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6 Responses to “Troubles in Mangaland”

1. kdp Says:
   June 3, 2008 at 4:43 pm

   It’s just normal consolidation that takes place during a recession.  It’s happening all over, not just in anime/manga (for example: autos, housing, financials, etc…).  We’ll see a bunch of companies fail and the survivors, should they be strong enough, will take advantage.  With few companies, each company will have more pricing power (ie. they can change more), which will enable them to survive.  Won’t be fun for us consumers – we’ll spend less individually.  However, since the consolidated company will have a larger pool of customers, they can accept some dropoff in orders but still make money.Expect things to get worse before they get better.  You won’t see new competition enter the market against the established guys until the worldwide economy starts to pick up.  That’s probably several years away right now…Sorry for the gloom, but you did ask for our thoughts. 
2. Julie Says:
   June 3, 2008 at 5:07 pm

   @kdp – Yup, the economy overall sucks right now, and yup, there are going to be shake-ups in the market as consumers have fewer dollars to spend on leisure activities.  I live in Metro Detroit, and things have been bad here for a while, and it looks like it’s only going to get worse. Just when it seems that things can’t get any worse, the bottom drops out again.    
3. Haesslich Says:
   June 3, 2008 at 5:43 pm

   … if they do focus more on OEL, as their press release implies, and drop titles like Keroro Gunso or ARIA, I’m going Viz for everything. And I mean everything. They won’t see a cent from me ever again, ditto any companies they affiliate with.

   Yeah, petty threat, I know… but still, their OEL selection, IMO, is… lacking.
4. Julie Says:
   June 3, 2008 at 6:06 pm

   @Haesslich – I agree that their OEL releases haven’t been the best, but I did enjoy Dramacon.   Some of the manga that they have been releasing hasn’t exactly been my cup of tea, and in my opinion, they have saturated the market with too many releases every month.  
5. Erik Says:
   June 4, 2008 at 6:12 am

   Though the economic downturn is likely a factor, this feels reminiscent to me of the video game crash of the early 1980s.  There was an amazing boom in popularity of home video gaming, so everybody and their third cousin started publishing video games, with most of the offerings being sub-par.  (Even the solid companies were producing some bad stuff.  Remember Atari’s versions of Pac-Man and E.T.?)  With a lot of garbage out there, customers became discouraged and disappointed, and bought less, so sales plummeted, and many companies went under.  Maybe it is time for a correction in the J-media market for its own health; there’s just so much out there that it’s impossible to keep up.  With video games it took a few years, brought about by the introduction of the NES to the United States, but the market has been very strong ever since.  I am concerned, though, that as companies cut their titles we might miss a few gems and options that are different than standard fare; for instance, would "Mushishi" get licensed if the companies play it safe?
6. David Says:
   June 5, 2008 at 9:14 am

   I really feel for the talented folks at Tokyopop and others who were laid off. The print industry often feels ‘the burn’ when the economy isn’t doing well, which is unfortunate.When we were in a ‘recession’ a few years ago, I went through a similar situation as a graphic designer at a publication firm. Print was the first thing to get cut.  I don’t think it’s only ‘the economy’ though. The marketplace was already starting to evolve…the anime industry is still struggling through media evolution and market saturation.I guess we’ll learn more about Tokyopop’s situation during the next few weeks. Until then…keep buying manga and support your nearby bookstores!