Forum - View topicNEWS: Raijin on hiatus
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GATSU
Posts: 15567 |
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Oh well, I guess I'm eating crow. I guess it could be worse though. They could've gone the way of Pulp.
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Ramen
 Posts: 346 Location: San Jose |
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Sucks, but I guess not unexpected. Too bad, though. Raijin has some excellent manga in it. I'm going to miss my City Hunter and Fist of the Blue Sky fix. Guess I need to go wait for my check
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Louie-kun
 Posts: 420 Location: I'm back. |
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And I was just starting to get into the City Hunter manga. I guess it was too good to be true. I just hope it's not on haitus forever.
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10460 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Pulp really bothered me personally because I liked close to every series they ran, and I was an avid subsriber to the manga (despite the fact that I could've gotten it for free). I've never liked Raijin as much. City Hunter & First President of Japan are the only two series in it that I really like (And First President is no where as good as Eagle). I find the difference between the two is that Pulp went for more intelectual manga, whereas several of the manga in Raijin are very light in terms of intelectual content. Still, its very unfortunate that Raijin is in this situation.Although they weren't the first manga anthology for adults, they were the only one currently on the market, and they were the only one to try a weekly format. It's dissapointing to see the lack of success of anthologies aimed at an older demographic... a demographic I happen to belong to. Like I said, I wasn't particularly fond of Raijin's content, but the woes of Raijin will discourage other potential publishers of adult anthologies, anthologies that I might potentially have wanted to subscribe to. |
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Raoh
 Posts: 357 Location: Florence, OR |
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Well, it certainly doesn't say they are closing down production, just that they are going on a hiatus for a brain-storming session.
I really do hope they come back soon, as I was an avid reader of Raijin Comics, and I REALLY HOPE they produce all of the Fist of The North Star master editions in the U.S. (I don't want to have to resort to buying the Japanese versions and finding a translator for myself, its the very last resort though  ).
I think Raijin was doing pretty well, personally. I think they need more promoting of their anthology for word to get around. Like, purchase some advertising space in some publications aimed at their target demographics, and take the risk, hoping for success. I am a fan of quite a bit of Raijin's stuff, including Fist of The Blue Sky, Guardian Angel Getten, Slam Dunk, City Hunter, and Bow Wow Wata. I think Raijin has quite a bit of manga with different aspects, and perhapes they should change their target demographics to include alot more people, because it seems to me that storys like G.A.G. and B.W.W. may not actually reach that demographic. Nevertheless, I do hope they come back soon, as I will keep buying it. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15567 |
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Tempest: Pulp's problem wasn't the titles, but the presentation of the magazine. It looked more like a fan-zine with all its soundtrack reviews, and the way they'd insert random articles
every other page. I know that's the point, but still...At least the writers still have jobs at Viz though. I hope no one at Raijin of Japan gave a pink slip to anyone at Raijin of America...
Are we talking about the same magazines?! I wouldn't exactly call Banana Fish and Strain "intellectual".
Guess we'l have to wait for the Jump readers to grow up for that to happen. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15567 |
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Raoh: I agree about promoting themselves. I think they really blew it when they didn't advertise City Hunter on the recent FOX dvd's of the live-action movie.
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dmanjdb
Posts: 114 |
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I'm a big fan of Raijin Mangas. I liked Slam Dunk, City Hunter, First President and Mouflon. But I understand why Raijin would try to reorganize their manga line.
The last Slam Dunk GN was released on January the next GN will be release on April that a 4 month waiting period. Sure Tokyopop got a 5 month waiting period for Planetes but the series is recent unlike Slam Dunk which is 10+ old series. The problem is their change of Raijin comics from weekly release to a monthly release. Thats a big problem because while Tokyopop, Viz and ADV manga is having release after release on Comic/Book stores Raijin is at an almost standstill. After this long (and hopefully understandable) explination my question is... What do you think should be Raijin's plan? If you didn't understand sorry I'm puertorican... (my grammar sucks but my english is actually good) |
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GATSU
Posts: 15567 |
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I guess the finished series should be published faster, but for series that are still on-going, it doesn't really matter. You get to where Baki first ended, for example, and you still wouldn't be done.
