Rocket Bomber - publishing

The “news” that recently broke is that Kodansha pulled all licenses from Tokyopop. Tokyopop itself will tell you: this was no big surprise.

Trying to get word out of Kodansha on the matter, though, is a lot more difficult. They’re not talking. They don’t even have a website: some cybersquatter has staked out Kodansha-USA and KodanshaComics and a different cybersquatter picked up the old and seldom (perhaps never?) used KodanClub site

Not that all is silence:

Kodansha Intl. (last updated 31 Aug) now reflects that affiliate Kodansha America, LLC will be responsible for sales and marketing, though distribution of Kodansha-Intl. titles is still being carried out by Oxford University Press.

It’s worthwhile to note that Kodansha International Ltd. is based in Japan; Kodansha America, LLC is one of three new companies set up in the United States. (The new Kodansha U.S. Manga initiative has always been separate from this chunk of Kodansha’s overall business.)

with a tip of the hat to DocWatson, who posted this helpful link to the NY State Gov’t. Business Database on the Mania.com anime/manga boards, we can infer a timeline:

Filing Date Name Type Entity Name
SEP 16, 1988 Actual KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL (USA – NEW YORK) LTD.
DEC 12, 1988 Actual KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL (USA) LTD.
JUL 19, 1990 Actual KODANSHA AMERICA, INC.

JUL 01, 2008 Actual KODANSHA USA, INC.
JUL 01, 2008 Actual KODANSHA USA PUBLISHING, LLC
JUL 01, 2008 Actual KODANSHA AMERICA, LLC

21 years ago Kodansha thought the potential was there for some of their (non-manga) titles, translated, to make inroads into the North American market (and likely was doing so previous to the formal establishment of a NY company & office) and then last year they thought enough of the potential for the comics to sink a couple million bucks and to get the ball rolling on a full scale(?) American Manga division of their own.

Also last year, Kodansha set up a slate of new companies and starting working (behind the scenes, but also presumably full-time, and in earnest) on a new American strategy…

And now, 14 months later, news comes that Kodansha has pulled it’s licenses from Tokyopop — hot on the heels of an announcement that they’ll be using long-time partner Random House for US distribution. And just six weeks from now, the first books will hit retailers.

Six Weeks? Yes.

Oh, hey… following the announcement of the Kodansha/RH distro deal, did anyone else think to search Random House’s site? Apparently, the imprint will be known (at least internally at RH) as “Kodansha Comics”.

Akira vol 1
Format: Trade Paperback, 352 pages
On Sale: October 13, 2009
Price: $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-935429-00-5 (1-935429-00-0)

Akira vol 2
Format: Trade Paperback, 304 pages
On Sale: January 12, 2010
Price: $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-935429-02-9 (1-935429-02-7)

Akira vol 3
Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
On Sale: April 13, 2010
Price: $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-935429-04-3 (1-935429-04-3)

Ghost in the Shell vol 1
Format: Trade Paperback, 368 pages
On Sale: October 13, 2009
Price: $26.99
ISBN: 978-1-935429-01-2 (1-935429-01-9)

Ghost in the Shell vol 2
Format: Trade Paperback, 320 pages
On Sale: April 13, 2010
Price: $26.99
ISBN: 978-1-935429-03-6 (1-935429-03-5)

##

Kodansha is playing it safe: not only are Akira and Ghost in the Shell older titles with a proven track record and North American sales history, each also has versions available on DVD (many versions in the case of GitS) which are also proven fan favorites with their own sales numbers to back them up. They had to screw over their oldest American partner (it’s unfair of me to ask, but: is this a contributing factor, as to why Dark Horse suddenly finds themselves the custodians of so much of CLAMP’s catalogue?) and actually, Kodansha may be doing themselves a disservice if they’re using these two legacy titles to guage American consumer demand for manga, but imagine yourself in Kodansha’s place — with a lot of newer titles tied up in more recent licensing agreements and the Del Rey deals in place actually making money for both sides — which titles would you launch with?

##

The Kodansha has Landed.

why are we so excited?

Kodansha moved into manga publishing with the launch of Shukan Shonen Magazine in 1959. This weekly anthology for boys went on to become one of the top-selling titles in Japan, with a circulation of almost 2 million copies (2007). Addressing every gender and age group, many of Kodansha’s manga magazines now belong to the so-called “megacomic” category, selling hundreds of thousands of copies on a regular basis. Whether it’s Rival, aimed at junior high school kids, Bessatsu Friend, for high school girls, or Young Magazine, designed for the youth market, Kodansha’s comic magazines cover every major demographic.

Kodansha currently publishes 18 manga magazines and around 1,270 manga trade paperback titles annually. [link]

[please note, by their own reporting Kodansha publishes 2000 titles a year — so manga is roughly 2/3 of their total output.]

1200 manga tankobon annually is roughly the entire output of all US licensees back in 2006 — it’s been up and down (and down) a bit since then. So when we talk about Kodansha-US-Direct, we’re talking about the potential to double the amount of manga available to American otaku — not overnight, obviously, as K-USA has been in the works for a couple of years already — but that’s the potential.

Kodansha USA is like a big black box.

A closed box; but not quite a featureless mononlith: it seems to incorporate a recycled PC speaker, has a single red LED on the outside, and a mysterious barely visible seam towards the top that hints at a lid but which can’t be proven to be a means of access because to date all the damn box has done is sit there.

We know it has a sound chip because every now and then, it beeps. And then nothing. And the light comes on and turns back off, or at least some blogger reported that the LED blinked but I didn’t see that myself, I’m just repeating what the first guy said.

And we all suspect that something wonderful is in the box because The Kodansha in Japan has some great stuff that they’ve been selling the heck out of (in Japan) and us fat, razy Americans would certainly like some of that too. We’ve seen some Kodansha releases in English, obviously, but in our heart of hearts we know it’s all been like the supermarket sushi — yes, it is ‘sushi’ but the expectation is that if a Japanese sushi master opened a restaurant next door to the supermarket we could finally get a taste of the real thing.

Mmmm. Sushi. I can almost taste it…

That is the promise and potential of Kodansha USA. But so far we’re not geting a sushi lunch, or Kodansha-direct manga, unless they’re sitting inside the un-openable black box. Kodansha USA is a riddle wrapped inside an enigma surrounded by sushi rice, nori, and served with wasabi and gari.

##

Mixed (and confusing) metaphors aside…

It could be that Kodansha USA is only going to do premium reprints of older, established titles — this assumption is certainly in line with the only titles released so far. It could be that K-USA is going to skip licensees entirely and release their own stuff to North America direct — which is what their (Japanese) press release last year seemed to say, and of course there is the recent Tokyopop development, but which has been at least partly disproven by every Del Rey and Dark Horse Kodansha title announced in the year since. It could be that this seemed like a really good idea in 2007 but the couple years in between has since convinced Kodansha to scale back or delay their plans for the indefinite future.

Could be a lot of things. That’s why I describe Big K as a big black box. We can assume all kinds of things, based on the market or our experience, or what we overhear at a book expo [*cough*] but in the end until we get official word from Kodansha—or we have the books in our hands—past the most general of statements [Kodansha is coming] there is nothing that we can actually say about this move.

There is only one thing we can say, the same thing we knew more than a year ago: Kodansha is coming.

Previously on this site:
Checking in with Kodansha and Chthulhu
Kodansha USA III

##

Update, 3 September 18:00
The discussion begins:

[since I’m reposting the comment, entire, in the main post, I’ve deleted it from the comments section below]

Comment by Torsten Adair — 3 September 2009, 14:37

According to Books in Print, the Kodansha America website is:
http://www.kodanshaamerica.com/

which has NO information about Akira or Ghost In The Shell.

