Ask John: Will America Get Any Long Running Older Manga Series?

Question:
Given the current growth in the popularity of manga in the United States, do you think there is a realistic chance that some of the iconic, long running series like Golgo 13, with its 136 plus volumes, will get picked up by our companies? Like the problem with acceptance of vintage anime in the USA, would the same hold true with vintage manga? Or is the US market only likely to be receptive to significantly shorter works on the whole?

Answer:
Because manga are significantly cheaper than anime DVDs- cheaper to license and produce, and cheaper for consumers to purchase- I don’t think length is as relevant a concern with manga as it is with anime. Traditionally domestic distributors tend to be wary of long anime series because statistically the longer a series runs, the fewer copies its later volumes sell. But manga series such as Rurouni Kenshin, Dragonball, and Lone Wolf and Cub, which have well over 20 volumes each, have been successful in America, which suggestets that length isn’t really a hinderance to a manga series being licensed for American release.

Regrettably, given current trends in the American manga industry and what they predict for the future, I don’t foresee a significant number of vintage manga coming to America in the future. There are a significant number of major, historically important manga series available in America right now, but their minimal success, paired with contraction in the American manga industry, suggests that other similar titles are unlikely to be imported.

Presently, English translated manga titles make up the overwhelming majority of mainstream American graphic novel sales. As of the first week of this month, 23 out of the 25 best selling graphic novels in American bookstores were manga. The dominance of translated manga within the American comic book community isn’t as pronounced, but is still a significant force. But while manga are leading comic book sales in America, publishers including Central Park Media, AD Vision, and TOKYOPOP have all confirmed plans to release fewer manga volumes in 2005. While new publishers seem to be joining the manga translating market all the time, market observation seems to suggest that the American manga industry is expanding much faster than its consumer base is growing. There are countless new manga titles and volumes being released in America, but the flood seems to be over saturating the market and cannibalizing sales. High profile hits continue to sell well and second tier titles, instead of sharing increased sales, are competing with each other for sales a limited number of sales.

Golgo 13 manga has actually been published in America three different times. Lead Publishing released four Golgo 13 graphic novels in America in 1986 and 1987. In 1998 Lead Publishing revived Golgo 12 in America with a pair of Golgo 13 comics. Then in 1991 Viz published a short series of English translated Golgo 13 comics. Comics One brought the Wild Seven manga series to American readers. Dark Horse currently distributes several of Osamu Tezuka’s most famous manga titles, including Astro Boy and Phoenix. Dark Horse has also released all of the Lone Wolf & Cub manga to great critical acclaim. TOKYOPOP currently distributes English translations of the Cyborg 009 and Lupin the III manga. None of these titles has been a major hit with American consumers. In the same way that the vast majority of American consumers, and even anime fans, avoid dated anime, they avoid older manga titles. The combination of major publishers scaling back the number of volumes they release in response to trends in consumer demand and buying, and a history of vintage manga titles underperforming in American release doesn’t portend very likely chances of seeing a sudden inundation of vintage manga titles in America.