View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
|
marie-antoinette
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:39 pm
|
|
|
As I've said before, I don't mind them changing things out, because I like being able to check out many series: that's why I subscribe. And since I buy the graphic novels of the series I really like already, it wouldn't bother me to have one of the series dropped, in order to speed things up, though I would be disappointed.
Also, I believe the main reason for the removal of both manga was that they were the least popular series in the magazine. At very least I know they were definitely both fairly unpopular, I for one didn't even read Kaze Hikaru because doing so felt more like a chore than like actual entertainment.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Zython
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 5
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:43 pm
|
|
|
What Viz is saying is true. In SJ at least, the titles that aren't in the magazine get bi-monthly releases of the GN, whereas those that are in the magazine get released once every four months. Now this wouldn't happen if Viz's SJ magazine would come out weekly, rather than monthly, ala Shueisha's SJ magazine, but that's another issue for another time.
|
Back to top |
|
|
IvoryBirch
Joined: 04 Jan 2005
Posts: 137
Location: a distant northern land
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:06 pm
|
|
|
MsCongeniality wrote: |
Quote: | "Pulling the manga from the magazine lets us put the graphic novels out more quickly." |
Wait...what?
Five months between volumes 2 and 3 of Kaze Hikaru is putting the graphic novels out more quickly? I'll believe it when the release date for volume 4 is announced. |
Well, the initial wait until the next volume is long, but I would assume that the tankouban releases would be much quicker. Titles in Shoujo Beat (with the exception of Nana) only have 2 volumes per year, whereas volumes for titles under the Shoujo Beat line are typically released 3-4 times each year. Thus, the series released directly to tankouban do in fact come out faster. I'm upset that I have to wait until November to get the next volume of Godchild (I'll be having a bit of a withdrawal from the series), but since the volumes will be coming out faster, I'm satisfied in the end.
As for Shoujo Beat... I didn't renew my subscription, since I wanted to wait to get my college address first (it was too much of a hassle to ask them to change the address twice), so I've picked up the last 2 or 3 issues from Borders. However, I doubt I'll be renewing my subscription. The only series I read are Nana, Crimson Hero, and Vampire Knight, but I've already read up until chapter 60 for Nana and I could live without the latter 2 series, so I plan on just buying the tankouban instead. I might pick up the next issue, though, because a photographer from the magazine took a picture of my sister and me at Otakon and I want to see if it makes the cut... and I do enjoy the articles that they run.[/i]
|
Back to top |
|
|
mokitty
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 106
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 11:08 am
|
|
|
Zython wrote: | What Viz is saying is true. In SJ at least, the titles that aren't in the magazine get bi-monthly releases of the GN, whereas those that are in the magazine get released once every four months. |
Though you're not the first to have made this statement in general, the wording this time brought up something else in my head.
If I'm a subscriber to SB and the series I want is in it monthly, then how much should I be expected to care when the trade paperbacks come out? Of course, for my favourite series, I still buy them. But if it stays in the mag and there's a chapter for me every month, I really don't care if it takes them ages to release the next book. I've already got the story in front of me.
There is of course the overriding arguement that in the long run, I'll get more of the series in less time. Yes, I can see Viz's side of things. But that assumes I have the money to burn on more than one or two books in a month.
As frustrating as I find this, I still really like SB and would love to keep reading it. But I'm sad to say that with one or two more switches from the magazine to the as previously noted more expensive book-only format, not only will I have to drop the magazine, but probably also have to start playing pick-and-choose and abandoning some of my favourite series altogether.
|
Back to top |
|
|
.Sy
Joined: 11 Mar 2005
Posts: 1266
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 1:01 pm
|
|
|
The Shonen Jump was starting to go a bit downhill for me, so I was thinking of switching to Shojo Beat. Obviously this isn't going to happen if they want to periodically pull titles. I know it saves quite a bit of money to subscribe even to preview titles, but I don't want v. 1-4 in magazine format and then the rest GN format. If they would serialize the entire story in the magazine, it would make titles a lot less iffy. I don't have the money to burn on graphic novels every month, so I prefer reading six series a month rather than only following one or two. Anyway, Viz only serializes the bare minimum in both of its manga magazines.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Beruda
Joined: 22 Mar 2005
Posts: 114
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:59 pm
|
|
|
I didn't subscribe either because I wanted to wait and see if SB would be like BeBoy Gold or would they pull series on a regular basis. Since it's the latter I won't be subscribing.
I was reading all the stories except Nana which was ok but didn't hold my interest.
.Sy wrote
I don't have the money to burn on graphic novels every month, so I prefer reading six series a month rather than only following one or two.
Exactly.
|
Back to top |
|
|
astra
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Posts: 131
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 5:09 pm
|
|
|
I refuse to believe that Godchild was the least popular series in the magazine. Its the only thing in there that caters to shonen ai fans and it has the Yuki Kaori fanbase as well. What about Baby and Me? I admit that it can be cute sometimes but I've only bothered to read it a few times. It's woefully misplaced in a magazine that is otherwise about love, drama, and fashion.
