Yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble, I picked up this months issue of Shonen Jump and I looked in the OP card previews and saw the name "Dorry and Brogy" on the cards. No "Doggie and Bloggie". Oh and rejoices! Arlong arc is almost over!.
Doggie and Bloggie?
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I thought it was "Doogie and Bloogie."
Yeah, I saw that the other day, and I suppose I'm glad. Those names seem to flow better than "Doogie and Bloogie." Nothing is set in stone, though, remember; don't forget Zolo.
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I got the same result also. I was like :blink: when I saw the names Dorry and Broggy. Good thing.
Also, the Arlong Arc is over for the manga. Nearly at least, all's left to cover is the celebration chapter which I hope most dubbies read and find out and Luffy's first Bounty.
And then, its off to Rough Town, Smoker, and Dragon. Not to mentionits 100th chapter in USA.
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One Piece isn't doing too well in sales, though. In terms of chapters/volumes, Bleach and Naruto are both ahead of it AND they are more popular. Poor sales traditionally results in a change of marketing strategy, which would suck major arse because Alabasta is still a long way away, and things are going in reverse order than in Japan (anime first, manga second). This slow progression only hurts OP sales in my mind; the worst case scenario is Viz drops the title for something more promising, only to downgrade the rating from "T" to "E" like with DBZ. The Border's Book's I frequently visit has stated they don't want to order anymore OP volumes…
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Yeah One Piece is not as popular here( live in Florida) as it should be I started to like it like last year and my friend told me I could read scanlations and by the time I finished Alabasta arc I thought One Piece was awsome, the anime here is dumb I don't even bother to watch it although in cartoonetwork they are around four episodes away from when they get to Alabasta and if the U.S is lucky they won't have changed at as much as they did to the rest of the series
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Gee, you think the crappy English dub is the reason why it's not doing as well as Bleach and Naruto?
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Dang, the two bookshops I go to seem to be having trouble keeping One Piece stocked.
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A guy was telling me to buy World of Warcraft and I was deciding a name my character and I asked if I should use a One Piece related name. I mentioned the manga but they said it was a weird show. They didn't say all anime is bad but only dubbed stuff is since there are Japanese words that are impossible to translate.
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I kinda wish OP get popluar here, olny if 4kids would not buther it. I guess that is it, we fans can't do anything, fans won't be able to do something about it, often they don't care.
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They didn't say all anime is bad but only dubbed stuff is since there are Japanese words that are impossible to translate.
That's just their generalization, there are plenty of good dubs out there. I am getting tired of all of the complaining for the OP dub though, especially since there haven't been any new episodes in awhile (changing tomorrow, right? I thought it was last week, but oh well). Oh the bitterness~
I haven't bought any of the new Shonen Jumps (the one with that Blue Eyes was bought out EVERYWHERE and I saw the card for sale at Wal-Mart…) ever since the local Sam Goody stopped selling magazines, so this is news to me. Even though I don't buy the cards, still kinda interesting. What's with the whole Doggie and Bloggie thing anyway?
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Doggie and Bloggie. Sounds kinda like a desciption of today's average American citizen. XD
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I'm actually considering writing a letter to Viz (in addition to my MAKO as GAMABUNTA letter) asking them to start editing the OP manga. Editing the blood out the manga is easier than in the Anime and OP is already gaining criticism from relegious folks about it being "deceptively cartoony". OP looks drastically different from Naruto and Bleach, but still has violence on par with them; heck, it's even a few pegs away from Dragonball.
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Doggie and Bloggie are pretty excellent names.
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Doggie and Bloggie. Sounds kinda like a desciption of today's average American citizen. XD
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I'm actually considering writing a letter to Viz (in addition to my MAKO as GAMABUNTA letter) asking them to start editing the OP manga. Editing the blood out the manga is easier than in the Anime and OP is already gaining criticism from relegious folks about it being "deceptively cartoony". OP looks drastically different from Naruto and Bleach, but still has violence on par with them; heck, it's even a few pegs away from Dragonball.
Oh reeeaaaallllyyyyy? Right pal, go preform such unhealty matter. Haha….
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Gee, you think the crappy English dub is the reason why it's not doing as well as Bleach and Naruto?
That actually could be the reason.
After the Naruto dub started airing, sales of the manga skyrocketed.
