Europe: bigger than America? That’s the conclusion of this report, translated by ComiPress, from the Japan External Trade Organization. The report estimates the manga market in France and Germany alone at between 20.6 and 23.6 billion yen, as opposed to 20 billion yen in the U.S. in 2005, and concludes,
The largest oversea manga market is not America, but Europe
I’m not sure that’s true, actually, as I seem to remember China and Thailand being big manga consumers. But the comparison between the U.S. and Europe is interesting.
Writers and artists wanted: ALC, the publishing arm of Yuricon, is now accepting submissions for its yuri anthology, Yuri Monogatari.
A weekend treat from ANN: four interviews with Japanese manga-ka, all done during the Taipei Comics Convention. Three of the interviews are notable for an almost total lack of content; the manga-kas’ answers are bland and noncommittal. But Ryoko Fukuyama, creator of Nousatsu Junkie, opened up a bit more and was very articulate about her creative choices. I note that this title has been licensed by Tokyopop but isn’t listed anywhere on their site; it sounds interesting so I’ll be keeping an eye out for it.
Manga Monday: Comics-and-more is strangely attracted to Flowers and Bees.
Peeking over the artist’s shoulder: Michael Shelfer shows how he did the art for Star Trek: The Manga, from initial concepts to final toning.
This newspaper story about romance comics includes some interesting comments on manga from an art historian, Katy Klaasmeyer, who curated a show of romance comics and manga:
“I had never read a comic book,” says Klaasmeyer, 29. But in going through a private collection of comics from the ’50s and ’60s that is in the campus library collection, she was struck by the romance comics’ limited image of women and their options. “Every story was the same story,” says Klaasmeyer. “It was a ski retreat in Aspen, or a ranch in Texas, where the woman was jealous or the man was jealous, and it ended with a big kiss and a marriage proposal. For someone of my generation, it’s hilarious to read that.”
In researching manga, Klaasmeyer found stories more to her taste. “There was one called ‘Absolute Boyfriend,’ about this young girl whose standards are way too high and she can’t get a boyfriend. So she goes online and orders a boyfriend, and all her friends are jealous. I read manga avidly now,” she says. “It really awakened something in me.”
Thanks for the link to the article about romance comics. It’s interesting to see how Marvel is trying to reach out to consumers who wouldn’t be caught dead reading a straight-up Harlequin-style romance. I also enjoyed Klaasmeyer’s comments—her description of comics from the 1950s and 1960s reminded me of the kind of fiction that used to appear in women’s magazines.
For China, it depends. A few years ago most of the manga found on mainland China were bootlegged versions. Hong Kong is another story, but probably pales in comparison to all the countries in Europe, as for Taiwan, I’m not sure if they counted it as part of China. Basically it’s a country vs. a continent, and France/Italy/Germany all have pretty big markets. As for Thailand, I seriously have no idea what’s going on over there :P
Eclipse makes a good point there.
Japanse manga in mainland China is pretty much the bootleg variety.
Of course, Brigid, you’re right: Thailand is a huge market for Japanese manga. Vietnam also has a strong following, and I’m sure in Malaysia and other Chinese speaking countries/areas within Southeast Asia (I guess I’m just referring to Singapore, possibly Indonesia) there is substantial manga consumption.
Given Japan’s presence in that area of the world, it is surprising to hear that Europe and the U.S. are the largest consumers.
However, what it looks like is that the Japan External Trade Org. is comparing two industrialized continents where manga consumption is trackable by the amount of sales netted/grossed, etc. Given that the consumer market in the northwest hemisphere of the globe is much more developed, I guess it makes sense that the Japanese manga market would be larger in that area of the world.
Also to take into consideration is that Japanese comics are being consumed within Asia, but the manner in which they are being consumed isn’t the same as in the west. Most likely, manga is being rented out by rental shops and kids/people are “consuming” (reading) it that way. So naturally, the market is much smaller within Asia. Less is actually being bought and sold, but I’m sure more is actually being read.
kai-ming
Taiwan has a huge manga market relative to the population size, but it’s nothing compare to US and European numbers. Almost every major title has a Chinese translation curtesy of Taiwan. Everyone below the age of 40 grew up on manga. Most of the Chinese manga-reading population are kids who read mostly scanlations (of manga from Taiwan). Anti-Japanese feeling are still too strong for average adult to openly admit enjoying Japanese manga, but the closet Chinese otaku-dom is certainly growing. Every single anime (and dorama) ever shown on Japanese TV is being immediately subbed and released on the net for mainland Chinese consumption. For evidence please visit http://www.verycd.com and search on any anime/manga title via English.
Kai-Ming,
The rental-shop is the days of the past. Kids are way beyond that now. If they want to just read random titles, they’ll spend a day (or nights) in manga cafes. Did you know that what is the second largest trade show outside of COMPUTEX in the Taipei Int Trade Center? The Comic Festival which ended recently. Most of kids now faithfully buy and collec their favorite titles, and in Taiwan and HK the Otaku-ness of the fans rival their Japanese counterparts, with exemplary knowledge of figurines and doujinshi. Mainland China is just beginning to adopt the otaku-ways but they are catching up fast. For example, many Chinese forums have had quality discussions of “Fate/stay night” that rivals dicussion found on futaba or HK/Taiwan forums. As TYPE-MOON is the epidome of otaku-knowledge, it certainly shows the quality of fans in mainland China. As soon as the income start to rise in China, manga and related item purchases will sky-rocket.
Anime/Manga is part of everyday life and sometime object of passion in Asia. It’s nothing but another form of nerdy underground entertainment in the US or Europe. The two can’t be discussed in the same manner in term of simple dollar amounts.
Any “market” where you have to translate the material at least twice is no kind of market at all, but rather a bundle of two or more linguistic markets. France & Germany might be an effective market for Toyotas or Pocky, but I strongly doubt you could move all that many copies printed in French in Dresden, or copies printed in German in Le Havre.
In short, the overhead for manga publishers in the European Union has to be incommensurate with that of the “North American” market, for which read “United States & Canada”.