I think your assumptions about their strategy are misguided. Kodansha cannot start established series from scratch until Tokyopop sells out of their remaining stock. Starting with established titles allows stores to order with some confidence, which helps KA start this new line. It is possible that there are few Kodansha properties which are unlicensed, and with the Tokyopopped letter, they can start planning to print their own volumes, but it will take at least six months (more with translation) before we see new titles.

Kodansha’s oldest American partner would be either Oxford (their U.S. distributor of Japanese titles (ISBNs starting with 4-) or Random House, which has licensed titles from Kodansha.

It seems that RH is distributing, so Kodansha manga will not be an imprint. (In much the same way that DC Comics and Titan Books are not imprints of RH.)

Yeah, it’s an interesting box. Not as interesting as that other box with the Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man stickers on it…

(and first: I may get to Mickey/Marvel before the end of the week, but everyone else is doing a fine job in the interim — my thoughts are not necessary, to date)

Did I forget to link to what-passes-for-the Kodansha Org Chart?

Like many Asian conglomerates, Kodansha is not set up as single, huge corporation (i.e. Disney) but rather a network of affiliated companies; of interest to us are the publishing-related firms, but per the site linked above: “Kodansha has further affiliates in industries like publishing, printing, paper broking, logistics and real estate.” The whole is so much bigger than the manga-intellectual-properties parts.

Books in Print™ — a hallowed and much respected source for titles (and companies) in English, fails us when it comes to piercing the veil of any Japanese publisher.

The site you link to is Kodansha, Intl. Ltd. And that’s fine. But K-Intl. is different from K-USA as currently set up and different from Big-K, Japan (who owns all the others).

And in reference to my citation in the post above of previous long standing RH-Kodansha ties, I wasn’t talking about Del Rey but as linked, to Random House Kodansha Co. Ltd, the independent firm (co-owned by both) established in 2003 to bring Random House titles translated into Japanese to the Japanese market.

Dark Horse didn’t start licensing Kodansha titles until 1994 (ref.) — a scant 15 years ago or so — so maybe I should have qualified my statement by saying Kodansha was screwing over their longest-standing manga partner, and I thank you for the opportunity to post the correction.

[Oxford deserves notice, and credit, and in fact appears to still be the partner for the academic & noteworthy books of Kodansha Intl. — but today we’re talking about comics] [And Dark Horse is still publishing Oh My Goddess! so it seems the new Kodansha USA isn’t messing with all previous business relationships, just T’pop]

In America, a Publishing firm is more likely to set up an imprint (a semantic unit) to try out a new idea. —it’s less about business arrangements, and all about marketing the ‘new thing’ to the public.

In Asia (a point I made last year) the model is to instead set it up as a new company — owned in whole or in part by the mothership but set up to fail or to succeed on their own.

I can buy a Yahama receiver for my home entertainment system. I can buy a Yamaha saxophone. I can buy a Yamaha motorcycle — these are all Yamaha but in fact there are 3 separate companies selling me these disparate goods. I picked Yamaha because I know these product lines off the top of my head (and own both the receiver and the sax) but many Japanese firms (and at least one Korean co.: Samsung) are set up on very similar lines.

SO Kodansha as-a-name-and-brand is monolithic, but the individual companies doing business in their name are not so coherent as the single brand (and our experience with American, UK, and European publishers) would lead us to expect.

Which is why this is called a Kodansha Puzzle. What I find interesting is that Kodansha USA Inc. or Kondansha Publishing USA LLC (whichever is actually responsible) in the arrangement with Random House would like the books to be branded “Kodansha Comics”

—I mean, they could just have easily asked for “Kodansha USA” or “Kodansha Del Rey” or even “Kodansha”-no-modifier. Which is why I made a note of it above. I call it an “imprint” out of habit, maybe — after all, I’ve spent a few weeks trying to untangle Villard from Pantheon from Del Rey from Ballantine Doubleday Dell.

Honestly, unwrapping US publishers is enough to drive me to drink, and I’m already at drink (I own a condo here) so compounding US publishers foibles with intentional Kodansha obfuscations is enough to drive me to… I don’t know… hard liquor? bad poetry? non-profit activism?

I’m still waiting for Kodansha Manga USA (whatever co. releases it) and I’d love an easy answer, almost as much as I’d love to be able to just buy the manga (I’m a simple guy: readily available beer and manga are enough to shut me up.) But in the absence of the easy buy or easy explanation — or even a complex explanation if it’s something I can figure out — all we are left with is a lot of guesses and the Damn Black Box.

If I were a spiteful, mean-spirited person with little forgiveness for the occasional foibles of others and no generosity at all in my soul, I might point out that even half-assed internet journalism consists of, at a minimum: finding links to original sources, writing full articles on your own blog (or emailing enough info to a blogger-of-record so they can post) (or posting a full article with links and attribution in one of the several well-trafficked-forums under your own damn name or an ‘official’ handle/alias), and following a story past the dropping-an-Oh-By-The-Way-rumor-in-the-comments-of-someone-else’s-blog stage.

It would seem that the instigator of this mess, “Chthulu“, has returned once and for all to the dormant state so natural to a Great Old One and will not speak again. Haven’t heard a peep from Chthulu since. …except for another drive-by anonymous comment to chastise me for chastising him… er… it.

— but a comment isn’t journalism; it’s… well… OK so a comment is not nothing as some comments are both insightful and corrective (Matt Thorn’s comments on my “Ages of Fan” posts spring immediately to mind) but I’m reminded more of a chimpanzee flinging poo than anything else in this particular case.

Sorry for the long digressive intro, folks: tweaking Chthulu into a pique is a little hobby of mine, and I’m trying to taunt the punter into leaving another rambling, illogical, nonsensical comment — something where she (he? it?) insults me once again without providing anything to back up either the original claims or any sort of authority from which she might be speaking. So far — past the one exceptional, glorious fact which can be corroborated — Chthulu is full of shit.

The One Fact is that Kodansha is coming.

##

There have been some developments since the orignal bomb and my initial follow-up — let’s start with some changes at Kodansha Mothership in Japan: at The Kodansha there are two main points to note; first and most importantly, licensing is still a bit part of their business, not just here in the States but internationally. Even if the new initiative results in fewer NA licensees, it’s not like BigK is going to stop a business practice that, after all, results in money gained for absolutely no effort.

(That’s the main point, methinks. Nothing is wrong with licensing; it’s free money. If you sell a license, you get cash up front and your partner assumes all risk — The only reason to try Going It Alone is that there is even more money to be made if one invests the time and effort into producing the books or DVDs directly — but like any investment, returns are not guaranteed.)

With an established US market for manga, and seven solid years (or 16, or 20, or 25 — depending on how one cares to account for things like Mixx, Animerica, and Akira) of groundwork already laid, and with the library of titles available to Kodansha, this is an excellent time to enter the market.

You question that? “Oh, we’re in a depression” – “Oh, the bookstore market is shrinking” – “Oh, the Direct Market is entering meltdown, there’s no way a new publisher could enter now”

Kodansha isn’t a new publisher; They’re 100 years old. Just sayin’.

The second point worth more than a second glance is found on the current org chart for BigK — in addition to the two existing English-language affiliates (though did they ever do anything with the KodanClub brand?) there are two new companies: Kodansha USA, Inc. & Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC — and of course Random House Kodansha Co. Ltd. is still a going concern,

and as an aside: this loosely affiliated network of separate companies seems to be a typical asian model for corporate organization; consider Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Samsung as examples

I guess what I’m trying to say is that a Japanese publisher setting up a new company is comparable to a US publisher setting up a new imprint [mostly semantic] and it’s as natural a process as me ‘producing’ empty glass and aluminium containers for recycling — just a natural part of doing business.
—that is to say, the big news wasn’t that there’s a new division, but instead will be what books are they releasing?

