March 6, 2008
E-Manga’s Second Coming or Still Treading Water?
Posted by Devin
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Even though its been almost two years since the Sony E-reader debuted with electronic pages of manga, we’re no closer to discovering if e-manga will come home to roost. In the area of e-readers, the reviews for the Kindle make it seem better for text than graphics. Other platforms such as Cybook (pictured here with an example of manga) don’t have the available content. Frankly e-book readers cost at least $300, and then you have to buy the content. It doesn’t make sense tot he consumer.
On the other hand, the online format keeps growing: CPM, NetComics, and Del Rey along with quite a few other publishers have sample programs, subscriptions, or whole volumes, etc. The list keeps growing. Joining the mix is Infinity Studies this week with manga via PDF.
Cory Doctorow has a another idea: use the mobile we have like iPhones (like this example) and make e-books work on what we have:
Handheld game consoles, phones, and other multipurpose devices have found their way into the hands of people from every walk of life. In some countries, mobile phone penetration is above 100 percent — that is, a significant proportion of the population maintain more than one phone, for example, a work cellular and a home cellular.
Cory also thinks “E-Ink” works, when prices go down will be the way to go. Maybe, but what’s popular online combined with the convergence of mobile & web may be our future, says Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo
As the Internet is freed from the limitations of the desktop, we are taking mobility into a completely new realm of possibility. We are redefining the Internet itself as it increasingly becomes a medium of immediate and personal experiences.
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Digital / Mobile
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July 12, 2007
AX Analysis: The Changing Distribution of Anime
Posted by Devin
For the next week, we’ll be providing Anime-Expo (AX) post-conference analysis on the industry presentations we attended. Today is on Anime DVD sales:
One apparent issue is the dropping of DVDs sales starting last year. Over in Japan, anime DVD sales dropped to $826 mil, or down 2% over 2006. In the US market, the number of DVD anime releases has dropped to 767 titles in 2006, a 9% title decrease verses 2005. Anime DVD sales are still outpacing regular DVD sales by a few % points even if total DVD released decreased by 8.2%.
Because the audience anime companies serve is some of the most proficient online, there’s no doubt that anime more any other medium is shared on p2p networks. The danger is fans often don’t understand the rights and wrongs of IP. Take the quote from one 17 year old:
“I wouldn’t steal a car. I wouldn’t steal a DVD. But I might borrow a DVD from a friend. And what’s the Internet these days, but a big group of friends sharing stuff?” [And] ultimately, because downloading is just too easy…too attractive to resist. A click of a mouse and “it’s all at our disposal.”
Because of revenue declines, the anime market is changing the way they distribute in every channel. Debra J. Kennedy, Vice-President of Marketing and New Media, of FUNimation, during her “Future of Anime” keynote at AX, acknowledged the fight for retail shelf space is becoming more and more difficult. The retailers like anime because it supples them with higher margins, however their lack of shelf space and category management is a problem. Companies are also getting more promotion-minded by pushing catalogs and online contests. And its working:
Manga has had one of its biggest years, selling more than 750,000 units of Ghost in the Shell’s six volumes, Manga’s senior VP sales Ray Gagnon said. “It’s challenging for anime companies, because the price points are high,” So specialty chains such as Best Buy and Trans World rep prime retail outlets for Manga titles, Gagnon said.
Other strategies include pushing anime to the TV networks, well illustrated by Kokoro Media in earlier posts. Ms. Kennedy expressed FUNimation was able to introduce IFC to anime. To help spur retail hits, Bandai specifically focuses on leveraging the TV exposure of properties such as Cowboy Bebop and Gundam. “Now we and also the retailers need to be more discerning,” observed Bandai marketing manager Jerry Chu.
Ultimately, digital distribution and Internet sales, the long tail of media economics help anime and other nitch genres expand the anime market. iTunes, XBox, Direct2Drive, Vongo, Akimbo, and other legal ways to download via the Internet is the future of anime distribution. Ms. Kennedy also noted the market is working to develop business models with new ways of reaching customers. The development of co-productions and simultaneous releases and the need for investment into infrastructure such as VOD and cable are all keys to future market success.
