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Forum - View topicNEWS: Digital Manga Launches emanga Beta Rental Site
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rizuchan
 Posts: 980 Location: Kansas |
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Somehow I don't see this working very well. Manga is cheap to buy and you can already preview it in the book store, not only for free but legally. Also, DVDs are pricey you want to make sure you're getting something worth your money before you buy, but manga, you waste $10 and find out you hate something and it's not as big of a deal.
This might work if they were charging something like 99 cents, but from what I can tell all (or at least most) of their titles are $4 to rent. And pay for it twice, you get to read it as much as you like? I don't know about the rest of you but I'd much rather pay $2 more to have a physical book. Also, check out the preview on the website main page. I really hope that's not how you're supposed to read all of them... |
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Askman
Posts: 59 |
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It sounds like a rather interesting idea, but I don't really like the idea of reading manga on my computer. I'd rather just pay a few extra dollars for an actual physical copy.
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melonbread
Posts: 317 Location: UK (London) |
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For me, I'd always rather hold the book in my hand than read it on a computer screen.
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Brand
 Posts: 1029 |
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I'm trying it out right now but it's got issues. Like it does most pages as a double page spread (every page pretty much, even though they could be normal single pages). This causes the problem that with both pages on screen the text is to small to read. You can make it larger but then the text becomes fuzzy and is hard to read.
It's a neat idea but still has some issues. |
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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You don't read yaoi obviously. DMP is one of the larger yaoi publishers in the US. Yaoi as "adult entertainment" is often shrink-wrapped (so you better not be reading it in the stores. Leave that wrap on for the buyers, please) & also many stores are apparently hesitant to carry it. Most readers of yaoi I know have resorted to buying online to guarantee being able to find the stuff. However DMP isn't one of the publishers with a standing discount at Right Stuf, althought their stuff is discounted at Amazon. So you are looking at a list price of $12.95-$15.95 with a discount bringing it down to $10-$12 at Amazon. Right Stuf did have a DMP sale earlier this year which brought the prices down to about $8-$10, but it's not a regular thing we can expect. Net Comics offers chapters for like $1 a pop, but if you have 5 chapters in a book, there's $5, isn't it? |
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jsieczka
 Posts: 150 Location: Rochester, NY |
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I don't think that the per issue model is the way to go. The future of comics really is digital, which is great and bad at the same time. It is great do to the fact you don't have to store digital comics, no more long boxes or shelf space. It is bad do to the fact that you don't get to hold them and turn the pages. The better route would be a monthly fee 5-20 dollars where you can read as many as you want and issues are not taken down. This model is already in use buy Marvel and I think DC is using it as well. I can't see the value in renting comics due to there low price in comparison to buying them. An online viewing is practical due to its low cost for the consumer and for the publisher.
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kushiel
 Posts: 94 Location: Saskatchewan |
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The problem is that Marvel and DC can handle charging that low - most of their money is not made from the comics, it's through licensing and derivative products (like movies), and IIRC, they still make the bulk of their comic revenue from brick and mortar stores. Anime and manga companies need to charge more to turn a profit and stay in business. |
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jsieczka
Posts: 150 Location: Rochester, NY |
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I am paying 4.99 with Marvel, and I do think for most of the manga companies that would be too low. Dark Horse would be the exception due to there involvement in other mediums. I would think that Viz, Tokyopop, and Del Ray could make it work in the $15-$20 range. I would still say that $20 for all the manga you can read would be a good deal. |
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5584 |
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article is wrong, it says 400 points but I just got 500.
"As one of the first 100 people to sign up, you have received a bonus gift of 500 points! Congratulations!" |
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CCSYueh
Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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I see plenty of comics for sale in the comics shops I frequent, although I don't follow domestic titles any longer so I don't know how that's going. I could see a dif with domestic comics because they are color which looks nice online, but even still, I cannot see the collectors out there not hording away the latest copy of Spiderman. With manga I see again & again the statement "I don't like to read my manga online." I carry half a dozen with me to work so I can decide which one to start on after I finish the volume I'm reading now & maybe by lunch I won't feel like starting BTx 15--maybe I'll want to read Saint Seiya 23 or Judas 4 & 5. Or maybe I'll want to look over Jump Squared. I can't carry my computer in my purse. THat cell phone screen is too damned small to get any decent graphics on. I cannot see giving up print for digital. I can go pull out Spiderman 175 & read it whenever I want. What if Marvel decides the original run of Ghost Rider is taking up too much space & deletes it from the system? How about Thor 325? What if New Idea Man takes over as pres of DC & decides all volumes that don't agree with the current vision of Batman must be deleted? I don't trust company men enough. I see manga go out of print all the time. The added problem with manga is it is a license so it's only valid for so many years. Marvel & DC own their product-Tokyopop owns the translation, but the art belongs to the company they licensed it from so, like leased land, at the end of the lease, the landlord gets it back to re-sell or whatever. So there could come a day when you decide "I really should read Death Note", but the license has lapsed & Viz would no longer have the digital copy up for you to read. All of us with a hard copy would still have itg We saw this with Be Beautiful. Last time I looked, copies of the Finder series are as much as $200 per copy because Be Beautiful has apparently vanished & their license is disputed so even another company taking over is possibly muddled. Libre said they didn't have a contract with Be Beautiful so Be Beautiful would have no right to post digital copies. Be Beautiful had a contract with Biblos which went out bankrupt |
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Teriyaki Terrier
 Posts: 5689 |
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Since last year, I have been reading both hard copy and digital manga. Viz Media, Tokyo Pop and Del Ray are primarily the companies I purchase from, usually Viz Media though.
For the price of "owning" a book from that site, one could easily purcahse a Shonen Jump manga. I don't know about anyone else, but if I had to pay that kind of money for a something that one could easily find via ebay, book store or elsewhere, I sure woundn't do that. Ultimately, I really can't see this becoming the only way to read manga in the future though. Books in general have been around for centuries. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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And how exactly are you supposed to get more points to read stuff? Just keep reading and pay more to get stuff free or what?
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sunflower
 Posts: 1080 |
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I like having free samples somewhere. I don't know many of the books / mangaka that are published in the June line and won't buy them without samples. As someone above said, in bookstores June books are often shrinkwrapped. So if you don't have scanlations, you've been screwed as far as previews go.
It's also nice if you, like me, don't like to keep the volumes that are less than stellar. It's a PITA to have to find someone to give/sell BL to where I live (I've got a stack of used BL just waiting to be dumped somewhere). If I bought a digital copy at $4, I could read it, have nothing to dispose of, and if I really liked it, buy the hardcopy. I'll be trying this out. |
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