Google: Being my friend since 2007
There’s generally been a reason, a few reasons, or many reasons, why people don’t buy manga. What exactly are those reasons? Aside from potential translation/editing/product issues (which, well, IS a possibility), we’ve come up with 5 “fears” of buying manga from manga publishers, which takes into account the present and the future. Of course, this is more just reasoning than actual fear of buying manga, but as time goes on, there are some issues that may make it difficult, or worth questioning whether we want to spend money on manga. So, let’s get this started.
Publishers will drop a manga series for numerous reasons.
Justin: The obvious trouble with releasing manga — especially manga still ongoing in Japan — is if you happen to see series that continue to keep going and going, with volumes upon volumes still in bookstores, and if it’s a title that doesn’t do well for the publisher (think of Gintama, Reborn, to name a few), it can easily get cut. That’s what happens when you don’t make enough money, and publishers are apt to choose to spend their resources more wisely. This just leaves the few who did buy out of the cold. It definitely seems like publishers in recent years have been more careful with what they choose, but chances are there will be a title or two that’ll get the axe, for money reasons (Kingyo Used Books) or money/author’s wishes (Drops of God). And we’ll have to hope the manga we buy will work out.
Manjiorin: Viz’s Gintama, Tokyopop’s Life, and even the more recent Lizzie Newton series — all of these represent one of manga fans worst fears: publishers dropping a series. Looking at it from publishers perspective, dropping a series mid-run sometimes just make fiscal sense — maybe sales drop off in mid-volume, maybe there was no fan demand — and dropping a series might be the best way to cut your losses. There could also be politics at play — maybe the Japanese licensors pull the plug, leaving the licensee in the lurch. Still, I’d like to think there’s always one fan of any series, and when that beloved series goes kaput there’s at least one paying fan with a half finished series.
Nowadays, like Justin mentioned, it seems like publishers are bit pickier about what they license so drops mid-series are a little rarer. Even series we think might be on the chopping block somehow seem to hang on (Dark Horse’s Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is still alive and kickin’, despite its namesake). Still, I think we can all agree: It sucks to be left hanging.
Manga will all be digital.
Justin: Needless to say, we’re gonna head to a digital age, despite bookstores still being the core of the manga industry right now. When that’ll be who knows, but it’s definitely gonna head there. I’d like to think there will be more competent services aside from Crunchyroll with their selection for the most part sometime down the road, especially as people continue to get tablets, Androids, etc. So soon enough we’ll have to make that decision — is it worth actually owning manga in print? Is space gonna be available? Is there gonna be a service that makes us think we don’t have to go to the bookstore? Or…will we be able to buy manga at a bookstore? Needless to say, the digital market is young, and still growing. It’ll be interesting to see if it’ll evolve to a point where we’ll just be getting manga digitally.
Manjiorin: There’s no shame in my book collecting game, and one of my fears is that manga will all go digital eventually. I figure that’s a ways off and will be part of a larger shift in the publishing realm, but meantime I cling pretty feverishly to my dead tree manga. There are larger conversations about ownership with digital, downloading to own, as well as failed experiments and things that seem to have some sticking power, but overall it will be interesting to watch the conversations and options evolve. Despite my somewhat luddite ways, a girl really can only store so many books, and digital could serve as a nice complement for the manga you just don’t have space for.
Publishers stop putting out manga that’s appealing.
Justin: Let’s just say at some point, there might be a time where I’ve grown old, and I’m looking for a manga that’s going to read great and not read like it was written for a 13 year old. That manga may not be there. It’ll be a situation that I’ll dread — not finding any manga worth buying. Is it because of my taste? Or will it be because publishers aren’t licensing good titles? It’s a rough business, as you’ll never know what’ll actually be worth buying until you read it, but sometimes, you know your limits. And you’ll definitely know what’ll be appealing as opposed to not appealing. Publishers have been doing pretty well, but there will need to be some care to not always go after the hot trend or risk losing an audience if they can’t appeal to a certain trend.
Manjiorin: I think it would be safe to say that I’m not the only one that feels like I’ve “grown up” with manga. I’ve gone from reading Tokyopop’s Sailor Moon in my preteens to still reading manga over ten to fifteen years later. That said, the older I get the more I worry I could very well “age out” of manga. I’m at the prime age for josei, and while we have had more josei releases recently — more Moyoco Anno from Vertical and some more “adult shoujo” titles from Viz, manga geared at mostly teen or college age readers seems to be publishers’ bread and butter. That’s all fine and dandy, but what happens when shounen series #335 doesn’t appeal to me anymore, or I completely fail to connect with high school shoujo romance #4095? I would love to see more diversity in manga spread across all ages.
The market shrinks, making manga more expensive.
Justin: I think as the years go by, most things will go up. So it won’t be a surprise if manga joins this group of stuff that goes up. The only question is…how much will it go up as things change? Will it go up 12, 13, 14 dollars for a standard volume of manga? How much for omnibus titles, which seem to be more and more in style? Hardcover titles? It’ll basically become a question of how much you think manga is worth, and let’s just say I’m almost certain I’ll be even more careful of how much I spend if a volume of the latest Viz Media product (for example) costs $15.
Yeah, it may not get to that point, but depending on circumstances, it will be a big factor.
Manjiorin: Manga pricing — along with everything else — has crept up over the years. Remember when some of Viz’s shounen manga were $7.99? I have volumes of Black Cat to prove it! Nowadays, unless I’m buying shoujo or shounen from Viz, retail prices for manga are over 10 USD. With the advent of online shopping it’s easier to find manga for cheaper, but there’s no doubt that manga has gotten more expensive over the years. It’s a reasonable fear then that manga may just become too expensive to be affordable — surely some folks would argue it already is. With some series stretching over 10+ volumes, the cost of collecting an entire manga series can easily run hundreds of dollars. If the market then shrinks, manga could potentially cost even more.
With bookstores dying out, it’ll be impossible to buy in store.
Justin: Well, aside from the general comic book and specialty stores (or think of Kinokuniya) and conventions, the only place I know of to buy manga that’s mainstream in my area is Barnes & Noble. That’s it. So 5, 10 years from now, will B&N exist? How will that affect manga sales? Will we all just be ordering online and downloading manga on our Kindles? That’s the type of thing you worry about, especially if you’re like me and would sometimes like to get lost in other manga series that’s on the bookshelf.
Manjiorin: Here’s me again with my luddite print book ways, but I really don’t want bookstores to go away. I find as the number of bookstores decrease and shopping moves to online, I’m more heavily dependent on following manga reviewers that match my tastes and figure out what to buy as opposed to just browsing a bookstore. Some might say this is just smarter shopping, and perhaps it is, but there are people that don’t have access to the internet or where going to a brick and mortar is the only way they get books. Despite my love of bookstores though, I fully expect to see Barnes & Noble disappear in my lifetime; and while Justin points to specialty shops like Kinokuniya, some areas of the country would be left with a sprinkling of comic books shops here and there that don’t have much in the way of new manga.
