Forum - View topicWhat is The Future of "Mature" Manga?
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Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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Before I go into this post, I've accidentally deleted it twice before, so please cut me some slack.
Okay, in light of the thread about violence and ecchi, and because I came across an article on AoDVD about Yen Press preparing to release a"mature" manga that looks quite racy and perhaps more than a little perverted, I thought I'd ask what everyone thought the future of "mature" manga was in the US. In the past, we've seen relatively mainstream series censored and edited for reasons that most us find to be very silly. (Is the negative psychological impact of seeing a nipple THAT bad? Oh lord, a drawing of a naked women will scar me for life!  )
We've also seen series that are heavy in "mature" content either heavily censored so that they are accessible to a younger audience that probably wouldn't care much for them anyway or they've been re-written to the point that they might as well be considered little more than a long running limerick. So, could this move by Yen Press and the similar move mentioned by Tokyo Pop mean that "mature" manga might have a place in our part of the world too? Do you think that these new "mature" series will be successful? Do you think that this will have any impact on editing and censorship of other titles? Perhaps most importantly, do you plan to buy any of these titles that are "mature" and are there any other titles which are naughty/perverted that you would want to see licensed? As for myself, I think that these "mature" manga will sell at least relatively well. (Obviously they can't sell as well as totally mainstream series but I think they will be successful nonetheless.) I hope that if they are successful, it will encourage other manga publishers to stop censoring or to at least eventually release uncensored limited run versions of their manga. (Though I doubt Viz will ever stop. They seem to like acting sexist by censoring nipples in series aimed at males while leaving them in series aimed at girls.) As to my last question, I'm likely to buy some of these "mature" titles if the art and story interest me. I need a little more than this brief description from the Yen Press article:
Personally, I've heard good things about Sakura Diaries, which I'm given to understand is fairly ecchi in content, and I found myself laughing and also feeling strangely touched by Yuria 100Shiki. The opening is classic. You can't help but love the reaction of "what, I'm not supposed to help save the world?" from poor Yuria. So, how about everyone else? What are your thoughts? (And once again I apologize for my long posts.) *Note: I put mature in quotations because some people get really ticked off when the word mature is used to describe sexually explicit/humerous material. |
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geishageek
 Posts: 571 Location: Pleasant Valley, NY |
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I am definately all for "mature" manga. I mean a lot of the mature manga is toned down but if it doesn't detract from the story (Tenjo Tenge) it never bothered me. I would prefer it not edited at all but beggers cannot be choosers.
I for one am excited to see Gantz. This to me is a "mature" title. But it is being put out by Darkhorse so it really doesn't have to worry about the censuring issues of other companies. Same goes with Beserk. I was dissapointed with Tokyopop's adaptation of the Battle Royale manga. While it was entertaining, it did lack the grit of the original. As for other "mature" manga, I was dissapointed to see Seven Seas cancel their release of Nymphet. I wish companies would push the envelope a little bit and release more titles that may be "riske" to a lot of soccer moms in the US. Not that what they may think doesn't concern me. I have never been the type of person to blame media on how kids act or why kids act a certain way. I do blame the parent though. Why should the people who are the intended audiance for 'mature" things be slapped in the face just because a child younger than the intended audiance read the book and acted foolishly? I'm sure more "mature" titles would come over it stores could keep it out of childrens hands. If stores would enfore their "anyone under 18 cannot purchase this title", there may be far less of an outcry over mature rated titles. I'm not saying stores need to lock up their mature titles or put it off in one section like most video rental stores used to do with their porn section. Just observe what is being purchased. And aslo enfore the "you read it you buy it" policy. Oh if only that were true. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Nymphet does have it's boundaries of what's good and what's common sense. Having read the manga after all that we went through with Seven Seas cancelling and all, there definetly would have been mixed feelings about this series. Akita Shoten, especially it's magazines falling under the Champion labels, have always brought us titles with fanservice, nudity, and sex there in and such. As for publishers out here pushing to get more mature manga out here, it's a start, though I'm not going to say which direction, to get more older (college age and above) readers to get into this particular part of the industry. Whether they make a hit will be up to the readers for sure.
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I think there have been a fair amount of mature manga released without too much editing (or with different editing, in the case of Battle Royale...but while the story was changed, I don't believe that any art was and there is some pretty graphic stuff in that one). I think that its increase is just a part of the increase in manga in general. With greater awareness, there is a growth in the audience willing to look at manga as a legitimate form of adult entertainment and thus the market can take more M rated manga.
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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I would really hate of the FCC (or whatever regulatory service is responsible for text media) to catch on to this -- and -- suddenly, they're laced with ESRB ratings, censorship, and any other necessary edits. Of course, that'll require some uproar -- particularly from a large mob of parental units prompting the media to pay attention to it.
