Forum - View topicManga Extras
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor
 Posts: 2656 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I've been thinking about this for a while now but never really formally put my thoughts together - we all make a big deal out of what "extras" an anime set comes with, be it a Ryo-Ohki keychain in a Tenchi VHS or two soundtrack CDs with both the DVD and BR of Dusk Maiden of Amnesia, but what about when a manga volume comes with an "extra?" I decided to pose the question because I just got my French editions of Chihayafuru one and two and they come with a complete copy of the Hundred Poets (in romanji and French) and ten karuta cards in Japanese script with a French translation per volume. I was ridiculously excited, and it made me think about what we see come with English translated volumes. What I came up with was the odd poster, double-sided color art passed off as a poster (Rosario + Vampire is the one I'm thinking of), Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and from a few years ago, a necklace with a volume of Vampire Knight. Del Rey/Kodansha advertises "extras" in each volume, which generally amounts to translation notes, as opposed to a small cardboard standee I got with Delcourt's edition of Princess Jellyfish volume 5. We hear about DVDs being packaged with manga volumes in Japan as well.
On a similar note, this past February's special DC comics one shot "Young Love" came with DC superhero valentines; this is the only case I can think of where an American comic book added in an extra of that nature. (It also wasn't nearly as much fun as the original romance comics from the 1940s-1970s, which made me sad.) So what are your thoughts? Would "goodies" be a way to promote interest in print volumes? Do we as English readers get the short end of the stick? Or is this just a silly observation that has little bearing on manga in general? Obviously there's an economic issue here, that being that perhaps publishers of English translated manga cannot afford such extras, but let's ignore that in favor of a more philosophical (so to speak) look at the idea of goodies. |
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thenix
 Posts: 265 |
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It seems like manga companies don't want us to buy print versions anymore so I don't expect to see more. I like little extra's and I always wished that we could get some of the OVA dvds that come with manga. (like in japan) I got a bunch of little extra's but usually from japanese manga magazines. (some pens, pins, folders, tshirt) When I'm at the japanese bookstore these usually convince me to get a certain magazine over another.
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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I just don't think there's much of a market for it over here. Usually the fanbase already has all the manga, or they plan on buying it. I suppose it could work in selling re-releases of manga in order to make a double dip more appealing to people who already bought it, say add a small little Clamp figurine connected to a CLAMP release. That sort of thing depends on if they have premade figures they can get from the publisher in Japan too I guess.
My favorite import that had an "extra" was the little Loki figurine you assembled with the little dog Fenrir from one of the final Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok volumes. Yeah, totally worth the import. |
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RAmmsoldat
 Posts: 1261 Location: North wales coast |
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TBH from some of the stuff I've seen/heard of the state of the industry i feel lucky getting any manga in english at all never mind getting the brucie bonuses
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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If we can ignore the economics, which would probably be too convoluted for me to comprehend, then I think that including extras with manga would be a good idea. There have been times when I was undecided about buying a book and the inclusion of an extra might have gotten me to buy it. I am sure that they would be an incentive for others, just as they are intended to be. I do not remember ever getting an extra with manga, other than bonus stories and such which were printed in the book. Those of us outside of Japan are definitely getting the short end. We pay more and get less, but that is just the nature of the market. I guess that I am getting dangerously close to mentioning economics there. 
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chichiriNoDa
 Posts: 532 |
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Personally I don't really care if manga has some extra goodies. I think it might help entice a few more buyer.. But seriously I would rather have a few "colored" pages in a volume rather than getting some kind of extras. I've seen plenty of Japanese manga that have these inclusion of colored pages and they are gorgeous. For example, I've seen Japanese print of Mushishi tankoubon and the extra colored pages are beautiful. I think its more beneficial if the US edition start doing this. But then again it will cost much more..
