June 27, 2007
DC Invests in Manga
Posted by Madeline
DC Comics, possibly intimidated by Marvel’s Mangaverse and Dark Horse’s close relationship with Masamune Shirow and other mangaka, has invested in a manga start-up called Flex Comics Snip:
Translated editions of Japanese manga dominate U.S. graphic novel sales, and the Flex Comics venture makes DC Comics one of the first English-language publishers with a significant investment in a Japanese manga producer. DC publishes licensed Japanese manga in the U.S. through its CMX imprint.
It seems that DC has had this in mind for a while, what with their establishment of DC Comics Japan last year. They also seem to have been watching Flex, which has been producing manga since December. What interests me is that DC and Flex seem to be following the scanlation model of marketing: they want Web-heavy advertising before converting manga titles to print. But I question how they plan on getting the word out about Flex — the readers who watch BitTorrent and scanlation sites for the next big manga title don’t necessarily think to visit a corporate site. (On the other hand, Tokyopop has any number of manga readers on its mailing list.) And in order to earn purchasing decisions, DC/Flex will have to include something extra with their bound editions: new colour illustrations, interviews, gift certificates for related merchandise, or something similar.
Thanks are due to Emru for the link!
Filed To: Distribution / Over in Asia
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June 23, 2007
Anime Fans Spur Further Funding in Nitch Social Networks
Posted by Devin
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A few months ago I did a wrap up of the anime social networks as well as a later article on adding legal content to your blog in Japan.
One site they like to visit and show their skill is deviantART, an art community site of not just anime and manga fans, but for the world. If you’re a visitor of the site, you’ll see the influence from anime and manga almost immediately. Which is why its to no surprise the $3.5mil first round of funding as reported by PEHub (via PaidContent.org)
The site, which caters to a variety of artist categories such as painters, cartoonists and photographers, was founded in April 2000 and claims to reach over 14 million unique global users per month, with 5 million of those uniques coming from the US. DeviantArt did not say how it plans to use the funding, or who participated in the round, although it does list video compression developer DivX as one of its shareholders.
Also mentioned before with a high affinity of anime fans is Livejournal, one of the early open platforms for blogging. Another rapidly enclosed anime/manga community is Gaia Online, which in the last year has received funding rounds of $8.93M and $12.01M. Gaia Online’s highlights include more than 7M registered users and a message board with more than 1 billion posts! Social network Cyworld US, the American version of the popular Korean social networking site, launched last year as an ‘anime-like’ interface that’s been compared to Gaia Online.
The list of social networks is endless: I’ll let Wikipedia be your guide. This is only better news for upcoming Tokyopop V2.0 (launching very soon) and Anime Online.
Filed To: Over in Asia / Digital
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June 18, 2007
JASRAC Ruling May Have a Chilling Effect on Manga Scanlations
Posted by Devin
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There’s been much buzz from a ruling a couple of weeks ago in Japan from a victory by JASRAC, the main music copyright collection organization for Japan, over Image City, whose MYUTA service lets users employ a central server to store songs from their own CDs, to play on their own phones. The case started back in 2005-
A key feature of the service was the capability for subscribers to access and play the stored music tracks on their mobile phones. JASRAC immediately stepped in and contacted Image City, claiming the service required its approval in order to launch. Image City disagreed, saying the service was outside of JASRAC’s domain, and the stage was set for a legal battle.Not wanting to operate under the cloud of legal uncertainty, Image City suspended the MYUTA service in April 2006. The company then filed a motion with the Tokyo Court seeking confirmation that MYUTA fell under the category of ‘private use’ copying for a single individual, and was therefore not subject to JASRAC’s authority.
The court ruled that because Image City owns the servers from which the stored files are downloaded, the company was responsible for the public transmission of copyrighted works.
According to Japan Inc’s Music Media Watch, the case could have serious IP repercussions in Japan-
The decision has sparked a storm of protest from many in the Japanese online and digital media community who feel a dangerous precedent has been set. If online services for individuals can be shut down because the servers might be storing copyrighted material, then JASRAC [or some other copyright holder] could apply similar pressure to other existing ‘personal use’ services such as Yahoo’s Briefcase and Apple’s .Mac.