That's exactly how video games came under scrutiny. I suppose -- as long as anime/manga remains niche -- it'll be fine. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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Is that all you've read about the premise? It gets better. Apparently, the main character and a couple of friends have a masturbation club. Then one day, the girl wants to join them. Sounds like a great premise to me. 
I have high hopes for Yen Press getting some unique and interesting titles like this and other titles that fans have been waiting for and no one else has bothered with for whatever reason (titles being sat on by Viz excluded, since those are apparently damn near impossible to get). |
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Patachu
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1325 Location: San Diego |
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I sat in at the Yen Press panel where they announced Sundome, and they said the title literally meant something like "pulling out right before"
Also, of course there is a future for mature manga, it's called yaoi. You can have all the pedo rape incest bestiality student-teacher fantasies you want ... as long as it involves two dashingly beautiful men. |
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Richard J.
Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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I agree on Yen Press being a company to watch too. They've caught my attention with several of their announcements. Also, I think maybe I should, even though it might be too late, ask that this doesn't become a rehash of the Nymphet War (also referred to as the Battle of Loli Rin) because that was a complete cancellation rather than a censor issue. I've voiced my opinion on it in the past but I'm willing to cut Seven Seas some slack. This time. Most of the "mature" manga we've had before has been mostly violent and while we've had some with large quantities of fanservice/nudity/sexual content come through okay, they've tended to have stories that included those components more as extras rather than a focus. Clearly, some of these recent titles are quite directly gratuitous in nature.
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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I'm all for more "mature" manga series, as long as it means someday we'll get GoldenBoy translated.
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Ruri-chan
 Posts: 47 Location: tampa |
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I'll toast to that!
To the topic: I think mature manga will do fairly well because of two reasons. 1. Publishing companies may just want to push that envelope. We already have a number of yaoi titles and some yuri titles were released. The public is saying more and publishers want to find another way to compete with other companies. 2. Since the anime boom here in the US, their target consumers have grown older. Anime started to really grow around the mid-90s? I was in high school. Ten years later my tastes in reading material have changed. High school stories like Peach Girl are well and good but sometimes I want something a little more intense and 'mature' (it's the only word I can think of). In order to not lose consumers as they grow older, they may just be think about publishing more mature manga. |
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youkai_ronin
Posts: 117 Location: beneath the starry night sky |
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Hell I'll buy it for those two reasons alone.  *sigh* Sometimes I'm just too simple-minded. 
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geishageek
Posts: 571 Location: Pleasant Valley, NY |
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I really didn't mean to bring Nymphet into this but it was the first thing that popped into my mind as I sat at work.
As for the yaoi titles, I am a fan of yaoi. I have almost all titles released in the states. But I am also old enough to enjoy the stores and not "glomp" or "squee" or what have you. And most titles are stickered with 18+ that have objectional material (if that is what you want to call it). But there is plenty of Hentai manga out there as well that has been brought over for those who are not into BL. But at 24, I should know better than to open my mouth at Borders tonight and create a stink because ALL the wrappers for Beserk were missing. When I first started getting into manga in the mid 90's, it was rare to see a "mature" title. I really hope Yen Press does a good job with Sundome. I have been actively waiting for this to be licensed so I could read it. But many people have different speculations on what is mature is what is not. I was reading a thread this afternoon here about changing age ratings in the encylopedia and it was like war in spots. What I find offensive and Joe next to me find offensive may be completely different. I little fanservice may be ok for Joe but actually showing a breast or two may be crossing the line. But I have a mind like the gutters of NYC in the 80's so not much is going to offend me. |
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smoochy
 Posts: 367 Location: Texas |
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That, sir, is a correct and all-around awesome statement. If someone from Viz is reading, get on this right now. I'm all for the propagation of more "mature" titles, just as long as the companies take the quality of the material into consideration as well, and don't just try to sell us a property solely on T&A and violence. More works like Ode to Kirihito and the Yoshihiro Tatsumi books, work that challenges you and doesn't just titillate you, are always welcome. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Well now here's the thing, to put out Nymphet, which has loli references and all that nice kind of girly stuff, or put out Ichi the Killer, which is hard core violence with a vengeance, pulling no punches on how people get killed or women are treated in that series?
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Brand
 Posts: 1028 |
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Americans have much more problems with sex then with violence. Nymphet does border a fine line, if it were about a collage age girl or even a high school girl it wouldn't be such a bit deal, but it's about a 3rd grader. Now that I've read the manga it's no where near as bad as I thought it would be, but there are certain things that happen in the series that in the wrong hands could cause a whole ^%&* storm of trouble. I think most anime fans, like the niche we have now, we can by our manga and dvds in normal stores but it's still by large ignored by the general public. I don't think anyone wants any negative publicity. |
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