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NEWS: A.D. Vision's PiQ Mag to Cover More than Anime, Manga


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Vulcannis



Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 41
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:44 pm Reply with quote
I'm really curious how they can justify such disparate prices for the US and Canada. The CAN dollar is currently a little under 97 cents US, yet ADV intends to charge as if it were still at 75 cents. There's no way shipping to Canada costs that much more, so this just looks like price gouging. Mad
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Primus



Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2814
Location: Toronto
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:48 pm Reply with quote
Well, maybe I'll actually be able to find this magazine in a store. I'm not one of those kind of people who blindly subscribes to magazines. Like, I enjoy knowing exactly what I'm buying before subscribing, but I could never do that for New Type USA, since I never seen it on a store shelf(The same goes for PA, AI, etc.), which I'd expect to be easy to find, since it's from one of the largest anime Licensors, you'd think they'd have leeway to get their product into stores, but I never saw one, and often got a confused look when I asked store staff about NewType. So I'd never own a copy, and go to on-looking magazines I could find, like Otaku USA, which didn't serve my taste. So it seems Shonen Jump is the only Anime/Manga magazine for me, unless PiQ, ques a good card in my book, which will be hard since I've already got my Video Game Magazines(Thank you, formerally, Independant, now Official, PlayStation Magazine).
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Togashi_D



Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:49 pm Reply with quote
CCSYueh wrote:

As an existing Newtype subscriber, I picked up Otaku USA this week. I have a collection of Newtype dvds I've never watched & I really have no plans to watch the disc that came with the Feb ish of Otaku. The eps are Ninja Nonsense (didn't we get this one from Newtype in the past?) Lost Universe (Have the ADV dvds-don't need it. Can we say ANCIENT?) & Ragnarok (I'm sure Newtype did this one also.


I also picked up Otaku USA to compare to NewType. The Ninja Nonsense from the Newtype was episode 1. The Otaku USA had episode 2. Newtype had Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok which is a different show than Ragnarok the Animation.
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Kenji_Ikari



Joined: 10 Jun 2003
Posts: 144
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:02 pm Reply with quote
I think it's a good thing people are complaining before it's out. Maybe magazine staff will see this and decide to change their aim a bit. (Though I doubt it.) Razz

Newtype USA was pretty much the only anime magazine I was considering subscribing to, due to the fact it seemed more like a Japanese otaku magazine in English, rather than an English otaku magazine like the rest. Meaning it sounded like it reported on more stuff that was fresh in Japan and unique to Japan rather than "Naruto movie VII is coming to a theater near you!!!1"

Never actually got a chance to subscribe or check it out, though. Mainly due to the cost originally, and after that because I forgot.

Judging by the concept cover, I probably wouldn't check out PiQ. Code Geass, Lucky Star, and Heroes are the only things on that list that interest me, and I've seen all of all three of them, so anything it reports will probably be old to me.
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Hon'ya-chan



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 973
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:29 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
I don't advocate the "let's criticize, insult and condemn something we haven't actually seen or read" type of mentality.


Oh, so will ANN get preview copies of the magazine beforehand and offer a crtique of it?
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:22 pm Reply with quote
Hon'ya-chan wrote:

Oh, so will ANN get preview copies of the magazine beforehand and offer a crtique of it?


Zuh? We don't review magazines here, that's in pretty poor taste considering we publish an anime magazine.

Look, would it kill you to wait until you can walk into a bookstore and leaf through it, maybe check out a few articles before proclaiming to the high heavens that it's an awful publication? That's all I mean. That's how most people evaluate a new magazine before deciding whether or not they want to buy it.
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:28 pm Reply with quote
Togashi_D wrote:

I also picked up Otaku USA to compare to NewType. The Ninja Nonsense from the Newtype was episode 1. The Otaku USA had episode 2. Newtype had Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok which is a different show than Ragnarok the Animation.


I thought they had the Funi Ragnarok sometime around the time Funi first released it, but I don't watch the Newtype dvds.

I also wonder if Otaku having 17 pages of ads vs Newtype's 50 is just due to it being a new zine-not enough clientel built up. In a yr, will we be seeing 50 pages of ads in Otaku?

It looks like it'll come down to zine personality. Anime Insider has a lot of jokes & some good articles. Otaku looks like it's trying to be Animerica (which was a good zine. We've probably needed a replacement & it was sort of rounded-column on living in Japan, column on Japanese movies, etc.)