Granted, there is the report that Kodansha USA was captalized with 2 Million Dollars, but that was coupled with the following: “Printing, market research and distribution will be outsourced to local companies while sales and marketing strategy will be handled by Kodansha.” Now, $2MM isn’t nothing, but the rest of that statement leaves me scratching my head as to what’s different: Someone else (a player to be named later, but I’m thinking some arm of Random House) will be printing and distributing the books.

& There is a lot of business double-speak in that statement; marketing is everything and nothing. Yes, without proper sales support a title does nothing, but all this talk of Marketing and Strategy leaves me cold. Kodansha USA will directly direct the ‘soft sciences’ of sales and marketing — but tell me, does translation and localization fall under the aegis of Marketing or of printing & distribution?

Who exactly is producing the new books? Translation of manga isn’t something you can run through Google, it is all art and no science. Sure, you want to sell me a book, but it had better be a Good Book or we’re all wasting our time. You know, the more I look into this Kodansha debacle the more I feel that it may end up as a big mistake; to date, there is nothing reported about the procedure of bringing Kodansha manga direct to the American audience, just some Pie in the Sky spitballing about New Company This and Two Million That.

(Madoff is the clearest recent example that one can easily ‘sell’ nothing. What, exactly, are you trying to sell us, Kodansha?)

Where are the damn books? Where is an announcement of any forthcoming books? Throw me a bone; I love quite a number of Kodansha titles and hell, I want this to work, but the deafening silence points to K-USA being much more of a 2010 thing than anything that we’ll see this year — and even a 2010 release is a mere figment of my imagination, my best guess, as nothing has been announced.

And given the highly improbable Sep. ’08 dates that were first reported — which I questioned not once but twice — I enjoy the vindication of my initial pessimism but still, I’d rather be reading the comics.

I guess what I want to know, after all this time, is just what Kodansha USA is going to do to my beloved US manga market? Have there been any additional reports past internet rumor?

Re: my recent post on Kodansha

There’s what you said:

“but don’t claim authority and anonymity”

People who have the important information are not allowed to just share it. Deep Throat was anonymous, too. Get over it, guy. The details were wrong, but Kodansha is coming.

Comment by A. Nony Mouse — 8 October 2008, 08:47

And my reply:

In the original post, Cthulhu couched his commentary as being important not for what it is (and Kodansha publishing manga in the states IS BIG NEWS! and good news) but worthy of being leaked in advance so as to succor the (at the time) recently laid off Tokyopop employees. — the leak was in comments on a Tokyopop news item.

Needless to say, Kodansha wasn’t (and isn’t) hiring, or no more than a handful. I don’t know, I can’t make it over to their Lexington Ave office to see if they have a flyer up.

— and Mr. Anonymous, you’ll note that when I have something to say about Kodansha, or publishing, or retail, or even when I speculate widely on the future of the industry: I post it to my own damn blog under my own damn name.

And Deep Throat didn’t drop a letter in a mailbox — he got in touch personally with an investigative reporter who was in a position to follow up on it. …And Deep Throat didn’t win the Pulitzer: Woodward and Bernstein did, after months of interviews, leg work, and investigation. And if memory serves, Deep Throat didn’t even name names, he just said ‘follow the money’

I find your allusion to “Deep Throat” in this instance to be a bit off.

In the case of Kodansha — The actual press release followed just a week after the anonymous tip. And the information was handy, good to know, and good news, but hardly IMPORTANT. It could have waited a week.

I stand by every thing I’ve said, including all the insults. Of course, since I don’t know your name, or Cthulhu’s, or perhaps you’re the same person — there is no need for you to take it personally because you’re safe behind your wall of anonymity. I can’t insult you by name, Your job & reputation are intact — No one knows that I’ve insulted you. No one but you. If that still makes you feel bad then I guess you need to think about why.

##

I apologize to everyone if it seemed like I was slighting Kodansha (or their fine Guide to Akihabara forthcoming in November — but then again, $20 for 96 pages? Maybe some slight was intended)

Let’s dial the wayback machine to 4 June and my very first comment on the Kondansa Kerfluffle:

Kodansha Intl. is and has been an English language publisher for quite some time; notable recent releases include “A Geisha’s Journey: My Life as a Kyoto Apprentice” by Kodomo (a nome de plume) and “Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook” — along with a slate of Japanese Language titles (as in, learning the language), a number of drool-worthy coffee-table-grade art books, and the “Draw Your Own Manga” series of art how-to books (which may be the source of the error and rumor; though the first volume is 4 years old… nothing new here)

http://www.kodansha-intl.com/

The deal between Kodansha and Del Rey/Random House is a strategic alliance, and also a two-way street if my hazy memory of old press releases can be taken at face value — I don’t know which RH titles have been translated into Japanese, but if they’re out there at all then Kodansha is publishing them.

Whatever the deal with Del Rey, Kodansha seems to have kept noted educational and cultural titles off the table, and reserved them for their own imprint. Gacha Gacha, though, is Del Rey’s for as long as they can stomach to publish it.

Kodansha Intl. titles are distributed in the US by Oxford University Press

If they can apply even a fraction of that effort to manga, well… to use the local vernacular, I’ll be as happy as a pig in shit.

Forgive me for dredging this one up after most thought it buried and forgotten, but I’ve a personal stake in the story — or at least, in how it was reported:

It’s been 13 weeks since the ‘leak,’ (via comments on the Beat and Comics212) after everyone’s favorite Haunter of the Dark deigned to blight internet forums with his presence and drop a bomb on manga-ish websites with the initial blurb, and three whole months since confirmation came via machine-translated posts to Japanese business news websites.

Oh yeah. Really enjoying the new Kodansha-direct manga that was going to be here in September. [*smirk*]. I mean, it’s not like someone who follows US manga publishing in any kind of obsessive way expressed any reservations at all over the reports that Kodansha would be stocking manga in stores in (the month now passed) September. That would require a knowledge of publishing and retail realities — actual conditions on the ground, as it were — and not just a casual acquaintance with ‘someone’ in the ‘business’ who ‘knows’.

Posting to the internet is fine, but don’t claim *authority* and *anonymity* at the same time. Still not reading any of that lovely, promised Kodansha manga, Cthulhu…
And after I went out of my way to apologize and all…

Oh, wait. No I didn’t. I tried to apologize, but always prefaced it by saying “If Cthulhu had used his/her real name, then I could apologize.”

You’re a tool and a fop and a fob, and there is a big, big difference between “Kodansha Manga invades the US” and The Manga Guide To Akihabara shipping two months late and via a 3rd party bit player in publishing, not even their established book distribution partner.

Rumors and leaks are great and all, and fuel large portions of the blogosphere, but to me it’s not real until I can get it into the store and physically read something — and preferably, sell it. And $20 for a 96pg, extremely niche-fan-focused book? Not the best start for Kodansha USA.

Oh, I’ll read it, given the opportunity. I might even buy it — but only with the understanding that I’m buying it to review on the blog; I don’t really need this kind of thing. (I’m kinda-sorta hoping that Jim Killen in NY will be bluffed by Kodansha and a copy will show up at my store so I can flip through it without having to special order one.)

Kodansha apparently wants to start a brand-new Viz-type vertically integrated manga publishing operation — but if this is extent of what they’re attempting… well, we’re just not seeing it yet.

correction 7 October: the book *is* being distributed by Oxford; I find involvement of the Japan Publications Trading Co. in what was presented to be a Kodansha title confusing, but no doubt reflects how the book was published in Japan. — and the book appears to be just another Kodansha non-fiction title, originally scheduled for a November release and unrelated to the Mysterious Manga Initiative.

I’m using my manga charts to look at the output of select publishers —

covered previously:
ADV Manga, Aurora Publishing, Broccoli Books, CMX, Dark Horse, Del Rey, DMP/DMP June/801,

Today the spotlight is on

Graphic-Sha & Japanime’s Manga University

Let’s change gears a bit and consider one interesting aspect of my manga charts: There is some stuff here that isn’t manga.

