jump Senior Editor Joel Enos about these changes to this manga monthly, and how fans can help shape its future, both in print and online.
Q: For readers who might not be familiar with you, can you explain a little bit about your role and the kind of work you do at VIZ Media.
Joel Enos: My title is Senior Editor, and I’m the Senior Editor for the Shonen Jump imprint. I edit Naruto and for the last year, I’ve been editing Ultimo, the manga by Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei. I recently handed that title to another editor, and now most of my position for the last year has been actually been running Shonen Jump Magazine.
So, I still have a very strong hand in the manga, but only related to how it runs in the magazine. I work with the other editors to oversee the general structure for my own series, Naruto, but also One Piece and anything that we preview or showcase in Shonen Jump Magazine.
SHONEN JUMP REVAMP: NEW LOOK AND NEW MANGA
Q: You, and the other editors have been hinting at a reboot of Shonen Jump Magazine for a while now — most explicitly at your panel at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer. So what does this change mean, specifically? What can readers expect to see?Joel Enos: It means a lot of different things, really. But specifically, the most exciting thing for us, the editorial team is that we're able to show off a different look to the magazine after eight years. Visually, it looks different, it looks fresh. It looks very organized.
The original version of Shonen Jump looked good for the time when it came out, but you've got to keep current, and keep up with what's out there. I think this change makes the magazine look more contemporary.
The most exciting thing for the fans is that we're bringing back Yu-Gi-Oh. We'll be serializing Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's every month. We're also launching a new series by a relatively new manga-ka; it's called Psyren. It's a science fiction adventure story. It's really, really cool. The first two chapters will be featured in the January 2011 issue too.
Q: You've been getting feedback from fans over the years. What are the top two or three requests from fans that you're addressing with this redesign?
Joel Enos: One of the things we've heard from readers… well, I wouldn't say that they've been saying that the mix of manga has been getting stale, but that they'd like to have access to more variety, more series, more stories.
I've been the editor for Naruto for almost five years now. I can't tell you how much I appreciate how much fans enjoy reading it, but it is on chapter 500 now. But I also think it's important to make it easy for new readers to get into a story.
Honestly, we haven't had a new series in the magazine in a while. We hadn't found stories that were the perfect fit for the magazine, but I think we have now with Psyren, and with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. We also want to offer more manga, so that's one reason why we're doing the online serialization.
Now, of course, we won't be taking Bleach, or Naruto or One Piece out of the print magazine. Those are the fan favorites, and our favorites as well. But with a print magazine, we're restricted by page count. We just can't go bigger than 300 pages. With online serialization, the possibilities are endless. We can feature all kinds of content, all kind of manga series. So we can give readers more manga in more ways.
Q: Speaking of more manga, there’s a ton of Shonen Jump titles in Japan that haven't been released yet in North America. How do you decide what gets published in the U.S.? Are there certain factors that you take into account?
Joel Enos: Well, first and foremost, if any of the editors here on the team look at something and they are very enthusiastic about it, they'll champion that title to acquire it here. We pretty much look at everything and then it’s pretty much a huge ongoing pow-wow where we editors explain why we think it would work. We’re using our experience and expertise as editors, as far as what’s going on in the U.S., what’s going on with manga, which manga are working (here). We ask questions like, 'Are we getting a little too far into the intellectual stuff?' Is there a really good action?' So we definitely consider the variety (of our line-up) too.
Q: In the first five years of Shonen Jump Magazine, there were several long-running series that stayed there for years. Now, it seems like you're doing a more cyclical rotation, where you have some mainstays stories like Bleach and One Piece, then previews of new stories cycle in to appear for an issue or two.
Joel Enos: Well, the reason why we're doing that is exactly what you said. The magazine has been around for almost eight years now. It’s not a new magazine anymore, but there are new readers coming to the magazine, as well as to manga all the time.
When Shonen Jump first launched as a magazine here in the States, it caught the interest of a lot of people who not only weren’t so much into magazines because this kind of manga magazine hadn’t existed in the U.S. before. We introduced a lot of readers to these manga series. I think Naruto started in the second issue. And now, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece… I mean, the success of those titles is astronomical. They’re now a part of American pop culture as well.
Since then, I think the audience has changed, pop culture has changed. The "manga trend" may be on the decline, but manga's place in mainstream popular culture is firm now. That changes the way people read the magazine, and that it makes it a little bit more exciting.
| The Rise of Japanese Manga |
Japan has become the world leader in comics. Japanese manga, as comics are called here, have been publicized the world over on television and in newspapers and the most popular works have been introduced abroad both through legal and pirate translations. But despite these efforts, they remain insufficient for foreign audiences wishing to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the genre. In the months that follow I intend to give a wide-ranging introduction to Japanese manga based on theme, but before I do I should like to begin with an overview of the basics.   First I would like to provide some information on the Japanese manga industry. The manga industry in Japan is of such a massive scale as to completely overshadow the industries of the two other great comic-producing nations, the United States and France. There are a great number of magazines in Japan devoted exclusively to manga but it is difficult to give an exact accounting of their number given that it is not at all uncommon for smaller publishing houses to bring out one new magazine after another under different titles. The core of the manga publishing industry consists of some 13 weekly manga magazines published by the major publishers alone, along with 10 biweeklies, and approximately twenty influential monthlies. At any given time there are at least ten magazines which boast over one million copies of each issue. At most there is one non-manga magazine in Japan which can claim a readership of over one million. Yearly sales of manga throughout the 1990's have been in the neighborhood of 600 billion yen, including 350 billion in magazine sales and 250 billion in paperbacks. These figures do no not include sales of manga appearng in general magazines and newspapers. The total sales of published material in Japan (including magazines and books but excluding newspapers) is two trillion five-hundred billion yen, of which manga sales account for nearly one quarter. Given a total Japanese population of 120 million, we can calculate that the average Japanese spends approximately 2,000 yen per year on manga in one form or another. The three largest publishing houses producing manga are Kodansha, Shogakkan, and Shueisha. In addition there are some ten odd publishing firms which come in at a close second, including Akita Shoten, Futabasha, Shonen Gahosha, Hakusensha, Nihon Bungeisha, and Kobunsha. This is not even to mention the countless other small-scale publishing firms. The larger publishers mentioned above also publish magazines and books in areas outside of manga.   It is estimated that there are around 3000 professional manga artists in Japan. All of these individuals have published at least one volume of manga, but most of them make their living as assistants to famous manga artists or have some other supplementary source of income. Only 300 of these, or ten percent of the total, are able to make an above-average living from manga alone. In addition, there are also a great number of amateur manga artists who produce small magazines intended for private circulation, called dojinshi. photos show racks and racks of manga at specialist bookstores in Tokyo |
I’ve been having a bit of a bad week and I’m not able to do much about it. It’s times like these I REALLY really want some good manga to cheer me up and entertain me so I’m not caught up in worrying about myself.