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It's also like Zephos stated before. It's poor advertising on Viz's part which is why One Piece isn't selling.
As he said, on the back of Volume 5 it has a happy Luffy eating ice cream but inside it has Kuro with gigantic steel claws slashing people up and Sanji beating up a government offical inside a resturant.
I just think One Piece was never meant to be.
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I'm actually considering writing a letter to Viz (in addition to my MAKO as GAMABUNTA letter) asking them to start editing the OP manga. Editing the blood out the manga is easier than in the Anime and OP is already gaining criticism from relegious folks about it being "deceptively cartoony". OP looks drastically different from Naruto and Bleach, but still has violence on par with them; heck, it's even a few pegs away from Dragonball.
If they do that, OP would totally die for sure. Anime is bad, manga would be bad. I would stop buying, that's for sure. Who cares about the religious people, what're they reading manga for anyways. If they actually did read the series, they would know that it always pushes positive statements.(even though there's violence) And if it's their son/daughter that's reading it and they don't like it….just stop buying it for your kid....dumb parents.
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If they do that, OP would totally die for sure. Anime is bad, manga would be bad. I would stop buying, that's for sure. Who cares about the religious people, what're they reading manga for anyways. If they actually did read the series, they would know that it always pushes positive statements.(even though there's violence) And if it's their son/daughter that's reading it and they don't like it….just stop buying it for your kid....dumb parents.
It's already dead, though. Shueisha knows OP is a huge cash cow in Japan, but if it suffers poor sales in comparison to other titles over a prolonged period of time, it's common business practice to let things go. Why bother? If 4Kids destroys the OP anime, which is an integral component of popularity (as it's considerably cheaper than manga to the individual), OP won't be able to reach the child demographic it is being targetted to because the manga is rated "T", which turns off many parents. Despite being a SJ title, OP will be limited in its ability to reach people. The American SJ manga puts OP in with a bunch of other comics, but it's really the tanko sales that determine how well a series is doing. Though Viz cheapens the product to make SJ available for everyone, it's not worth it for OP if there's decreasing and even negative returns on their investment.
And yes, parents are dumb, but we're not ones to talk. I doubt many people here are parents and know what goes through their overprotective minds.
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Furthermore, I highly doubt reducing OP from "T" to "E" is as bad as people say. I actually think the whole matter of passing OP as a "T" rated in the manga is stupid; "rum" can be easily turned to "drink" (I want a drink), and the blood is fairly easy to edit out. Problems occur when Luffy battles Crocodile, but DBZ is edited as "E" and still manages to get away with some blood, just not excessives.
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It's already dead, though. Shueisha knows OP is a huge cash cow in Japan, but if it suffers poor sales in comparison to other titles over a prolonged period of time, it's common business practice to let things go. Why bother? If 4Kids destroys the OP anime, which is an integral component of popularity (as it's considerably cheaper than manga to the individual), OP won't be able to reach the child demographic it is being targetted to because the manga is rated "T", which turns off many parents. Despite being a SJ title, OP will be limited in its ability to reach people. The American SJ manga puts OP in with a bunch of other comics, but it's really the tanko sales that determine how well a series is doing. Though Viz cheapens the product to make SJ available for everyone, it's not worth it for OP if there's decreasing and even negative returns on their investment.
And yes, parents are dumb, but we're not ones to talk. I doubt many people here are parents and know what goes through their overprotective minds.
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Furthermore, I highly doubt reducing OP from "T" to "E" is as bad as people say. I actually think the whole matter of passing OP as a "T" rated in the manga is stupid; "rum" can be easily turned to "drink" (I want a drink), and the blood is fairly easy to edit out. Problems occur when Luffy battles Crocodile, but DBZ is edited as "E" and still manages to get away with some blood, just not excessives.
I know everyone knows that it's not even suppose to be rum… it's sake, but anyway, I was really :blink: when 4kids decided to dubb one piece. I knew from the start it wasn't going to end well, but I was wrong. It didn't even begin well. I think that 4kids should be arrested for what they do to anime. At some extent it HAS to be murder. I wanna and I really want to know this. Does 4kids even bother to watch the anime they dub i mean seriously, they're translations, even if it is cesored, it's un believably wrong. I'm wondering if Oda knows what 4kids does to his anime. I wanna know if 4kids even realizes that the stuff that they do to anime is bad, because I'm pretty sure that they do. I think the only good dubing company out there is ADV films. They actually know what theyre doing. I know translating japanese to english isnt 100% but at least when ADV does it, they understand what they're saying in the anime.