I’ll typically include any book that is “co-branded” (for lack of a better term) with a popular manga series: the art books, character guides, source books (“How to Read Death Note” anyone?), novels (which I discussed two weeks ago) — and a stack of stuff that is even more questionable, like ani-manga & cine-manga, calendars, sticker books, and Pokemon.

Past the tie-in stuff, there are some academic & scholarly works I’m tracking as well: obviously I’m going to include Thompson’s Guide to Manga; Scott McCloud will always have a place on my charts, and I’m also making room for Abel & Madden as well as at least one or two guides to Anime. —

By far the largest group of non-manga manga titles in my database, though, are the How-To books, and of these the vast majority are Graphic-Sha’s How to Draw Manga series. And that’s not a bad thing. Graphic-Sha, a Japanese publisher, commissioned Japanese artists and authors to produce a series of how-to books in Japan, for the Japanese market. (Do you see the trend there?) Quite a few of these books (around 65, give or take) have been translated and made available to the English market, via co-productions with two companies: Japan Publications Trading Co., who also publish the Japanese in Mangaland series of language texts, and Japanime, a company most American readers will know as Manga University

I don’t know which company worked on which books, though one could look at the titles are being offered on the two sites — but on at least one level (my level: the books on the shelf at retail) it doesn’t matter, as the entire series has a unified look-and-feel and if there are any differences, these are transparent to the consumer.

Graphic-Sha’s How to Draw Manga is a venerable series (in manga terms; the first book was published in the U.S. back in 1999) and well known to most folks who’ve browsed the art how-to section at their local big box. I’ll list the titles I have in my database (at the end of this post, and an aside: it’s so good to see that the anatomy volume is the top ranked, gives me some hope for the aspiring artists) but I think the more interesting story is hidden behind and around and beside the How-to-Draw series:

Let’s take a campus tour over at Manga University.

They’ve got some fun stuff there: free online tutorials, t-shirts, art supplies, a webcomic, complete online classes, a publisher’s blog…

that’s… nice. Just icing, though. The cake is the books.

And The Meat is MU’s selection of language titles.

I’ve been trying to teach myself Japanese for about a year. Unfortunately I can only do it on a very, very part time basis so I’m still stuck trying to memorize the kana. Hey, what do you know, they have a book for that: Kana de Manga. It’s cute — each page is illustrated (by Chihiro Hattori) — but also clear and accessible: the blurbs on each page include a sample word (often a familiar japanese term—like kimono—for the hirgana, and english loan words for the katakana) starting with the kana in question, and an illustation of the stroke order so you know how to properly write each one. It’s not a guarantee or an instant fix; one still needs to study, but this is a definite improvement over dry, boring college texts.

After you learn the kana, you can move on the Kanji de Manga, of which there are 5 volumes, and the special editions on Sound Effects drawn in most manga, and yojijukugo (4 kanji japanese idioms).

And the reason I kept using food metaphors is because they also publish a cookbook: not just any cookbook, though, a Manga Cookbook. The Manga Cookbook is also cute (Hattori does these characters, too) and is aimed, perhaps, at a slightly younger audience. While the introductory chapters on selected Japanese ingredients was certainly helpful, particularly in noting which should be available in the States and noting a few substitutions that can be made, on the whole it stuck me as Japanese Cooking for Kids. I personally would rather sink my teeth into The Japanese Pub Cookbook, and home chefs might be better served by one or both of Harumi’s books. Paired with a bento set, though, the Manga Cookbook would be a fine present for the tween manga fan, particularly if he or she is a fan of cooking manga like Kitchen Princess.

(If she’s a fan of Iron Wok Jan, you could always get her an iron wok — I own one of these Lodge Cast Iron Woks and it is super-sweet, a very close second-favorite right behind my 12’ heirloom cast iron skillet.)

Manga University also has a number of little gift books, each about 100 pages and 5 inches square — of these I own Manga Moods and 50 Things We Love About Japan and have been pleased with each; to actually recommend one of these is going to depend a lot on context and gift recipient, though, as they aren’t ‘manga’ enough for some fans (who’d likely rather just get more manga) and might be a bit too manga for the general public. Atsuhisa Okura’s art in 50 Things is awfully pretty though.

Manga University’s ranking titles:

113. ↑7 (120) : Manga Cookbook – Japanime’s Manga University, Aug 2007 [253.2] ::
405. ↓-12 (393) : Kanji de Manga 1 – Japanime’s Manga University, Jan 2005 [83.9] ::
499. ↓-142 (357) : Kanji de Manga vols 1-3 box set – Japanime’s Manga University, Nov 2006 [57.8] ::
845. ↑476 (1321) : Manga Moods – Japanime’s Manga University, Mar 2006 [10.5] ::
1769. ↑new (last ranked 27 Jul 08) : Kanji de Manga Kana de Manga Special Edition: Japanese Sound FX – Japanime’s Manga University, Apr 2007 [0.1] ::

previously ranked:

. (last ranked 17 Aug 08) : Kanji de Manga 3 – Japanime’s Manga University, Nov 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 22 Jun 08) : Kanji de Manga Special Edition: Yoji-Jukugo – Japanime’s Manga University, Apr 2008 [0] ::
. (last ranked 10 Aug 08) : Kanji de Manga Kana de Manga – Japanime’s Manga University, Jan 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 22 Jun 08) : Kanji de Manga 5 – Japanime’s Manga University, Aug 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 25 May 08) : Manga Cookbook Bento Box Gift Set – Japanime’s Manga University, Sep 2008 [0] ::

##

Graphic Sha’s How To Draw Manga
(ranking titles; if you were looking for a complete, numbered list then check wikipedia)

304. ↓-31 (273) : How to Draw Manga Bodies & Anatomy – Graphic Sha, Aug 2002 [115.2] ::
382. ↓-18 (364) : How to Draw Manga Sketching Manga Style 1 – Graphic Sha, May 2007 [89.8] ::
584. ↑169 (753) : How to Draw Manga Compiling Characters – Graphic Sha, Jul 1999 [39.3] ::
901. ↓-155 (746) : How to Draw Manga Sketching Manga Style 2 – Graphic Sha, May 2007 [8.2] ::
927. ↓-269 (658) : How to Draw Manga Couples – Graphic Sha, Oct 2002 [7.4] ::
1065. ↑115 (1180) : How to Draw Manga Costume Encyclopedia 4 – Graphic Sha, Mar 2007 [4.5] ::
1068. ↓-316 (752) : How to Draw Manga Techniques for Drawing Female Manga Characters – Graphic Sha, Aug 2002 [4.4] ::
1102. ↓-27 (1075) : How to Draw Manga Putting Things in Perspective – Graphic Sha, Sep 2002 [3.7] ::
1146. ↓-25 (1121) : How to Draw Manga Occult & Horror – Graphic Sha, Aug 2002 [3] ::
1281. ↓-59 (1222) : How to Draw Manga Drawing Yaoi – Graphic Sha, Aug 2007 [0.9] ::
1407. ↓-557 (850) : How to Draw Manga Animals – Graphic Sha, May 2005 [0.2] ::
1421. ↓-248 (1173) : How to Draw Manga Action Scene Collection Samurai & Ninja – Graphic Sha, Apr 2007 [0.2] ::
1424. ↓-227 (1197) : How to Draw Manga Pen & Tone Techniques – Graphic Sha, Dec 2002 [0.2] ::
1425. ↓-220 (1205) : How to Draw Manga Mech Drawing – Graphic Sha, May 2003 [0.2] ::
1466. ↓-36 (1430) : How to Draw Manga Costume Encyclopedia 1 – Graphic Sha, Feb 2003 [0.2] ::
1578. ↓-368 (1210) : How to Draw Manga Girls’ Life Illustration File – Graphic Sha, Apr 2003 [0.1] ::
1579. ↓-361 (1218) : How to Draw Manga Ultimate Manga Lessons 1 – Graphic Sha, May 2005 [0.1] ::
1598. ↓-213 (1385) : How to Draw Manga Male Characters – Graphic Sha, Aug 2002 [0.1] ::
1613. ↓-199 (1414) : How to Draw Manga Ultimate Manga Lessons 6 – Graphic Sha, Mar 2006 [0.1] ::
1623. ↓-179 (1444) : How to Draw Manga Costume Encyclopedia 2 – Graphic Sha, Sep 2004 [0.1] ::
1632. ↓-144 (1488) : How to Draw Manga Giant Robots – Graphic Sha, Feb 2002 [0.1] ::
1643. ↓-132 (1511) : How to Draw Manga Ultimate Manga Lessons 3 – Graphic Sha, Aug 2005 [0.1] ::
1682. ↓-10 (1672) : How to Draw Manga Ninja & Samurai – Graphic Sha, Nov 2005 [0.1] ::
1694. ↑8 (1702) : How to Draw Manga Getting Started – Graphic Sha, Sep 2004 [0.1] ::
1777. ↑new (last ranked 3 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Bishoujo Around the World – Graphic Sha, Aug 2002 [0.1] ::