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Digital / Adv/Marketing / General
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June 14, 2007
WSJ Article Just Misses Mark on Manga Trends & Girls Comics
Posted by Devin
A few days ago the Wall Street Journal published the following video and article Pow! Romance! Comics Court Girls, a trend analysis of the recent popularity of manga for girls (Shoujo manga) and mostly about the reactions from Marvel and DC. According the ComicMix, the article “cannot resist using the usual balance superhero-reference exclamation-point-laden headline” and I tend to agree. In addition:
The new titles are inspired in part by the fast growth of translated Japanese comics called manga. While gory and violent themes aimed at boys are staples of manga, fantasy and romantic storylines meant to appeal to girls have helped manga capture the attention of female readers, an audience comic publishers have long struggled to attract.
One of the strengths of manga which most press and analysis don’t realize is that manga is a not just a genre of gore for guys or romance for women, but a medium for all: there’s comedy, adventure, fantasy, romance, sci-fi, non-fiction, etc. Japanese comics didn’t succeed in the US market because it was also geared for girls, but because of its diversity to find stories that were more in tune to what women are looking for.
Film Fodder referenced this “most telling part of the article”:
The artistic conventions and techniques of manga can differ markedly from U.S. comics. For example, female characters in manga tend to be less voluptuous than the superwomen in U.S. comics. Such curvaceous characters can be tough for young women to relate to, says Nicole Lewis, a 19-year-old manga reader who is going into her sophomore year at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “It’s a little off-putting,” Ms. Lewis says of some female superheroes in American comics. “Especially to young women who don’t look like that at all.”
Manga lines in bookstores in Japan are much more defined for girls and boys, with shelf space first per manga type, then narrowed down to individual publishers and their labels. This keeps girls separated from the boys giving them a different shopping experience, with little or few book covers and images to turn them off from the medium. The US market isn’t there yet with a smorgasbord of manga usually sorted on shelves by title name, but marketing is separated and buyers know what they’re looking for and why.
Also, I’d like to point out I applaud Marvel and DC (and CMX, DC’s line of Japanese licensed manga) for trying to emulate market-capturing manga a bit: DC’s new Minx series will mimic the general look and price point of manga, but its tailored with more of an American ‘feel’.
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Licensing / Adv/Marketing
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June 12, 2007
Licensing 2007 Preview: Anime/Retailer Relationships
Posted by Devin
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The mega show for Licensing comes to New York next week June 19-21, 2007. Anime licensees, like many other smaller licensees are finding, that there are ways around all those mega retailers who won’t let them in. And at a show as large as Licensing 2007, even small players are the prize eye of many retailers.
“Smaller chairs are more likely to try something new,” said Carlin West, svp-new concept acquisitions and development. “They can house all this brand merchandise in one area. When you are creating a new brand, you want it all together so you can tell a story. They can offer a much more personal approach to building a brand.”
Hot Topic, a popular teen trend shop that in the past was perceived to only carry prep clothes is another example of a smaller retailer going the extra mile with licensees.
“Hot Topic [has] allowed more opportunities for marketing support to build awareness before we go out there in a bigger way,” says Tammy Knepher of American Greeting Properties, “What you don’t want to do is get too much product out [initially at mass-market retailers.] If it just sits on the shelves, its dead before it starts.”
Anime companies have been very careful about not ‘flooding the market’ with goods, though lately it seems the more product out there, the better.
Speaking of which, what about Naruto Nation? Will so much product be a flood to the market? And does it fly in the face of everything you would want to do as per above? Probably not as per a nice wrapup summary two months ago by Mangablog and her links. I’m sure with plenty of “Naruto Nation” displays, signs, and other tchotchkes, Viz is going to have a very successful sell-through.
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Licensing / Adv/Marketing
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May 21, 2007
Hollywood Invests in Ideas; Finance Invests in Dollars into Asian Media
Posted by Devin
The influences on Hollywood and the Asian film & movie industry have been trading everything from plot development nuances to outright redo’s of major movies the last number of years. The number of examples of each market’s influence on each other are too numerous to count, even if they’ve been labeled as particularly risky ventures.
But it seems that adapting to a far-east movie philosophy is starting to become commonplace in Hollywood’s screenwriting community. Today’s case in point is the upcoming “Pirates” trilogy, At World’s End.