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It's a bit of a farce to call 4Kids a dubbing company; they're more along the lines of a child's programming network that does dubbing on the side (except in this case, dubbing is all they do). Think of a murderous PBS Kids dubbing animated shows…
...and, no, while 4Kids might have butched one of history's greatest anime, they're not criminals. If they did comitt a crime, it's against the intent of the show, art, and all things of good taste.
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I think OP manga sells poorly for a couple reasons:
-The dub obviously gives it a poor name. And especially the remarkably stupid SJ name tie-in on the logo… it implies ENDORSEMENT and CREDIBILITY.
-The dub has lapped it. It's hard to maintain interest when you've seen it all. I bought 1-7 cos I joined the anime at the end of Baratie. I bought 8-9 because I have a fishman fetish, and to see the big deals which were edited (Bellemere) Will I buy the Drum arc? I'm not particularly certain. I've seen it already, and I'm not hugely interested in examining all the details. Probably for SBS mostly.
-They're miles behind the original. If my choice is to spend $8 on a book, or spend an evening trying to download iffy scanlations, I'll go book. But if it's between scanlations and waiting until 2015 to see Water 7, the scanlations get a lot more appealing.
-It's not "typical manga style". People who like chibi, who like catgirls, who like the "manga look" are turned off.
-It's not typical manga content. It's relatively unjapanese, more rum than sake, more swords than katana, so the japanophiles will ogle other series. It's about pirates, a subject matter which is the land of kiddy stories and cheap romance novels in the West.
How I'd fix OP in the US:
Release about 10 tankos today. Get ahead of the anime. You can then sell the advantadge of getting it ahead of the anime-viewers. Get it where the releases match the potential demand. I'd say one or two volumes a month could satisfy most readers yet not swamp them. I could theoretically probably read the remaining 31 books in a month, but it would be a real exhaustion strain. Yes, you'll eventually tap out of books to release, but then you'll be so near current people will be able to enjoy your product.
Market the differences. Little logo on the cover: "Unedited! More stuff than in the anime!" It might be a bit standoffish given how they market the anime in ASJ, but it's necessary to explain to a large market the main draw of reading little tiny black-and-white books over a pretty colourful TV show.
Note (to appeal to the Japanophiles) "No. 1 seller in Japan since 1997!"... again, perhaps as a sticker or little logo on the cover. Could also encourage first-time reader interest... "200 million Japanese can't all be wrong!" I bought my first OP books before seeing a copy of ASJ; I thought their tag line "The world's most popular manga" referred to OP, not their product-line.
(BTW, is there a colour-spread in the March ASJ?)
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Releasing ten tankos in one business period is a bad idea because the novels compete against one another, buyers are not keen on getting so much, and there's a revenue disparity that otherwise wouldn't exist if the tanks were released normally.
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4Kids' usage of the SJ label hurts OP sales. OP would have trouble getting off the ground with its untraditional art style, but I expected Shounen Jump (American) to have been cancelled within a year and thus eligible to allow the manga tankos to be released at a steady, but more frequent pace. Even Dark Horse is quicker, and they release one manga per three months. As of right now, OP stagnation is now attributed to SJ serialization, a link which could only support the manga only four years ago.
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You know, nobody has yet provided an answer as to where this Doggie and Bloggie business came from.
I expected Shounen Jump (American) to have been cancelled within a year
Why was that exactly when it's opening sales vastly exceeded what Viz had hoped for? Not to mention the fact that sales actually increased halfway though the year above what could only be deemed wildly successful.
As of right now, OP stagnation is now attributed to SJ serialization, a link which could only support the manga only four years ago.
I'm having trouble finding numbers of sales thanks to the fact that most people only report Diamond's numbers (which only reflect direct market sales and not subscriptions or newstands), but I fail to see how taking One Piece out of Shonen Jump will help matters much. I doubt that there are more people who buy One Piece graphic novels than there are people who read it in Shonen Jump.
