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San Diego Comic-Con 2012 - VIZ Media Panel




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invalidname
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Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2482
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 7:11 am Reply with quote
Given that there seem to be more, and more dedicated, female manga readers than male, I've long been surprised and disappointed by the short shrift Viz gives Shoujo Beat. Did the magazine really do that poorly, and do sales of SJ-branded volumes really suggest there aren't enough readers for a monthly digital anthology?
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MrXarnus



Joined: 28 Mar 2011
Posts: 79
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 7:46 am Reply with quote
So, no new series announced except that Street Fighter X Sanrio thingy, I hope the new SJA series they will announce soon is good, even though I'm not a subscriber...
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streexanime



Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Posts: 78
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:42 am Reply with quote
invalidname wrote:
Given that there seem to be more, and more dedicated, female manga readers than male, I've long been surprised and disappointed by the short shrift Viz gives Shoujo Beat. Did the magazine really do that poorly, and do sales of SJ-branded volumes really suggest there aren't enough readers for a monthly digital anthology?

I've kind of lost touch myself with looking into the manga economics and what research they conduct. Series like One Piece, a Shonen Jump title, have a fairly large female readership as did Kenshin. Dragon Ball (and Z) will always have large numbers due to nostalgia and how us older gens love inflicting the old onto the newbies.

From my point of view, Viz has largely abandoned it's shojo reader fanbase. At least those who don't live and breathe Yuu Watase or Arina Tanemura or the person that makes Vampire Knight. Some of Mayu Shinjo's work in the form of Ai Ore is being published but many of their 90s and 80s works have been abandoned.

I am hoping Viz will take a note from Kodansha, showing that female nostalgia titles do sell and can do very well. Viz may not have something along the lines of Sailor Moon in terms of popularity, but it might not hurt to remarket Angel Sanctuary in Omnibus format. Angel Sanctuary and Sensual Phase are still on their publishing circuit, but not marketed.

Sailor Moon I see doing well due to the buying market is now at an age that can afford manga. During the 90s and early 2000s, that generation had to bother mom, dad or relatives for the books. Many of us are now with jobs and/or out of our parents grip, we are now consumers. Sailor Moon with color pages and proper translation (including proper names!) was a hit.

The manga market has usually been slanted towards the potential teen market. There are plenty of titles means for older readership. I need to do more research on the matter on how their marketing teams take into account the aging geek population and most importantly the culture tolerance of allowing late 20-somethings and 30-somethings to still hold onto "childish" ideas
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lys



Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Posts: 1017
Location: mitten-state
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:04 am Reply with quote
streexanime wrote:
invalidname wrote:
Given that there seem to be more, and more dedicated, female manga readers than male, I've long been surprised and disappointed by the short shrift Viz gives Shoujo Beat. Did the magazine really do that poorly, and do sales of SJ-branded volumes really suggest there aren't enough readers for a monthly digital anthology?

From my point of view, Viz has largely abandoned its shojo reader fanbase. At least those who don't live and breathe Yuu Watase or Arina Tanemura or the person that makes Vampire Knight. Some of Mayu Shinjo's work in the form of Ai Ore is being published but many of their 90s and 80s works have been abandoned.

I don't think Viz has abandoned its shoujo-manga fans (speaking as one), though if your issue is that they're not publishing the type of shoujo you enjoy, I can understand that (it's how I feel about Kodansha these days). Viz is practically the only company left that still publishes much of it. Yen has a few series (mostly with a fantasy/shounen-esque shoujo bent), Kodansha has series aimed at younger girls (including Sailormoon, though it gets older readers with its nostalgia/classic appeal), there's the occasional Vertical title, and Seven Seas seems to be getting into the demographic a bit more. But Viz is the one putting out 4-6 titles a month that I'm guaranteed to pick up (I follow 15 of their current shoujo titles, none of which are from Yuu Watase or Arina Tanemura or Matsuri Hino or Mayu Shinjo). Of course I'd always like access to more series, but I think Viz is doing its share pretty well.
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RAmmsoldat



Joined: 19 Oct 2005
Posts: 1261
Location: North wales coast
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:05 am Reply with quote
well....that was dissapointing.

would have thought they'd have more to announce at such a big convention.
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PBsallad



Joined: 19 Dec 2009
Posts: 338
Location: Phoenix
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:09 pm Reply with quote
@streexanime and @Lys

Not a shojo person myself, but Viz also has 35 Shojo Beat titles in digital form. Wile Shonen Jump combined with Sunday and Advance is 36. That doesn't include their Viz Sig titles and Eva and Excel Saga though.
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Sewingrose



Joined: 11 Jan 2011
Posts: 579
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:53 pm Reply with quote
Viz is still publishing a lot of shojo, just not in monthly anthology form. I don't think Shojo Beat did as well as Shonen Jump, because people who like shojo prefer to purchase it in volume form, like myself for example.
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RAmmsoldat



Joined: 19 Oct 2005
Posts: 1261
Location: North wales coast
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:01 pm Reply with quote
i prefer to buy all my manga that way shojo included
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Ryan227



Joined: 03 Dec 2004
Posts: 43
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:17 pm Reply with quote
Shojo Beat was probably a harder sell for them because Shonen Jump is a brand, all the series in it come from one magazine by one publisher whereas their Shojo Beat titles come from different magazines and publishers and is kind of scattered. I think Viz releases plenty of shojo manga, the closest titles they have to Sailor Moon nostalgiawise are are ones that they're currently or have already released omnibuses of like X and Fushigi Yuugi. But really Sailor Moon is a special case and generally older shojo titles do not do well at all.
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LagannImpact



Joined: 03 Apr 2009
Posts: 574
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 6:18 pm Reply with quote
Really?? This is IT!?

I mean, isn't there supposed to be another panel today (Friday) devoted specifically to Viz Anime?

Well, that was disappointing...
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Anime Remix



Joined: 16 Dec 2009
Posts: 354
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:05 pm Reply with quote
Viz just confirmed the system is PS3 on facebook. While I'm glad (since I have a PS3), still considering it...
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