Despite having a large stack of manga to read through and plenty of little things I could work on instead, I find myself wishing my copies of From Far Away (VIZ) weren’t at my mom’s house.
I guess my love for this series explains a lot of my tastes as manga fan, but From Far Away remains the best romance I have seen put to paper in manga and in novels. I never fail to get re-enraptured whenever I re-read the series and it always manages to make me calm down a bit.
That’s just one of the great things about manga -their power to make you feel different after you finish a volume. There’s manga that’s meant to cheer you up, meant to make you squeal with girlish delight, meant to make you sad and meant to make think ‘THAT WAS SO AWESOME.’ It’s what gets fans hooked and what someone who has never read manga will never been able to understand why it’s so well-liked. All those naysayers probably just haven’t found that series that they cannot connect to on a deeper level. I’m pretty sure there’s one out there for everyone.
With all this manga out there, inspiring all sorts of emotions, which manga inspires the most emotions from you?
Despite having a large stack of manga to read through and plenty of little things I could work on instead, I find myself wishing my copies of From Far Away (VIZ) weren’t at my mom’s house.
I guess my love for this series explains a lot of my tastes as manga fan, but From Far Away remains the best romance I have seen put to paper in manga and in novels. I never fail to get re-enraptured whenever I re-read the series and it always manages to make me calm down a bit.
That’s just one of the great things about manga -their power to make you feel different after you finish a volume. There’s manga that’s meant to cheer you up, meant to make you squeal with girlish delight, meant to make you sad and meant to make think ‘THAT WAS SO AWESOME.’ It’s what gets fans hooked and what someone who has never read manga will never been able to understand why it’s so well-liked. All those naysayers probably just haven’t found that series that they cannot connect to on a deeper level. I’m pretty sure there’s one out there for everyone.
With all this manga out there, inspiring all sorts of emotions, which manga inspires the most emotions from you?
There’s been a lot of debate going on lately about plagiarism, piracy and scanlations in the manga world. No doubt you’ve heard of the recent trouble Nick Simmons has gotten himself into. With everyone up in arms and the conversations starting to turn to the feelings of entitlement amongst fans who feel it is right to steal, I came up with a few ideas on how to not steal manga and ruin things for the rest of us who actually do buy manga.
1. Go to the library:
Some people have some misguided ideas about how libraries work and think that it’s akin to reading scanlations. WRONG. At some point the library either had to buy the book or it was donated by someone else who had bought the book. Also, if a book is worn out from frequent use, the library will (more likely than not) buy a new copy to replace the old one. Most, if not all, libraries are free. All you have to do is sign up and you can borrow manga for free! FREE!!!!!!!
2. Make Friends, Borrow Their Manga:
Again, unless your friends are kleptos, they bought the manga at some point, so it’s not like scanlations either. Not only does this method allow you to read manga for free (FREE, YOU GUYS!!!), but it encourages you to read manga that you may not have read before because your friends suggested it or something. And it’s always good to have friends, especially ones with similar interests. If you’re still not convinced, look at your mom. Does she lend and borrow books from her friend? If so, you see anyone getting upset over it? Nope. Why’s that? Because this method of sharing allows word of mouth to spread and word of mouth is a GOOD thing for publishers.
3. Watch for deals and sales at retailers that stock manga:
I buy a LOT of manga. I have to save money somewhere, right? Right. So I sign up for every reward benefit thing at every store I go to that sells manga. Barnes & Noble gives members a little bit off each purchase and coupons; Borders often has coupons or buy 4, get 1 free deals; the local comic book shop in my hometown takes $1 off every $10 spent; RightStuf has amazing deals every single week and a well-stocked bargain bin. Those are only a few examples, but most every retailer uses such tactics because they know you’re more likely to come and buy one or two books from them if you have a coupon in your hand.
4. Contests and giveaways:
Let’s start with TOKYOPOP because I know them best. They keep giving away free copies of their new releases if you follow them closely on twitter. There’s plenty of other contests through their website. DMP also gives away free previews online manga to their followers on a regular basis. I’ve seen a number of manga blogs do the same thing. I’ve already gotten a few manga this way myself. VERY USEFUL. Even if I don’t enjoy the manga, I’ve read something and kept myself from being bored for awhile. Again: FREEEEEEEEEEEE!
5. Publisher-endorsed online manga:
Publishers are getting the hang of the whole online manga thing. Viz has it’s SigIkki website, as well as Rin-ne and Arata: the Legend. I know TOKYOPOP is already releasing a few chapters of manga here and there (most notably Re:Play) and is looking interestedly into getting digital rights to put more online. Netcomics has everything online for pretty low prices. So does DMP. Vertical has previews up (the glory of their print editions really demand that you purchase the hard copies, however.) Even Marvel is putting more comics online. Not all of these online manga are free, but most of the prices are pretty reasonable in my opinion.
6. Used Book Stores:
There are a number of used manga book stores in my area, but I’m lucky because there are large populations of Asians in Los Angeles and Orange County. Still, when I lived in my small college town, I was able to find used manga every once in awhile in the many used bookstores the town held. You might have to be pretty diligent, but I think it’s worth it for cheap manga.
7. Go to Cons:
Cons are great places to buy manga because retailers always have great deals going on so you’ll buy THEIR manga. In fact, I just went to Long Beach Comic Expo a few Saturdays ago and got some manga for $1. That’s an AMAZINGLY GOOD DEAL. Sure, it was a little hard to find something I was interested in, but my friends who got there before me kind of cleaned the place out of stuff I really wanted. I also got 40% some hardcover graphic novels! At Anime Los Angeles, I bought so much manga, the retailer gave me an even better discount than posted and gave me a box to carry it all in. Any manga fan who knows where their towel is will be walking out of a con with armfuls of deeply discounted manga.
8. Learn Japanese:
This is the most expensive and time-consuming way to buy and not steal manga, but it has other non-manga related benefits. If you are around the average age of manga and anime fans (high school- or college-age), then you could actually do with a foreign language in your repertoire. A lot of colleges and certain jobs really really like bi- or multi-lingual people, so it’ll increase the chances of you getting hired in the recession. Hey! You could even get a job in the manga publishing industry. Wouldn’t that be a dream?
9. Turn off your computer:
Being on the computer a lot is actually really bad for your health. It deteriorates your eyes and causes a lot of joint problems in your hands. I know so many people who are slowly going blind or have carpal tunnel from too much computer time. These are pretty young people too. So you might as well save a little bit on your health care bills by turning off the computer and reading a print edition of something.