People love to put down. It's not just "I don't like it", it's "Too expensive! Too many ads! Whatever!".
Whatever.
I will buy more issues of Otaku to try it out. It is a new zine. I'll probably subscribe to Anime Insider again (my solution to Newtype being $90 per yr-drop other subscriptions) Maybe PiQ will be worth it, but if they're aiming for a 70% male audience, they're basically saying "Screw you, gals. You don't count" Newtype consistantly provided exactly the type of coverage I wanted.
My teen did comment it was a good thing we subscribed to Newtype, Animage & that other one at Sanseido, even if they were over $100 for each subscription. At least I'll still get the art I love.


Last edited by CCSYueh on Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:47 pm; edited 1 time in total
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LordRobin



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Posts: 354
Location: Akron, OH
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:32 pm Reply with quote
Okay, so it's broadening its focus to be more than just a hardcore anime magazine. Fine, that makes sense. But if that's the aim, then the name PiQ is a horrible choice.

PiQ means nothing. They might as well have called it Blurm or Queeb. It stakes out no territory at all. It could be used for anything. To me, that screams "generic". So do insipid slogans like "Entertainment For the Rest of Us" and "Watch. Play. Read." In short, I just don't see much that grabs the "casual" customer seeing this magazine for the first time at Borders.

I'll pick it up, but then I'm not a casual fan. I already know what to expect inside. This just smacks of a marketing disaster. Hopefully, there will be some killer content that will make the magazine a word-of-mouth hit.

------RM
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Aromatic Grass



Joined: 31 Dec 2003
Posts: 2424
Location: Raleigh, NC
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:33 pm Reply with quote
CCSYueh wrote:
Maybe PiQ will be worth it, but if they're aiming for a 70% male audience, they're basically saying "Screw you, gals. You don't count" Newtype consistantly provided exactly the type of coverage I wanted.

This is the only problem I have at the moment. Not with the magazine, but with the fact that something like this is what's been advertised. NTUSA's staff were constantly improving the magazine for their just-as-large, if not larger, female audience. The idea that the "same magazine" would be focused on a mostly male audience is the only thing that baffles me.
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MokonaModoki



Joined: 30 Oct 2005
Posts: 437
Location: Austin, Texas
PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:12 pm Reply with quote
Aromatic Grass wrote:
CCSYueh wrote:
Maybe PiQ will be worth it, but if they're aiming for a 70% male audience, they're basically saying "Screw you, gals. You don't count" Newtype consistantly provided exactly the type of coverage I wanted.

This is the only problem I have at the moment. Not with the magazine, but with the fact that something like this is what's been advertised. NTUSA's staff were constantly improving the magazine for their just-as-large, if not larger, female audience. The idea that the "same magazine" would be focused on a mostly male audience is the only thing that baffles me.


Just curious, what are you ladies assuming that the demographic breakdown of NewType USA is (or Anime Insider, Otaku USA or Protoculture Addicts for that matter)? Demographic projections might just be coming from marketing research, or might possibly include extrapolations from the existing NewType USA readership. I know that just in the past year I've seen acknowledgments in the NewType USA letters page that they do realize that they have female readers (typically in response to cries for more bishonen centerfolds) with implications of intent to serve the female readers in the future.

I just don't see how early projections of a 70-30 split between male and female readers necessarily corresponds to a concerted editorial effort to give the girls the old heave-ho.

As for me, I look forward to seeing what the new magazine brings and having the chance to evaluate it then. Most of the bemoaning about what the magazine has "revealed" of itself with this media kit just seems like a lot of wild tangents spun off from very limited information (Maxim... really?).
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AnimeCornerStore
Accredited Retailer


Joined: 20 Aug 2007
Posts: 119
Location: Winchester, VA USA
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:53 am Reply with quote
Quote:
The topics are loosely connected to each other, but it seems like they're trying to cover too much ground at once to obtain a bigger appeal while diluting itself at the same time...


I agree, I'm disappointed with the new homogenized format, regardless of how good the editorial will be. 100% Anime Industry only would have a been a better choice, but perhaps that doesn't garner the big corporate ad dollars or the premium newsstand positioning. The pitch is that by diversifying the product offering they'll be able to expand readership and thus further market penetration into outside demographics for all the genre's covered including Anime. Will it work? A better question would be: should we care?

