These past few days, I’ve been speculating about the state of manga as we roll into a new year. Although a lot of my talking has been about the bad things that are going on and may happen, that’s not the entire story. I want to impress on everyone that while I think things are going to be fairly rocky, I don’t think that things are going to be terrible. There are some amazing things going on in the world of manga right now; I’ve got a few things to get excited about, even, for the new year.
In the Viz Media powerhouse, Naruto and Bleach are doing quite well, and newcomer shonen manga Rosario + Vampire previews for volume #4 have been positive at worst. The series is picking up fans, and is constantly showing itself in the top novels of the month. As more volumes are released, I expect this to pick up in popularity. The amazing basketball manga Real will also continue into the new year, with the 3rd volume hitting stores January 20th, 2009. Also, beginning in February, Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto will begin its print run here in the states along with 20th Century Boys. Viz has a powerful line of shonen titles that will drive its publication this year, and with a few series from manga greats, the young adult male demographic will be practically giving their money to Viz this year.
Del Rey is also doing fine, and with a few exciting releases also coming down the pipe. Most important to the manga community is Moyashimon, and for good reason. This cute manga about a boy who can see microorganisms has won critical acclaim in Japan, and it’s safe to bet that it’ll fare well across the Pacific too. Del Rey also has the power of CLAMP behind their product line, with xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa, RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE continuing their state-side runs. Also, let’s not forget the pervy power of Ken Akamatsu, my favorite manga-ka and writer of the popular Negima! Magister Negi Magi series. Things look to be getting more intense starting with the release this month, and new story arcs normally correspond with increased sales. Del Rey is playing the game a bit conservatively, but with Kodansha still backing Del Rey’s releases, expect to see good things coming their way.
Dark Horse has a good thing going with a few titles, namely Gantz (which should be picking up fairly soon, I think) and the Blood + manga and novels. They’re also rerunning the Oh! My Goddess mangas unflipped (like they should be) so if you haven’t had a chance to pick some of those up, now’s a good time to start. I was also extremely impressed with The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, and new volumes of this quirky horror-humor mix will be printing next year. Dark Horse has its other properties to work with too, and its Star Wars and Conan graphic novels tend to do fairly well. Dark Horse has some manga must haves in print, and it looks like they’re going to have another good year.
Yen Press is going to continue publishing Yen Plus, and starting soon, the series they’ve been publishing in the magazine will be available in tankobon format. With new properties and diverse liscencing contacts, Yen Press has a foundation that’s only going to get stronger with time. I extolled their virtues earlier this week, but suffice to say, I’m excited for what’s coming down the pipe.
I think that the blogging community sometimes takes a sometimes overly pessimistic view of the manga publishing industry, and over the past year, it’s understandable to see why, with the closure of publishers and T-pop’s restructuring. At the same time, despite our misgivings, there are plenty of things to be excited for this year, and I’ve only scratched the surface.
What are you excited for?
[...] continues in comments but veers off into OEL vs. Japanese manga territory. Alex Hoffman has a more optimistic take at Manga [...]
I’m excited that Viz has picked up the first volume of Miwa Shirow’s DOGS for an April release. Since I don’t read as much as I should, I don’t know if this means they’ll be looking at other more underground series, but I’m hopeful about it. I think it’s hard for the manga industry to choose between big Japanese bestseller titles and smaller, more varied works, but I feel like they’re starting to find a good balance. The flooding of the market came when they tried to pick up everything that was super popular in Japan, but success there doesn’t always translate to success here. Now they have to be a little more choosy, but they were starting to delve more into peripheral works and don’t want to give that up — especially since something super unique would give a company edge against its competitors.
Anyway, the point is that I’m decently optimistic about the manga industry in general. I’m a little more skeptical about the OEL scene, but I have a pessimistic bias being an artist myself.
OEL has always been sketchy, and I’m not really sure why, besides perhaps a resentment for people trying to imitate an authentically Japanese type of art.
Viz is doing some amazing things this upcoming year, as are all the other publishers. It’s going to be a good year, I think.
[...] I found it a little interesting that some people are still optimistic, at least about the manga industry. Yen Press is doing well, but it did also just come out of a [...]