10. Feed me:
By buying manga you are essentially allowing me to eat. Since you’re reading this blog, I assume that you might care whether or not I live or die. Since I’m currently working in the American manga publishing industry, buying manga (TOKYOPOP manga, but I won’t judge if you buy Viz) inevitably puts food on my table. Now just think of all the hundreds of other employees like me who publish manga in order to buy their daily bread. If all of you keep reading scanlations all the time instead of buying the manga, the companies we work for will STOP PUBLISHING MANGA. Sure you may think that’s a good thing, but just wait until you want to read your favorite series and the scanlation group has decided to disband, leaving you in the dark. And what if no other groups take it up? Huh? Well, guess what: publishers (YES, EVEN TOKYOPOP) try REALLY REALLY hard not to do that to you. Yeah.
I’m not going to lie: I don’t really have problems with anyone reading scanlations of unlicensed series. That’s one of the very few nice things about scanlations, you can read some manga that aren’t licensed yet or might never be licensed in the U.S. BUT IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING. (Trust me, very few people in the industry are raking in the dough.) If you insist on doing so, I’m going to haunt you when I die from starvation. Just so you know. No high horse here. I don’t think I’ve ever read a licensed scanlation, except for one time when I read one in order potentially promote the legit licensed version because I was short on time. I felt so dirty afterward, I definitely don’t want to do THAT again.
If anyone has any other suggestions on how to buy and not steal manga, let’s hear them!
1. Go to the library:
Some people have some misguided ideas about how libraries work and think that it’s akin to reading scanlations. WRONG. At some point the library either had to buy the book or it was donated by someone else who had bought the book. Also, if a book is worn out from frequent use, the library will (more likely than not) buy a new copy to replace the old one. Most, if not all, libraries are free. All you have to do is sign up and you can borrow manga for free! FREE!!!!!!!
2. Make Friends, Borrow Their Manga:
Again, unless your friends are kleptos, they bought the manga at some point, so it’s not like scanlations either. Not only does this method allow you to read manga for free (FREE, YOU GUYS!!!), but it encourages you to read manga that you may not have read before because your friends suggested it or something. And it’s always good to have friends, especially ones with similar interests. If you’re still not convinced, look at your mom. Does she lend and borrow books from her friend? If so, you see anyone getting upset over it? Nope. Why’s that? Because this method of sharing allows word of mouth to spread and word of mouth is a GOOD thing for publishers.
3. Watch for deals and sales at retailers that stock manga:
I buy a LOT of manga. I have to save money somewhere, right? Right. So I sign up for every reward benefit thing at every store I go to that sells manga. Barnes & Noble gives members a little bit off each purchase and coupons; Borders often has coupons or buy 4, get 1 free deals; the local comic book shop in my hometown takes $1 off every $10 spent; RightStuf has amazing deals every single week and a well-stocked bargain bin. Those are only a few examples, but most every retailer uses such tactics because they know you’re more likely to come and buy one or two books from them if you have a coupon in your hand.
4. Contests and giveaways:
Let’s start with TOKYOPOP because I know them best. They keep giving away free copies of their new releases if you follow them closely on twitter. There’s plenty of other contests through their website. DMP also gives away free previews online manga to their followers on a regular basis. I’ve seen a number of manga blogs do the same thing. I’ve already gotten a few manga this way myself. VERY USEFUL. Even if I don’t enjoy the manga, I’ve read something and kept myself from being bored for awhile. Again: FREEEEEEEEEEEE!
5. Publisher-endorsed online manga:
Publishers are getting the hang of the whole online manga thing. Viz has it’s SigIkki website, as well as Rin-ne and Arata: the Legend. I know TOKYOPOP is already releasing a few chapters of manga here and there (most notably Re:Play) and is looking interestedly into getting digital rights to put more online. Netcomics has everything online for pretty low prices. So does DMP. Vertical has previews up (the glory of their print editions really demand that you purchase the hard copies, however.) Even Marvel is putting more comics online. Not all of these online manga are free, but most of the prices are pretty reasonable in my opinion.
6. Used Book Stores:
There are a number of used manga book stores in my area, but I’m lucky because there are large populations of Asians in Los Angeles and Orange County. Still, when I lived in my small college town, I was able to find used manga every once in awhile in the many used bookstores the town held. You might have to be pretty diligent, but I think it’s worth it for cheap manga.
7. Go to Cons:
Cons are great places to buy manga because retailers always have great deals going on so you’ll buy THEIR manga. In fact, I just went to Long Beach Comic Expo a few Saturdays ago and got some manga for $1. That’s an AMAZINGLY GOOD DEAL. Sure, it was a little hard to find something I was interested in, but my friends who got there before me kind of cleaned the place out of stuff I really wanted. I also got 40% some hardcover graphic novels! At Anime Los Angeles, I bought so much manga, the retailer gave me an even better discount than posted and gave me a box to carry it all in. Any manga fan who knows where their towel is will be walking out of a con with armfuls of deeply discounted manga.
8. Learn Japanese:
This is the most expensive and time-consuming way to buy and not steal manga, but it has other non-manga related benefits. If you are around the average age of manga and anime fans (high school- or college-age), then you could actually do with a foreign language in your repertoire. A lot of colleges and certain jobs really really like bi- or multi-lingual people, so it’ll increase the chances of you getting hired in the recession. Hey! You could even get a job in the manga publishing industry. Wouldn’t that be a dream?
9. Turn off your computer:
Being on the computer a lot is actually really bad for your health. It deteriorates your eyes and causes a lot of joint problems in your hands. I know so many people who are slowly going blind or have carpal tunnel from too much computer time. These are pretty young people too. So you might as well save a little bit on your health care bills by turning off the computer and reading a print edition of something.
10. Feed me:
By buying manga you are essentially allowing me to eat. Since you’re reading this blog, I assume that you might care whether or not I live or die. Since I’m currently working in the American manga publishing industry, buying manga (TOKYOPOP manga, but I won’t judge if you buy Viz) inevitably puts food on my table. Now just think of all the hundreds of other employees like me who publish manga in order to buy their daily bread. If all of you keep reading scanlations all the time instead of buying the manga, the companies we work for will STOP PUBLISHING MANGA. Sure you may think that’s a good thing, but just wait until you want to read your favorite series and the scanlation group has decided to disband, leaving you in the dark. And what if no other groups take it up? Huh? Well, guess what: publishers (YES, EVEN TOKYOPOP) try REALLY REALLY hard not to do that to you. Yeah.
I’m not going to lie: I don’t really have problems with anyone reading scanlations of unlicensed series. That’s one of the very few nice things about scanlations, you can read some manga that aren’t licensed yet or might never be licensed in the U.S. BUT IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING. (Trust me, very few people in the industry are raking in the dough.) If you insist on doing so, I’m going to haunt you when I die from starvation. Just so you know. No high horse here. I don’t think I’ve ever read a licensed scanlation, except for one time when I read one in order potentially promote the legit licensed version because I was short on time. I felt so dirty afterward, I definitely don’t want to do THAT again.
If anyone has any other suggestions on how to buy and not steal manga, let’s hear them!
