Kodansha to Publish, Sell Manga in U.S.

by atlantiza
Jul 4, 2008 6:06 AM | 10 Comments

Kodansha has established Kodansha USA with the intent to publish and directly sell manga volumes starting in September. They also intend to transfer all of its copyrights to this local subsidiary to enter overseas publishing.

Source: ANN

10 Comments Recent Comments

Ephidel said:

I am wary that theres a chance they could come in at that higher price range instead though, as Del Rey's releases cost more ($10.99?). I can sort of imagine an "if they can sell our titles for that, surely we can" line of thought.

Hope not. Square-Enix is kinda the same way. "If Nintendo can sell DS games for 35$ we can sell ours for 40$". Then they wonder why sales drop. lol If Kodansha is smart, they should have a lower price than Del Rey. It is thier licenses.

Jul 8, 2008 5:28 AM by Kuronoa

Kuronoa said:

wizwinkleman said:

Most intriguing news. I'm eager to hear what titles will be brought over, and I've read from a few places that this could potentially lead to lower manga prices.. Still very speculative (it is early yet). The possibilities are endless.. as money and market will allow, of course.

I would like this. ^^ So instead of the usual 10$ suggested price we can have around 5$ (or more realisticly the price Viz offers for Shounen Jump titles)?

I'd like them to come in cheaper, but I can't realistically imagine them coming in any lower than the Jump price range. I would love to be proved wrong though^^
I am wary that theres a chance they could come in at that higher price range instead though, as Del Rey's releases cost more ($10.99?). I can sort of imagine an "if they can sell our titles for that, surely we can" line of thought.

Jul 7, 2008 3:18 PM by Ephidel

This is the best news i've heard in a while. I was a huge fan of the bilingual CCS mangas that kodansha released years ago and I actually own a bunch of them (since the english ccs manga at the time was horrendus quality). I'm really curious to see what titles they'll sell here.

Jul 6, 2008 4:14 PM by katsup

I would like this. ^^ So instead of the usual 10$ suggested price we can have around 5$ (or more realisticly the price Viz offers for Shounen Jump titles)?

Jul 6, 2008 1:02 PM by Kuronoa

Maybe the price will get pushed down too~

But meh, i always get my manga from Taiwan XD

Jul 6, 2008 12:17 AM by BasakaNZ

Maora said:
more companies = more mangas in the us. :D

Indeed, indeed.

Most intriguing news. I'm eager to hear what titles will be brought over, and I've read from a few places that this could potentially lead to lower manga prices.. Still very speculative (it is early yet). The possibilities are endless.. as money and market will allow, of course.

Jul 5, 2008 9:39 PM by SchnickelFritz

I feel sad for those who were still buying kodansha mangas from other companies..

more companies = more mangas in the us. :D

Jul 4, 2008 11:28 AM by Maora

dtshyk said:
So what will Del Rey do to this situation? Zetsubou Sensei is gonna be their last Japanese comic?

Del Rey have already confirmed via their blog that the Kodansha news won't affect them.

Well, it’s business as usual at Del Rey Manga. We’re continuing to license manga from Kodansha, and as has been stated elsewhere, we’ve just about wrapped up our licenses for 2009 and are now starting to work on 2010. In a few weeks at the San Diego Comic-Con we’ll be announcing some of those new licenses, and we’ve got some really exciting new manga series planned.

Chris at Comics212 wrote that Dark Horse have lost Akira though, which would explain what he wrote before about Dark Horse offering the Titan (UK) edition instead.

Jul 4, 2008 9:08 AM by Ephidel

So what will Del Rey do to this situation? Zetsubou Sensei is gonna be their last Japanese comic?

Jul 4, 2008 8:49 AM by dtshyk

It's always nice to see new manga publishers. ^_^

Jul 4, 2008 7:28 AM by Kuronoa