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Doggie and Bloggie came from an earlier issue of ASJ when they were advertising the TCG and the names of the giants were Doggie and Bloggie. But now it's Dorry and Broggy thanks to the new issue.
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I do find it a shame OP's sales in the US are below Bleach and Naruto, especally because I personally view OP as being the better of the three. While on the one had the lower popularity reduces the amount of people with a "OmG!1 1Piece est teh ro><> <ors" 129="" attitude="" (which="" i="" find="" annoying,="" so="" far="" as="" at="" times="" slightly="" putting="" me="" off="" a="" series).="" however="" on="" the="" other="" had="" also="" it="" annoying="" when="" people="" say="" one="" piece="" is="" rubbish="" series,="" often="" because="" they've="" only="" tried="" dub="" or="" read="" small="" amount="" of="" manga.="" for="" example="" once="" saw="" person="" message="" board="" who="" was="" compeletly="" put="" series="" due="" to="" dub,="" saying="" he="" wouldn't="" even="" bother="" check="" out="" un-cut="" version.="" and="" another="" said="" op="" sucked="" characters="" where="" "invincible="" strong"="" (if="" seen="" kuro="" luffy="" fight="" he'd="" probably="" have="" something="" different).="" love="" op,="" would="" like="" if="" perhaps="" better="" recieved.="" having="" just="" watched="" first="" time,="" though="" wonderfully="" touching="" episode,="" proving="" that="" oda="" can="" do="" more="" than="" scenes="" feel="" naruto's="" strong="" point).="" it's="" huge="" shame="" funi="" didn't="" get="" licence="" they="" were="" considering="" bet="" you="" been="" alot="" popular.<br="">However at times I get the feeling that ASJ does try to boost OP's popularity. I often visit the site for news on Bobobo and Gin Tama and often see them mention how they've included an OP related article in the latest issue. The latest issue has Luffy on it and One Piece is one of two series to get three chapters printed a month (and for a while, I believe it was the only one). Plus a company called Gollancz has started to release some Viz manga over here in the UK. The list so far includes DragonBall, Yu-Gi-Oh, Case Closed and another one I can't releaslly remember. Starting this month Rurouni Kenshin is being released and next month One Piece will be released. At this moment in time I've heard no news of a UK release date for the Naruto or Bleach manga.</ors">
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Doggie and Bloggie came from an earlier issue of ASJ when they were advertising the TCG and the names of the giants were Doggie and Bloggie. But now it's Dorry and Broggy thanks to the new issue.
I just checked the issue in question; while Doogie and Bloogie is written on the card at one point, the names in the requirement text itself (on the same card in the same image mind you) are Dorry and Broggy.
Huh, I wonder how that happened.
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What is wrong with using the original names in the first place? Last time I checked, no other characters used those names and I fail to see how those names would anger Soccor Moms.
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What is wrong with using the original names in the first place? Last time I checked, no other characters used those names and I fail to see how those names would anger Soccor Moms.
Who can say? The fact that the names are different on the same card is what throws me. I would chalk it up to a typo, but I don't see how that's even possible in this case.
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The card creators could be just lazy, but that isn't possible either
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Who can say? The fact that the names are different on the same card is what throws me. I would chalk it up to a typo, but I don't see how that's even possible in this case.
I will admit that the idea of a typo (especally seeing as how they're likely to be proof read) didn't come to mind. But frankly that doesn't matter anymore. Hopefully when Viz gets to the Little Garden arc they'll use the original names.
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Releasing ten tankos in one business period is a bad idea because the novels compete against one another, buyers are not keen on getting so much, and there's a revenue disparity that otherwise wouldn't exist if the tanks were released normally.
Well, we need to see the release rate cranked significantly up. As long as there's a gap, there's a market who is not buying tankos because they think they've seen it already.
4Kids' usage of the SJ label hurts OP sales. OP would have trouble getting off the ground with its untraditional art style, but I expected Shounen Jump (American) to have been cancelled within a year and thus eligible to allow the manga tankos to be released at a steady, but more frequent pace.
Why not just decouple serial SJ from volume releases? Are most SJ subscribers and buyers getting the WHOLE magazine because they want one series, or because they want a small taste of six series every month? Hell, I could see SJ repackaged as one chapter of each of their properties a month, like the Japanese WJ is, forget continuity, and drop the pretense of it being anything other than a 350-page solicitation for tankos.