As I leave for my trip tomorrow, I find myself with a bit of a dilemma. Do I pack manga or not? I wish I could bring enough for the entire trip, but doing so would probably mean packing more than one suitcase and nowadays that’s going to cost a lot of money.
Still, I’ve tried really hard to bring a good library to keep me entertained. Once I did it for a month I spent studying Spanish in Havana, Cuba. I wound up giving half of my library to a Cuban comic book fan in desperate need of more current material and the other half got ruined by rain leaking into my bedroom. If I’m lucky, I’ll stumble upon manga during my trip. I remember when I went to Argentina and wound up stumbling upon Cardcaptor Sakura being sold at ordinary new stands in the street. But I’ve tried to stop bringing much manga on my trips because it’s simply tough to bring so many heavy books when your trips are as active as the ones I usually go on…
Nevertheless, It’s tough to go without a manga fix for a long period of time, so here are my suggestions. I’m going to base them on the length and nature of the trip, but first, a suggestion that covers any sort of traveling you might do:
If you have an e-reader or other device that can play anime or allow you to read manga (without wireless handy), load it up and USE IT.
Man, I wish I had an e-reader. Maybe next year.
Now then!
For most trips, but especially if you’re flying:
-Try to avoid bringing more than 5-10 manga if you can manage it. Manga is heavy and airlines like to charge for luggage when they can. Domestic flights are usually the worst culprits, charging for every piece of luggage check, but international flights will also charge if you go overweight. You’ll also want to pack light if you expect to be doing a lot or expect to be shopping. You’ll want room in your luggage for all your goodies.
-Try paperback light novels. They’re lighter than manga, but are written in similar style. There are more than a few out in English including Twelve Kingdoms, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the more mature Haikasoru line from Viz.
-Heck, try reading normal novels. There are a number of splendid books out there. I’m particularly fond of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series at the moment, so I’ve gotten a bunch of his novels for my trip.
-If you’re studying Japanese, bring your dictionary and a couple of tankobon. It takes a lot longer when you’re trying to comprehend something in another language, so your entertainment value will be stretched further and you’ll improve your vocabulary!
For trips to conventions:
-I really only have one suggestion for this one- just bring some magazines for the trip over and then buy your fill of entertainment for the trip back. I always like to pack light for conventions anyway.
For boring trips to grandma’s:
-If you’ve got the space to do so, bring as much as you’d like to keep yourself entertained. But, if you can, see if you can’t get someone to take you to a local bookstore so you can stock up and only have to haul a heavy load one way.
-Sneak over to your cousin’s place, borrow their computer and read some digital manga. Oh, hey, look, here’s a bunch of FREE and LEGAL manga to read online.
That’s really it, there’s not a lot to packing manga for trips beyond common sense and a bit of cleverness.
And with that I’m off. You can look forward to a few guest posts in the next two weeks and perhaps a quick word from me when I can fit it in. Perhaps I’ll go looking for the Thai manga scene (I’ve been told they have one, but I’m not sure if Laos does) in between riding elephants and looking for tigers.
(Yeah, I’m excited for the tigers and the elephants too.)
Still, I’ve tried really hard to bring a good library to keep me entertained. Once I did it for a month I spent studying Spanish in Havana, Cuba. I wound up giving half of my library to a Cuban comic book fan in desperate need of more current material and the other half got ruined by rain leaking into my bedroom. If I’m lucky, I’ll stumble upon manga during my trip. I remember when I went to Argentina and wound up stumbling upon Cardcaptor Sakura being sold at ordinary new stands in the street. But I’ve tried to stop bringing much manga on my trips because it’s simply tough to bring so many heavy books when your trips are as active as the ones I usually go on…
Nevertheless, It’s tough to go without a manga fix for a long period of time, so here are my suggestions. I’m going to base them on the length and nature of the trip, but first, a suggestion that covers any sort of traveling you might do:
If you have an e-reader or other device that can play anime or allow you to read manga (without wireless handy), load it up and USE IT.
Man, I wish I had an e-reader. Maybe next year.
Now then!
For most trips, but especially if you’re flying:
-Try to avoid bringing more than 5-10 manga if you can manage it. Manga is heavy and airlines like to charge for luggage when they can. Domestic flights are usually the worst culprits, charging for every piece of luggage check, but international flights will also charge if you go overweight. You’ll also want to pack light if you expect to be doing a lot or expect to be shopping. You’ll want room in your luggage for all your goodies.
-Try paperback light novels. They’re lighter than manga, but are written in similar style. There are more than a few out in English including Twelve Kingdoms, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the more mature Haikasoru line from Viz.
-Heck, try reading normal novels. There are a number of splendid books out there. I’m particularly fond of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series at the moment, so I’ve gotten a bunch of his novels for my trip.
-If you’re studying Japanese, bring your dictionary and a couple of tankobon. It takes a lot longer when you’re trying to comprehend something in another language, so your entertainment value will be stretched further and you’ll improve your vocabulary!
For trips to conventions:
-I really only have one suggestion for this one- just bring some magazines for the trip over and then buy your fill of entertainment for the trip back. I always like to pack light for conventions anyway.
For boring trips to grandma’s:
-If you’ve got the space to do so, bring as much as you’d like to keep yourself entertained. But, if you can, see if you can’t get someone to take you to a local bookstore so you can stock up and only have to haul a heavy load one way.
-Sneak over to your cousin’s place, borrow their computer and read some digital manga. Oh, hey, look, here’s a bunch of FREE and LEGAL manga to read online.
That’s really it, there’s not a lot to packing manga for trips beyond common sense and a bit of cleverness.
And with that I’m off. You can look forward to a few guest posts in the next two weeks and perhaps a quick word from me when I can fit it in. Perhaps I’ll go looking for the Thai manga scene (I’ve been told they have one, but I’m not sure if Laos does) in between riding elephants and looking for tigers.
(Yeah, I’m excited for the tigers and the elephants too.)
Manga licensing is a tricky business. There are companies that won’t work with other companies, titles that are too expensive to reasonably bring over the U.S., mangaka who are wary about having their work brought to an English-speaking audience and many other things to consider before licensing a title for the finicky U.S. market. It’s especially hard to judge demand when there are so many people reading scanlations. Is this title popular enough despite all those people who’ve already read it for free? Will fans devote their money to a manga regardless? It’s hard to judge a risky market like manga publishing sometimes. The best that can be done sometimes is to listen to their demands, but that might not always be the easiest thing to do because of all the restrictions mentioned above.
But what if we pretended to wipe the slate clean and have our own publishing companies for a moment? You’re given the opportunity to license any two manga titles that you wanted to, regardless of price, publisher politics or the relative lack of demand for the titles you pick. What would you license?
Rose of Versailles? Sailor Moon? Jungle Emperor Leo? What are you dying to publish the most?