other titles, previously ranked.

. (last ranked 24 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Bishoujo – Graphic Sha, Feb 2001 [0] ::
. (last ranked 1 Jun 08) : How to Draw Manga Computones 4 – Graphic Sha, Jun 2000 [0] ::
. (last ranked 27 Jul 08) : How to Draw Manga Computones 5 – Graphic Sha, Jun 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 10 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Creating Stories – Graphic Sha, Apr 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 18 May 08) : How to Draw Manga Dressing Your Characters – Graphic Sha, Jun 2001 [0] ::
. (last ranked 18 May 08) : How to Draw Manga Female Characters – Graphic Sha, Aug 2002 [0] ::
. (last ranked 17 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Guns & Military 2 – Graphic Sha, Aug 2003 [0] ::
. (last ranked 18 May 08) : How to Draw Manga Illustration Kit – Graphic Sha, Sep 2004 [0] ::
. (last ranked 18 May 08) : How to Draw Manga Maids & Miko – Graphic Sha, Nov 2002 [0] ::
. (last ranked 24 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Making Anime – Graphic Sha, Nov 2002 [0] ::
. (last ranked 30 Mar 08) : How to Draw Manga More How to Draw Manga 1 – Graphic Sha, May 2004 [0] ::
. (last ranked 24 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga More How to Draw Manga 3 – Graphic Sha, Sep 2004 [0] ::
. (last ranked 27 Jul 08) : How to Draw Manga More How to Draw Manga 4 – Graphic Sha, Jul 2004 [0] ::
. (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : How to Draw Manga Penning Characters – Graphic Sha, May 2004 [0] ::
. (last ranked 27 Jul 08) : How to Draw Manga Special: Colored Original Drawings – Graphic Sha, Jun 2001 [0] ::
. (last ranked 10 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Super Tone Techniques – Graphic Sha, Aug 2002 [0] ::
. (last ranked 22 Jun 08) : How to Draw Manga Super-deformed Characters 2 – Graphic Sha, May 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 17 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Ultimate Manga Lessons 2 – Graphic Sha, Oct 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 10 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Ultimate Manga Lessons 4 – Graphic Sha, Jan 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 24 Aug 08) : How to Draw Manga Ultimate Manga Lessons 5 – Graphic Sha, Feb 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 24 Aug 08) : New Generation of Manga Artists 3 – Graphic Sha, Apr 2003 [0] ::

##

(Some of you might have been expecting an article on Go! Comi this week, or last week actually — I promise I’ll be covering Go! Comi at some point in the near future but they’ve this very interesting tidbit on their site that requires some additional research and analysis)

key:
Manga 500 ranking. ↕movement (last wks. rank) : title – pub.info & [score] ::

Top 10 Preorders:

47. ↑8 (55) : Naruto 31 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [398.8] ::
113. ↑13 (126) : Warriors Tigerstar & Sasha 1 – HC/Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [244.9] ::
131. ↑41 (172) : Vampire Knight 5 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [228.3] ::
160. ↑25 (185) : Fruits Basket 21 – Tokyopop, Nov 2008 [201.1] ::
214. ↑56 (270) : Bleach 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [157.3] ::
265. ↓-47 (218) : Hellsing 9 – Dark Horse, Oct 2008 [128.2] ::
297. ↑92 (389) : Loveless 8 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [110.9] ::
325. ↓-72 (253) : Vampire Kisses 2 – HC/Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [101] ::
339. ↓-44 (295) : Naruto 32 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2008 [96.7] ::
345. ↑120 (465) : Negima! 8 – Del Rey, Dec 2008 [94.5] ::

##

By Month of Release:

September:
418. ↑123 (541) : Berserk 25 – Dark Horse, Sep 2008 [71.7] ::
1504. ↑new (0) : Black Cat 16 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
784. ↓-86 (698) : Black Jack 1 – Vertical, Sep 2008 [12.9] ::
214. ↑56 (270) : Bleach 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [157.3] ::
860. ↑782 (1642) : Bleach Collector’s Edition Hardcover 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [9.1] ::
1469. ↑38 (1507) : Bleach vols 1-21 box set – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [0.2] ::
1107. ↓-94 (1013) : Chibi Vampire 10 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [2.9] ::
1508. ↑new (0) : Death Note Collector’s Edition Hardcover 1 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
1534. ↓-775 (759) : Dragon Ball VizBig Edition 2 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
544. ↑191 (735) : Dragon Ball Z VizBig Edition 2 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [44.8] ::
1336. ↓-56 (1280) : Eiken 12 – Media Blasters, Sep 2008 [0.3] ::
1719. ↑new (last ranked 3 Aug 08) : Evyione: Ocean Fantasy 2 – Udon, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
632. ↑523 (1155) : Gentlemen’s Alliance† 7 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [30.2] ::
739. ↓-14 (725) : Getbackers 26 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [15.9] ::
841. ↓-154 (687) : Getbackers Infinity Fortress 1 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [9.6] ::
358. ↑192 (550) : Gothic & Lolita Bible 3 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [91] ::
468. ↑394 (862) : High School Debut 5 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [59.1] ::
1599. ↓-174 (1425) : Hunter x Hunter 22 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
430. ↑144 (574) : Junjo Romantica 7 – Tokyopop Blu, Sep 2008 [68.7] ::
893. ↑new (0) : Love*com 8 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [8.2] ::
297. ↑92 (389) : Loveless 8 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [110.9] ::
1601. ↓-171 (1430) : Mail Order Ninja 3 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
794. ↑126 (920) : Manga Mania Shonen – Sixth & Spring, Sep 2008 [12.6] ::
832. ↓-129 (703) : Mixed Vegetables 1 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [10] ::
666. ↑new (0) : Monkey High! 3 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [24.6] ::
889. ↑new (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Monochrome Factor 3 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [8.4] ::
919. ↓-186 (733) : My Dearest Devil Princess 4 – Broccoli Books, Sep 2008 [7.3] ::
882. ↑new (last ranked 22 Jun 08) : Nana 12 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [8.5] ::
47. ↑8 (55) : Naruto 31 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [398.8] ::
660. ↑259 (919) : Negima! 19 – Del Rey, Sep 2008 [25.2] ::
406. ↓-155 (251) : Phoenix Wright 1 – Del Rey, Sep 2008 [75] ::
1678. ↑new (last ranked 10 Aug 08) : Rave Master 30 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
535. ↑new (0) : S.A (Special A) 6 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [46.1] ::
557. ↑301 (858) : Skip Beat! 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [42.7] ::
1007. ↑new (last ranked 3 Aug 08) : Sundome 3 – Yen Press, Sep 2008 [4.9] ::
1554. ↓-404 (1150) : tactics 6 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
1244. ↓-81 (1163) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Water – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.6] ::
325. ↓-72 (253) : Vampire Kisses 2 – HC/Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [101] ::
131. ↑41 (172) : Vampire Knight 5 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [228.3] ::
537. ↑new (0) : Wanted – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [46] ::
113. ↑13 (126) : Warriors Tigerstar & Sasha 1 – HC/Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [244.9] ::
452. ↑404 (856) : Wild Ones 4 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [62.7] ::

