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Answerman - Are Manga Sales Increasing in the US?


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ChrissyC



Joined: 17 Jun 2015
Posts: 551
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:08 pm Reply with quote
{Edit}: Sorry but simply saying awoogaaa wooo and having a photo, albeit a sexy one, of Austin Powers does not qualify as a legitimate post. Next time please use actual words and sentences and not baby speak. Thanks. ~ Psycho 101
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Ushio



Joined: 31 Jul 2005
Posts: 635
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:11 pm Reply with quote
Here's comicbook resources look at 2015 Bookscan results

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/tilting-at-windmills-bookscan-2015-analysis

And the 750 top selling comics https://www.dropbox.com/s/o95cw82hnrq7tp6/Bookscan-15-Top-750.xlsx?dl=0

BookScan says "Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Costco, General Independents, Hastings, Target, BJ's, K-Mart, Hudson Group, Meijers, Follett Books, Books-A-Million, CEO Read, Powells, Toys "R" Us, Shoprite, SuperValu, Sam's Club and Walmart are among our many data providers."

What does BookScan not track? Among others, this would include libraries, schools, specialty stores (like comic book stores!) and book clubs. BookScan does not track most sales at independent bookstores.

Best selling comic

352,791 -- DORK DIARIES 10

750th best selling comic

3,475 -- NISEKOI: FALSE LOVE, VOL. 9

There are 22,431 comics listed on Bookscan for 2015

All credit to Brian Hibbs for the above.
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Shaterri



Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Posts: 173
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:18 pm Reply with quote
I think another important element is the rise of eBooks. While obviously there are digital versions of a lot of manga available, it also seems likely that sales of manga (and graphic novels in general) are more likely to be 'digital-resistant' and that readers will be more inclined to have physical copies of graphic works, whereas text-only books adapt better to purely digital formats; graphica also arguably 'browses' better than traditional text. Especially for a retailer like Barnes and Noble where both digital book sales and online retailers like Amazon have really eaten into their retail business, a form of media that seems to strongly encourage in-store shopping is likely to find pretty strong backing. (You can see the opposite of this trend at work in the technology section, where at least anecdotally the combination of eBooks and online manuals with online retail have shrunk the computer sections at my various local B&N outlets by tangible amounts.)
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7jaws7



Joined: 17 Aug 2013
Posts: 705
Location: New York State
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:18 pm Reply with quote
Monster's Perfect Edition is a great example of buying manga while getting a better deal. I still buy individual volumes on occasion but only to see if I'm interested in the series.
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rizuchan



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 980
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:27 pm Reply with quote
Until we can maybe someday get a manga "streaming" or all-you-can-read type platform, ebooks are the way to go for cheap manga. I've completely run out of shelf space for more manga and with Viz's manga as low as $2.99 (And lower on sale!) I've saved a ton of money and space.

I admittedly miss browsing Barnes and Noble, but my wallet doesn't.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5506
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:28 pm Reply with quote
I had no idea that more brick and mortar stores were stocking more manga, but the high amount of manga and light novels being licensed each year suggests to me that sales are doing great. I am not a manga, LN collector, but I hope publishers keep being successful and that they continue to bring titles to N.A. fans.

And $9.99 per book seems like a great deal.
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residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2583
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:36 pm Reply with quote
US comic book publisher sadly continue to drop the ball on reaching the child and young adult audience (the actual money makers of the book market!) so someone had to fill the gap.
Printed manga, or comics in general, should end up become a niche product when all is said and done in a decade+ but the market is admittedly pretty stable. Let´s see how the digital distribution arm of the industry will continue to grow.
The amount of series US readers get in official translation is still pretty low if i compare them to what German of French readers get.
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:55 pm Reply with quote
Our local BAM & BN have noticeably more manga on the shelf than they did just a couple of years ago. I know that there are many more series that I'm buying than before. Gonna' need bigger bookshelves.

