Publisher to launch US edition of "Shonen Jump"

[ultragaijin]

Japan publishing heavyweights roll out U.S. comic (http://sg.news.yahoo.com/reuters/asia-118265.html)

The magazine will retail for $4.95 and the first issue is due in November.

[Crispy]

In order to turn a massive weekly phone book into a monthly magazine, they must have cut out something like 80% of the content.

[ultragaijin]

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how they pull that off. The article doesn't have many specifics.

[ultragaijin]

Japan Today story: Japanese comic magazine to hit stands in U.S. (http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=3&id=225156)

The magazine is expected to be about 250 pages long.

[ultragaijin]

follow-up: Shonen Jump taking U.S. market by storm (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20021207wod1.htm)

The English-language version of Japan's most popular manga, magazine has been selling well since its Nov. 26 debut in the United States, with some stores running out of copies on the first day.

[Taro Toporific]

Japan publishing heavyweights roll out U.S. comic (http://sg.news.yahoo.com/reuters/asia-118265.html)


For some background into the whole MANGA industry check out the following interview with Master himself, Schodt-sensai...
WHY DOES MANGA SUCCEED WHERE AMERICAN COMICS FAIL? Frederick L. Schodt's recent book, Dreamland Japan, "almost 2 billion manga books and magazines were sold in Japan in 1995, which means over 15 manga-related items for every person in Japan. The manga industry boasts $6 billion in annual revenues, which amounts to a staggering $50 spent on manga for every Japanese person." ....

GILES: Today, Manga seems to have reached a zenith of popularity in Japan that rivals anything the American comics market could ever imagine. Why is it so popular?
SCHODT: Actually, if you talk to manga publishers in Japan, they will sob and moan and groan about the poor state of the industry. There's a decade-long recession going on. Young readers are spending more and more time on video games and the internet, and spending all their disposable income on cell phones. Manga sales have been static, sometimes even declining for the last few years.


To quote the Engrish at the Shonan US site http://www.shonenjump.com/...
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=6904
what [sic] is Shonen Jump?
Shonen Jump are printed in the right-to-left Japanese-reading format to preserve the original artwork--but with English sound effects to make them as easy to read in America as they were in Japan. Produced with the cooperation of the original artists and editors, Shonen Jump is the new language of comics.
http://www.shonenjump.com/what/?PHPSESSID=1b60d6f011e28e62e74988264c25b3c6

Me..."Shonan Jump"? Bah. It's just a rag to read while sucking noodles or while doing the old "coin laundry" shuffle. Charming Shonan beach girls, now there's something I can get into...
http://www.fotomuseum.ch/ENG/0001SHOW2/Pix02_Zoom.jpg

[Andocrates]

I don't think it will succeed, for a few reasons. Manga is generally not in color, and they are very expensive. Manga plays fast and lose with nudity, even in some dragon ball I read, while I'm a big fan of nudity I don't think most moms would approve.

There was a day when comics were affordable and that was the high point of pulp comics, that day will not return again. Printing costs are too high. You can produce a dvd for a few pennies (at high volume) this is where the market is. I'm addicted to anime, and unlike manga you can watch them over and over.

[Taro Toporific]

I don't think it will succeed, for a few reasons. Manga is generally not in color, and they are very expensive. Manga plays fast and lose with nudity, even in some dragon ball I read, while I'm a big fan of nudity I don't think most moms would approve.

There's a brand-new San Francisco Chronicle article that adds a lot of new info...
Popular manga gets U.S. version
S.F. publisher launches comic

...Viz has stamped Shonen Jump "Rated T for teen," a voluntary rating similar to the one used by the video game industry. "It's an issue we're sensitive to, " says Rick Bauer, Viz vice president for sales and marketing.

While some of the comics from Japan include elements of sex or violence, Bauer said Viz faces a balancing act between "keeping true to the original intent of the story and the artist's original work, and making sure it's acceptable to U.S. culture."

<<read the full text at>>
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/12/08/BU168500.DTL&type=business