Anyway, I don't really think having extra goodies would be that much of a success to get more buyers. I don't think the economy is the only reason why manga sales are doing poorly. I hate to bring this up but online scanlation hurt the possibility of more sales. Though I'm also one of the people who sometimes read scans first before considering getting the physical volume. Speaking of extras I think the only extra I've got is a set of stickers from the first volume of Kimi ni Todoke. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Extra of Hayate no Gotoku! volume 33, Taiwan edition:
Most US English manga have eliminated dust cover, waist band, shrink wrap (in some cases), etc., and that also eliminates many ways to play tricks and/or providing extras. |
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Touma
Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I think that scanlations probably do more harm than good, but that debate will not end any time soon. But I also think that this would be a good reason for offering extras, because you could not get those extras with the scanlations. I have read very few scanlations and I never watched fansubs, but I do know several people who regularly watched fansubs and then bought the DVD releases to get the extras. It might work the same way for manga, if the extras are possible. |
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10032 Location: Virginia |
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A couple of thoughts on this subject:
In the recent past it would have been a problem for B&M stores because any physical item would have messed up the shelving*. Now that most of the manga sales are online it is possible. If an extra was a DVD or a CD or a copy of the light novel the manga was based on, I'd love it. On the other hand, I have a shoe box full of trinkets that came with DVDs and that is where they stay. Things like Azumanga Diaoh cat pins and Black Lagoon dog tags. Fun to get, but only for a few minutes. Art work is not bad, mini pencil boards and post cards. I have a couple of notebooks full of that stuff and at least I can page through it. Though I don't very often. I think you will find that when a publisher gives us the color pages from the Japanese release they think they are doing something special. I suspect the color galleries Dark Horse has put in some of the Clamp omnibus volumes is intended to lure people to double dip (also better paper, very clear printing and sometimes larger size). However, lets look at anime these days. Some publishers are pitching a 20 page booklet as a major extra. Funimation considers a chipboard art box enough to make a "limited edition". I don't think they are being cheap, I think that is what the market will pay for these days. Judging by the number of new manga titles each month, manga is in worse shape than anime. I would say the chances of physical extras for manga are between slim and none. In the past, Tokyo Pop did provide extras with several volumes of Initial D. They consisted of cards. Initially showing the major characters and the cars and later cards from the trading card game they tried to sell. They were in heavy duty plastic envelopes glued to the inside of the front or back cover. Regardless of what you thought of the cards, the plastic envelopes made it difficult to read the manga. They were too thick to bend properly. Taking them out damaged the cover. They were a royal pain. *Given the way "fans" treated the volumes in B&M stores, all separate extras would be stolen in the first couple of days the title was stocked. |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5528 Location: Mexico |
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The manga industry in Mexico is mostly dead, but back in the day, Editorial Vid's Clover releases were not only incredibly beautiful -probably the most beautiful manga I own-, with a dust cover and lots of color pages, but they included the lyrics of all of Oruha's songs in both Japanese and Spanish in the inside of the cover. The Japanese was on the dust cover, which was semi-transparent, and the Spanish was below on the hardcover, which makes it really elegant and pretty.
There's also the release of Death Note volume 13 which included a miniposter, a "secret" card with L's real name and a personalized version of the same card with your name on it. |
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rheiders
 Posts: 1137 Location: Colorful Colorado :) |
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If I'm going to pay extra for a volume, I would prefer it to be a pretty "deluxe" release with a hard cover, a couple nice color pages, and maybe a dust jacket, rather than have some cheap physical extras tacked on. If I'm buying books, I'd rather pay more for a nicer book than for a cruddy poster or something. The A Bride's Story volumes are a great example of the kind of bonuses I'd like--those are books that I'm proud to display on my shelf. I know I originally bought the first volume almost solely because I thought the book itself was so beautiful. My eye went straight to it. I wonder if that might happen for other people?
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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I feel like hardcover and color pages are the best most can do in terms of extras, but stuff I order online, I'd love to see some extras come with manga!
