Is Manga Dying in the U.S.?
In case you’re coming late to the party, it seems the American manga market is drying up faster than our mother’s brisket on Sunday nights. Our first hint came when Publishers Weekly recently reported that Viz Media, one of the largest publishers of manga in the U.S., laid off 40% of their staff. This included closing a small New York based office, and putting as many as 55 people packing up their desks. Following on their heels, DC Comics’ Dan DiDio and Jim Lee announced today that the doors of the DC Manga imprint, CMX, will be closed on July 1st. In addition to these two large announcements, Go! Comi, a smaller North American manga publisher let it’s website domain expire on May 8th, and has since ceased it’s activity.
What’s at the root of all of this decimation? While we wished it was some form of attack, perhaps from Sachiel, Shamshel, or Arael from Neon Genesis Evangelion, or perhaps a dastardly plot by Orochimaru… Sadly, in this case, it’s most likely due to the state of both the American and worldwide economy. As reported at The Beat, Gia Manry of Viz was asked if this was a time for panic:
“…this is probably closer to VIZ still at the dock, realizing that the boat won’t survive the trip at its current weight and therefore removing what it can before setting sail. VIZ is, after all, no stranger to the occasional unpopular move made to preserve the business. With no obvious “next Naruto” on the rise and big hit Fullmetal Alchemist about to end its run in Japan as well as general economic difficulties world-wide, it should come as no surprise that VIZ is tightening its belt for what may be a pretty lean year– or several.”
Speaking to CBR, Dan DiDio and Jim Lee released a joint statement:
“The shuttering of the CMX line does not affect the best-selling series Megatokyo which will continue publication, now as a DC Comics title with story and art by Megatokyo’s award-winning creator Fred Gallagher.
“We’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the efforts and dedication of the CMX staff and to thank our fans who have supported CMX.”
And all of this comes on the heels of a New York Times story that discussed the recent popularity of manga at the Quuens Library branch in Bayside, where children of all ages and ethnicities were drawn to the japanese comic books. Perhaps too little too late?
So, Comic Mix’ers… what does this news mean for you? Having watched the rise of Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Bakugan, Naruto, One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note, Bleach, and it’s brethren… does anyone feel that maybe the American marketplace finally reached it’s saturation point? Maybe the rise of popularity by American born licenses and subtle shift in programming on TV has pushed the zeitgeist back towards the western world? We leave it open to you to discuss below in the comments. We’ll be sure to follow any more developments as they arise.
It’s all cyclical. I remember when Viz wasn’t even a ‘real’ publisher and was publishing their books through Eclipse in the 80s. Manga was new and WOW back then, but that was more than 20 years ago.
It’s been on the rise for so long that it isn’t new to kids anymore, it seems like it’s been around forever, and it isn’t captivating them like it has for the last couple generations of readers. There will be people who grew up with it who will always love it. A woman in her early 20s freaked out at my LCS recently saying the sign outside was ‘false advertising’ because they don’t carry manga. Will she let manga go? Probably not, and she’s probably not the only one, but the kids who were the majority of consumers in this country have likely moved on to the next thing, or just outgrown it.
Well, Brandon, I don’t know if it’s totally the case that kids HAVE moved on. That New York Times story Marc linked to makes it pretty clear that manga is still a huge source of fascination for a lot of kids, especially those of minority race/class backgrounds. Unfortunately those kids can’t really “vote with their dollars,” as the saying goes, and those people who can just aren’t voting like they used to. I’m no big fan of manga myself, but I think it’s really interesting how underprivileged kids tend to gravitate towards it, and this story spells pretty bad news for them.
The keys in your own post are “underpriviledged kids” and can’t “vote with their dollars.” It’s great if kids are reading anything, but if you’re a kid who can’t afford comics but is interested in the medium, are you going to read the Japanese comics available for free in the library…or nothing? Kids with little option reading comics they haven’t bought is irrelevent. It’s meaningless to the market in general.
I think “meaningless” is a bit of a strong word; anything someone can connect to so passionately that it makes them want to learn about another culture or language can hardly be called meaningless, and I think that does have a long-term benefit to the global marketplace built into it. However it’s true that these kids’ love of manga doesn’t really bear any economic fruit in the short-term. I’m not saying there’s an easy fix or anything, I just think it’s pretty clear that manga still has importance to our youth culture.
Manga has it’s appeal, and just because CMX is closing, and Viz is sizing down… it’s not the “END” of manga per say. The shrink in the industry will allow some time (I think) for all the hyper-pushed properties (Naruto, Bleach, etc.) to shrink back down, and it will eventually give rise to great new properties. And while the shrinking in the industry will be felt on the shelves of book and comic stores… I think Libraries will continue to grow their collections of older manga during this downturn.