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4541 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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I suppose it's sad (I never bought that one), but the truth, from my perspective, about anthology magazines is that I tried both Animerica Extra and Super Manga Blast for a few months but stopped when I realized that I only really cared for one or two titles each and I was spending too much money (they're both fairly expensive in Canada... I can buy some manga volumes in French for less than the cost of two issues of one of the anthologies) on a whole lot of pages I didn't care about and was better off just buying the trade paperbacks when they came out. (We're talking around four years ago for both; these days, I couldn't afford to commit myself to buying an anthology every month even if I wanted to, much less a weekly one.)
I'm not saying my experience is representative of the majority of potential buyers of those manga anthologies not aimed at children, but, certainly, those of us with the attitude "What's the point? I'll just buy the trade paperbacks of the titles I care about when they come out." are a segment of the market they have to take into consideration when they reconsider their business plan. |
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Raoh
Posts: 357 Location: Florence, OR |
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An interesting question indeed. First of all, I think Raijin should change its demographics and try to appeal to a much larger portion of the fan base. Alot of the manga in Raijin seems to only appeal to guys, and that needs to be changed. The only ones I currently believe the female readers would read would be Bow Wow Wata and Guardian Angel Getten. I think Raijin should try to revamp itself into a anthology that has something for everyone. Raijin seems to be mostly Shounen with Baki and Blue Sky carrying most of that weight, itself (Not knocking or anything, I love both Blue Sky and Baki, personally). I also think Raijin should think about promoting themselves ALOT more. Make sure to have at least one booth at all of the MAJOR Conventions in North America, try to get as much ad space as possible in magazines that they believe they're readers would read, and also use this to come up with some sort of catch phrase or slogan, to try and get new readers to give it at least one chance. Basicly, I think they should try more advertising and more appeal. Thats my two-cents. GATSU: Have you actually seen those City Hunter movies? I have heard they are pretty funny, especially with Jackie Chan in them. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15567 |
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Tenchi: I actually liked more than a couple of titles in Raijin, so I think it'd be tough for me to give up the anthology. Animerica Extra's problem was their subscription plan-like many of the plans at Viz-were overpriced beyond what it would be worth to get those magazines. I'm not sure if things have improved since they implemented cheaper prices. Even though Jump sells better than all of them, though, I still wonder why, when all the manga series look alike in there.
Raoh:
Disagree there. (Well, perhaps with the exception of Nemuri Kyoshiro.) Raijin just doesn't appeal to shallow and vapid girls, like whatever Viz and TP churn out by the dozen, but it does appeal to girls. I guess it's a cultural thing, though, cus girls over here eat up whatever's pretty, and girls in Japan, well, they end up doing videos for J-list. But all kidding aside, I'd tap into that market, but I really wouldn't rely on it for the long term, because girls are as likely to change manga as they change boyfriends(and occasionally girlfriends) and clothes.
That's what they've been doing. If they're going to appeal to women at all, it should be with their content, not their manga. For example, I suggested they include more photos of male cosplayers. They should also get at least one female writer on there. (In fact, I just e-mailed them that suggestion.) Agree with you about advertising in mags, but I don't think it's feasible for them to go con-hopping right now. And there's only one City Hunter movie with Jackie Chan, and I have a soft spot for it, but it's shown its age. Still for $10, you can't go wrong! |
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Ken-san
Posts: 32 Location: Michigan |
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Actually, I think where they've gone wrong is advertising. You don't see many ads for Raijin in NewType or even Animerica. If you do it's only one general ad, and not one for each title in the book. Viz, Media Blasters, even Tokyopop has ads for each title they want to advertise. T
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Ken-san
Posts: 32 Location: Michigan |
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Actually, I think where they've gone wrong is advertising. You don't see many ads for Raijin in NewType or even Animerica. If you do it's only one general ad, and not one for each title in the book. Viz, Media Blasters, even Tokyopop has ads for each title they want to advertise.
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Zeiram
 Posts: 317 |
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well, Jump? they don't all look alike in there oO I ignore DBZ. Doesn't exist for me. I really enjoy the rest of them.
Raijin? well i read the first book of getten, was fun. Nothing special. city hunter? I still don't know what that is about and baki doesn't do much for me, the 3 episode ova was interesting. president? i respect it but i'm too busy paying attention to our politcal mess to care for theirs hehe. Raijin was never a big deal for me so it's no real loss. I'd love mor eof these magazines tho. Get soem BB, shonen weekly, shownen sunday, etc. ah yeh GL, not near neough of those going around. So this is a problem on that front. I'd love a monthly anthology of american comics ^^ hehe. C'mon companies, surprise me. |
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