Forum - View topicInterview: Kodansha Advanced Media on the Future of Manga
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9973 Location: Virginia |
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@sunflower
While it is possible that scanlations may have helped the visibility of underserved genres in the past, it is unlikely that it actually helped the title scanlated. I can see people going to buy similar books or the end of a long series not completely translated. What I don't see is them buying a print version of something they have already read for free. There may be a handful of individual that do that, but not enough to support a title. |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2895 Location: California |
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Whether it's true or not is debatable, but there will never be a publisher or professional author who will say it in public. If they did they would basically be giving people the OK to bootleg their works. |
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sunflower
 Posts: 1080 |
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Sure it did. I was thinking specifically of Viewfinder, which I know a whole lot about since I manage the first and largest fan site for it. It built up a fanatical following because of the scanlations which started appearing in 2002, and the fans begged for that to be one of the first titles brought over when BL was printed in English and it was. Every print run sold out. Every single one for every volume. So then there was a licensing fiasco and it was relicensed and the same thing happened. Sold out, constantly, including volumes that had been printed in English before. The fans recently gave $50000 to have more copies printed, even though the scanlations are still out there. It keeps interest alive. You can claim lost sales but not prove them. Manga companies have said publicly that BL fans can be counted on to buy. Kitty said we put our money behind our fandom. Scanlations created many of those fandoms. |
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sunflower
Posts: 1080 |
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Oh I'm not arguing the latter at all. But you know Be Beautiful wouldn't have started up if there hadn't been a fan base created by scanlations. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2634 |
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How is this any different from someone watching a series ahead of time and then buying it? I don't see the difference. Yes not everyone who reads scanlations will then go and buy the series but there is no proof that just because people read scanlations they won't buy the series when it comes out here. Do people buy manga "just because they want to read it" or because they want to own a series they love. If I just want to read something I'd take it out of the library, not buy it. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9973 Location: Virginia |
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@sunflower
There are always going to be titles that are so good that people will want a copy of their own. However for the run of the mill stories most will be satisfied with a single reading. Scanlations may have been helpful to show that a genre is practical here, but once a legal route to obtain manga became available they became a detriment. @Maidenoftheredhand If you watch something on a legal stream money is going back to the rights holders. In addition they get good figures as to the popularity of the title. Yes you may eventually decide to buy the disks when they come out. However for many shows the stream is all that is necessary. In those cases, if you choose an illegal method of watching it is a dead loss to the rights holders. In this day and age, scanlations cause two evils. They take away from legitimate sales in all but the most popular titles and may prevent the actual legitimate publication. Also they have conditioned an entire cohort of potential manga readers to consider manga something to be consumed for free. Edit: I almost forgot to mention. If you live near a library that has full runs of multiple manga titles you are truly blessed. Not everyone in the country has that option. Last edited by Alan45 on Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2895 Location: California |
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Okay, but I wasn't talking about the impacts of scanlations in my reply so I'm not sure why you quoted me. ^^;
VERY TRUE. I saw on FB one of my little cousin's friends saying how they wanted to save up to buy the Shingeki no Kyojin manga. My cousin then came in and said something along of, "Why? You can just read it online for free." I think there are legal scans of the series on Crunchy (not sure if she meant those or illegal sources but this may have been before simul-pub) but I was saddened that my cousin would discourage a friend from buying because it was available free. Of course, I had to step in. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
Posts: 2634 |
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With anime these days I ONLY watch legal streams because they exist and I buy my favorite series on home video. This is really no different from what I did when fansubs were the norm. I used to watch fansubs and then buy the home video of my favorite series. Now I can watch streams of anime legally so that is what I do. Legal options for manga on the other hand are few and far between. Yes there is some manga that is available to subscribers on CR but it's actually a very small sample. Most of the series on there I am personally not interested in. However I did read A Silent Voice (which I enjoyed but won't be buying) and Orange (which I REALLY enjoyed & will be buying). By reading a series ahead of time it shows me what I want to own not just read. However there are very few legal options to do this.
Or maybe scanlations create sales because people aren't willing to collect an entire series from just the cover blurb or reviews. Collecting manga isn't buying one book. It's committing to an entire series. And again there are so many series that are not licensed here and may never be licensed here in any format. Scanlations are the only way to read these series. So reading an unlicensed series is hardly translating to a lost sale. In fact it's a lost sale because they are not licensed. I only read scanlations of unlicensed series that I want to buy but can't (well I may buy a random Japanese volume but as someone who can't read Japanese that is not a perfect alternative) . I personally am not reading any scanlations of licensed series at the moment (well I used to read Natsume Yuujinchou because Viz was so behind Japan but I was also buying it at the same time. But I've fallen behind scanlations & now I just buy it. ) At least in my case reading scanlations is not resulting in a lost sale. Is everyone like me? No! But I am also sure I am not so unique in this regard.