Ubiq, what about checking the circulation statement; I believe all magazines which qualify for magazine rate mail have to post a circulation statement in at least one issue a year.
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Why was that exactly when it's opening sales vastly exceeded what Viz had hoped for? Not to mention the fact that sales actually increased halfway though the year above what could only be deemed wildly successful.
Precisely. I expected it to be cancelled, as it was a risky and costly attempt to produce cheap manga; it's success was surprising.
I'm having trouble finding numbers of sales thanks to the fact that most people only report Diamond's numbers (which only reflect direct market sales and not subscriptions or newstands), but I fail to see how taking One Piece out of Shonen Jump will help matters much. I doubt that there are more people who buy One Piece graphic novels than there are people who read it in Shonen Jump.
You won't find numbers unless you work for the company in question; really, do companies really want their financial material being handled by third parties? Not everything is available to us through the internet.
Also, I disagree; Shounen Jump is a serial magazine, so there's no way to distinguish between which titles are more popular than other ones. Oda is not American, so using fanletters as a benchmark for popularity isn't possible because people are not going to send letters at all. Only tanko sales can properly offer measurements of popularity, and as of right now, Naruto and Bleach have multiple tanko numbers in the top ten's, with a Shoujo title (Absolute Boyfriend) occupying a high slot as well, not to mention Kenshin and FMA.
I call OP a failure not because it doesn't sell well, which is what I assume is happening, but because it doesn't sell EXTRAORDINARILY well. If Dragonball had average sales, would we call it a failure on Viz's part? Yes, because DB was huge in Japan. This whole issue wouldn't have arised if OP wasn't bigger than Dragonball, but yields poor to good sales in America; it's wasted potential that we have to suffer through. It's unfair to Oda.
Why not just decouple serial SJ from volume releases? Are most SJ subscribers and buyers getting the WHOLE magazine because they want one series, or because they want a small taste of six series every month? Hell, I could see SJ repackaged as one chapter of each of their properties a month, like the Japanese WJ is, forget continuity, and drop the pretense of it being anything other than a 350-page solicitation for tankos.
That's actually a sound idea, but I think I've figured out Viz's reasons. If one takes Naruto and puts it immediately into tanko form alone, SJ magazine sales will fall drastically while tanko sales go up. Viz wants to obtain the most amount of money, so if there is demand for Naruto, putting things in SJ just eats up the time/money of consumers waiting for the tankos. There's more money in the long run.
In the case of OP, though, I doubt dropping it would affect the magazine at all; it does not have nearly the weight of Naruto's success. However, continual serialization might be because Viz still has hope for the series; it is the most popular Japanese manga, of course. Furthermore, while Dark Horse manages to release a Berserk volume every three months, they make no art edits; Viz likely has a stockpile of OP manga ready for serialization, as well as many translations of OP, but they're devoted to Americanizing the manga (left-right, art edits), which are expensive and costly in terms of money and time. Quite frankly, Viz could end up falling behind schedule and hurting sales again.
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Left-right? Please explain? Every volume has the "read right to left" warning.
The only art edits I notice are SFX edits, which are probably desirable for a "mainstream" manga product. Dark Horse skews a hell of a lot older than Viz does, so they can get away with it (although frankly, I wish they'd provide a translation of the SFX)
If one takes Naruto and puts it immediately into tanko form alone, SJ magazine sales will fall drastically while tanko sales go up. Viz wants to obtain the most amount of money, so if there is demand for Naruto, putting things in SJ just eats up the time/money of consumers waiting for the tankos. There's more money in the long run.
I'm not saying "rip Naruto out of ASJ", I'm saying, "feel free to pass ASJ with the tankos". People who just want a monthly, hassle-free manga fix, or a variety-pack, will still appreciate ASJ.
I was also proposing increasing the variety of ASJ contents. I don't often buy it (at least new issues) cos it's not a good value proposition. I'll know off the top I won't like 80-120 of the 280 pages, and be indifferent to another 40-60, so I'm paying full price for a magazine I'll only like half of. With more series, or different series on rotation, I'm not feeling like I'm paying for YYH and YGO I don't like much.
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Left-right? Please explain? Every volume has the "read right to left" warning.