We essentially abandoned the typical three-act structure for the motion picture,” [Ted Elliott] continues. “And we were influenced by foreign movies that came out of cultures that are markedly different from Western culture, particularly Hong Kong movies and Japanese anime. What they create is this kind of dream logic, and we were trying to imitate that in ‘Dead Man’s Chest,’ which is not common to Hollywood films. … We did this in the first movie and we did it really well, and we pushed it even further in the second.”Given the value of the “Pirates” property, and Disney’s sizable investment in it, one might expect the studio to have had a hand in shaping every part of the material.
“Creatively, I haven’t heard a word from the studio as to what they think it should be, beyond good,” says Rossio.
Despite the artsy dollops of Brecht, the writers maintain an awareness of who they work for, and just how far out of the Mouse cage they can go.
But the newest trend watch is not ideas, but US dollars investing directly or indirectly into Asian media companies. General Electric is mulling over a possible investment into the
Korean cable TV sector if a recently concluded free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea is ratified. And today, Fuji TV and TV Asahi bought more shares of Toei Animation, all because of certain cross-border party:
The buy was apparently in reaction to the recent purchase of 5.1 percent of Toei Animation shares by US hedge fund Steel Partners. Both TV Asahi and Fuji TV are, not simply shareholders, but long-term partners with Toei Animation in the production and broadcasting of the toon house’s shows. By boosting the stakes owned by its corporate allies, Toei Animation hopes to stave off a bid by an outsider like Steel Partners to influence its corporate governance.
Clearly the trend is for a more careful look into Asian media: not only because of its influence in the US pop-culture market, but because its become a profit center derived from its increasing success. Even with some international regulations falling by the wayside, Asian media prefers to be owned if only for keeping content creation under its own control. Yes, even if there’s love in the air as this year’s Cannes, an outright buy of an Asian media company is still a bit far away.
Filed To: Distribution / Over in Asia / Retail
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April 6, 2007
Distributing to the US Market: Comparison to Mobile Content
Posted by Devin
The majority of Japanese media is brought to you by companies that were started by fans: whether it was fansubs on generation-made videotapes or scanlations before Bittorent was available, it was those early fans decided the best way to share the content by licensing and distributing it. Through time, early companies have succeeded like ADV Films, which other companies have not like Comics One and Studio Ironcat.
On the flip side are the number of Japanese firms that have successfully marketed their products over here. Anime-wise, Bandai and Pioneer (now Geneon) have had very successful releases over here. Namco Mobile has been a killer content for the phones over there, their Pac-Man game a top-5 killer.
New to the party is Aurora, a well-known Japanese nitch publisher of Shoujo and Josei. Here’s a summary from ICV2.
The role of Japanese companies marketing their content in the US market is remarkably similar to Japanese mobile media market of 2002. Japanese firms such as Faith, For-side, and Index, took their mega-hit mobile content into the US by starting divisional properties or they purchased local content providers. With some successes, they had quite a few problems. Some Japanese companies have since left the US market as of 2006–2007, their ideology of ‘tackling the market’ lost.
So in lieu of recent news of another Japanese media firm entering the US market on their, here’s a summary of why its different. Perhaps we can learn from those mobile content providers after all-
Distribution is going to be different
Like the closed wall garden from carriers, the distribution of content is a big differentiator, whether it be in print or electronic. The limited number of necessary book distributors combined with retail limitations have shaped the manga market. Disruptions due to retail bankruptcies, logistical issues most recently mentioned by Viz’s Alvin Lu, and our censoring policies are all reasons that anime and manga licensers need to understand distribution rules are going to be different here than in Japan.
Copyright is not about who, but what rules
The mess that is mobile music royalties is a bit more completed when compared to book publishing and anime DVD Authoring. But the role of a localized licenser just putting out DVD’s is almost over. Can I get it on iTunes? What about streaming it? What if I want it on my mobile phone? Can I market better with podcasting? New ways to market and distribute content are coming to us every day, and if legal ways are to be provided, then we need more way we can adapt and change the content. And hopefully, it won’t be as DRM-laced as RIAA, MPAA, or JASDEC insists it is. Otherwise, there’s little incentive stop downloading via Bittorrent.
Lack of market knowledge
Ultimately, its about the product and the differences between the US and Japanese market. Japanese mobile companies came over with their month billing models, stood firm against the label licensees & carriers who wanted individual transactions. The stability of monthly subscription revenue never came and individual ‘carrier’ transactions are how most kids think of purchasing a ringtone/ringback.