Libraries don't just buy random volumes. and yes I have seen entire series of manga in libraries. You may have to request the title from other branches but it's not so difficult to read manga from your local library. And if your library doesn't have what you are looking for there is always ILL. I guess everyone is different but with lack of space I only buy series I am a fan of. Usually because I've seen the anime first or I've read it beforehand. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9973 Location: Virginia |
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@Maidenoftheredhand
I actually do buy most of my manga, the first volume at least, based on the blurb in Previews. I've found a lot on interesting stuff that way. If I have doubts, I wait for it to hit Barnes and Noble and look through (not read) it there. Usually it only takes a minute or two of flipping through a volume to decide if I want it. The idea that you must have read a book or watched a show before buying is simply foreign to me. I do watch legal streams but that is because they come out substantially before any disk version, and some shows are only available that way. I should point out that buying a volume or two of a manga series in no way obligates you to continue buying if you decide you don't like the series. When I find I have volumes I don't want I simply pass them on or donate them. There is so much anime/manga/novels out there that I have never lacked for enough to keep me busy without resort to illegal copies. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
Posts: 2634 |
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Well perhaps that is why we look at things from different angles. I don't want to buy something unless I love it/am a fan of it. My collection is not huge (although since I am running out of space it's big enough) but for the most part I am happy with what I purchased because I only bought things I want to own not just consume. I do want to support the industry. I am not looking for ways to get what I want for free. If I like something and it's available to purchase I am going to purchase it. Scanlations are not going to change that. But the thing is scanlations exist and will continue to exist because the market is not offering a legal alternative and so many series remain unlicensed because they are deemed to be a risk: too long, not the right genre, etc. |
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fencer_x
Posts: 279 |
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We know this is true because people who watch something for free on TV or hear a song for free on the radio never ever go out and pay for the DVDs/CDs/concert tickets/merchandise. Oh wait... It's almost like people like owning something in much better quality than is available for free (or that comes with extras to incentivize purchase) 
I've got plenty of scanlations on my computer. And my bookshelves are overflowing with those same series (granted, they're all the Japanese versions because none of the series I like are available officially. Hm. Look at that, I even pay for a series I like directly to the author.) |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9973 Location: Virginia |
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@fencer_x
Something seen on TV or listened to on the radio is not "free". The station that broadcast the show or song has to pay for the right to do so. They probably did not pay a lot but that is the way the real system works. They recoup their money and make a profit by broadcasting advertisements as well or from subscriptions or both. This works even for the shows or songs you decide not to buy. If you do buy a copy the rights holders get even more. Scanlations and fansubs subvert this process. They return nothing to the rights owners up front and allow you to dismiss something after a single view. By the way, music is a different animal. You can listen to a song over and over again, anime and manga, not so much. There is therefor more need to have your own copy for future listening. |
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WashuTakahashi
 Posts: 415 Location: Chicago, IL |
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Quick note on libraries: If you have a nearby public library that doesn't have any/much manga/anime, ask them about inter-library loans. I was lucky in the fact that my library recognized teens at the time were in love with manga/anime, and they purchased quite a bit, but not so much that I didn't blow through their entire collection in like 2 months. Then I started doing inter-library loans. Basically, every library is part of a network of libraries, and they can all borrow materials from each other at no cost to you. I read through dozens of series that way as a teen. As an adult with a decent paycheck, I've been rebuying the series from that time that I remembered and really enjoyed (mostly buying them on ebay since they're OOP though
)
Libraries/second hand stores might not seem like the best option for everyone, since no money is going back to the creators, but at least the copies were bought legally one time, so it's better than scanlations if your wallet is in a pinch. @Maidenoftheredhand - I'm the same way. Back when I was younger and the internet was pretty useless, I bought quite a few volumes 1 and 2 of things I ended up not caring for at all. Some of them are still sitting on my shelves today. Now I only buy a series if A) I saw the anime and loved it, or B) I've read a good chunk of the manga online and like the direction it's going in. Doesn't make sense to me to spend money on something I might end up not liking. I'm pretty sure we're in the minority though as people who will read something online and still buy it. I have plenty of friends who think I'm crazy for buying things I can consume online for free. |
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residentgrigo
 Posts: 2546 Location: Germany |
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I don´t get what is so interesting about the interview as they only bring up the usual points. Adaptations and spin-offs boost sales big time, having connections to international publishers will help the distribution chain and digital platforms as comiXology are a thing.
To suggest that Japanese readers move up from Shoujo to Josei is nonsense too as these of publications sell the least by a long mile. Everything that can be published in Josei publication wouldn't look out of place in one for teen girls too so i would never work for such a department if i was a manga creator. Have fun fighting piracy lastly and these aren´t lost sales but advertisements for the product you publish. These potential customers could be reached with a superior official release or at least figures, posters and so on. Brand protection is one thing but putting big money into hunting down digital thieves is a money hole. Piratebay survived multiple police raids for example. US comics or PC games have a way bigger problem with piracy and they are still around too. |
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xzy123
Posts: 143 |
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you never hear of adds ??????????????????????????????? |
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