Mark Gosdin
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xchampion



Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 370
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:00 pm Reply with quote
I dont like the 3-in-1 manga because it uses lower quality covers and paper. Plus they just dont look as good. Id rather pay a little extra for the originals or those bigger higher quality ones they released for Rurouni Kenshin and DB/DBZ a few years ago.
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WashuTakahashi



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 415
Location: Chicago, IL
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:20 pm Reply with quote
XChampion wrote:
I dont like the 3-in-1 manga because it uses lower quality covers and paper. Plus they just dont look as good. Id rather pay a little extra for the originals or those bigger higher quality ones they released for Rurouni Kenshin and DB/DBZ a few years ago.


Typically, when the omnibus editions come out, the regular manga gets little cheaper to compete. (though still being more expensive) I also prefer the individuals. They're easier to hold in my tiny woman hands =P

Another tip for cheap manga is to subscribe to rightstuf's newsletter. They have 15-20% or more deals on big publishers like Kodansha, Viz, etc all the time. You usually only save a buck or two, but it adds up. (Or don't subscribe, because the sales kill my wallet) I also highly recommend becoming one of their got anime members. It's only 12 bucks a year, and so long as you spend more than $120 a year, it pays for itself. Over the past 3 or so years that I've had it, I'm sure I've saved at least 200 bucks.
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:45 pm Reply with quote
I'm happy to see sales increase I mean my local B&N now has an annual buy 2 get 1 free sale every January as well as the "Manga Monday" promotion.

Although most of the Manga I buy now is through Amazon because I don't get charged for pre-orders until they ship and I can support a charity I like through Amazon Smile.

Also, since I get a $5 e-card because I use Bing Rewards I can pay down my pre-orders.

It's good to see sales up I find following publishers on Social Media helps as they will clue you into good deals on their titles as well.
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pluvia33



Joined: 23 Mar 2005
Posts: 196
Location: Dayton, OH, USA
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 4:08 pm Reply with quote
WashuTakahashi wrote:
Another tip for cheap manga is to subscribe to rightstuf's newsletter. They have 15-20% or more deals on big publishers like Kodansha, Viz, etc all the time.


33% off retail price is their standard manga/novel sale. Saving more than $3 per volume really does add up, especially if you need to buy a bunch of volumes. Somewhat recently, I caught up with buying the most recent 10 volumes of Kimi ni Todoke during a Viz sale and am now waiting for a Del Rey/Kodansha USA sale to roll back around to buy the final 8 volumes of Negima! (as I'm finally almost done catching up with the 30 volumes I have) and maybe start collecting UQ Holder! and catch up with Genshiken: Second Season and some other series.... Then again, there's way too much that I need to buy from their catalog. I think I'll stick to catching up with my Akamatsu stuff for now. I miss having a larger disposable income....
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Stuart Smith



Joined: 13 Jan 2013
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 4:40 pm Reply with quote
Shaterri wrote:
I think another important element is the rise of eBooks. While obviously there are digital versions of a lot of manga available, it also seems likely that sales of manga (and graphic novels in general) are more likely to be 'digital-resistant' and that readers will be more inclined to have physical copies of graphic works, whereas text-only books adapt better to purely digital formats; graphica also arguably 'browses' better than traditional text.


I refuse to buy digital products since I'm a collector so that definitely applies to me. Then again I'm the type of person who Imports Japanese manga for my collection and just reads it online. Despite shipping costs it's usually cheaper and higher quality than domestic prints. I also have to agree those 3 in 1 omnibuses just look terrible.

-Stuart Smith
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:18 pm Reply with quote
This is great news. Now if they could just reduce the time between publishing volumes down to at least a month, from 3- 6 months that would be even better. I'm still an analoginous creature, I can not adapt to thrive in the new digital era so I will eventually die and become extinct, but I still have money that the publishers badly want so they will have to keep feeding me paper and ink until that fateful day. Wink
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corinthian



Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 264
PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:26 pm Reply with quote
rizuchan wrote:
Until we can maybe someday get a manga "streaming" or all-you-can-read type platform, ebooks are the way to go for cheap manga.


You mean Crunchyroll, right?

I'm surprised Best Buy is selling manga. Maybe they smell opportunity, or hope to create it. It's still a bit funny, since "People" have been saying that print media/physical stores/consumer electronics are dead for years now.[/url]
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