I’ve tried to give the subject matter a lot of thought. It’s really hard to pick just two titles because there’s probably two dozen on my mental shortlist. Do I really want this one over this other one? I’m not sure, because I’d probably buy either in an instant.
But I’ve decided. I would want to bring over Osamu Tezuka’s Nana-iro Inko (Rainbow Parakeet), which I’ve mentioned wanting before, and Saint Oniisan (Saint Young Men) by Hikaru Nakamura.
Had I a chance to bring over a third title, I would have probably picked Moto Hagio’s A Cruel God Reigns, but I think the above two titles would have to be my first two picks. Nana-iro Inko because it sounds like a fun, under-estimated Tezuka title and Saint Oniisan because I read it (when I felt less guilty about scanlations) and loved it so much. (I would buy for myself in an instant and recommend it to all my friends who have a good sense of humor about religion.) It would break my heart to never ever see either title in English, in my lifetime. (Whereas I just want to see more of Moto Hagio’s work and had a hard time picking between A Cruel God Reigns and Poe no Ichizoku.)
So I’ll ask again: If you could have any two titles published in your language, regardless of any extenuating circumstances, what would those two titles be?
But what if we pretended to wipe the slate clean and have our own publishing companies for a moment? You’re given the opportunity to license any two manga titles that you wanted to, regardless of price, publisher politics or the relative lack of demand for the titles you pick. What would you license?
Rose of Versailles? Sailor Moon? Jungle Emperor Leo? What are you dying to publish the most?
I’ve tried to give the subject matter a lot of thought. It’s really hard to pick just two titles because there’s probably two dozen on my mental shortlist. Do I really want this one over this other one? I’m not sure, because I’d probably buy either in an instant.
But I’ve decided. I would want to bring over Osamu Tezuka’s Nana-iro Inko (Rainbow Parakeet), which I’ve mentioned wanting before, and Saint Oniisan (Saint Young Men) by Hikaru Nakamura.
Had I a chance to bring over a third title, I would have probably picked Moto Hagio’s A Cruel God Reigns, but I think the above two titles would have to be my first two picks. Nana-iro Inko because it sounds like a fun, under-estimated Tezuka title and Saint Oniisan because I read it (when I felt less guilty about scanlations) and loved it so much. (I would buy for myself in an instant and recommend it to all my friends who have a good sense of humor about religion.) It would break my heart to never ever see either title in English, in my lifetime. (Whereas I just want to see more of Moto Hagio’s work and had a hard time picking between A Cruel God Reigns and Poe no Ichizoku.)
So I’ll ask again: If you could have any two titles published in your language, regardless of any extenuating circumstances, what would those two titles be?
Last weekend, I went to visit my alma mater and hang out with some good friends. At brunch with two friends from my old anime club, we wound up talking about manga in depth. One friend was just a casual fan, picking up stuff that interested him here and there. He has a full-time job and the disposable income to pick up whatever he wanted regularly. The other friend was a scanlation reader largely by necessity as she doesn’t have a job and is a full-time student.
But as we discussed the manga industry in the local Barnes & Noble and I suggested manga they’d both like left and right, it became really clear to me that neither of them knew much about what the industry was offering. Neither of them had heard of SigIkki, Viz’s fantastic online serialization site for more mature titles. Neither of them knew about many great titles out in English, other digital offerings or even about the existence some of the smaller manga publishers. They were casual manga fans to a T.
It struck me, mostly because I think I’ve been living in an intense manga industry-focused bubble for the past year and a half or so, but also because it seems like such a spectacular failure on the industry’s part. Why the hell aren’t we doing more to tell these kinds of readers know what’s going on?
Some could argue that the industry is already doing all that it can. They’re reaching out to fans on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. There are in-book ads, company newsletters, even TV shows dedicated to reaching out to the fans. The only problem? I think they’re reaching out to only the hardcore fans, the otaku.
To be a hardcore fan of manga and anime means that you’re probably more than a little obsessed with the stuff. While these kinds of fans may know a lot about manga, there is certainly a focus on extremely popular manga and scanlations because both are easily accessible. There are lots of sites dedicated to both, lots of marketing put out (at least on the legal side of things) that’s devoted to Naruto (or Bleach or Vampire Knight, etc.) and almost no energy allotted for telling fans about the countless number of less popular manga out there. No wonder most fans don’t know they exist! (And sales are low.) Where’s the tweet reminding everyone that the next Butterflies, Flowers or Maid Sama is on sale? I really can’t recall much promotional information on such titles during the time I’ve been focusing on the manga industry. In fact, I think smaller pubs like DMP and Vertical Inc. are the only ones who really bother trying to give attention to each and every new volume of manga that comes out. But sometimes, for publishers like Vertical, the fans don’t even know they exist either because no one’s passed them an ANN article or because bookstore distribution for those publishers isn’t as heavy as it is for Viz, Yen Press or Tokyopop. I certainly knew nothing about tiny pubs like Fanfare/Ponent Mon before 2009, so it doesn’t surprise me almost no one else does either.
So how do we get back to the casual fan? Heavy distribution in large chain bookstores is a start. Certainly, the big American publishers take up most of the room, leaving the smaller pubs to fight for space or take their merchandise elsewhere. The problem with this is that I think a ton of casual manga readers find what they buy here in these Borders and Barnes & Nobles. So that leaves the responsibility of marketing to whatever is on the shelves. One thing that I always thought Viz did right is the in-book ads printed on the inside of the front cover listing the newest releases and when they’d hit the streets. They may have only done this with the Shojo Beat line, but hot damn it was effective when I wasn’t hyper-connected to manga news. What’s this? New volumes of Sand Chronicles, Love*Com, SA and Otomen are out? I WANT THEM ALL! Oh, and what’s this new series they have listed? I’ll see if they have it here and flip through it. A great, REALLY SIMPLE way to keep someone interested in buying your manga. It might be slightly more expensive because of where it’s printed, but at least the information has reached the fans right away.
Unfortunately, Viz doesn’t do this for some of the titles that probably need the most help selling– it’s Signature and SigIkki lines. Out of all the ones in my collection that I looked at, only one or two titles had these little inside front cover ads. More titles had ads in the very last pages. Many more had no ads at all, especially the SigIkki titles. The biggest shame is that the only places you could find the SigIkki URL were the places you were LEAST likely to look for pme, like underneath a barcode. Who looks there? Seriously?! Knowing Tokyopop’s process through my freelance work for them, I can tell you that the number of in-book ads depends on how many pages you have left over (page numbers go by increments of 16 unless you want to pay serious cash to do otherwise.)