I am not at all surprised. There have been too many publishers and way too many sub-par titles for far too many years. The same thing has happened before in the Industry and has also happened numerous times in the sister industry of Anime publishing. Does anyone remember Studio Ironcat? Probably not, and with good reason.
Viz is a powerhouse and will probably publish the next big title, whenever it comes out, despite the number of staff it lays off. But until then the US Manga industry has certainly reached its saturation point.
1) Gia Manry isn’t “at Viz” — she’s an independent journalist offering comment.
2) So long as there’s demand among younger readers (and there most certainly is), manga isn’t “dying.” Rather, a bunch of people bet wrong on specific sales strategies — CMX, for example, bet heavily on titles that no one wanted to read — and now have lost some chips.
– Dirk Deppey
http://tcj.com/
It's all cyclical. I remember when Viz wasn't even a 'real' publisher and was publishing their books through Eclipse in the 80s. Manga was new and WOW back then, but that was more than 20 years ago. It's been on the rise for so long that it isn't new to kids anymore, it seems like it's been around forever, and it isn't captivating them like it has for the last couple generations of readers. There will be people who grew up with it who will always love it. A woman in her early 20s freaked out at my LCS recently saying the sign outside was 'false advertising' because they don't carry manga. Will she let manga go? Probably not, and she's probably not the only one, but the kids who were the majority of consumers in this country have likely moved on to the next thing, or just outgrown it.
Well, Brandon, I don't know if it's totally the case that kids HAVE moved on. That New York Times story Marc linked to makes it pretty clear that manga is still a huge source of fascination for a lot of kids, especially those of minority race/class backgrounds. Unfortunately those kids can't really "vote with their dollars," as the saying goes, and those people who can just aren't voting like they used to. I'm no big fan of manga myself, but I think it's really interesting how underprivileged kids tend to gravitate towards it, and this story spells pretty bad news for them.
The keys in your own post are "underpriviledged kids" and can't "vote with their dollars." It's great if kids are reading anything, but if you're a kid who can't afford comics but is interested in the medium, are you going to read the Japanese comics available for free in the library…or nothing? Kids with little option reading comics they haven't bought is irrelevent. It's meaningless to the market in general.
I think "meaningless" is a bit of a strong word; anything someone can connect to so passionately that it makes them want to learn about another culture or language can hardly be called meaningless, and I think that does have a long-term benefit to the global marketplace built into it. However it's true that these kids' love of manga doesn't really bear any economic fruit in the short-term. I'm not saying there's an easy fix or anything, I just think it's pretty clear that manga still has importance to our youth culture.
Manga has it's appeal, and just because CMX is closing, and Viz is sizing down… it's not the "END" of manga per say. The shrink in the industry will allow some time (I think) for all the hyper-pushed properties (Naruto, Bleach, etc.) to shrink back down, and it will eventually give rise to great new properties. And while the shrinking in the industry will be felt on the shelves of book and comic stores… I think Libraries will continue to grow their collections of older manga during this downturn.
I am not at all surprised. There have been too many publishers and way too many sub-par titles for far too many years. The same thing has happened before in the Industry and has also happened numerous times in the sister industry of Anime publishing. Does anyone remember Studio Ironcat? Probably not, and with good reason.Viz is a powerhouse and will probably publish the next big title, whenever it comes out, despite the number of staff it lays off. But until then the US Manga industry has certainly reached its saturation point.
1) Gia Manry isn't "at Viz" — she's an independent journalist offering comment.2) So long as there's demand among younger readers (and there most certainly is), manga isn't "dying." Rather, a bunch of people bet wrong on specific sales strategies — CMX, for example, bet heavily on titles that no one wanted to read — and now have lost some chips.- Dirk Deppeyhttp://tcj.com/
I don’t know if it’s dying in the US or not, but I’ve been trying to get Kurohime #3 for MONTHS now (including through Amazon and Borders) without success. And it’s listed on eBay anywhere from $50 to $300! Is this the first really valuable manga?
I don't know if it's dying in the US or not, but I've been trying to get Kurohime #3 for MONTHS now (including through Amazon and Borders) without success. And it's listed on eBay anywhere from $50 to $300! Is this the first really valuable manga?
I’ve been a big fan of Viz for a while. I’m more in agreement with Mr. Green here. I think the smaller publishers who are putting out low quality stories will fall while the bigger smarter beasts will trim fat and just focus on bringing people in with better stories. 5 years from now the economy will be better and we will get another mountain of sub par stories again.
