Comments on: Spoiled Rotten

By: Heather Ward

Heather Ward — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:59:14 +0000

With the explosion of VIZ’s SJ and SB line I quickly bought more and more VIZ titles versus TOKYOPOP. Hearing about and seeing the increase in cost for manga greatly saddens me. This higher cost will effect what manga I will purchase. I can easily enjoy nearly any manga, but I can only take so much cliches found in shonen and shoujo manga. I am looking more and more at renting or trading manga. I honestly thought 10 years ago I would be re-reading ALOT of my manga and sadly I have only done so on about 20% of the numerous series I have picked up. I love that manga is readily available covering various subjects versus the 1990s manga industry, but I sincerely hope this is just a minor hiccup and all the manga publishers will continue to bring more manga over here.

By: Sara K.

Sara K. — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:18:33 +0000

I am actually not too disappointed by the disappearance of SB. I did not subscribe to it because much of the content did not seem interesting to me. Of course, seeing the tributes piqued my interest a little. However, I suspect that Viz might now pour its resources into something of greater interest to me, such as their Ikki online magazine.

I also don’t buy much Shonen Jump / Shojo Beat graphic novels in general, so this price increase doesn’t affect me much. Yes, they were the cheapest, but I feel it is a much better use of my money to buy something I really want, even if it costs a little more, than something I don’t want, even if it’s cheaper. This does not stop me from bargaining for the lowest prices on what I do want – I buy quite a bit on eBay.

By: ManTwoGa

ManTwoGa — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:30:53 +0000

I agree with you on the “spoiled” part. At first, it doesn’t seem like the difference between 7.95 that VIZ offered and the 9.99+ that most other publishers provide doesn’t seem like much, but considering that most manga enthusiasts can go through a volume in a few hours, the price difference begins to have more meaning.

VIZ, in my opinion, is doing making a smart move with their online offering of manga. Their getting rid of SB will hopefully bring more resources available to online manga. Online manga can be used to hook others into buying merch, luring readers to subscribe to mags, or buying print publications of manga. I my opinion there are some manga readers that can’t get their entire fix from reading online: most need something they can feel in their hands.

By: Lorena

Lorena — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:24:16 +0000

I have to agree with you on the “being spoiled” bit, especially since I’ve been a subscriber to Shojo Beat for a couple of years now. To see the demise of the magazine, along with the price increases, is going to drive me to alternative ways of obtaining and reading manga. Already, I’ve hit up my local libraries pretty hard — in fact, I maxed out my request list yesterday. And I plan on posting a tips list on finding manga at the library on my blog sometime in the next week or so.

And, I agree that while price increases may drive people to illegitimate sources of manga, Viz has been doing a good job of nipping this in the bud stateside, especially with their simultaneous translation of RIN-NE, which I’ve also been following on my blog. Here’s to hoping they’ve found a solution that works for both the business side and consumers!