I think there is some issue in the varying price of manga. I don't want to buy a $10 volume when there are others that are $7. I know thats cheap of me but its pretty annoying to see price descrepancies just based on title.

that and maybe piracy is finally catching up to the manga industry.

I always thought the price was pretty reasonable in the US $15-$30 dollar graphic novel market and 2-5+ dollar 20 page comic issue market. I think it's just saturation. Even getting down into smaller subcategories, how many manhwa are good enough to get decent sales? How many OEL titles? (I can name one titles apiece that I liked enough to pay money for :B) And then there are licenses that boggle the mind. Didn't somebody license and print Salaryman Kintaro? That's a good manga, but I don't think it really has an audience here. Then again, there's no excuse for Btx. Who the hell thought that was a good idea? :/

Same problem as anime, except it doesn't anally screw everybody price-wise. I wish I could see some sales numbers to see which titles are the dead weight. :P

I think it's an economy thing. It's just been royally sucking lately and the unemployment (especially in Ohio) isn't helping anyone.

I asked the big reps at Viz, Del Rey and Tokyopop what they thought of this at the New York Comic Con and they said that it's not to worry about. Manga sales are levelling off because the market is in a slow and steady growth pace as opposed to the early explosive years when they were trying to grab all the hottest properties immediately. No industry can sustain wild unfettered growth, because it becomes too much noise and no one wins.

Indeed, what the hell is the problem with all these publishers? I compare a Takuban to a Singaporean print to an American print and what do I keep seeing? The first two have dust covers and are the same size at comparable costs. While the damn American gots to be BIG with Thicker Paper and costing Twice the amount. Seriously, are we Americans still in the f-king 1800s?! Are we that far behind the rest of the world in paper as well as print technology?

For the purchase of ONE America print I'd get TWO (not quite since they started to Tax it)over on the other side of the Pacific. Am I missing something here? Is everything being printed in one location in Canada like all the comic books and trucked thru-out America?

The economy is in a slow motion crash. You all realize that your food, books, electronics, clothes, bikes, balls, etc. Needs to be trucked to your location right? Nobody seems to be noticing this except me it seems, but where I live the cost for One Gallon of GAS is nearing FOUR DOLLARS!!! Now imagine the cost for independent truckers who own their trucks.

Think about that while you watch all those SUVs drive by you and keep wondering why we didn't explore all the natural fuel on our landscape (ANWR!), but bow down to foreigners for it. I find it laughable how so many idiots w/ signs kept bitching that we where in a war for the OIL... how come the stuff keeps getting more pricer then? EH?!!

Well, in '06, they were putting out a TON of stuff, for example one new volume of FuruBa a month. The answer: you will get more money from me if you release more. I'm a fucking manga junkie and if it comes out (and I want it), I will buy it. Yeah, the economy sucks, but I haven't had to tighten my manga belt that much over the last couple months, even with an unemployed husband.

Er, Forlourned, I take it you're comparing tankoubon size with the standard magazine size that most American properties are published in. I am personally okay with this. American comics of this nature are obviously more expensive because it's big, it's in color, and the books are (usually) made pretty well in terms of quality. I said that manga compares well because content (usually about the same pagewise as a US tradeback) is price competitive. However, the paper used is cheap (cheaper than Japanese tankoubon, I think) and there's no color, thus the cheaper price. It's an understandable trade-off. I enjoy plenty of US comics in its current format and the large size and vivid colors make particular scenes very effective.

As for the economy problem, I doubt it. All the big titles are out and on an outdated release date system that works in Japan because comics are ongoing, but makes no sense here. I know I don't want to buy the rest of the crap they release here in the meantime (not that I buy manga printed here anyways :P). More or less what Kitsune said above. :)

I blame censorship, licensing agreements, and of course: CANADA.

I'm missing something, why Canada?

Also when some publishers take their sweet time to get releases out due to one delay after another (Dark Horse and ADV come to mind), that hurts consumer confidence.

Aw common, Nettle. You've never seen south park?
[also, sarcasm]

Sorry there Yuusuke, as I wrote in the first rant. I was comparing the same title across three different countries. Not against a typical comic book with colors in it. I've collected comics since the early '80s and truth be told without a acid board with it, it will yellow as the decades pass. Regardless of publishing companies or country.
Price competitive against other American publishers who also print manga yes. And no, I've given a closer look at some of them like Del Reys efforts and the paper used isn't cheap (of which I believe it Really should be to begin with to reduce the cost futher). Manga should be treated like it is over in Japan. Disposable to a degree. I still have in my hands as I type, the fifth takuban of Spriggan dated back to '95 as the 11th reprint from '93. It's over a Decade old plus and the pages are barely yellowed. Its print size is bigger than most out in Japan, but still it's far smaller than any American print!
Once again, American publication is amazingly Antiquated compared to Japan. They all are unwilling to force the Canadian companies to update their equipment to become more flexible and I'm appalled by this every time I pick up a American print or even a novel to boot!

Note to everybody, collect as much as you can and if you're in the north. It'll make a great fire to heat you thru the winter next year to offset the 4 (and still climbing!) dollar gallon for your car and the power bill cost climbing along with it! Yeah, since all those tree hugging Americans can do without Nuclear Power. We need the fuel at most plants to make the electricity to power our net addictions. Coal still needs to be Trucked into the plants to burn as well. And alternate fuels still uses Diesel powered tankers to refuel them to burn!


Wonder where Nero is so I can join his violin party?

Forlourned: "RARGHGHAGHGHGH ENERGY CRISIS RAGE"

Thanks for the opinion, but, uh.... what on earth does this have to do with the manga industry?

The global economy is quite rocky of late, and frankly I'm sick of it.
Every time I see the news on tv or listen to the radio it's a bundle of glum outlooks on our future.
This would obviously effect almost every industry and I doubt the manga industry will be immune.
That being said, perhaps it's a marketing thing? I don't know how manga marketing works in America, so my opinion is somewhat un-informed.

Zero-chan- hehe, you were thinking the same thing as me.

Our economy is going down, but the prices of manga haven't increased. I don't think this is a major factor. The whole size or price has never been an issue before. I completely agree with Forlourned on this. I would much rather save a few bucks and get manga similar to Japan. I don't need bigger books and in fact prefer the smaller sizes...for manga. American comic books should remain the same. I never understood why it cost 2-3 times as much in the US than Japan.

I agree with others. The problem is the release schedules. When books come out in over 3 months apart the fans become wary of the industry, they forget about the series, and the sales will be lower. If you have 6 volumes of a series like Fruits Basket released one year and only 3 the next you'll see an impact.

Something others haven't brought up is the possible fad. Are there people picking up on manga and anime, but then a few years later find something else to fill their livs with?

Another reason is the internet. How often do you go somewhere on the internet and someone is asking how they can find a licensed series on the internet for free? Manga is no exception. The problem is with the younger, newer fans they don't understand how it impacts the industry.

But... the manga here is already about the size of Japanese tankoubon. Or were you talking about back in the day when a slightly larger book cost 15-25 bucks?

Forlourned, I don't understand what you're saying. You state that we're antiquated, but you'd rather sacrifice book quality for a lower price. This isn't a gap in technology, but due to the fact that nobody reads here and the market for published books (of all types) is stagnant, thus publishers charge higher prices because they won't sell as many books. Personally, I wouldn't want the paper quality to diminish any further. I mean, how much lower can you go? Newsprint? I wouldn't pay 5 bucks for that. :/ Even now, I buy Japanese books because the physical quality is better, and it's cheaper.