The problem with the US manga industry
Well, obviously the industry isn’t having any problems, since it seems if you’re a manga publisher you’re also granted the right to print free money. This post is more about my personal problems with the US manga industry.
A quick glance at my MyAnimeList profile will tell you that I don’t read much manga at all. Upon closer inspection you will find that most of my completed manga titles are one-shots. It’s not that I hate manga or anything, it’s just that, for the most part, what’s available in English doesn’t interest me at all.
It’s no secret that the market skews towards shoujo and shounen, and very lately, as the manga section of Otaku USA will tell you, boys love. There are sprinklings of seinen, jousei and true blue otaku titles, but for the most part the manga industry seems to have their sights locked on teenagers, and your local bookstore’s manga section is an Itano Circus. I’m not going to ponder as to why this is the case, since I know– this stuff sells. Your Nartuos and Fruits Baskets always top the book listings, and when one takes a glance at what kids are reading in the stores, the pages are either filled with speedlines or flowery screen tone.
Ok. That’s great. You guys have capital. Use it. This is exactly what the anime industry wants but is not getting, and I think maybe, just maybe the manga industry is playing it too safe with what they keep licensing. I’m fascinated by manga due to the wide range of subject matters it covers, but what makes it over in English is very limited. I want to read stuff like this and this, but instead all I have available to me is… fuckin Bus Stop of Love. So, please, US manga publishers, expand your horizons. Viz putting out things like Phoenix and Golgo 13 and those smaller companies like (grumble grumble) Seven Seas putting out otaku-ish things He is My Master is a great start but… MORE.
Of course, I do have the whole wide world of scanslations at my disposal. That world is however big and scary, and once again the stuff I really care about gets neglected. I guess I could read some neverendingshounenromance (I have no problem with shounen romance) but then my aversion to manga never ending comes into play, but that’s another blog post all together.
I guess in the end what it really comes down to is me learning Japanese. I suspect the translators of the titles I care about really don’t see the point given the limited demand, and just read the stuff on their own. Kind of a pity, but them’s the breaks. I guess I’ll be hitting the books now, then.
If you can sift through the crap, you can find some good stuff, but the manga publishers know their audience. They have two choices, the Naruto/Bleach/shonen crew, or the bishie fangirl group. They see what was happened to the DVD market by giving titles to the hardcore, so they are content making a profit while not taking risks.
Think realistically man. There is no money in stuff like Otaku no Musume-san because no one wants to read that crap but you.
Naruto and Fruits Basket is what sells.
This whole post is me thinking realistically. They are getting capital by way of the easily selling stuff, so they can use that on more niche titles. This is what the US anime industry wants to do, but can’t.
You should read Doktor Sleepless. It sounds like what Dr Kishiwada’s Scientific Affection, but Warren Ellis (author of Doktor Sleepless and more) can do far better.
Besides the fact that you never will, reading Warren Ellis comics like Transmetropolitan will satisfy your desire for better manga stateside.
but i can’t read things written by not japanese people
>Warren Ellis comics like Transmetropolitan
It shames me that I haven’t picked that up yet. Last comic I read was All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, which is so fucking hilarious.
I hate that every time I go into Barnes & Noble, they’ve got ten copies of each volume of Fruits Basket, and then one copy of half the volumes of the manga I want to read.
Western comics lack moe. For now, at least.
Also, there is a trend towards more moe/otaku stuff, wildarmsheero. Buy and support it. Higurashi, Haruhi, Hidamari Sketch, Hitohira, Sayonara Zetsobou Sensei, and many more are all coming out. (that’s a lot of h’s, huh)
You’re right, and I forgot about that. It’s small, but something. Will certainly pick up SZS. Maybes on Hidasketch and Haruhi (I’m going to pick up the Haruhi novels for sure, though)
In that case, BASK UPON MANGA GLORY!
http://www.mininova.org/tor/1358993
That is the original Devilman manga, fully scantlated, no censorship, final destination.
Devilman is Go Nagai’s masterpiece and is a major influence on manga today. It has depth, allegory, and social commentary. Something that many manga in that time period lacked.
Protip: while reading, remember that it was written in 1972 so keep the Cold War in mind.
Yeah. I read it already. Gave it a 3/10 on MAL
:T
I was going to write an in-depth review… but forgot about it.
I was buying every volume of Apocalypse Zero until Anime Works’ manga division canceled it in favor of gay porn for girls. Left hanging at the volume right before the final battle for yaoi!?!?!? Dark Horse has also currently left me hanging with Reiko the Zombie Shop, but I’m hoping they have some sense and put out at least one more volume.
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On classic manga coming out, Dororo is finally released but the review on Amazon says it has out of place colloquialisms, like the English dub of Lupin III where they made jokes about frickin’ Shaq in a 70’s show. Thanks a lot rewriters, thanks a lot.
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“Last comic I read was All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, which is so fucking hilarious.”
Nice to see someone who knows it’s supposed to be funny, as opposed to the ‘tards that took seven issues to even get a hint.
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Giving Devilman a 3/10 shows how far you’ve fallen off the otaku track into the valley of the moe. Moe is not the new otakuism, it is its scourge!
My problem with Devilman was that it seemed like Go Nagai was making it all up as he went. There was no sense of structure, pacing or… anything. It was just THIS HAPPENED, THEN THIS HAPPENED…. THEN THIS HAPPENED.
That said, it was an incredible experience, albeit a wholly terrible one. I appreciate its influence and its historical value, but as a story it kind of falls flat.
Stay away from My Name is Zushio… AT ALL COST !!!
My biggest problem with manga is that almost every manga is eternal… some I don’t really mind (Claymore, Battle Angel Alita) but others I just want them to end so I can move on to something else. It’s not because they’re bad, but after 10+ volumes. Things usually get pretty boring since it’s just fillers ductaped together.
That’s your problem, wah. You have descended too far into weeaboodom.
Berserk, Battle Angel Alita, Claymore are Epics. Their writers have a massive story to tell in worlds that are large and filled with interesting characters. Time passes and people change. Good stuff.
“Stay away from My Name is Zushio… AT ALL COST !!!”
What’s wrong with you? Random comedy at it’s finest (at least for the first 3 volumes). :3
If he though Devilman was made up on the spot… My Name is Zushio could very well kill wildarmsheero.
I personally found it ok. Too bad it stopped in the middle, I loved the nine-tail =3
Funny thing, Go Nagai pretty much DID make Devilman chapters up on the spot. He never made a script, ever. Just sat down, drew stuff, fell asleep.
your shopping at the wrong bookstores.
Oh yeah, I forgot the Sola manga adaption in my list…that looks pretty moe and good.
You can’t blame the publishers. They will always license the popular titles. However many less known titles are still available in the U.S. market. You could also ( at least trying to ;) ) learn French, because the French Manga market is larger (!) than the U.S. market with many obscure titles.
Cheers.
or I could just learn Japanese and read things in Japanese.
I took French for 6 years and can’t say more than “my name is…”