Hmm! I shall need to check this a bit more thouroughly; I have only been to Border's a handful of times, and I could have sworn Viz changed the format from "right-left" to the western "left-right".
The only art edits I notice are SFX edits, which are probably desirable for a "mainstream" manga product. Dark Horse skews a hell of a lot older than Viz does, so they can get away with it (although frankly, I wish they'd provide a translation of the SFX)
Those are the primary edits, but they're still expensive. Remember how Tokyopop cut down four dollars off each individual manga tanko price by not editing the SFX, but maintaining occassional text translations? Integrate the aggregate total of all that saved money per individual manga; if we have one hundred manga, that's four hundred dollars less spent by Tokyopop. I'm sure Tokyopop prints manga in the thousand range at the very least, perhaps millions; that's a huge amount of money. If such a tactic was so cost-efficient as to reduce the market price of each individual manga, I think you can guess how expensive such a tactic is.
Viz is doing stuff even more costly. They're Shounen Jump titles are selling at below ten dollars, with full translated SFX included, as well as some artist's notes. This is partially done by reducing paper quality and resizing the manga book itself, but nevertheless, Viz is still biting the bullet. They're whole strategy is like that of McDonald's; sell stuff cheap enough and hope that the overall revenue exceeds the cost. This is why One Piece is becoming financially liable; it is expensive to produce and doesn't yield the revenue of Bleach, Naruto, FMA, or Kenshin.
I'm not saying "rip Naruto out of ASJ", I'm saying, "feel free to pass ASJ with the tankos". People who just want a monthly, hassle-free manga fix, or a variety-pack, will still appreciate ASJ.
Those people are in the minority, though. If I were a Naruto fan, and Naruto tankos were available, why should I buy the ASJ magazine when I really do note care for the other manga? This diminishes Viz's overall revenue; remember, companies strive to maintain a constant, ever growing flow of revenue over a long period of time. Fluctuations are bad because they don't offer certainty, as are risky business endeavours (like publishing the Bo-Bobo manga). As of right now, OP's poor sales disregarding the edits and OP anime are a paradox.
I was also proposing increasing the variety of ASJ contents. I don't often buy it (at least new issues) cos it's not a good value proposition. I'll know off the top I won't like 80-120 of the 280 pages, and be indifferent to another 40-60, so I'm paying full price for a magazine I'll only like half of. With more series, or different series on rotation, I'm not feeling like I'm paying for YYH and YGO I don't like much.
You're not the average buyer; just knowing about the size of JSJ puts you in the "upper half" category of the market. Furthermore, more diversity equals more work for Viz, driving up prices (because that means more tankos) and less progression for each individual manga. It'll stagnante revenue.
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Personally I don't want English OP to end, or for any art changes are made. I enjoy it as it is (even though I'm one man). Perhaps if ASJ make a bit more of an effort to advertise it better like continue to put Luffy's face on the cover, it might do better.
Besides, how do we know OP is the lowest selling series they do? Maybe one of the other series they publish could sell as bad or worse.
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Besides, how do we know OP is the lowest selling series they do? Maybe one of the other series they publish could sell as bad or worse.
By no means do we assume OP sells the lowest. Nay, I'd expect Viz's older titles, of which they are dumping off by selling cheaply (Dragonball) sell worse than something current. It's just that in comparison to manga that OP usually dominates in Japan, it's not selling as well. Despite having a somewhat large distribution of advertisment, non-serialized manga (FMA) and older jump titles (Kenshin) are still surpassing it.
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It's just that in comparison to manga that OP usually dominates in Japan, it's not selling as well. Despite having a somewhat large distribution of advertisment, non-serialized manga (FMA) and older jump titles (Kenshin) are still surpassing it.
Yes, I suppose your right. I do agree itâ€s a shame the sales don't seem to match the original Japanese version and yes I would like it if it sold better. However Iâ€m happy with it so personally I just want Viz to continue to release it. Perhaps if they start putting "including storylines to shocking for the anime versionâ€? on the back (similar to Yu-Gi-Oh and possibly Shaman King) then maybe more people will become interested.
