Ask John: Where’s the Urusei Yatsura Manga?
Question:
Do you have any personal insight as to why Viz has not yet considered releasing the Urusei Yatsura manga in its entirety in the United States? You would think that Rumiko Takahashi would have gained enough exposure by now to validate at least some success in its release.
Answer:
Careful examination of Rumiko Takahashi’s work reveals some surprising circumstances. Takahashi is one of Japan’s most successful manga creators, and she’s one of the best known manga-ka among Americans. The American popularity of her work, however, doesn’t actually correspond equally to her acclaim. Inuyasha is Takahashi’s breakout hit in America. The remainder of her work resides in varying degrees of niche popularity.
Practically all of the Urusei Yatsura anime has been released in America, although not all of the original manga has been translated. The Maison Ikkoku manga and most of the anime never attained tremendous success in America. Ranma 1/2 was very popular in America years ago, but is now practically forgotten. The Rumic World stories didn’t make the leap into the contemporary era of anime fandom. The 2000’s Mermaid’s Forest and Rumiko Takahashi Theater TV anime were practically ignored by American viewers. Rumiko Takahashi’s work is tremendously respected by Americans, but ironically most of it has either lost its relevancy in the American market, or never had a significant market command in the first place.
Viz first attempted an American publication of the Urusei Yatsura manga in 1989. The release under performed, so Viz let it die in 1990. In December 1994 Viz tried again, launching the “Return of Lum” serialization that lasted until November 1998. My best guess is that after two tries, Viz doesn’t want to risk a third effort. Despite the respect Americans have for creator Rumiko Takahashi, the Urusei Yatsura franchise has never attained more than a cult following in America. In that case, there are many other manga titles available for potential English translation that have a greater chance of attracting a bigger American audience. Viz has never avoided localizing esoteric and niche manga titles, from early publications like Shion, Hotel Harborview, A, A’, and 2001 Nights to recent licenses including Ooku, and the new Sigikki line. However, certain highly respected manga series from acclaimed creators, like Takahashi’s Urusei Yatsura, Leiji Matsumoto’s Galaxy Express 999, Buronson & Tetsuo Hara’s Hokuto no Ken, Hojo Tsukasa’s City Hunter, Takao Saito’s Golgo 13, and Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk, just to name a few, consistently don’t achieve the sort of success in America that their high profile would anticipate. I can’t predict that Viz won’t launch a third attempt at publishing the Urusei Yatsura manga. In fact, considering how much more known Rumiko Takahashi’s name is now, among American manga readers, than it was a decade ago, now may be a far more opportune moment to publish the Lum manga in America. But I do think that the odd discrepancy in the American popularity of Takahashi’s manga work, past failures in the American market, and the ready availability of other more contemporary and marketable manga series explain Viz’s hesitancy to attempt a complete publication of the Urusei Yatsura manga.
Related Posts
About The Author
john
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
“Inuyasha is Takahashi’s breakout hit in America.”
Actually, Ranma was her break-out hit, since it put Viz on the map. IY just managed to snag a new generation of fans.
“The Maison Ikkoku manga and most of the anime never attained tremendous success in America. ”
I’m curious how One Pound Gospel’s done for the company.
“Ranma 1/2 was very popular in America years ago, but is now practically forgotten.”
Well, those thin-packs didn’t get much attention, but I think if she ever “finished” the series, it’d do pretty well for Viz.
“The Rumic World stories didn’t make the leap into the contemporary era of anime fandom. ”
That’s cus people Viz is a bunch of jerks about bringing back catalog titles.
“The 2000’s Mermaid’s Forest and Rumiko Takahashi Theater TV anime were practically ignored by American viewers. ”
That’s cus the OVA for Mermaid forest is the best version of that series, which makes me wonder why they never finished it that way. I’m guessing the reason that Theater thing didn’t work out, though, is because people were still trying to finish IY + Ranma first; so it took a back seat.
“Viz first attempted an American publication of the Urusei Yatsura manga in 1989. The release under performed, so Viz let it die in 1990. In December 1994 Viz tried again, launching the “Return of Lum†serialization that lasted until November 1998. My best guess is that after two tries, Viz doesn’t want to risk a third effort.”
But the market was different when Viz handled UY the other two times. No one was willing to pay $16-$18 per book for many titles back then. But if Viz were to re-package and sell it for $9.99 per book the way they have with Maison Ikkoku, there might be a larger audience for it than there was in the past.
“Despite the respect Americans have for creator Rumiko Takahashi, the Urusei Yatsura franchise has never attained more than a cult following in America.”
I’m a fan, and Animeigo’s currently slashing each disc to cheap prices for the company’s anniversary, but even that’s too pricey, simply cus of the number of discs. I’m really surprised they haven’t considered the thin-pack route for it.
“However, certain highly respected manga series from acclaimed creators, like Takahashi’s Urusei Yatsura, Leiji Matsumoto’s Galaxy Express 999, Buronson & Tetsuo Hara’s Hokuto no Ken, Hojo Tsukasa’s City Hunter, Takao Saito’s Golgo 13, and Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk, just to name a few, consistently don’t achieve the sort of success in America that their high profile would anticipate.”
I’ve brought this up before, but a lot of these failures have to do with mis-marketing, more than anything else. Gutsoon should have come up with a cross-promotional deal with Manga, ADV, and FOX, since, around the same time the Fist and City Hunter manga were being published, these companies were handling the anime and live-action movie. That was a total screw-up on that company’s part.
Slam Dunk’s obstacle was that Americans are fat to the point of being diabetic, and are thus uninterested in sports manga. I think the only reason Eyeshield’s gotten as far as it has is due to its emphasis on its “Bad News Bears/Mighty Ducks”-type team, rather than on any interest in the actual sport itself. PoT is most likely read for the bishonen, and Ultimate Muscle is read/watched for the in-jokes. But I think Whistle! came and went without much fanfare. [Of course, that has to do more with our loathing of soccer without Stephen Chow or Keira Knightley on the field. ^_-] Plus, Geneon let Toei handle the dvds of SD, and the rest is history. [Well, the anime also failed the first time here, because the covers sucked.] But I think the way Viz is handling the manga right now
is commendable, since the company is definitely going above and beyond sales to actually get kids interested in the sport, too. And that’s not something it necessarily has to do.
The GE 999 movies came out on tape near the end of that format’s demise. But the CR streaming thing might have helped expand the audience for that series. Golgo’s problem is that there were only three movies here for the manga to boost itself here, and the Professional got released near the end of the market bubble, while the Sonny Chiba one’s OOP. There might be a new chance for the series, though, if they ever release the tv show here.
“In fact, considering how much more known Rumiko Takahashi’s name is now, among American manga readers, than it was a decade ago, now may be a far more opportune moment to publish the Lum manga in America.”
It might have happened, until Rin-ne came along. =p