With the inundation of Streaming services and the exodus of content from broadcast television to the internet I ask what is the current state of the Manga industry?
With no Internet access I have to order physical copies of my favorite Manga. I have a subscription to Otaku USA, and will often make purchases based off of their recommendations. Luckily I have family members willing to order books for me from Amazon and I am able to enjoy storied that I otherwise wouldn't have access too.
Now that I am approaching the end of my sentence and will have the option to view Manga online I find myself still wanting to hold and read a physical book so I ask: are Manga still readily available out there?
What do you prefer physical or digital? Where do you find the Manga of your choice? I'd love to hear recommendations for stores or sites to check out as well as any series you would consider a "Must Read".
A favorite series I have read recently is "City" by Keiichi Arwaii. (Apologies for misspelling Arwaii san's name I'm going off of memory right now.) Does anyone know if this has been made into an Anime or if there are plans to do so? Thanks.
[EDIT: Made thread title a little more specific. Moved the thread to the Manga sub-forum, but left a shadow of the thread in Anime, since hardly anyone posts in Manga anymore. -TK]
Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9841
Location: Virginia
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 7:49 pm
State of the industry? Hot, really hot. Volumes of manga routinely show up on monthly top ten lists of graphic novel sales. It is one of the few areas of book stores that is growing. You can get manga from most sources that sell books. Many comic shops also carry a selection.
You can get manga online from Amazon, Right Stuf! and Roberts Anime Corner Store. They carry most titles with some limits on Hentai (X rated) stuff from Amazon and Right Stuf!. Right Stuf! and Roberts publish lists of upcoming titles for pre order and both list each weeks arrivals on Tuesday.
Comic shops get volumes through Diamond's Previews Catalog. Each shop will have their own policies about what they carry, special orders, pre orders etc. My local shop is my primary source as I get a 30% discount from MSRP because I pay when I order and buy a lot. To give you an idea of the amount of titles, the July Previews Catalog manga section had about 40 pages of listings with six to 10 titles per page. So two to three hundred volumes a month.
Of book stores, Barnes and Noble have a large selection. Books a Million used to but they left town and I can't confirm they still do. Bookstores do tend to get picked over for new releases rather quickly. Unfortunately, physical book stores are dying out.
Most publishers and online shops keep a reasonable backlog of earlier volumes. If a volume had gone out of print there Amazon and E-Bay have a lot of third party sellers that can get what you want. May be costly for some volumes. Almost every long running series has one or two volumes that are hard to find.
I can't tell you much about digital manga because I don't buy them if I have a choice. There are several companies which supply digital copies in addition to the physical ones and some that sell manga not available otherwise. Someone else will have to jump in on that topic.
I don't know if you have encountered Japanese light novels. They are an expanding source of IP for anime. Most of the sources listed above carry them along with the manga and they come from the same publishers. I do have several titles in digital form as they are not available in physical copies. I use Amazon Kindle for these.
Last I counted, which was a couple three years ago, I had over 4000 volumes of manga. It has gotten a bit out of hand since then and lack the energy to count currently. Add to that a couple hundred volumes of light novels.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Creator Negi Haruba drafts story for new anime, light novel― "The Quintessential Quintuplets 5th Anniversary Event in Yokohama Arena" announced on Sunday that Negi Haruba's The Quintessential Quintuplets (Gotōbun no Hanayome) romantic comedy manga is inspiring a new anime, Gotōbun no Hanayome*. Haruba personally drafted the original story concept and is supervising all aspects of the anime, which re...
Yostar reveals teaser, key visual, official website― The staff for the Arknights mobile game and its tie-in franchise announced on Saturday in a new teaser trailer that the Arknights: Rise from Ember anime is now in production. The staff also launched an official website for the anime and released a key visual. The game is set in a fantasy world called Terra with modern science-fiction motifs. Terra...
Makes Nagi an even more interesting and nuanced character, but the last 10 minutes almost upends the film's otherwise interesting plot.― BLUELOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- is a retelling of the early events of BLUELOCK through the eyes of Nagi and Mikage. However, that's not to say this is a recap or compilation film. Rather, a good 70% of the film is newly animated footage as the story follows their...
Following Poupelle of Chimney Town, Nishino tackles addiction in his new stop-motion anime short film.― In advance of the U.S. premiere of the new stop-motion animated short film Bottle George, Anime News Network sat down with writer Akihiro Nishino and chatted not only about the film and its creation but also its deeper message and how it connects to Nishino's past. While now well-known as a childr...
From Classroom for Heroes to Management of a Novice Alchemist, we have reviews of the newest light novels in our guide!― Welcome to Anime News Network's Spring 2024 Light Novel Guide, the companion to our ongoing manga guide! This season, we have 20 novels with reviews in the guide for you to browse. Every included novel was published in March or April or will be released in May. This guide focuses...
SAND LAND is a curious game that combines an eclectic set of gameplay features into a well-realized package that, despite its flaws, is perfectly solid and more than the sum of its parts.― SAND LAND is a curious game that combines an eclectic set of gameplay features into a well-realized package that, despite its flaws, is perfectly solid and more than the sum of its parts. Going into this one, all ...
Atlus reveals its big new game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, amid the recent exit of Shin Megami Tensei artist Kazuma Kaneko. PLUS: A Golden Axe comedy series and Pokémon Go models get a makeover.― Welcome back, folks! As you probably noticed, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes came out earlier this week. It's a fun time, as you could see in my review of it. It's come to my attention that there are some per...
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes promises to revive the Suikoden series in everything but name, but what's so great about Suikoden that it's worth reviving? Well, read on…― It's 1996, and the PlayStation is just starting to take over the game industry. It has many genres covered: racing, fighting, action, sports, puzzles, train-conducting, deep-sea diving, fire-fighting, and so forth. But what abou...
Some of Shonen Jump's biggest manga hits are approaching their end. Does the magazine have new heavy-hitters lined up to take up the mantle?― Some of Shonen Jump's biggest manga hits are approaching their end. Does the magazine have new heavy-hitters lined up to take up the mantle? Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Netwo...