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I tend to agree with the statement that many American fans of anime and manga are put off by the art style of OP. I'm also reminded of how Marvel Comics has tried to go for the 'manga look' with some of their titles. This might be a particular artist's preference, but the editor wouldn't keep them on the book long if that style didn't sell. Frankly, I find most manga series better than comics produced in the U.S. for one simple reason: most manga series end. As far as DC and Marvel are concerned, Superman and Spider-Man will keep going indefinitely. But enough about the U.S. comics market. When I first read OP, it was at Waldenbooks; issue 3, I do believe. Jumping right in at the middle, I got hooked. Going back and buying Vol. 1 & 2, I found it only got better. What sold it for me? Story and action. Art was so-so in my estimation, but looking at some of the panels, I could tell this guy had talent. kinda like Charles Schulz, only with more blood and less depression. You see, great character design is less important to me than great character development. In OP, there are typically thought balloons in the middle of a fight, even word balloons. Compare that to Dragon Ball, where entire pages were devoted to fight scenes that had no dialogue whatsoever. That sort of thing really hurt my interest in the series, which I used to love for its comedy. It is a shame that OP hasn't been better received in the U.S., but to say that as fans we are powerless is a pathetic cop-out and worthy of severe head smacking. The only reason we have a huge manga/anime translation industry now is BECAUSE of the fans: the ones who did everything in their power to get what they wanted, who went to great lengths to convert the uninterested, who plunked down hard-earned cash for Raws they could barely afford, and much less read…these people pursued their dreams, and as a result, many of them became leaders in the industry. We should not give in so quickly to despair.
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Yes, I suppose your right. I do agree itâ€s a shame the sales don't seem to match the original Japanese version and yes I would like it if it sold better. However Iâ€m happy with it so personally I just want Viz to continue to release it. Perhaps if they start putting "including storylines to shocking for the anime versionâ€? on the back (similar to Yu-Gi-Oh and possibly Shaman King) then maybe more people will become interested.
I've often wondered why they don't do this.
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I still think "No. 1 seller in Japan" would get interest without risking offending anyone. Start taking about "too hard for TV" and people get nervous if Mommy's buying little Timmy tankos (little does she know that Timmy has a thing for Don Krieg :D)
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I still think "No. 1 seller in Japan" would get interest without risking offending anyone. Start taking about "too hard for TV" and people get nervous if Mommy's buying little Timmy tankos (little does she know that Timmy has a thing for Don Krieg :D)
Timmy has a thing for muscular Arian men?:blink:
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Timmy has a thing for muscular Arian men?:blink:
Well, I was sort of picking fun of the whole parental obsession with wholesome, safe entertainment for kids.
So the paranoid parents avoid the comics which are "too violent/raw/depressing for anime" to preserve the innocence of their kids, and the kids will just get corrupted in a different way.
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I still think "No. 1 seller in Japan" would get interest without risking offending anyone.
To an extent they do that. I remember reading a small descirption of the arthur then under it something about One Piece being one of the best sellers in Japan (I've also seen this in Naruto). I realise it's not the same as an actual label/sticker stating it but it's close (in my eyes anyway).
As for the "to hard for TV" issue, I remember seeing this on the Yu-Gi-Oh manga, and I wouldn't be surprised if all the young fans buy/get it anyway, regardless of the extra content.
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Release 10 tanks @ once? In the US? Holy crap guys, that's like a hundred bucks! You have to consider manga isn't exactly as dirt-cheap here because people aren't constantly buying, trading and reselling it.
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Not to mention that Viz's translators get paid. A big thank you once again to all the translators here.
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@omae:
Release 10 tanks @ once? In the US? Holy crap guys, that's like a hundred bucks! You have to consider manga isn't exactly as dirt-cheap here because people aren't constantly buying, trading and reselling it.
Ten tanks is 80 USD at full bookshop retail, probably closer to 65 online.
But just the availablity might be enough. Some people might want to skip Loguetown-Laboon-Whiskey Peak-Little Garden-Drum entirely and read ahead of the anime.
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To be honest, I hope 4kids goes belly-up and Shonen Jump stops publishing One Piece, so it goes straight to Viz Tankos.
That way, Zoro can be Zoro, Merry Go can be Going Merry, and Sanji can say Shit again.
