Manga in the United States
Manga sales in the United States topped $200 million in 2006, compared to $60 million in 2002. Japanese comics now account for 9 percent of the comic sales in the U.S. Best selling manga have a circulation of up to 5 million copies a week.
The number of titles released in 2008 was 1,700,compared to 1,008 in 2005. As of September 2006 over 40 syndicated newspaper, including the Los Angeles Times, had added manga to their funny pages.
In November 2002, English versions of two of Japan’s most popular manga magazines—Shonen Jump and Coamix—were published in the United States for the American audience. By 2003, Shonen Jump had a monthly circulation of 540,000. In 2004, DC Comics introduced manga-like publication called CMX.
The dominant publishers of manga in the United States are Tokyopop and Viz. Based in Los Angeles, Tokyopop produces both translations of Japanese favorites and American originals. It is the largest U.S.-owned creator and licensor of manga, with $40 million in sales in 2005. Its books read from back to front so as not compromise the artwork and the Japanese sound effects are spelled phonetically. Tokyopop signed had a deal with Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster and Random House are also aiming to get a piece of the manga action.
Manga has become very popular with American girls and teens. About 60 percent of manga readers are females. Magazines like CosmoGirl feature works by manga artists. Many girls and young women show up in cosplay costumes at anime and manga conventions. Many got their start with Sailor Moon and moved on to harder stuff. According to some sources 90 percent of yaoi (boy-boy soft-core erotic manga) is purchased by women
Offering a theory on the success of manga in the United States, one American manga artist said, young Americans “have grown up on...video gaming like PlayStation and all that, which is very much anime-manga style art...I think [manga] appealed to them because everything else they like is in this style.”
Hollywood and American publishers arguably made more money from anime and manga in the United States than Japanese companies have.
Peach Fuzz in a manga produced by American artists. It is about a 9-year-old girl and her pet ferret Peach.
No comments:
Post a Comment