I haven’t done this for a while, and last month’s Previews had some tough choices for me, so I thought I’d talk about it a little. There were a lot of titles I collect/want that were up for ordering last month. It’s very hard to keep my numbers down when publishers do this to me. (Yes, I do think they are all out to get me.)
It isn’t that publishers had a lot coming out. There were just a lot of publishers that had titles I wanted. Bandai, CMX, Del Rey, Tokyopop, Viz and Yen Press all had an average of 2 books. Well, except Viz who always has at least 5-7 alone that I want. Doing a quick tape of everything (less the Naruto wave I already said I would have to pass on), if I had ordered everything I read, it would have come to over $100, and that with my 30% discount! Even in a good economy, that’s a lot for one month! 15 titles in all!
I ended up flip-flopping a lot on this list. I could have run for office with the number of times I changed what I would order! Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion Volume 4 was on there for a while, until I saw I wasn’t going to get a discount on it. I don’t know why, the other Bandai title, a Code Geass Light Novel did. But, with having to pinch every penny, that one had to get crossed off eventually.
Another factor that affected by decision making was whether I thought the titles might need help making Previews new minimum. I’m really bummed that Seven Seas has already become one casualty of this change. Inukami! is a series I want to follow, and since my new manga buying is done through Previews, not having the option to order it really sucks. So, the two CMX titles I read that were available, King of Cards and Two Flowers for the Dragon, got an order. They don’t get nearly the love they deserve. Fairy Tail is a must buy no matter what now. Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo got an order, but Sgt. Frog didn’t. The Petshop before the pet.
In Viz, I had to get Dr. Slump and Black Cat. These are the final volumes for both series, and I am determined to see them to the end. The two Shonen Jump graduates had to take a pass. This is the first Shaman King I’ve missed since it left, but Hikaru no Go, I only just realized I missed 14, so skipping 15 wasn’t as hard. Nana I really struggled over, but eventually I gave up on. Full Metal Alchemist is still a must have, so it got an order as well.
Yen Press threw me a conundrum. Night School and Pig Bride both had their volumes 1’s for order. I said I was going to get the volumes when they came out, but why did they have to pick this month to do it? I really, REALLY wanted to order Pig Bride. I really enjoyed the chapters I read in Yen Plus. But, they also put out another volume of Spiral, another must follow series. That put me right in the middle of my $50-60 range, though over what I really wanted to spend. So much to my despair, I had to pass on Pig Bride.
With no bottom in sight for this bad economy, you can bet choices as illustrated here will just get worse. I afforded myself on extra volume, because one volume I’d previously ordered, Tactics, got canceled, and I had a little extra. I might push it through the next Previews, as it’s Manga Month, but even my $50-60 limit is going to have drop until things get better.
It would just be easier if publishers did the same with their releases so I wouldn’t have to make these choices.
4 Comments
Each month for me PREVIEWS makes me feel like it’s Christmas and the Toys*R*Us catalog has arrived. I happily mark down everything I “wish” I could get, but than the sadness sets in as I begin making the tough choices of where I will spend my money.
Quite often I run into the same problem you pointed out with “long” series like [i]Shaman King[/i] and [i]Nana[/i]. They quickly get pushed aside for shorter or newer. Also the new rules put me in a bind too. I don’t want to lose small companies that work really hard to bring something new to English readers.
Here are a few [i]new[/i] titles I put on my must purchase list. [i]Ballad of Shinigami[/i] a wonderfully cute story dealing with death, plus an adorable cute winged black cat. I am a sucker for cute companions. This is a new series from CMX manga. [i]Yokai Doctor[/i] the new shonen series Del Rey picked up. Again the supernatural is at work here as I add this title to my list. [i]Trill on Eden[/i] has made the list…..it seems interesing, could this story be a cross between [i]Mars[/i] and [i]Nodame Cantible[/i].
The biggest surprise I saw was UDON’s new childrens titles. Releasing 3 new titles at once, abate for younger readers, still hurts the wallet. Sadly I will have to only pick one, most likely one of the two shoujo titles, either [i]The big Adventures of Majoko[/i] or [i]Fairy Idol Kanon[/i], but I don’t know which yet.
VIZ takes the cake this month with 2 must have titles for me. [i]Detroit Metal City[/i] the title I’ve been looking forward to for almost a year. I can’t wait to laugh and chuckle my way through this first volume. [i]Children of the Sea[/i] intrigues me. I love eco-based titles, which have not done well in the US, does anyone remember [i]Version[/i] or [i]Blue Inferior[/i]. I just hope the price does not turn me away when it is released, even with the high page count.
Which brings me to a title I really, really wish I could keep on my purchase list, but had to drop. [i]The History of the West Wing[/i] being released by Yen Press. I do hope this title appears in the bookstore, so I can impulse buy it, cause I know when I see the artwork and feel the book in my hands I will not be able to resist it, just like when I picked up [i]Shoulder a Coffin, Kuro[/i].
Yup. I so know that feeling…
But don’t get me started on the latest Previews YET! I haven’t finished going through it yet, but I just know it’s gonna be a bad one. One book I know I have to get is Rasetsu, the sorta-sequel to Yurura. I finish two and already have 5 more lined up to take their place…. *sigh*
Sorry, I was trying to use italics for all the titles. Completely messed up, hope all understand the titles I meant.
I really hate that you can’t tell WordPress not to convert everything to HTML, but if you want to do italics, do like you did above, just use angle brackets: < instead of [.
Hopefully this will actually work, fourth time is hopefully a charm.