October:
856. ↓-20 (836) : .hack// G.U.+ 3 – Tokyopop, Oct 2008 [9.2] ::
851. ↓-19 (832) : .hack// XXXX 2 – Tokyopop, Oct 2008 [9.3] ::
846. ↓-153 (693) : Air Gear 10 – Del Rey, Oct 2008 [9.4] ::
445. ↓-28 (417) : Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan – Random House Pantheon, Oct 2008 [64.5] ::
1712. ↑new (last ranked 27 Jul 08) : Beauty Pop 9 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
847. ↑602 (1449) : Black Lagoon 2 – Viz, Oct 2008 [9.4] ::
946. ↑new (0) : Blank Slate 1 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2008 [6.5] ::
870. ↓-156 (714) : Bleach Souls: Official Character Book – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2008 [8.8] ::
624. ↓-126 (498) : Death Note vols 1-13 box set – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [31.6] ::
1455. ↓-34 (1421) : Dragon Ball Collector’s Edition Hardcover 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2008 [0.2] ::
1467. ↑3 (1470) : Fruits Basket Planner – Tokyopop, Oct 2008 [0.2] ::
782. ↑276 (1058) : Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition 4 – Tokyopop, Oct 2008 [13.1] ::
1319. ↓-297 (1022) : Fullmetal Alchemist 17 – Viz, Oct 2008 [0.3] ::
265. ↓-47 (218) : Hellsing 9 – Dark Horse, Oct 2008 [128.2] ::
843. ↓-153 (690) : Hikaru no Go 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2008 [9.5] ::
1582. ↓-216 (1366) : Inuyasha 35 – Viz, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
1566. ↓-264 (1302) : Kitchen Princess 8 – Del Rey, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
728. ↑new (0) : Knights 2 – DMP, Oct 2008 [16.8] ::
1517. ↑new (0) : Legend of Zelda 1 – Vizkids, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
838. ↑590 (1428) : Love Mode 11 – Tokyopop Blu, Oct 2008 [9.7] ::
561. ↑527 (1088) : Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 1 – Yen Press, Oct 2008 [41.8] ::
906. ↓-389 (517) : Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo 3 – Tokyopop, Oct 2008 [7.6] ::
1413. ↓-108 (1305) : Ral Ω Grad 2 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [0.2] ::
1362. ↑263 (1625) : Rosario+Vampire 3 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [0.3] ::
779. ↑188 (967) : Strawberry Panic (novel) 3 – Seven Seas Strawberry, Oct 2008 [13.3] ::
1185. ↓-155 (1030) : Tail of the Moon 13 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2008 [1.4] ::
1460. ↓-21 (1439) : Vampire’s Portrait 1 – DMP June, Oct 2008 [0.2] ::
1529. ↑new (0) : Yagyu Ninja Scrolls 5 – Del Rey, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
700. ↑new (last ranked 10 Aug 08) : Zombie Loan 4 – Yen Press, Oct 2008 [19.5] ::

November:
1502. ↑new (0) : AP’s How to Draw Manga How to Draw Chibi – Antarctic Press, Nov 2008 [0.1] ::
160. ↑25 (185) : Fruits Basket 21 – Tokyopop, Nov 2008 [201.1] ::
835. ↑new (0) : Hayate the Combat Butler 9 – Viz, Nov 2008 [9.7] ::
1015. ↑46 (1061) : King City 1 – Tokyopop, Nov 2008 [4.7] ::
857. ↑new (0) : King of Thorn 6 – Tokyopop, Nov 2008 [9.1] ::
839. ↑new (0) : Mushishi 6 – Del Rey, Nov 2008 [9.6] ::
339. ↓-44 (295) : Naruto 32 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2008 [96.7] ::
812. ↑797 (1609) : Ouran High School Host Club 11 – Viz Shojo Beat, Nov 2008 [11.3] ::
1605. ↓-171 (1434) : Record of a Fallen Vampire 3 – Viz, Nov 2008 [0.1] ::
1527. ↑new (0) : Wild Adapter 6 – Tokyopop, Nov 2008 [0.1] ::
1435. ↓-62 (1373) : Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 2 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2008 [0.2] ::

December and Beyond:
1424. ↓-83 (1341) : Berserk 26 – Dark Horse, Dec 2008 [0.2] ::
966. ↑new (0) : Blank Slate 2 – Viz Shojo Beat, Dec 2008 [5.8] ::
1487. ↑164 (1651) : Bleach 25 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2008 [0.2] ::
1000. ↓-388 (612) : Full Metal Panic! (novel) 2 – Tokyopop, Dec 2008 [5] ::
854. ↑new (0) : Monochrome Factor 4 – Tokyopop, Dec 2008 [9.2] ::
431. ↓-98 (333) : Naruto 33 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2008 [68.4] ::
345. ↑120 (465) : Negima! 8 – Del Rey, Dec 2008 [94.5] ::
1518. ↑new (0) : Nightmare Inspector 5 – Viz, Dec 2008 [0.1] ::
1520. ↑new (0) : Rave Master 31 – Tokyopop, Dec 2008 [0.1] ::
1606. ↓-171 (1435) : Sola 2 – Broccoli Books, Dec 2008 [0.1] ::
1280. ↓-151 (1129) : Tail of the Moon 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Dec 2008 [0.4] ::
586. ↑91 (677) : Warriors Tigerstar & Sasha 2 – HC/Tokyopop, Dec 2008 [36.3] ::

1532. ↓-890 (642) : Phoenix Wright 2 – Del Rey, Feb 2009 [0.1] ::

1166. ↓-165 (1001) : Yotsuba&! 6 – ADV, TBA [1.8] ::

I’m using my manga charts to look at the output of select publishers —

covered previously:
Aurora Publishing, ADV Manga, CMX, Dark Horse, Del Rey, DMP/DMP June/801

In the Spotlight this week:

Broccoli Books

I was wondering which pub to tackle next (Go! Media was the next one up, alphabetically, and is slated for next week) when it occurred to me to maybe take a closer look at exactly which, and how many, publishers I should be looking at anyway. The fruits of that effort were posted this morning, and after combining those percentages with a straight-up title count, I’ve managed to outline the full course of these columns: 19 publishers, plus 2 special features, plus (to close this out with a bang) special 3-part articles for both Tokyopop and Viz for a total of 25 columns —of which this is the 7th.

So. We’ll be doing this for a while.

##

In no way meant as a slight, I initially skipped Broccoli because at the time there were only 17 of their titles in my spreadsheet (10 of them ranked) and I figured I would lump them in with some others in a consolidated, 3rd-tier publisher report.

In the interim, another 9 titles have migrated into my database, Koi Cupid debuted well, all four volumes of My Dearest Devil Princess are picking up online sales — and maybe there’s a Nintendo DS port of Disgaea 2 coming or whatnot, because some of these titles are on the move. The 26 current titles (17 ranked) when weighted by score add up to around .5% of the market

.5% of a $210M market is One Million Dollars. (I just like saying that) (…and that’s only an estimate, and would be gross sales, not net revenue or EBITA or profits)

So: Broccoli.