I've been a big fan of Viz for a while. I'm more in agreement with Mr. Green here. I think the smaller publishers who are putting out low quality stories will fall while the bigger smarter beasts will trim fat and just focus on bringing people in with better stories. 5 years from now the economy will be better and we will get another mountain of sub par stories again.
Just wanted to issue a little correction– I am not “of VIZ;” I’m just a freelance writer offering some speculation. I have no inside information about VIZ’s situation. :)
Thanks Gia and Dirk. Sorry for getting that factoid wrong. But I think we’ve got some great comments here… let’s keep it up!
I am finding comments from Fred Schodt very prescient and interesting right now. From a 1986 essay:
“So why do I think Japanese comics have a hope of making it in the United States? The first reason is the sheer size of the Japanese industry and the variety of material it churns out. Probably ninety-five percent of Japanese comics are not worth translating. A lot of them are soft-core porn for men or trashy romances for women, stuff we Americans could create on our own, thanks. And who wants to read volumes about the problems of hierarchical relationships in boring office jobs or the spiritual rewards of selling discount cameras in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district? But precisely because there is so much stuff produced, there is something for nearly everyone, if selected properly.”
And from my interview with him for Electric Ant #1 in 2008:
“ANT: The male action stuff seems in competition to superhero stuff, in some cases. But there isn’t really a direct analog for shojo here, so it fills a complete void.
FRED: That’s exactly why the major book publishers in America are doing shojo manga and making money. It’s what’s hot now – what’ll be hot five years from now, I don’t know. You read all these articles in American media about how manga are such huge business in Japan; It’s only taken 25 or 30 years or more to wake up to this huge phenomenon out there, but the irony of it is, it’s sort of like in the 19th century when people in France opened up tea boxes and discovered ukiyo-e woodblock prints and they’re thinking, “Wow there’s this fabulous art form!” and of course in Japan it was dying out.
And then in the 1980s, you get the same thing – Americans just go ga-ga over Japanese business practices and there’s all these books in America come out about Japanese business techniques and management techniques, and actually that was dying in japan at the time. And manga are not doing well either, actually sales of manga are miserable compared to 10 years ago, which was the peak really.
It’s ironic to me, when I see for example that Shonen Jump, which has always been one of the biggest boys weeklies in Japan, is bragging about sales of 3 million copies per week. That’s great but if you remember what in 1996 or 1997, they were selling 5 to 6 million copies a week it doesn’t sound very good. So, Americans are interested in this phenomenon which actually peaked 10 years ago in Japan. We don’t really know where the baseline is.”
Just wanted to issue a little correction– I am not "of VIZ;" I'm just a freelance writer offering some speculation. I have no inside information about VIZ's situation. :)
Thanks Gia and Dirk. Sorry for getting that factoid wrong. But I think we've got some great comments here… let's keep it up!
I am finding comments from Fred Schodt very prescient and interesting right now. From a 1986 essay:"So why do I think Japanese comics have a hope of making it in the United States? The first reason is the sheer size of the Japanese industry and the variety of material it churns out. Probably ninety-five percent of Japanese comics are not worth translating. A lot of them are soft-core porn for men or trashy romances for women, stuff we Americans could create on our own, thanks. And who wants to read volumes about the problems of hierarchical relationships in boring office jobs or the spiritual rewards of selling discount cameras in Tokyo's Shinjuku district? But precisely because there is so much stuff produced, there is something for nearly everyone, if selected properly."And from my interview with him for Electric Ant #1 in 2008:"ANT: The male action stuff seems in competition to superhero stuff, in some cases. But there isn't really a direct analog for shojo here, so it fills a complete void.FRED: That's exactly why the major book publishers in America are doing shojo manga and making money. It's what's hot now – what'll be hot five years from now, I don't know. You read all these articles in American media about how manga are such huge business in Japan; It's only taken 25 or 30 years or more to wake up to this huge phenomenon out there, but the irony of it is, it's sort of like in the 19th century when people in France opened up tea boxes and discovered ukiyo-e woodblock prints and they're thinking, "Wow there's this fabulous art form!" and of course in Japan it was dying out.And then in the 1980s, you get the same thing – Americans just go ga-ga over Japanese business practices and there's all these books in America come out about Japanese business techniques and management techniques, and actually that was dying in japan at the time. And manga are not doing well either, actually sales of manga are miserable compared to 10 years ago, which was the peak really.It's ironic to me, when I see for example that Shonen Jump, which has always been one of the biggest boys weeklies in Japan, is bragging about sales of 3 million copies per week. That's great but if you remember what in 1996 or 1997, they were selling 5 to 6 million copies a week it doesn't sound very good. So, Americans are interested in this phenomenon which actually peaked 10 years ago in Japan. We don't really know where the baseline is."