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 Wanting More: The Growing Interest in Magazine Manga
Written by Lisa Anderson
Manga makes its way around the world in many forms. Volume sizes and prices vary, while the story and art content covers a variety of styles and genres. Aside from single series publication, there is another way to satisfy a manga craving - through magazines.
A number of manga magazines, which are also known as manga collections, are published in Japan, though they aren’t magazines in the standard American sense. While there are still articles, interviews, and product promotions, the main focus is still the manga. Most issues range from two to twelve titles, spread across 100 to 800 pages. There is a noticeable variety in manga featured, though some magazines clearly aim for certain age groups.
Like their regular magazine counterparts, manga magazines follow the same release cycle. Most issues release on a monthly basis, with some falling into the alternating month cycle, and still others following the quarterly route. Prices tend to hover around 10 to 15 dollars and issue.
Surprisingly, the manga magazine hasn’t really surfaced much outside of Japan. Conventions tend to only carry import copies, and the western version tends to stock infrequently in many places. New substitutes are showing up as the years go by. Animerica was one of the first to take a stab at the market, releasing their Animerica Extra - which placed more familiar stories alongside obscure shorts. At first finding the magazine could be difficult, but with the growing popularity of Newtype USA and Shonen Jump, searching has gradually become easier.
While light has been shed on the existence of manga magazines, the actual crossover has been lacking. Subscriptions to titles such as Afternoon and Shonen Sunday can be done, but the issues will arrive as direct import from Japan. To the average manga fan, who most likely will not read Japanese, that won’t be very helpful. With regular magazines like Newtype making the crossover into English, can a manga magazine like Afternoon really be far behind?
There is also another perk driving the growing interest in English publication of such magazines - free loot. By nature people like getting the most they can for their dollar. If a magazine comes with something extra, people will almost always be happy. Currently it isn’t a shock to find a free trading card or small poster inside an issue of Animerica Extra or Shonen Jump. In recent issues of Afternoon, an import buyer could expect to find a five inch Oh My Goddess figurine. Over the course of six months they ran two complete sets, both already painted and needing minimal assembly. People certainly wouldn’t mind seeing that trend hit Western shores.
For the moment it seems most manga will have to be bought individually. Aside from one or two titles, there are very few manga magazines available in English. Import titles abound, though even someone able to read Japanese will have to search a bit before finding someone nearby that sells subscriptions. Manga continues to gain Western interest with each passing month, and with it comes a growing demand for more than single titles. Animerica caught the hint, branching out to meet increasing interest. It isn’t hard to imagine Tokyopop or another company doing the same. Already I can imagine more than one fan cheering when that day comes.
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7 May 2008
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