...there is a crack in the wall...
I hope to completely obliterate this barrier soon by subjecting it to a cataclysmic tempest of pure Japanese animated goodness. There's no guarantee that this will have the desired effect. In case I don't make it, give my regards to Halko-tan.
It's good to know there are still companies able to assuage our fears.
As you might know, this weekend (April 18-20) is when the New York ComicCon is being held. Today was only the first day of three, and they have already proven that comic conventions can hold good news for non-"comic" fans. In fact, I haven't been so thrilled by con news since Anime Expo last year. Why is this? Let me count the reasons...
1) Yen Press licensed Haruhi! And not just the manga, but the novels as well. They have announced that the manga (which I found to be sub-par and swore not to buy, but will do so anyway because Yen Press rocks and I'm a tool) will have a drop-date of October, and will include the original color pages. As for the novels, we'll have to wait until next April (!) for the first one but it will also include all the original color pages. In addition, Yen Press will be teaming up with established publisher "Little, Brown" to produce the novel series, meaning the quality will likely be better than any other light novel currently on the American market. The final point they presented is that each novel will have both a paperback and hardcover edition; the HC will cost twice as much as the PB, but that doesn't matter because as previously stated, I'm a tool for Haruhi. Anyway, this news made me literally jump for joy, a feat that even the acquisitions of Lucky Star and NHK didn't elicit (though there was some air-punching and whooping). Case in point, not only am I pleased, but this series has the potential to reach even non-manga buyers. It might help to put some life back into the floundering industry.
2) Bandai knows what fans want. Their recent announcement (December = recent?) about Code Geass airing on Adult Swim was down-played by the fact that they would not release a single DVD until the show had finished its run, probably in October. At Bandai's panel today, however, it was announced that not only would the first volume be coming in August, but also that it would include the mother-lode of extras. The limited edition will include not one but TWO DVDs (9 episodes), the first soundtrack, the first sound episode CD, the first volume of one of the manga tie-ins, and a box. I believe that's more bonus items than even Haruhi's release had. (Then again, Haruhi LE 1 was $65, while this is $75) Also available will be the 2-disc DVD set by itself in a box for $40, and the individual volumes for $30 each. Subsequent releases will be bi-monthly, and it ha been inferred that R2 will immediately follow the third volume. Most fans can be divided into two types: Those that want the most extras regardless of price, and those that want the most anime at the lowest price possible. (I occasionally fit into both of those categories) With this release, all fans should be satisfied. In keeping with that mindset, Bandai announced that their previously-announced license of Ayakashi Ayashi would follow the same pattern, with an all-inclusive LE and two-disc sets. They also announced that they now hold the license for Gurren-Lagann, and will be releasing it in cheap, sub-only, two-disc sets starting this July; sub/dub hybrid DVDs will follow next year. I'm all in for subbed sets, since I didn't get past the second episode in fansubs. Oh yeah, they have Gundam 00 too. Anyway, if more companies can get into this pattern, they might start making enough of a profit to turn their problems around!
3) Uh... I guess that's it for now. orz
If I uncover any other world-shaking news from NYCC, I'll post it here. If not, you won't see another blog for awhile, as finals are right around the corner. And if anyone reading this post is doing so at NYCC, thanks for finding me more interesting than the panels! Oh, and grab an extra Haruhi poster for me, will you? :D
EDIT: Okay, NYCC has challenged me by adding more news that proves the tenacity of companies in their struggle to keep the industry afloat. As always, thanks for proving the naysayers wrong. ;)
3) Del Rey tortures their translators. The first sign of this was the most prominent license (IMO) announced at their panel: the Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei manga! It was stated previously by Andrew Cunningham, a freelance translator who does incredible work, that companies tend to stay away from manga like this; the translation notes, if included would end up being a full volume in length. (If you've seen the anime, you'll understand >_>) The art style of this series is unique enough to appeal to hardcore manga buffs, while the story set-up is still shounen in essence, able to draw in fans of series such as xxxHOLiC or GinTama. Of course, the anime tie-in by itself should attract enough buyers in itself. Another license made by Del Rey was the novel, "The Curse of the Dragon Slayer", by Kouhei Kadano (famed author of the Boogiepop novel series). This is the latest in a series of novel licenses made by the company; other acquisitions include the FAUST compilations, Zaregoto, and the NisiOisin novelization of xxxHOLiC. Hopefully they'll be able to prove that Japanese novels (light or otherwise) have high marketability. BTW, other licenses announced today included Samurai 7 and Gakuen Prince. Meh. :P)
4) Yen Press strikes again! They previously announced a magazine combining Japanese, Korean, and American media, to be called Yen+. I've never been a fan of manhwa (though Shin Angyo Onshi proved that they're not all bad) and I detest American-made anime-lookalikes, so I figured this publication would end up being the "PiQ" of mangazines. Well, first impressions can be wrong. They announced today that the first round of series to be included in Yen+ will include Soul Eater, Nabari no Ou, Bamboo Blade, Sumomomo Momomo, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. There were also a few manhwa and amerimanga titles announced as being included, but I think I can deal with that for now.After the demise of Animerica Plus and Pulp Magazine, Viz has cornered the mangazine market and have thus been doing with their publications whatever they want. Maybe Yen+ will act as a catalyst to change the way they run Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat? Here's hoping, anyway. (<- Also hoping for a preview of the Haruhi novel/manga in the new magazine)
That looks to be all the big news from NYCC. Maybe it'll help overturn the negative thinking toward the R1 industry as a whole.Now where are those Haruhi posters, folks?