A manga title like Yotsuba&! is marketed over in Japan as Seinen, a subset of manga that is targeted for an 18–30 year old male audience. Looking at the title and cover you may think that it actually aims for a younger, female audience. Its going to take some educational time to teach the distributors and sellers for this market.
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Digital / Licensing / Mobile / Adv/Marketing
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February 26, 2007
NYCC: ICV2 Graphics Novel Conference Wrap-up
Posted by Devin
This year’s second annual conference on Graphic novels was more focused on the printed word as the talk on anime licensing was shelved. I’ll go through each panel individually, discussing key stats:
ICv2 White Paper–Graphic Novels: Growth and Change
Quite a few bloggers, Mangablog, and Comics212 for stats. I’m going to pick at a couple of them and calculate some numbers based on what was presented:
Total US sales were $330 mil for 2006, with between $170 and $220 mil coming from manga. So now we can say 51% and 66% of total graphic novel sales were manga. In 2005, ICV2 presented a figure of $145 million generated in 2005 manga sales from a market size of $295 mil, a percentage of 49% of the total market. The market for manga has grown between 14% and 34% in one year. Wow, is that big: manga is out pacing the growth of the the rest of graphic novels by 2 to 1. Diamond tracks 10,500+ graphic novel titles, 46% manga/54% non manga. Manga, not having a significant history of more than 5 years, had an upshot of 120 releases (1088 vs. 1208), or almost 10% number releases growth. This confirms growth isn’t just more titles, but the selling of more copies. Just so you know its not only the Naruto effect. What I’d love to measure is the long tail number, but I don’t think we have enough stats yet.
Non-Fiction — The Real World of Graphic Storytelling
I do have to admit for being out of the loop on this one: I was surprised to hear how positive growth is and will be for this part of the graphic novel business. Also, a majority of non-fiction books in Japanese are manga-style. On the panel from this view: Glenn Kardy, Pres/CEO of Japanime Co. has been publishing in the international market for a number of years including the releasing of hit series, How to Draw Manga. His translated/localized series are translated to up to 12 languages. I do have to wonder if there are other licensing opportunities available for manga non-fiction work to be translated and released here.
Manga Ratings, Redactions, and Freedom of Speech
Tokyopop’s new rating scale for 2007 was passed out the audience members. Panelists and audience member supported their new approach to rating manga, even if it did mean becoming objective to the manga’s various content. When a librarian questioned the panel about a universal-friendly rating scale for all manga and how most manga falls into the T/Teen category, the panelists replied with no-comment or their self-policing rating systems were in reply to concerned parents. As long as self-policing policies like ratings and shrink-wrapping of mature publications take place, the industry shouldn’t have too many freedom of speech problems that have plagued comic books in the past. Is there a chance that someone who sees this as ‘universal cartoon art’ that hasn’t seen the umpteenth NYT article that comics aren’t for kids anymore? Sure–
Buyers Panel — Graphic Novels, the Next Three Years
More Yaoi. More all-ages books. There were a couple of differencing opinions from the panel on what works and what doesn’t. I think one consensus was for more single volume or short-series sets. A manga series that runs 5, 10 or 15+ books is a lot of $$ for someone to sink into a series at an average cost of $10 a book. One quoted book was Tokyopop’s single volume Kingdom of Hearts manga supported by $5.8 mil in video game sales. More pop-star licensed manga will drive traditional non-manga buyers into the market.
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Licensing / Adv/Marketing / General
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February 21, 2007
Event Preview: ICV2 Graphics Novel Conference 2007 at NYCC
Posted by Devin
I’ll be attending tomorrow’s IVC2 second annual Graphics Novel Conference @ NYCC this year.
Last year’s graphic novel conference was a huge success and a benchmark for future industry events to come. Highlights to last year’s event include discussions on the ripple effect of Musicland shutting down, the effects of editing, censorship, and ratings in manga, and the cost of licensing a content series. One of the quotes that is long remembered from last year’s convention is from Al Kahn, CEO of 4Kids:
I think manga is a problem because we’re in a culture that is not a reading culture. Kid’s today don’t read, they read less today. In every survey, we find that they’re watching more television, they’re on the Internet more, and that content, although being king, is very disposable. Because the way content gets put out now, it gets put out free. We’re streaming most of our shows. The reason why we’re streaming them is we want kids to watch them as much as they can, and get vested in the concept and go out and buy products. The products ain’t free. The content is going to be free. And manga in my mind is trying to put a square peg in a round hole in the U.S. It will never be a big deal here, for the kids that are in the computer or the Internet generation, because they’re not going to read. They haven’t read, and they’re not going to start now.