|
Back to top |
|
|
IvoryBirch
Joined: 04 Jan 2005
Posts: 137
Location: a distant northern land
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 5:22 pm
|
|
|
astra wrote: | I refuse to believe that Godchild was the least popular series in the magazine. Its the only thing in there that caters to shonen ai fans and it has the Yuki Kaori fanbase as well. What about Baby and Me? I admit that it can be cute sometimes but I've only bothered to read it a few times. It's woefully misplaced in a magazine that is otherwise about love, drama, and fashion. |
I honestly don't think that Godchild was the least popular as well (mainly for the reasons you stated); I believe that Baby and Me was and still is the least popular (I personally think it's alright, but I don't read every chapter either). I also think it was more popular than Kaze Hikaru (which has now been pulled). Still, I would say that in terms of popularity, Godchild was in the bottom 3, so that might have contributed to its discontinuation.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Kyjin
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
Posts: 126
Location: Los Angeles
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:16 pm
|
|
|
This is only another reason why I am not renewing my subscription. The fact was I was really only reading the magazine for Absolute Boyfriend and Nana, and I'd rather just pick of the tankoubon anyway. Kaze Hikaru was a bore for me to read, but I loved Godchild and I'm sad to see it pulled. I was very annoyed though when they started doing full color issues that are hard to read due to the blue and pink text. I'd rather get the tankoubon than waste my time with a magazine that I'm hardly reading anyway.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Wakaiba
Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 62
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:19 pm
|
|
|
Did magazines like Smile! ever pull the same crap? I came in too late in the game to remember.
|
Back to top |
|
|
ShikamaChU
Joined: 13 Jul 2005
Posts: 79
Location: Evergreen State, Olympia Washington
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:44 pm
|
|
|
Nope, SMILE never pulled anything. They came out with Sailor Moon and later added Peach Girl, and Planet Ladder consistently every month. Toward the end they added a lot of new manga all at once, and then the magazine tanked so they could get out a wider variety of stuff faster (They just didn’t bother, SMILE didn’t sell well enough to keep going now that they were taking over the manga industry, no real point in putting out their pre-teen monthly)
But then again, manga wasn't big at all when SMILE ran, it wasn’t a regular thing, and still really uncharted territory (many weeklies either died or turned into monthlies, even after that. Hi Raijin.). No one really knew how to deal with monthlies or weeklies except Animerica, who had other stuff going for them too. Also taking forever was simply how long it took them to get stuff out, so it didn’t matter. They were always consistant (consistantly slow. It's was a safe bet. No high standards so no one was dissapointed ^^).
SMILE (MixX, then Tokyopop) revolutionized manga (and were the only ones really running only shoujo, I mena, animerica had Fushigi Yuugi and (if you count it) Banaa Fish, but they also had lots of Shounen) enough so that even if they did any wrong, no one noticed. They pretty much did whatever.
Everything took forever back then.^^ Manga coming out as fast as it does these days stills blows my mind.
I remember once a year Ranma.....>____<
Who remember's Pulp? I wonder what happened to them. They tanked but I don't remember why. It might've been Viz (I think they might have run Banana Fish before Animerica, but I don't remember. I was too young to read it back then. My dad collected it)
But anyway, those were the three early monthlies. Smile, fo r pre-teen girls, Animerica for everyone, and Pulp, not fot kids. They were all consistent (at least, I remember not having any problems) and they were all equally slow until SMILE blew up and made manga really big, really fast.
|
Back to top |
|
|
.Sy
Joined: 11 Mar 2005
Posts: 1266
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:19 pm
|
|
|
On a second note, I don't exactly mind having a title such as Kaze Hikaru pulled since I never really read them. When I first picked up SB, I wondered why in the world they picked titles such as Kaze Hikaru and Baby and Me, because they don't even look remotely appealing to many girls who might be interested in shoujo. Aren't there at least a handfull of other titles that would be popular and therefore wouldn't need to be pulled?
|
Back to top |
|
|
HanatoYume
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 81
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:18 pm
|
|
|
Woah, this is old news. It was announced in May when the June issue came out
Not to sound like a snob, but I find it weird that we're only getting a report of this now, two months after it was dropped...
On topic though, I liked Godchild and I'll buy the tankoubon. Kaze Hikaru's gone next. I'd predict that Baby and Me, Absolute Boyfriend, and then NANA will be gone (I'm surprised they didn't pull NANA already due to it's popularity. It seems a smart business move would be to yank the most popular out first and then speed up the tankoubon process.
|
Back to top |
|
|
HanatoYume
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 81
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:22 pm
|
|
|
Woah, this is old news. It was announced in May when the June issue came out
Not to sound like a snob, but I find it weird that we're only getting a report of this now, two months after it was dropped...
On topic though, I liked Godchild and I'll buy the tankoubon. Kaze Hikaru's gone next. I'd predict that Baby and Me, Absolute Boyfriend, and then NANA will be gone (I'm surprised they didn't pull NANA already due to it's popularity. It seems a smart business move would be to yank the most popular out first and then speed up the tankoubon process.
|
Back to top |
|
|
kensukeyura
Joined: 20 Feb 2006
Posts: 38
Location: Rochester, NY
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:45 pm
|
|
|
Oh, Godchild, how I mourn for you... if it really was the least popular title (which I don't at all believe - I think it's Baby & Me, which has been a huge failure in the magazine, and VIZ is too ashamed to admit their mistake by dropping it), that's depressing. I love NANA and Absolute Boyfriend as much as the next person, but Godchild had a special thing going for it: it actually requires the use of your brain. Even as a teenage girl, the magazine is a bit too giggly and cutesy for me at the moment... thus, I miss Godchild's morbid intellect. I have high hopes for Vampire Knight, however!
Anyway, having titles taken out mid-serialization is so frustrating to me, I'm considering dropping my subscription. I wish they'd get over themselves, drop Baby & Me, and then see the current line-up through to the end of each series.
Also, I've been wondering this - why didn't they put Aishiteruze Baby in SB rather than Baby & Me? They both have the family theme, but AiBaby is written in a way that actually, you know... appeals to teenage girls. Pretty art, sexy lead boy, romance, etc. And it's an all-around good series. Here's hoping they license the anime soon!
|
Back to top |
|
|
|