If there are in-book ads, a lot of space is dedicated to showing off the shiniest new series that the publisher has with the shiniest art they can find that looks good in black and white and lots and lots of copy. As far as I can tell, pretty much every manga publisher is guilty of this. What I think would be more effective, an overall look at the new releases of the line or the company listed on one page with effective information like dates and websites, never actually happens. What the readers see is only what the publisher feels like pushing at the time. Again, energy is focused on the popular titles instead of showing off titles that readers might not even know about. No wonder there’s so much unloved manga out there. There’s not even any real marketing done for the shiny new digital venues that pubs are beginning to put out left and right. At least, not any that reaches all the fans!
I’m pretty sure I’ve only rambled on about part of the manga marketing process and so much more could be done. But for the sake of the length of this post and a fast-approaching bedtime, I’ll stop here with a few questions.
Imagine, if you will, that you don’t read up on the manga industry on a regular basis, that you don’t read any manga-related blogs and that you’re not following Viz or whomever on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. You get your news from your friends, maybe some livejournal communities and, most importantly, what you see in stores. What would be the most effective way of letting you know about other titles you’d be interested in? Do you even read the in-book ads at the end of manga you buy? Do you notice the websites and other information listed in odd places throughout the book? What, if anything, informs you about what else is out there? What do you think could be done to better impart that kind of information to you?
But as we discussed the manga industry in the local Barnes & Noble and I suggested manga they’d both like left and right, it became really clear to me that neither of them knew much about what the industry was offering. Neither of them had heard of SigIkki, Viz’s fantastic online serialization site for more mature titles. Neither of them knew about many great titles out in English, other digital offerings or even about the existence some of the smaller manga publishers. They were casual manga fans to a T.
It struck me, mostly because I think I’ve been living in an intense manga industry-focused bubble for the past year and a half or so, but also because it seems like such a spectacular failure on the industry’s part. Why the hell aren’t we doing more to tell these kinds of readers know what’s going on?
Some could argue that the industry is already doing all that it can. They’re reaching out to fans on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. There are in-book ads, company newsletters, even TV shows dedicated to reaching out to the fans. The only problem? I think they’re reaching out to only the hardcore fans, the otaku.
To be a hardcore fan of manga and anime means that you’re probably more than a little obsessed with the stuff. While these kinds of fans may know a lot about manga, there is certainly a focus on extremely popular manga and scanlations because both are easily accessible. There are lots of sites dedicated to both, lots of marketing put out (at least on the legal side of things) that’s devoted to Naruto (or Bleach or Vampire Knight, etc.) and almost no energy allotted for telling fans about the countless number of less popular manga out there. No wonder most fans don’t know they exist! (And sales are low.) Where’s the tweet reminding everyone that the next Butterflies, Flowers or Maid Sama is on sale? I really can’t recall much promotional information on such titles during the time I’ve been focusing on the manga industry. In fact, I think smaller pubs like DMP and Vertical Inc. are the only ones who really bother trying to give attention to each and every new volume of manga that comes out. But sometimes, for publishers like Vertical, the fans don’t even know they exist either because no one’s passed them an ANN article or because bookstore distribution for those publishers isn’t as heavy as it is for Viz, Yen Press or Tokyopop. I certainly knew nothing about tiny pubs like Fanfare/Ponent Mon before 2009, so it doesn’t surprise me almost no one else does either.
So how do we get back to the casual fan? Heavy distribution in large chain bookstores is a start. Certainly, the big American publishers take up most of the room, leaving the smaller pubs to fight for space or take their merchandise elsewhere. The problem with this is that I think a ton of casual manga readers find what they buy here in these Borders and Barnes & Nobles. So that leaves the responsibility of marketing to whatever is on the shelves. One thing that I always thought Viz did right is the in-book ads printed on the inside of the front cover listing the newest releases and when they’d hit the streets. They may have only done this with the Shojo Beat line, but hot damn it was effective when I wasn’t hyper-connected to manga news. What’s this? New volumes of Sand Chronicles, Love*Com, SA and Otomen are out? I WANT THEM ALL! Oh, and what’s this new series they have listed? I’ll see if they have it here and flip through it. A great, REALLY SIMPLE way to keep someone interested in buying your manga. It might be slightly more expensive because of where it’s printed, but at least the information has reached the fans right away.
Unfortunately, Viz doesn’t do this for some of the titles that probably need the most help selling– it’s Signature and SigIkki lines. Out of all the ones in my collection that I looked at, only one or two titles had these little inside front cover ads. More titles had ads in the very last pages. Many more had no ads at all, especially the SigIkki titles. The biggest shame is that the only places you could find the SigIkki URL were the places you were LEAST likely to look for pme, like underneath a barcode. Who looks there? Seriously?! Knowing Tokyopop’s process through my freelance work for them, I can tell you that the number of in-book ads depends on how many pages you have left over (page numbers go by increments of 16 unless you want to pay serious cash to do otherwise.)
If there are in-book ads, a lot of space is dedicated to showing off the shiniest new series that the publisher has with the shiniest art they can find that looks good in black and white and lots and lots of copy. As far as I can tell, pretty much every manga publisher is guilty of this. What I think would be more effective, an overall look at the new releases of the line or the company listed on one page with effective information like dates and websites, never actually happens. What the readers see is only what the publisher feels like pushing at the time. Again, energy is focused on the popular titles instead of showing off titles that readers might not even know about. No wonder there’s so much unloved manga out there. There’s not even any real marketing done for the shiny new digital venues that pubs are beginning to put out left and right. At least, not any that reaches all the fans!
I’m pretty sure I’ve only rambled on about part of the manga marketing process and so much more could be done. But for the sake of the length of this post and a fast-approaching bedtime, I’ll stop here with a few questions.
Imagine, if you will, that you don’t read up on the manga industry on a regular basis, that you don’t read any manga-related blogs and that you’re not following Viz or whomever on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. You get your news from your friends, maybe some livejournal communities and, most importantly, what you see in stores. What would be the most effective way of letting you know about other titles you’d be interested in? Do you even read the in-book ads at the end of manga you buy? Do you notice the websites and other information listed in odd places throughout the book? What, if anything, informs you about what else is out there? What do you think could be done to better impart that kind of information to you?
My friend Dave threw me a behemoth of an idea my way last night as I was searching for a blog idea that would strike my fancy. He suggested that I explore the evolution of manga editing, which honestly sounds more like a research paper than a blog post. It would cost me a lot of time and money in order to fully explore the evolution of manga editing, but here’s my go at the idea with only a few series as examples and my own experience under my belt.
So far I have been an editor on little over a dozen manga. As far as manga editors go, I am pretty sure this is a pretty paltry number, but I kind of, sort of just hit the one year mark of working in the manga industry (if you count internships.)
These days, manga editing is really streamlined. Each major company has its own style book and rules to follow and more likely than not, more than one editor reads a manga before it goes to print. Then again, most of the manga publishers these days have been around for years or have other publishers backing them with expectations, rules and editorial talent. There aren’t too many start-up companies around either.