We've often been faced with choices over the years to diversify outside of the Anime market in order to continue growth and increase revenue, but I have always been very resistant to this. The Anime industry has been good to us and we need to remain loyal to it. I suppose that we sometimes foolishly garner the attitude that we should 'go down with the ship' per say if it comes to that, but what I really think about is that, at the end of the day, what we do and who we serve has to be about more than just 'maximizing revenue streams'.

So while the new magazine will probably be very good, it won't be an 'Anime' magazine anymore. Aren't there already enough places to read about games, gadgets and gimmicks?

~sigh~

Robert
www.animecornerstore.com
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar


Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16963
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:19 am Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
Hon'ya-chan wrote:

Oh, so will ANN get preview copies of the magazine beforehand and offer a crtique of it?


Zuh? We don't review magazines here, that's in pretty poor taste considering we publish an anime magazine.

Look, would it kill you to wait until you can walk into a bookstore and leaf through it, maybe check out a few articles before proclaiming to the high heavens that it's an awful publication? That's all I mean. That's how most people evaluate a new magazine before deciding whether or not they want to buy it.


Isn't that how people evaluate any new product? Waiting to see the actual thing and see what it does or is like? Yet we have so many people here jumping to conclusions about something they have never seen a single page of yet. How about instead of assumptions or pre-disposed judgments, or suggesting other critique it for you, why don't all the skeptics simply check out the first issue? Just go to the bookstore and look through it, you don't even have to buy the damn thing. Take a look and see what it has to offer and then decide if it's worth getting or not.
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luhead



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 151
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 5:04 am Reply with quote
Zac wrote:

Look, would it kill you to wait until you can walk into a bookstore and leaf through it, maybe check out a few articles before proclaiming to the high heavens that it's an awful publication? That's all I mean. That's how most people evaluate a new magazine before deciding whether or not they want to buy it.

I think people are basing their opinions on what the those behind the magazine themselves are saying the content will be. Based on that breakdown, I already know I'm only interested in maybe 50% of the projected content. If they didn't want anime/manga fans prejudging the magazine, maybe they shouldn't have been so quick to tell us how little anime/manga content they intend to put in it.
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Iria76



Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:17 pm Reply with quote
I feel the same way alot of people on this forum do-betrayed.I can't help but feel that way,Newtype is the magazine that introduced me to Azumanga Daioh and a new way of life and a new hobby that has been changing my life for going onto 4 years now.I can't help but be kind of put off on a new magazine in place of an old that did sooo much better in keeping us informed in what we live,breathe,and above all else-LOVE!!! I don't understand the objective of reaching out to other readers when we're the ones that count the most-we are the anime fans!! I also want to point out something else that alot of others haven't and that's that it's about our love for Japan too that keeps us supporting anime magazines,i do find Anime insider still continuing to do this,i mean the learning japanese slowly is so awesome,not even Newtype included this for the American versions(the japanese have no use for it,of course).I'll gaze over the content of PiQ but if it doesn't hit the spot the same way Newtype did for all my japanese geek needs then i'll be going over to Anime Insider's side of the fence and staying until something else covers what i love the same way Newtype did.Thanks for having me as well. Smile
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:02 pm Reply with quote
MokonaModoki wrote:

Just curious, what are you ladies assuming that the demographic breakdown of NewType USA is (or Anime Insider, Otaku USA or Protoculture Addicts for that matter)? Demographic projections might just be coming from marketing research, or might possibly include extrapolations from the existing NewType USA readership. I know that just in the past year I've seen acknowledgments in the NewType USA letters page that they do realize that they have female readers (typically in response to cries for more bishonen centerfolds) with implications of intent to serve the female readers in the future.

I just don't see how early projections of a 70-30 split between male and female readers necessarily corresponds to a concerted editorial effort to give the girls the old heave-ho.


Covers with Saiunkoku? Pages on Kyo Kara Maoh, Saiyuki, DNAngel, & other gal-friendly titles as per the original Japanese publication? THe centerfolds were a local addition & look how few dudes we got. ADV licensing practices that overall lean to a male audience? Their licensing of titles aimed at gals seems very uneven

I said I'd give them a shot, but I am worried it will not pay attention to what I'm interested in.

Go to any bookstore. Manga section. You telling me the shojo section (including yaoi) is only 30%? Last time I looked titles aimed at gals took up a significant amount of shelf space.
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