Music isn’t the only media stored in Yahoo Briefcase and other similar services: manga scans & scanlations are also very popular to view and store online. There’s a chance of liability now, which might encourage these type of storage services to shut down.
In the US market, such digital works are covered with DMCA safe harbor regulations where infringing work is routinely taken down based on complaints. As Youtube and other services gear up their content filtering solutions, future online storage such as Yahoo Briefcase might have fingerprinting and digital identification tools to identify manga scans and stop it before its posted online — thus forcing manga readers to use Bittorrent and other Darknet solutions.
Filed To: Over in Asia / Licensing
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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 13, 2007
More Digital Anime on the Horizon
Posted by Devin
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Left out of my analysis of Anime on TV were the purebred digital anime station, the FUNimation Channel and The Anime Network. Both stations are starting to penetrate major metropolitan areas in the United States, with The Anime Channel now distributing in the UK as well. With 75% of the country’s 26 million TV households already digital, one of the highest in world, its an ideal place to get 24/7 anime to the fans.
And announced last week was the launch of Sony’s Animax station in Germany, with a caveat:
Indeed, while other major European territories have digital penetration of 60%-70%, in Germany, only 27.5%, or 9.65 million of the country’s 35 million TV households, receive TV digitally. However, that number is growing rapidly. Since thebeginning of the year, some 740,000 new households have gone digital.
Even with this kind of impressive growth projections, its a small cup when compared to the larger foothold they have in South America (36 million homes in 38 countries and 11 languages) and to potential launching in the United States. As reported by the Financial Times by Anime News Network, there was the stirring of a Sony/Comcast network as far back as 2004.
Sony is reported by the Financial Times to be “keen” to launch an American version of Animax, a network specializing in animated content. [It] was mentioned by insiders as a network that could be offered to North Americans.
More Animax news: Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) announced today the launch of Animax Mobile in Canada and Australia.
Animax Mobile is a dedicated channel for mobile handsets and is not a rebroadcast, simultaneous co-transmission or cut-down version of an existing television channel. “Animax Mobile is the ideal launch pad for SPTI’s multi-platform network strategy. Tailor-made for today’s young adult mobile consumer, Animax Mobile builds on the brand loyalty of Animax and extends the consumer experience to a vast and loyal fanbase seeking anytime anime content and culture in current and emerging markets.” announced Marie Jacobson, SPTI’s executive vice president, programming and production, international networks.Added Bill Sanders, vice president, mobile network programming, “It’s not about the big screen vs. the little screen. Often, it’s a choice of small screen vs. no screen at all, and with Animax Mobile, we’re able to bring some of Animax’s most valuable programs to fans new and old at times and in places where they couldn’t see them before.”
And now according to unpublished sources, it looks like they’re getting ready to launch into the North America in the next month or so: our estimate here is not just on digital cable but in a limited form on the mobile platform as well.
Filed To: Distribution / Digital / Mobile
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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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June 4, 2007
Anime Properties are the top search terms on Wikipedia
Posted by Devin
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Analysis by Compete, another estimator engine that tracks the popularity of web sites has yielded some surprising results. Compete tracked the 100 most popular words searched on Wikipedia, the top encyclopedia and king for information.
Here’s the surprise: 26% of those terms are anime & manga related, the highest % of any searching subject. Mind you, as reminded by The Beat, its outperforming the subject and keywords for sex.
When we compare it to Wikipedia’s top 100 most visited pages, the falloff for “comics” (anime isn’t broken out) is still a staggering 16% of total traffic, with plenty of interpretation of terms that were Japanese but labeled incorrectly (aka: Pokemon was labeled as a “TV Series”)
No doubt people are searching for anime and their related properties on Wikipedia not only because their popular. With anime as a small % of the US entertainment market, its the searching for anime/manga related keywords in ‘head-tail’ fashion there might show a true ‘lack of information’ on the properties. Either way, anime fans use Wikipedia more often like no other genre media.
Oh, and this isn’t the first time anime is at the head of the tail for searching. Lycos has been running their top 50 search keywords publicly for years–so care to take a guess on their top 4 keywords for the week? Naturally its Paris Hilton, Naruto, Poker, and Pokemon.
Filed To: Digital / Adv/Marketing
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