Less than ten years ago, however, it was a bit of a different story. It was only seven years ago that TOKYOPOP first published Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) by Masami Tsuda. Since there are only two names I recognize on the credits page (the COO and the CEO), I hope no one takes offense to me picking one of my employer’s titles or that the company doesn’t take offense to my criticism of an old series. (Although senior editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl tells me that all the mistakes I pointed out were corrected to the best of TOKYOPOP’s ability in the omnibus editions.)
I’ve been slowly re-reading Kare Kano over the past few weeks and the first few volumes were utterly painful. There are many things where I’m surely one of the very few who noticed, but there are numerous instances where Japanese text wasn’t erased before the English text was put over it, where the artwork or tones were erased and never replaced properly (or at all) and text intruding awkwardly on artwork, amongst other things. Sure, the editing improved after the first few volumes and I’m more than sure many things were corrected for the omnibus edition of the manga, but I have to say-no wonder legally published manga had/has a reputation of lower quality when compared to scanlated manga! Not that I think it’s true anymore…That was seven years ago, when TOKYOPOP hadn’t even been around for seven years yet! And now, I know for a fact that TOKYOPOP editors are aware of these past mistakes and know what to look out for. You won’t easily see any garish use of photoshop to replace screentones that were erased in the lettering process or an aside comment that never got translated. The company has sharper editors and sharper touch-up artists these days, but back then they were still learning the ropes.
Viz, however, had nearly 20 years to perfect it’s editing craft when it made (what I think) is a fairly big mistake of a different kind. In the first volume of From Far Away by Kyoko Hikawa, someone left the word “hella,” a Northern California slang word, in a line. When I first read From Far Away, it struck me more because I really dislike the word (being from Southern CA and all), but now it just seems like an amateurish error that they left it in there when the character never ever uses similar slang past the first chapter. (There is an instance of “omigod” in the first chapter, but I feel that it’s more forgivable because it’s just a slight variation on a very common phrase.)
Is this “hella,” however, as grave a manga-editing offense as messing up the artwork and forgetting to remove Japanese text under the English? Yes, because editing manga in the U.S. isn’t just about making things look just as shiny as the Japanese edition, it’s also about creating an ease of reading for the audience. Editors don’t want readers to be caught up in trying to understand a phrase and it’s important to keep a character’s voice sounding consistent to the readers, so using a fairly local slang word is likely to bother them and create confusion when the character does not continue to speak that way. Is it worse that they didn’t continue to use slang to make the character sound like a young girl through out the volume or worse they left in this one inconsistency? I don’t know, but either way it’s an error.
What I watch for in my editing process is a long list. Basically, I look for mistakes that have been made in the art after the manga has been lettered, I look for all the grammatical and spelling errors you would expect, I look for ways to re-write lines so that they sound smoother in keeping with the manga and the character saying them and I look for other things such as making sure the text doesn’t stray too far out into the bleed zones, making sure the size and format of the text conveys the mood and feel of original and making sure words are hyphenated properly. If there are lines that have not been translated into English, I translate them myself or get the help of someone more fluent than I am. If the translators or re-writers have left multiple choices for me to use in the script, I choose which one is the best and/or write in an explanation of some kind. I never catch every mistake that’s been made whenever I edit, but I figure that will improve with time and, in the mean time, I have other editors supporting me and finding what I missed. It’s a tough process and I’m 100% sure that other manga editors have let mistakes slip through and go to print. For example, Del Rey’s version of Mushishi regularly has text cut off. Either half a sentence will disappear at the ends of a page or you’ll have to seriously crack open your manga’s spine to get at it.
Even so, the way manga is published in the U.S. has improved greatly. There is little or no fear of reading a book right-to-left, which not only makes things more authentic to the reader, but easier for everyone who’s ever had to face changing dialogue because a character is now on the left side instead of the right! While there is major censorship around at some companies (and by censorship, I mean someone has a pair of pants on that they didn’t have before), no one is re-writing entire manga with American names and American references anymore. I’ve no doubt in my mind that what I’ve learned as an editor is based on years and years of figuring out what works, what doesn’t and finding the little things that no one caught before. I believe that the editorial process will only continue t0 improve the quality of manga as we editors work on more and more titles. The mistakes that I found, made long ago, are already obsolete in the manga made by those companies as it is!
A spot of manga news for you folks tonight.
Digital Manga Publishing’s eManga site is now hosting a dozen different BL/yaoi titles from TOKYOPOP’s BLU imprint. Of the titles included in the release, I can confirm (because I work for them and I can look up the system that tells me when their street date is) that Secretary’s Love by Tohko Akiba and Stray Cat by Halco are being released ahead of their print street date. Secretary’s Love won’t be out until December and Stray Cat won’t hit until early November, so the wait won’t kill you if you want to hold out for a print copy.
Each title can be purchased for about $6 in points from the eManga site, but they can only be bought to “keep” instead of being “rented”, which is an option with DMP’s own titles.
Not a bad deal if you’re looking for a cheap way to get your BL fix (some of these titles sell for $14.99 in print)! Personally, and I have nothing to do with the decision to put them on eManga although I have edited some of the titles there, I’m really happy to see TOKYOPOP doing this. It’s an especially smart move considering DMP has a good platform for digital viewing and an audience that reads BL. Definitely a smart move on the company’s part.
You can see all the manga from TOKYOPOP/BLU here and enjoy a night or two of steamy, cheap, pixelated man-love.
Digital Manga Publishing’s eManga site is now hosting a dozen different BL/yaoi titles from TOKYOPOP’s BLU imprint. Of the titles included in the release, I can confirm (because I work for them and I can look up the system that tells me when their street date is) that Secretary’s Love by Tohko Akiba and Stray Cat by Halco are being released ahead of their print street date. Secretary’s Love won’t be out until December and Stray Cat won’t hit until early November, so the wait won’t kill you if you want to hold out for a print copy.Each title can be purchased for about $6 in points from the eManga site, but they can only be bought to “keep” instead of being “rented”, which is an option with DMP’s own titles.
Not a bad deal if you’re looking for a cheap way to get your BL fix (some of these titles sell for $14.99 in print)! Personally, and I have nothing to do with the decision to put them on eManga although I have edited some of the titles there, I’m really happy to see TOKYOPOP doing this. It’s an especially smart move considering DMP has a good platform for digital viewing and an audience that reads BL. Definitely a smart move on the company’s part.
You can see all the manga from TOKYOPOP/BLU here and enjoy a night or two of steamy, cheap, pixelated man-love.
I’ve been thinking a lot these days about what goes into publishing manga, mostly because I would love to begin publishing books on my own, but mostly because I feel like the market has begun to totally change. E-readers are becoming more prevalent for serious fans and even a number of the less serious fans have iPhones, Droids or other smart phones that make viewing manga on the go a lot easier. Of course, the manga industry, and the comics industry in general, has been a bit slow to fully embrace digital. Whether their reasons be because companies still favor print (and so do their readers) or because rights holders are still hesitant to give digital rights, I honestly don’t think the industry can turn away from digital comics any more. Sooner or later, almost everyone is going to own an e-reader just like suddenly almost everyone owned an mp3 player.