For example, the Kickstarter currently running for Osamu Tezuka's The Crater, in addition to being hardcover, will come with a set of 3 prints. The first 500 people (sorry, already too late) will also get an Ambassador Magma animation sketch and cel. And if they make it to their goal of 1000 sold on Kickstarter, everyone gets a free t-shirt! And this isn't one of the bonus packages, this is just the book package (only first 500 get the cels though). Actually, a lot of Kickstarter things seem to have options for extras, I remember DMP's Tezuka things, for Barbara and the Unico ones, you could extra manga, a T-shirt, posters, Astro Boy Magazine, online manga, and stickers. The Crater's extras include stickers, t-shirts, a hoodie, shot glasses and beer mugs, and for the super pricey one, Florida Con tickets and VIP treatment. I get that you can't just put a t-shirt in a book at the store, but with all the online goodness, I'd love to be able to get more exclusive goodies for series I really like. |
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Epona the Horsey
 Posts: 62 Location: USA |
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I'm one of those people that really loves video game preorder bonuses, like little figures or booklets, so I'd love to see something similar with books. Even little things like pins or keychains give me a smile. It would be awesome to see these kinds of things given out with the first x number of orders or preorders.
Realistically, color pages are the best I hope for, and that's honestly good enough for me. I really enjoy seeing color pages and wish that there were more. One color page at the beginning of the book is better than nothing, but seeing some throughout the book, like in the VizBig RK, would be pretty neat. |
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littlegreenwolf
Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Since color pages are the most "extra" you guys have listed in terms of US releases, I'll post a couple I've noticed, because at this point in the game I just assume color pages are a given for me, especially if the Japanese release had one. And hardcovers are nice, but being a book collector I don't consider them a bonus, I consider them the #1 preference all books should be released like.
But some actual US bonuses I recall: D.M.C. - Temporary Tattoos Naruto - Bookmarks, Stickers, and... I think there were cards? This was during their catch up campaign a number of years back when they were releasing a manga every two months or so. Cardcaptor Sakura - Clow Cards I'd say CLAMP no Kiseki was the biggest "bonus" we ever got here, and I think it sort of blew up in Tokyopop's face. Those figures though were identical to the ones being produced in Japan, and probably manufactured from the same factory. But on hardcovers, I collected the special edition volumes of Tsubasa: RC from Japan for a while. Those were something. Hardcover, with a slip case and different cover art from the paperback release, and I think it even had additional art/color pages. They were getting to costly to import all the time though. I'd be surprised to see if they continued those through the whole Tsubasa release. I had to stop after 3 volumes. The manga magazines I think were the closest in getting the bonuses that most resemble the Japanese ones, or at least the Japanese magazine releases. Cards, and I think someone tried a Japanese Calendar once? I forget who that was. Yen or Shojo Beat. Nothing like all the goodies you get when you import the Japanese ones though. The Spanish release of Clover sounds a lot like Tokyopop's original release of the comic. I still think it's better than Dark Horse's, but hey, at least it's back in print now. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor
Posts: 2656 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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Alan45, that's a good point about shelving and stealing. I'm in a constant struggle with my local(ish) BooksAMillion about patrolling the manga section better because I will not buy a book that is clearly in second-hand condition from reading at full price. Back when it was Borders, pages were routinely ripped out of robot, although I never saw a Vampire Knight necklace get stolen, possibly because it didn't involve nudity.
Touma, I tend to be with you on scans having a negative impact, and I would like to think that awesome extras would help. For me they tend to be pleasant surprises, because like littlegreenwolf, I'm a book collector. (Totally right about hardcovers, littlegreen!) Not that I'm not in geeky ecstasy over my new karuta stuff, even if my goal was simply to be able to read the manga. I hadn't thought about the lack of dust jacket and bands in most English releases, dormcat - that's a good point. Both of the French editions I mentioned in my initial post have dust jackets, which puffed the book out enough that the extras were a surprise. Whether the lack of dust jackets is another economic issue or merely symptomatic of the general lack of literary respect comics get in the U.S. I don't know. I think the last volume of Beauty Pop came with a sheet of stickers, as does the box set of the first six Kodansha Sailor Moon volumes, so clearly that's a popular goodie to throw in with a manga release. |
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