I haven't kept up with the American Shonen Jump since the issue after the new format kicked in. The only reason I stopped at that point was because Viz couldn't figure out how to process my check. Looking back, though, I really didn't need to keep up with the magazine; after all, the few Jump series I really cared about weren't even serialized in the magazine. Anyway, my hiatus from reading Jump changed recently, as I got the January issue for Christmas and the February issue from a Suncoast event. The only two issues I've read in so long have officially hit a nerve. And when that happens, there's nothing to do but write about it. Here's my opinion on why the most popular "mangazine" has gone down the crapper.
I'm sure that almost everyone here has at least heard of "Naruto Nation", Viz's push to get the Naruto manga through the time-skip in only four months. Because of that, Naruto didn't appear in Jump for a couple of issues, instead replaced by more chapters of less popular series I suppose. The November issue saw the start of the serialization of Viz's other hit manga, Bleach. Which, by the way, horrified me as a long-time fan of the series. I had grown used to my bi-monthly fix of Bleach. Some fans speculated that this change was due to the translation catching up with the Japanese releases; that, in the words of cleaner-mouthed individuals, is hogswallop. Shueisha has been publishing Bleach bi-monthly as well, due to its inclusion in Weekly Jump (4-5 chapters a month, 9-10 chapters per volume). There is absolutely no reason why Viz couldn't continue. They just figured that with the end of their original flagship title, Yu-Gi-Oh!, they needed a way to keep readership at a high level. I figured another reason for the same result was Naruto leaving as well; I had fixed in my mind the Amazon entries showing Naruto would be published bi-monthly in 2008, thus assuming the chapters included in the January issue would only be there as a teaser for the new storyline. How wrong I was...
Getting back to the issue at hand, I was more than willing to read my copies of Shonen Jump. I hadn't read an issue for a very long time and I wanted a chance to dry my Bleach-lacking tears before the February release of the next full volume. Also, as an animal led to be slaughtered, I followed the hell-ride that was Naruto Nation and wanted to see a bit of what was to come. Oh, I got it alright. It wasn't quite what I expected though; that issue included half of what will come in volume 28. Yeah, 100 pages of Naruto. And Bleach? It took up less room with only 60 pages, but that's still a good third of a collected volume. For those wanting hard numbers, January included about 330 pages of manga. Approximately half the issue was dedicated to two series! Utter hogswallop, I tell you. As for the other series, One Piece had the most with almost 60 pages (surprisingly, since Viz hasn't done any kind of promotion for OP), while Bo-bobo got shafted with 15 pages (the other three averaged two chapters). I hoped this was because of Bleach's very recent inclusion and Naruto's limited hiatus. Once again I was proven wrong.
I had planned to not pick up another issue of Jump until they seemed to be doing better, but if you had a chance to pick up a free magazine, wouldn't you take it? (Also, Rukia cover wins) Admittedly they didn't screw up as badly as part of me thought they would. 80 pages of Naruto, 75 of Bleach, almost 80 of One Piece, and another paltry 15 pages for Bo-bobo. 330 pages of manga throughout the issue, with half the issue dedicated to Bleach/Naruto (come to think of it, including One Piece in those numbers makes it three series comprising three-quarters of the magazine). I am glad they're keeping up with One Piece but are they really planning to serialize so much of Naruto that a bimonthly release can be kept up?
Overall, Bleach seems to be enjoying a high enough inclusion rate to at least merit a quarterly collected release; instead, Viz is bringing it out every four months. Hopefully, this means Viz will oust Naruto soon, slow Bleach down a bit (nightmarish but ideal for the magazine), and honor the other series they bothered to put in Jump. Bo-bobo, for example, is an extremely long series that in no way deserves such lackadaisical exposure. I like what Shojo Beat does with their serialized titles: include them for about a year or more, then switch them out for new titles. Viz showed they were willing to move series out of Jump with Shaman King and DBZ (and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist, if you really count that).
I think they need more than a re-design, they need a full overhaul. Take some time to consider how to best market titles that fans aren't responding to, how to get popular titles out to people that would likely pay substantially to see their favorites come out faster (a la Kenshin?), and in the end, how to increase readership without having to rely on 2-3 of their titles. Also, might it be worthwhile to try an American version of V Jump, to get a bit more publicity for their Advanced line? I would love a magazine combining things like Death Note/Eyeshield 21 and Strawberry 100%/MxO. But alas, the way things are going now, there's no way they would advertise it enough to even give it a chance. Looking at Jump itself, though, could the problem lie with the fans? Could it be that all non-Naruto/Bleach fans (or fans like me, who enjoy those but also like a broader choice of manga to select from) have already given up on the magazine, leaving it to fester with no hope in sight? Come on, people; if we support magazine like Jump while sending letters/e-mails regarding what we like most about it and what we would want to see in it, we might be able to make a difference! (Probably not, but it's worth a try, right?) I just don't want to see another fiasco like Newtype's cancellation.
How can a shounen/seinen fan, such as myself, get so wrapped up in tear-jerking moe series, to the point that he strays toward a different genre than ever expected?! This and more (or possibly something completely different) the next time I feel like blogging!