Of course, the future is unknowable to us mortals and we can’t predict what will change the industry next, but here’s a few things I think manga publishers need to adopt now to be prepared for the onslaught of fans who no longer want print copies.
1. Offer dirt cheap manga for just about every platform imaginable:
This one should be pretty obvious. The music industry survived it’s piracy wars by letting songs go for 99 cents a pop, the same thing should be possible for the comics industry in theory. Of course, 99 cents is a little low, but prices should be as low as feasibly possible. Why? Because the pirates don’t value manga now, just like pirates didn’t value music then. There will still be piracy, of course, but by taking a big gulp and doing whatever is possible to make prices low for readers, it might be possible to begin attracting some of the casual pirates back.
This, unfortunately, is made difficult by the e-reader wars going on. The best strategy is to just offer the manga on any platform that’s humanly (and financially) possible. Sites like ComiXology are obviously a great go-to site for multiple digital platforms and manga publishers like Viz, TOKYOPOP, DMP and Dark Horse are already there. Plus, you can read on the web in case you don’t have an e-reader, which solves the problem for that side of the market who hasn’t been able to buy the expensive gadgets yet.
2. Regular Online Serialization:
Oh man, do I think this is a great idea. A bunch of SigIkki series and Rin-ne became instant favorites when I discovered I could get chapters online for free. It was a ton of fun to get Neko Ramen strips in my mail box each day. But other than the Viz titles, I can’t think of any publisher who is doing regular online serialization with a large number of series. It’d be great to have more pubs jump on to give those people who want to “preview” their manga before they buy what they want. Solving the problem of people just being able to read a series for free all the time, Viz just pulls the chapters once a book goes out, leaving nothing but the first chapters of every volume for those “preview” pirate types.
There are a number of publishers who serialize online, but I find the problem with them is that they do so too infrequently to hold the attention of readers who are devouring manga at the pace of scanlation readers normally do.
3. An open mind and a better website:
It’s no big secret that most manga publisher websites suck. If they aren’t too busy and overwhelming, they’re hard to navigate and it’s difficult to find the information you want. Minimal web design is popular now for a reason- the faster users can find what they want, the faster they get gratification. I’m not saying that manga publishers can’t add flourishes here and there, but unnecessary content, tabs and whatnot should be taken down. We don’t need manga companies to be our social network stand-ins anymore, but every company should run a blog that publishes a bit more than just PR copy. I particularly like some of Viz’s blogs for Rin-ne and SigIkki and TOKYOPOP has some fun cultural content every week in its newsletter. (I used to write articles for it as an intern. It was great fun.) But there should be a blog and it should be the publisher’s hub for getting information out to the masses. And, most importantly, it should not be written like a press release.
Technically having a open mind should be a fourth thing on this list, but it’s something that really applies to it’s predecessors on this short list. Without an open mind, publishers are going to want to give up and just stick to print. But that’s not going to fly anymore. Publishers need to realize that experimentation is going to be necessary. If a digital publishing venture isn’t making money, it might be best to drop it and turn to a new idea. Internet culture changes so very quickly and there’s always some new device, technology or service out there and surviving will definitely go hand in hand with the ability to be nimble and able to adopt new things.
Is there anything else you feel that publishers should think of when working on digital publishing? I admit, it’s late at night and I might have missed something. Share what you think manga publishers should be doing to accommodate online readers.
Of course, the future is unknowable to us mortals and we can’t predict what will change the industry next, but here’s a few things I think manga publishers need to adopt now to be prepared for the onslaught of fans who no longer want print copies.
1. Offer dirt cheap manga for just about every platform imaginable:
This one should be pretty obvious. The music industry survived it’s piracy wars by letting songs go for 99 cents a pop, the same thing should be possible for the comics industry in theory. Of course, 99 cents is a little low, but prices should be as low as feasibly possible. Why? Because the pirates don’t value manga now, just like pirates didn’t value music then. There will still be piracy, of course, but by taking a big gulp and doing whatever is possible to make prices low for readers, it might be possible to begin attracting some of the casual pirates back.
This, unfortunately, is made difficult by the e-reader wars going on. The best strategy is to just offer the manga on any platform that’s humanly (and financially) possible. Sites like ComiXology are obviously a great go-to site for multiple digital platforms and manga publishers like Viz, TOKYOPOP, DMP and Dark Horse are already there. Plus, you can read on the web in case you don’t have an e-reader, which solves the problem for that side of the market who hasn’t been able to buy the expensive gadgets yet.
2. Regular Online Serialization:
Oh man, do I think this is a great idea. A bunch of SigIkki series and Rin-ne became instant favorites when I discovered I could get chapters online for free. It was a ton of fun to get Neko Ramen strips in my mail box each day. But other than the Viz titles, I can’t think of any publisher who is doing regular online serialization with a large number of series. It’d be great to have more pubs jump on to give those people who want to “preview” their manga before they buy what they want. Solving the problem of people just being able to read a series for free all the time, Viz just pulls the chapters once a book goes out, leaving nothing but the first chapters of every volume for those “preview” pirate types.
There are a number of publishers who serialize online, but I find the problem with them is that they do so too infrequently to hold the attention of readers who are devouring manga at the pace of scanlation readers normally do.
3. An open mind and a better website:
It’s no big secret that most manga publisher websites suck. If they aren’t too busy and overwhelming, they’re hard to navigate and it’s difficult to find the information you want. Minimal web design is popular now for a reason- the faster users can find what they want, the faster they get gratification. I’m not saying that manga publishers can’t add flourishes here and there, but unnecessary content, tabs and whatnot should be taken down. We don’t need manga companies to be our social network stand-ins anymore, but every company should run a blog that publishes a bit more than just PR copy. I particularly like some of Viz’s blogs for Rin-ne and SigIkki and TOKYOPOP has some fun cultural content every week in its newsletter. (I used to write articles for it as an intern. It was great fun.) But there should be a blog and it should be the publisher’s hub for getting information out to the masses. And, most importantly, it should not be written like a press release.
Technically having a open mind should be a fourth thing on this list, but it’s something that really applies to it’s predecessors on this short list. Without an open mind, publishers are going to want to give up and just stick to print. But that’s not going to fly anymore. Publishers need to realize that experimentation is going to be necessary. If a digital publishing venture isn’t making money, it might be best to drop it and turn to a new idea. Internet culture changes so very quickly and there’s always some new device, technology or service out there and surviving will definitely go hand in hand with the ability to be nimble and able to adopt new things.
Is there anything else you feel that publishers should think of when working on digital publishing? I admit, it’s late at night and I might have missed something. Share what you think manga publishers should be doing to accommodate online readers.
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