Why oh why didn't Darkhorse Comics take up One Piece? If they did, it would be a much better translation… methinks Viz is too struck with the fact that they got FMA. They're pumping out an FMA volume every friggin' 40 days or so. I'm serious... at the rate it's going, it'll catch up with the Japanese Manga (I'm serious. FMA Chapters are published about once a month, and there's 4 Chapters to a Tonko). I'd like to see that happen to One Piece, but frankly, it ain't gonna happen. ;_;
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@Fire Fist:
To be honest, I hope 4kids goes belly-up and Shonen Jump stops publishing One Piece, so it goes straight to Viz Tankos.
There's always the danger that Viz would discontinue OP in its entirety, but I doubt they would; that's kind of a win/lose scenario for us, in that it allows Viz to have their license expire (making our online reading truely legal again), but it hurts the wallet of our hero, Eiichiro Oda.
@Fire Fist:
That way, Zoro can be Zoro, Merry Go can be Going Merry, and Sanji can say Shit again.
The changes to names were likely creative (Merry's true name is Going Merry Go), to avoid possible royalties/lawsuits (Zolo), or because of Viz's change of audience (Sanji's cursing). Viz is rated "T" for teen; not older teens, like in Kenshin. Even so, the language you are suggesting for Sanji isn't even implied in T+ ratings; it would be reserved for "M", or mature audiences only. OP isn't mature by any measurement.
@Fire Fist:
Why oh why didn't Darkhorse Comics take up One Piece? If they did, it would be a much better translation… methinks Viz is too struck with the fact that they got FMA. They're pumping out an FMA volume every friggin' 40 days or so. I'm serious... at the rate it's going, it'll catch up with the Japanese Manga (I'm serious. FMA Chapters are published about once a month, and there's 4 Chapters to a Tonko). I'd like to see that happen to One Piece, but frankly, it ain't gonna happen. ;_;
Viz's pumping of FMA is good business; they're trying to cash in on the craze over FUNi's wonderfully dubbed version. In regard to Dark Horse, DH only takes in "thematic" stuff; dark material. OP isn't dark by any standards, and since Shueisha, the publishing company that owns Viz in part with Kondasha, publishes OP, to license out to DH would only diminish profit.
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I'm just baffled that "Teen" or "Older Teen" and the S-word are incompatible.
Good lord, I was saying it when I was in primary school.
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making our online reading truely legal again),
Uh… no, it won't and I don't know where you got such a totally incorrect notion from. Fansubs and scanslations are inherently illegal regardless of licensing. It's never legal, even if the property in question is not currently or has not ever been licensed. Most companies simply don't care if it's being translated into a language that they haven't licensed it in yet as it's not hurting them financially, but that still doesn't make it legal.
but it hurts the wallet of our hero, Eiichiro Oda.
Not to mention his pride.
Look, I don't get why people think that One Piece failing in the United States is going to be good on any level. IT WILL NOT.
The "best" case scenario is if 4Kids or Viz drops One Piece is that it languishes in developmental limbo until somebody else picks up the series, which won't happen as the series is a proven commercial failure in those circumstances. Even then, the money spent on the series will mean that 4Kids and Viz will ask a great deal for it, which is probably going to be more than most people will want to spend on a proven commercial failure.
Even then, this would require a complete and total collapse of One Piece merchandising; while not the blockbuster that it should be, One Piece is of middling popularity and is simply not that badly off. From what I hear, it's currently Toonami's second highest rated show behind Naruto.
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Terek, why do you need to talk that way like I did before? Are you coping me? Relax Terek, One Piece dying will not save it. Excuse me if I sounded like a hyprocrite, I talked just like you before.One Piece will get popluar, it will grow, right now like Ubig says it's middling popluar and it takes time to reach high. We don't need to pity One Piece, we just have to be patiance. For talking in an negitive odd explaintion like "One Piece is dead in America" surly won't help. Viz is doing the best it can, some things Viz makes sometimes bothers me but as long the art and story is untouch I won't have to worry a thing.
Anyone remamber Digimon? It had horrible dubbing but it got popluar so high, if Digimon was uncut and unedit it would not be popluar that much.
Yet, Viz should not drop the series, it must contiune and the dub will keep going so right now I see problems that stores are having problems keeping the volumes in the shelfs due to the dub but Viz has to contiune and make the advistment better suits to the volumes and keep going untie the end. So I really have no problem with One Piece getting batterd BUT I do hope it gets popluar one day.