Broccoli Books specializes in Japanese comics, illustration books, graphic novels, and more. Broccoli Books is a division of Broccoli International USA, parent company of Anime Gamers USA and Synch-Point.

…

Many familiar with Japanese animation goods know the name Broccoli. Broccoli is a name that people have come to recognize in the field of anime and manga merchandise. Broccoli International’s Japan-based parent company, Broccoli, opened Gamers, a store catered to the Japanese animation, comics, and card game fans in 1996.

Ah… so nice to be back in the comfy realms of lazy-bloggerdom, and having the luxury of just linking to the publisher’s website

While we’re touring the Broccoli site, please look out the window to your left for a magnificent view of a regularly updated industry blog, always nice to see that, and to our right is an index of the books that you can find by clicking a tab marked, you know, ‘books’. I hate to make a big deal out of this, and really, it’s just so I can knock Tokyopop for their atrocilicious web site design, but we All need to berate Tokyopop for that at every opportunity.

But wait, there’s more! A current new release list! — Product Previews! — Online-exclusive content! — Links to Company HQ in Japan where you can find boring financial information!

I can almost see your eyes rolling on that last one, but come on: when I can load up a site and go from front page (and across a language barrier) to “FY2007 sales of 10.1 billion yen” in under two minutes? That’s some good web design.

##

Broccoli has also set up a BL imprint, Just like everyone else. (I think I may even have one, and I’m not even a publisher.) Boysenberry Books isn’t trying to quickly flood the market with a mess of books, though; true to their roots they are taking the time to put out quality product as a first priority, and that strategy seems to be paying off. While Sex Friend may not be ranked, the other 3 books are.

310. ↓-49 (261) : Pet on Duty – Boysenberry Books, Nov 2007 [94.3] ::
738. ↓-171 (567) : Delivery Cupid – Boysenberry Books, Jul 2007 [15.7] ::
1520. ↓-725 (795) : Cigarette Kisses – Boysenberry Books, Jul 2008 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 27 Jul 08) : Sex Friend – Boysenberry Books, Dec 2007 [0] ::

I don’t know about their release shedule, but even 2-3 books a year beats ADV.

##

BL is just a sideline, anyway. The main imprint has the benefit of anime & game tie-ins, access to the most saccarine-sweet-chibi-moe-characters ever (the company was practically built on them, and they continue to “innovate”) and on top of that, when they say Deluxe (which they do, right on the cover of every book) they mean it. Next time you’re at your local, find a Broccoli book and pick it up: you’ll note that it feels substantial, even heavy for a book that size. This isn’t recycled newsprint.

Disgaea is on a tear; or at least the Art Book is. Other books breaking into the most recent Manga 500 include Koi Cupid vol 1 and Sola vol 1. The first two books of My Dearest Devil Princess aren’t that far behind.

I only have 26 Broccoli titles in my database — that’s with the 4 Boysenberry titles above. 26 of 3499 titles is only a very small fraction, but Broccoli seems to be on pace to do well.

currently tracked Broccoli titles, alpha by series:

1491. ↑new (0) : Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion 5 – Broccoli Books, Mar 2005 [0.1] ::
1612. ↓-161 (1451) : Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion 2 – Broccoli Books, Jul 2004 [0.1] ::

177. ↑42 (219) : Disgaea The World of Disgaea 2 – Broccoli Books, Apr 2008 [186.1] ::
970. ↓-70 (900) : Disgaea 2 vol 2 – Broccoli Books, Jul 2007 [6.8] ::
1669. ↓-99 (1570) : Disgaea 2 vol 1 – Broccoli Books, Feb 2007 [0.1] ::
1743. ↑new (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Disgaea 1 – Broccoli Books, Sep 2006 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 3 Aug 08) : Disgaea 2 vol 3 – Broccoli Books, Jan 2009 [0] ::
. (last ranked 27 Jul 08) : Disgaea The World of Disgaea Character Collection – Broccoli Books, Feb 2007 [0] ::

1619. ↓-160 (1459) : Galaxy Angel II 4 – Broccoli Books, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 27 Jul 08) : Galaxy Angel Beta 3 – Broccoli Books, Aug 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 1 Jun 08) : Galaxy Angel II 2 – Broccoli Books, May 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 1 Jun 08) : Galaxy Angel II 3 – Broccoli Books, Feb 2008 [0] ::

252. ↓-15 (237) : Koi Cupid 1 – Broccoli Books, Apr 2008 [122.9] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Kon Kon Kokon 1 – Broccoli Books, Jun 2007 [0] ::

549. ↓-171 (378) : My Dearest Devil Princess 1 – Broccoli Books, Nov 2007 [33.7] ::
577. ↑124 (701) : My Dearest Devil Princess 2 – Broccoli Books, Feb 2008 [29.6] ::
928. ↑new (0) : My Dearest Devil Princess 4 – Broccoli Books, Sep 2008 [7.9] ::
953. ↑new (last ranked 3 Aug 08) : My Dearest Devil Princess 3 – Broccoli Books, Jun 2008 [7.2] ::

. (last ranked 18 May 08) : Murder Princess 1 – Broccoli Books, Mar 2007 [0] ::

455. ↑333 (788) : Sola 1 – Broccoli Books, Jun 2008 [52.9] ::

1159. ↑new (0) : Until the Full Moon 1 – Broccoli Books, Feb 2005 [3.8] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Until the Full Moon 2 – Broccoli Books, Apr 2005 [0] ::

This isn’t as good a chart as it could be. This is just a quick and dirty calculation based on current scores and the number of titles I have for each publisher in my database.

Straight to the point:

Manga Market Share, by Publisher
Estimates based on Online Sales
(derived from the source data of the Manga 500 as of 10 August)

- Viz Media : 53.3% – Tokopop : 22.0% – Del Rey : 6.6% – Dark Horse : 3.9% – DMP : 3.9% (incl. 801 Media) – HarperCollins : 3.0% (incl. HC/Tokyopop, i.e. stupid Warriors-cat-sorta-manga, and Collins Design titles) –

let’s swap over to the fine vernier w/ another decimal:

- Yen Press : 1.01% – Vertical : 0.93% – Aurora : 0.66% – Broccoli : 0.57% – Media Blasters: 0.56% – ADV : 0.51% – Seven Seas : 0.51% – Netcomics : 0.38% – Japan Publications Trading Co. : 0.37% (the Japanese in Mangaland language series) – CMX : 0.37% – Manga University : 0.30% (Kanji de Manga, Manga Cookbook, Manga Moods, et al.) – Random House : 0.29% (Flight anthologies, et al.) – Oni Press : 0.25% (Scott Pilgrim) – First Second : 0.22% (New Abel & Madden title: Drawing Words and Writing Pictures) – Graphic Sha : 0.22% – Go! Comi : 0.21% – Archie Comics : 0.15% (Sonic the Hedgehog) – Udon: 0.13% – Last Gasp: 0.13% (Barefoot Gen) – Yaoi Press: 0.11% –

Less than a tenth of a percent each, but worth noting (and in order):

Be Beautiful, Watson-Guptil, Bandai, Minx, HNA Amulet, Cocoro Books, CPM, Antarcic Press, DrMaster, Fanfare/Ponent Mon, Stone Bridge Press, DramaQueen, Infinity Studios, Drawn & Quarterly,

Just for Simon (who claims to be unable to count past 36): Pretty Picture!

##

Basic Method: Take the online rankings. Sort by publisher. Add ‘em up. Divide the subtotals by the grand total.

(Some days it can be that simple.)

Note 1:
I’m going to give this a margin of error of, like, 2%. That’s an ooma* figure (hell, all these are ooma figures) but given that margin of error you can see that past the Top 5, this is all just guess work. No point in arguing (or bragging about) the .05% that separates some of these pubs.

