| Author |
|
Aric Shapiro
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4349
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 10:14am | IP Logged | 1
|
post reply
|
|
Everywhere I turn, someone is telling me about the pupularity of Manga in the U.S., but I don't know anyone that reads manga and when I am at the bookstore, while I see people picking up comic trades both to read and to buy, I never see anyone even looking at the manga books. Just how popular is manga here?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Daniel Kendrick
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3020
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 10:37am | IP Logged | 2
|
post reply
|
|
Very popular down here in Texas, esp among the kids/early teens.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Joe Hollon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 13700
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 10:41am | IP Logged | 3
|
post reply
|
|
I teach at a rural high school in Ohio. Total high school population is about 500 kids. They have a Manga/Anime club that meets weekly after school and multiple kids carry Manga comics around with them to read during classes. Very popular.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Ed Love
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 October 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2712
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 10:44am | IP Logged | 4
|
post reply
|
|
The times I've been in the bookstore and people were looking at comics,
it's always been the manga books and not the DC/Marvel trades. I was
surprised to also see an independent bookstore add a comicbook section
for the trades and a good portion was devoted to manga. I've noticed also
that the chain bookstores have moved towards stocking twice as much
manga, it's kept in better order (aided by the fact the books all tend to be
the same size, giving a neater appearance and easier to scan for titles
overall) and if they have some spinner racks on the end, it usually carries
a selection of various mang books.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Steve Horton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3574
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 10:44am | IP Logged | 5
|
post reply
|
|
As I like to say, the western comics market took its eye off the kids for a few moments, and when it looked back, manga had kidnapped 'em! :)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Brad Krawchuk
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 June 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 5819
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 10:44am | IP Logged | 6
|
post reply
|
|
My girlfriend's sister reads Manga. An average of 3-4 kids per class in the schools I sub at read Manga (grades 5-6 is really where the higher numbers kick in - 6-7 in a group of 27 openly reading Manga). A couple guys at my old work read Manga (guys in their late 20's, early 30's, who were also fans of Anime) - maybe 4-5 at any given time, with the rollover rate.
The only Manga I've read, though, is Ghost in the Shell and Eagle. And I'm in the comic shop at least 3-4 times a month, nevermind going to other shops when they have sales on.
I attribute the Manga think to the popularity of Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh, etc, all anime and manga inspired shows on TV, and the easy accessibility of manga books at any book store and library.
Oddly, the Manga section and the Marvel/DC/DarkHorse/Image section are the same section in most bookstores and libraries - so really, I think the popularity of Manga has more to do with the TV shows that are on 10 times a day before and after school, and late night. If the Spider-Man movies and Hellboy and Sin City were shown that often, those sales would probably go up too.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Kor Watkins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 January 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 765
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 10:46am | IP Logged | 7
|
post reply
|
|
While I read some manga, I think it's more popular with teenagers and early-20's. (I'm 37.) I know that it's very popular here in FL.
Try some, sometime. A good title is "Oh My Goddess". This is intended for an older audience, and is funny and charming.
For a teen love/humour story, check out "Kare Kano".
"Please, Save My Earth" is a good sci-fi manga.
For pure humour, check out "Azumanga Daioh" or "Yotsuba&!".
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Joe Hollon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 13700
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 10:49am | IP Logged | 8
|
post reply
|
|
Also of note, about a year ago or so my (not so) Local Comic Shop restructured its inventory and displays to prominently feature their Manga and Anime sections.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Daniel Kendrick
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3020
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 11:30am | IP Logged | 9
|
post reply
|
|
While I'm glad manga and anime have finally come into it's own, lord knows back in the 80s it was a pain to get a hold of, I wish they'd scale it back. Barnes & Noble, one of the two biggest (Books a Million is the other) dumped half of their SciFi/Fantasy section in order to carry manga. To me there are other sections that could've suffered, perhaps 1/4 of SciFi and 1/4 of Romance (next to it), or a little reshuffling and part of the Christian section?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Keith Elder
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1974
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 11:40am | IP Logged | 10
|
post reply
|
|
Yeah, God forbid Barnes & Nobles cuts back on their offering of Wiccan Feminism journals and fad diet guides to leave room for more comics.
I see the upsurge in manga as solely due to the American publishers fouling up. Nothing wrong with manga, there's great stuff there, but I don't think it would have had such a surge in popularity if Marvel/DC had been doing their jobs. It is filling a void that American publishers (in their hubris) left vacant.
And it doesn't bother me at all. I like the traditional superheroes, but if kids are reading Full Metal Alchemist instead of Spider-man, so what? The key is that they are reading a story that engages their creativity and imagination.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Patrick Drury
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 December 2005
Posts: 695
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 11:57am | IP Logged | 11
|
post reply
|
|
There's some really good Manga out there: Black & White, No. 5, Pantheon High, Benkei in New York, East Coast Rising...
I'd say the answer as to how popular it is can be found in how well it's stocked by large chaing bookstores (very, very well stocked here in Lexington, Kentucky). Those chains wouldn't be keeping the stuff in stock to the extent they do if it weren't bringing in money, I should think.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Paul Greer
Byrne Robotics Security
Joined: 18 August 2004
Posts: 14190
|
| Posted: 18 May 2007 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | 12
|
post reply
|
|
Never had much interest in Manga. But I know of lots of "non-comic book" fans that read them. At the community college I used to teach at, they have an Anime/Manga Society. They hold an annual convention every year at the college.
Edited by Paul Greer on 18 May 2007 at 12:06pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
