Want to know why the Japanese model of selling anthologies without back issues won’t work in the US? This ebay auction is a pretty good indication. With 2 hours to go, the winning bid is $91.00 for Yen Plus Volume 1 issue 2, which started out at $8.99. Such outrageous extremes wouldn’t be happening if Yen Press had thought things through and had a plan for back issues. I think this is a good indication of how uneven the distribution of Yen Plus is in brick and mortar stores. I don’t think anyone in this economy would pay such a price if they were so readily available. And Collectors want their collection complete, graphic novels coming out later or not. The auction ended, by the way, at $102.50. That seller is going to have a happy Christmas. I hope it was really worth it to the buyer.
I’m glad Yen Press chose to go the anthology route and put out a magazine. Anthologies are probably the best way to get manga titles seen by the general public. But, some issues are starting to come up that make me wonder about their intentions for it. Since I wrote my less than stellar review of issue 2, I’ve been getting requests to sell it (which I did, sorry everyone else). I found out why by from one hopeful buyer. Yen Press doesn’t offer back issues for sale. This is confirmed on their website in the comment of their blog for Yen Plus here, in the second to last comment by Abby. She claims there is no way to order them through their distributor. And that struck me as kinda weird. I’ve personally never run into a situation where I couldn’t order a back issue of a magazine. Even with my small, more obscure publications such as Cross Stitching or Godzilla. Even if it’s for a limited time, back issues can be purchased from the magazine.
It’s that time of year again when ghosts and goblins come out to play. Do you want to get into the Halloween spirit, but just don’t know what to get? Well, here’s a list of manga that I’ve either read, or know something about enough to recommend (or warn you away from). I first posted this on my Tokyopop blog, but I’m bringing here with a few updates. Well, I thought it was going to be just a few, but every time I start to think I’m done, I come up with another book! I tried to keep the books in this list to more appropriate to a Halloween theme, than just ghosts, vampires and monsters, etc. It would take forever to list ALL manga with those in it!
In my continuing evaluation of Yen Plus to decide if it’s worth subscribing to, I picked up issue 2. I read it the same way as last issue, reading the Japanese side first, and then flipping to the OEL/Korean side. With this second issue, most of my original impressions stand, if not becoming more ingrained. The entire Japanese side is a complete and total waste. The fan service continues unabated, and overrides any story that might be there, especially in Soul Eater and Sumomomo Momomo. Bamboo Blade has really deteriorated in it’s next two chapters. Higurashi and Nabari stand on the edge, but they are not intriguing enough to hold up the other three. The whole Japanese side is a write off as far as I’m concerned. The OEL/Korean side carries this magazine. Nightschool and Pig Bride stand as the strongest titles, with Maximum Ride and Sarasah close behind. One Fine Day is a take or leave title, and Jack Frost continues to show it’s Hellsing influence. Actually it’s just plain a rip-off, but still has some potential. All of these titles together as a package just doesn’t do it for me. I’m paying $9 a month or $50 a…
Yen Plus Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Anthology Price: $8.99 Picking up where I left off last post, the OEL/Korean side starts out with lots of ads, mostly for Yen Press and related, as well as some other company ads. Since this is the side that read like normal for Americans, they probably thought they were best placed here.
Yen Plus Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Anthology Price: $8.99 I was excited to hear last year at the Yen Press inaugural panel as SDCC that they would be publishing an anthology. I really like by Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat, as they give me an opportunity to sample lots of different manga at an affordable price. At that panel, Kurt Hassler promised the anthology would be ready by the next SDCC. And, low and behold, it was there, Friday, for free! Needless to say, as soon as we got back to the hotel, and for the rest of the weekend, I read it. First, a few general observations about the anthology. It’s big. If you combined one issue of Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat, you would get the approx. size. And it’s almost all manga. There aren’t a lot of filler articles (that I tend to ignore in the other anthologies anyway). There are ads, but they are well done, and put mostly on the OEL/Korean Manhwa side of the anthology. They are mostly for other Yen Press titles, with a few others thrown in (Dark Horse, Right Stuf etc.). This anthology also reads from both…
Well, we got through another day, filled with even more people and more lines. Yesterday, we had to spend an hour in line and just barely got to see the Dexter panel. Today, it took 30-45 minutes on the shuttle to get to the convention center. We got there at 10:15, and was 30 minutes early to see the Stargate panels. We were able to get in only because they were the first panels of the day, and we still were in the back. We waited for only 1/2 hour for the Viz Media panel, but were still at the back, and was totally denied from going to the MST3K 20th Anniversary panel. Over an hour before the panel, and the line was already filled to capacity for the room. We REAAAAALLLLLYYY wanted to go to that one. We’ve been fans for over a decade!
Well, we survived the first day of the Con. It was crowded, as I predicted, and it’s only the first day! Moving through the Exhibit Hall was difficult at times and nearly all the panels had a minimum 1 hour wait, and you still weren’t guaranteed to get in. We ended up missing the Doctor Who/Torchwood panel, so instead we spent most of the day in the Exhibit Hall. We took lots of pictures, and I’ll be posting some throughout the weekend. I stopped by most of the manga publishers tables, and I have to say, I’m pretty disappointed. Especially Viz. Last year, they had lots of manga for sale, so I could catch up on titles that I had fallen behind on. Heaven knows no one brings manga to a comic con. Who would want to buy comics at a Comic Con? This year, they decided to just push certain titles (Black Lagoon, One Pound Gospel, Vampire Knight, Bleach Collector Edition and the Shonen Jump Fifth Anniversary Collector’s Edition). It was a real letdown. They had other things going on at their booth. There was wall for people to post post-its with messages for Tite Kubo, a basketball hoop…
I loved the anime of Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, and now not only is the manga, but the light novels that started the phenomenon are coming over here! The anime was great, so I expect the source material to be even better! Haruhi is fun and quirky, and Kyon’ sarcastic wit is the best. Don’t pass these up! Press Release after the cut.
Zombie Loan Volume 1 By Peach Pit Publisher: Yen Press Genre: Supernatural/Action Rating: Older Teen Price: $10.99 Rating: Michiru Kita’s a weak-spirited girl who has a hard time saying what’s on her mind. One day, she notices mysterious, ring-like markings around the necks of two of her classmates, Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana-two boys who miraculously survived a horrible accident six months ago. Michiru, possessing the rare ability to see these rings, knows that they warn of impending death. Thinking that, perhaps, she can do something to save her classmates’ lives, she approaches them…but it seems the boys have already make a different kind of deal and garnered themselves a heavy debt. Shinigami eyes, black rings that appear around necks that foretell of impending death, zombies that eat human flesh, two hot guys, one with a sword and the other with a gun, that hunt the zombies and release their souls. Sounds like an exciting story, right? Too bad this volume didn’t play out that way.