Note 2:
Manga has been estimated at roughly $210M a year, as of 2007. Small potatoes in this game are worth digging for: even half a percentage point nets you One Million Dollars.

Note 3: ooma = out of my ass. If this isn’t a statistical term already, then it damn well should be.

##

& worth a look: select imprints, if considered as stand-alone pubs:

Viz Shonen Jump : 23.9%
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced : 11.0%
Viz Shojo Beat : 10.7%
Viz : 5.6%
Vizkids : 0.96% (Pokemon & Megaman)
Viz Signature : 0.95% (Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, Vagabond, et al.)

Tokyopop : 18.2%
HC/Tokyopop : 2.3%
Tokyopop Blu : 1.5%

DMP June : 1.9%
801 Media : 1.2%
DMP : 0.82%

Aurora Deux : 0.62%
Aurora LuvLuv : 0.04%
Aurora : 0.001%

##

I’ll repeat this exercise in six weeks to post alongside the next quarterly chart (Summer ’08, scheduled for 22 September) but I think I’ll refine it a bit — if nothing else, 13 weeks of data instead of merely 2 will smooth out a few bumps and bury the one hit wonders.

key:
Manga 500 ranking. ↕movement (last wks. rank) : title – pub.info & [score] ::

September:
874. ↑93 (967) : Berserk 25 – Dark Horse, Sep 2008 [9.2] ::
879. ↑new (0) : Black Jack 1 – Vertical, Sep 2008 [9] ::
302. ↑7 (309) : Bleach 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [96.3] ::
1493. ↑new (0) : Bleach vols 1-21 box set – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
904. ↓-98 (806) : Case Closed 25 – Viz, Sep 2008 [8.5] ::
1275. ↓-180 (1095) : Chibi Vampire 10 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [1.5] ::
945. ↑new (0) : Dragon Ball Z VizBig Edition 2 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [7.3] ::
1500. ↑new (0) : Eiken 12 – Media Blasters, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
1619. ↓-160 (1459) : Galaxy Angel II 4 – Broccoli Books, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
920. ↑new (0) : Getbackers 26 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [8.1] ::
864. ↑new (0) : Getbackers Infinity Fortress 1 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [9.4] ::
701. ↑185 (886) : Gothic & Lolita Bible 3 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [17.7] ::
902. ↑new (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : High School Debut 5 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [8.6] ::
892. ↑355 (1247) : Junjo Romantica 7 – Tokyopop Blu, Sep 2008 [8.8] ::
861. ↓-185 (676) : Kurohime 7 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Sep 2008 [9.5] ::
575. ↑117 (692) : Loveless 8 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [30.3] ::
882. ↑new (0) : Mixed Vegetables 1 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [8.9] ::
928. ↑new (0) : My Dearest Devil Princess 4 – Broccoli Books, Sep 2008 [7.9] ::
58. ↑12 (70) : Naruto 31 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [356.9] ::
1276. ↓-17 (1259) : Negima! 19 – Del Rey, Sep 2008 [1.5] ::
329. ↑195 (524) : Phoenix Wright 1 – Del Rey, Sep 2008 [87.4] ::
1628. ↓-157 (1471) : Rave Master 30 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
893. ↑new (0) : Skip Beat! 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [8.7] ::
1082. ↓-335 (747) : tactics 6 – Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [4.9] ::
992. ↓-77 (915) : Tokyo Zombie – Last Gasp, Sep 2008 [6.4] ::
1317. ↓-181 (1136) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Water – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.7] ::
290. ↑99 (389) : Vampire Kisses 2 – HC/Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [101.8] ::
222. ↑19 (241) : Vampire Knight 5 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [144] ::
148. ↑4 (152) : Warriors Tigerstar & Sasha 1 – HC/Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [221.2] ::
890. ↑new (0) : Wild Ones 4 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [8.8] ::

October:
871. ↑new (0) : Air Gear 10 – Del Rey, Oct 2008 [9.2] ::
541. ↑231 (772) : Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan – Random House Pantheon, Oct 2008 [34.8] ::
848. ↓-55 (793) : Black Lagoon 2 – Viz, Oct 2008 [9.8] ::
900. ↑475 (1375) : Bleach Souls: The Official Character Book – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2008 [8.6] ::
691. ↑440 (1131) : Death Note vols 1-13 box set – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [18.1] ::
1781. ↑new (last ranked 3 Aug 08) : Dragon Ball Z Collector’s Edition 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
1374. ↓-136 (1238) : Fruits Basket Planner – Tokyopop, Oct 2008 [0.3] ::
878. ↓-20 (858) : Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition 4 – Tokyopop, Oct 2008 [9.1] ::
1152. ↓-255 (897) : Fullmetal Alchemist 17 – Viz, Oct 2008 [3.9] ::
255. ↑98 (353) : Hellsing 9 – Dark Horse, Oct 2008 [121.9] ::
867. ↑new (0) : Hikaru no Go 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2008 [9.3] ::
1503. ↑new (0) : Inuyasha 35 – Viz, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
853. ↓-57 (796) : Kitchen Princess 8 – Del Rey, Oct 2008 [9.7] ::
1509. ↑new (0) : Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 1 – Yen Press, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
852. ↓-58 (794) : Naoki Urasawa’s Monster 17 – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [9.7] ::
510. ↑143 (653) : Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo 3 – Tokyopop, Oct 2008 [41.2] ::
908. ↓-68 (840) : Ral Ω Grad 2 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [8.4] ::
1220. ↑new (0) : Tail of the Moon 13 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2008 [2.5] ::
1525. ↓-606 (919) : Zombie Loan 4 – Yen Press, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::

November:
282. ↑58 (340) : Fruits Basket 21 – Tokyopop, Nov 2008 [105.2] ::
1238. ↑new (0) : King City 1 – Tokyopop, Nov 2008 [2.2] ::
301. ↑40 (341) : Naruto 32 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2008 [96.4] ::
939. ↓-69 (870) : Naruto Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom Ani-Manga – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2008 [7.5] ::
1783. ↑new (last ranked 3 Aug 08) : Neon Genesis Evangelion 11 – Viz, Nov 2008 [0.1] ::
1799. ↑new (last ranked 8 Jun 08) : Ouran High School Host Club 11 – Viz Shojo Beat, Nov 2008 [0.1] ::
1519. ↑new (0) : Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 2 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2008 [0.1] ::

December:
1429. ↓-115 (1314) : Berserk 26 – Dark Horse, Dec 2008 [0.2] ::
921. ↓-340 (581) : Blade of the Immortal 20 – Dark Horse, Dec 2008 [8.1] ::
402. ↑77 (479) : Full Metal Panic! (novel) 2 – Tokyopop, Dec 2008 [65.9] ::
876. ↑new (0) : Let Dai 15 – Netcomics, Dec 2008 [9.1] ::
396. ↑96 (492) : Naruto 33 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2008 [67.5] ::
808. ↑432 (1240) : Negima! 8 – Del Rey, Dec 2008 [12] ::
1287. ↑new (0) : Tail of the Moon 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Dec 2008 [1.3] ::
1633. ↓-157 (1476) : Trigun Maximum 13 – Dark Horse, Dec 2008 [0.1] ::
657. ↑103 (760) : Warriors Tigerstar & Sasha 2 – HC/Tokyopop, Dec 2008 [21.2] ::

And Beyond:
619. ↑122 (741) : Phoenix Wright 2 – Del Rey, Feb 2009 [25] ::

1632. ↓-157 (1475) : The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2 – Yen Press, Mar 2009 [0.1] ::

959. ↑new (0) : Fullmetal Alchemist 18 – Viz, May 2009 [7] ::

1168. ↑new (0) : Last Uniform 3 – Seven Seas Strawberry, TBA [3.5] ::
1203. ↓-73 (1130) : Yotsuba&! 6 – ADV, TBA [2.9] ::