A year later, and even I can firmly say that manga is here to stay and its potential is untapped as variety has diversified. Let’s take a quick look at tomorrow’s panels:
ICv2 White Paper–Graphic Novels: Growth and Change
ICv2 will present the results of its annual graphic novel industry survey, along with special conference-only info that will not be published in its magazines or on the Web.
Expect from new statistics from Milton Gripp of IVC2 that will run higher than the published Nielsen BookScan results that were published a few days ago (more on that in a later post)
Non-Fiction — The Real World of Graphic Storytelling
The memoir, historical storytelling, and education are among the fastest growing areas of the graphic novel (and we use the term loosely) category in North America. Is the N.A. market going to look more like Japan’s, where manga is a favored form for non-fiction as well as fiction?
I don’t think that non-fiction graphic novels are here yet as a primary vehicle for storytelling. To me, this is a surprise panel topic.
Manga Ratings, Redactions, and Freedom of Speech
Japanese culture is very different than American when it comes to controlling access to adult content, and publishers have taken a wide range of approaches when deciding how to deal with those cultural differences in their American editions. Retailers, libraries, and publishers all have their concerns.
Hot button panel. Tokyopop just published their new rating scale for 2007, and we’re just waiting for some conservative movement to discover explicit manga. Its at Wal-mart, yet no one has noticed–
Buyers Panel — Graphic Novels, the Next Three Years
A panel of key graphic novel buyers from multiple channels will discuss what’s selling and why, how the market’s changing, and what kinds of products will grow the market in the next three years.
Today’s word of the day: diversification. I’ve love to ask the panel what they think of limiting distribution for certain graphic novels to one or more channels (like Tokyopop has some with some of their recent graphic novel releases)
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Licensing / Adv/Marketing / General
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February 8, 2007
Buzzmanga
Posted by Madeline
My colleague Emru Townsend at Frames Per Second Magazine alerted me to Buzzmanga, a service from “content development” firm Machiokoshi, that allows Western advertisers to use manga as their medium. A snippet:
We have done away with many of the features that are seen in your common standard advertisement . Instead it our intention to make people take notice and remember the advertisement through the Art of Japanese Manga.
In a sense, this is merely very heavy product placement. It hearkens back to the era of the original radio “soap opera,” when the plays were sponsored by soap companies and made no bones about their corporate agenda and allegiances. Now the strategy has moved to manga format. Advertisers can request a whole story built around their product. (I imagine that hentai comics will soon become ads for lubricant, condoms, toys, lingerie, and whatever else advertisers can dream up.) The idea is that readers will slowly absorb the brand name into their consciousness after reading about it for page after page.
My question is, how these manga will be distributed? Will they wind up as the equivalent of the folded pamphlets from religious organisations that one occasionally finds at pay phones and subway stops? Will they appear in installments at the end of every copy of Shounen Jump? Obviously the intent is to create “buzz” around the product (hence the name), but can an open advertisement do this? Or should we simply respect the effort, because it makes an honest attempt to garner attention through pure advertising, rather than sly, subliminal product placement?
Filed To: Over in Asia / Retail / Adv/Marketing
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January 30, 2007
Trend Watch: Pop-star “Branded” Manga
Posted by Devin
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The newest pop star to jump into the area of their own manga is Avril Lavigue, who is just signed up with Del-ray Manga to produce at least a two-volumn set. Demographics (attracting a bevy of young ladies) is almost a perfect match for the ever-growing shoujo-styled manga. Avril released the following statement:
I know that many of my fans read manga, and I’m really excited to be involved in creating stories that I know they will enjoy.
Betsy Mitchell, Editor-in-chief for Del Ray Manga said the idea was initiated by Lavigne, who has approval over the project. Personalized manga and licensing appeals to pop stars since it allows them more freedom to express themselvers personally without having to worry about excessive recording sales. Del Rey and RCA Records will team up to promote the manga, which will include piggyback marketing during related appearances.
Trend-wise, it started back in 2004 with Courtney Love and AI Princess in Manga and later in comics. Could we be seeing Hannah Montana graphic novels out soon? Probably–
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Licensing / Adv/Marketing
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