Pack it up and go home, kids: manga’s over!
Or so says Al Kahn, whose credibility is shot by the fact that he works for 4kids, which…isn’t a manga company. Regardless, Kahn was at the ICv2 conference here in NYC today (no, I didn’t to go; yes, I’m mad) and reportedly declared that “manga is over.” He meant in Japan, apparently.
He apparently got into a bit of a debate about it with Rich Johnson, of the *cough* newly-established U.S. manga publisher Yen Press. And then Gen Fukunaga of FUNimation apparently tried to declare a cease-fire that lasted the rest of the panel, unfortunately for spectators!
So what do you guys think? Manga sales ARE down in Japan. Is it all over?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, far and away, it’s that about 90% of ALL US industry folks and analysts have no fucking idea what is going on in Japan. Al “Doesn’t Know Shit About Dick” Kahn is about as far from being an exception to that fact as anyone. Hell, most of this idiots are fairly out of touch with their own markets, let alone one they barely understand.
Moreover, manga sales being down… come the fuck on. Have you seen the number of manga concurrent in Japan? It’s called critical mass, jackasses. Good fucking jesus.
Speaking of their own markets, if they’re having a fucking ball declaring shit dead in another country, maybe they need to stop sleeping on the job and tend to their own shit.
Of course, 4kids is out of the anime game, more or less, so of course they want to scare people away from that area. Idiots.
Don’t you go being one of those shitcan journalists now, Gia. This post smacks horribly of Joystiq and Kotaku. You losing your guns and just turning into a rabble rouser like those pansies?! EH?!
No, I just like posting shit that inspires funny comments from people like you :D
There’s only one people like me woman. Burn that into your head. And then go make me dinner.
As an old school otaku, I’m hesitant to declare the death of anything in the anime/manga world these days.
I can’t speak for what’s going on in Japan, but manga sales seem to be thriving over here. Even with the hobotaku clogging up the aisles.
I’ve not purchased anime in a while but I never stop buying manga. Has all of the niche goodness and slice of life stuff I need. (Hooray Yotsubato!)
@Randall: Ratatouille Strychnine it is. ;)
Because we all know that a 60-year-old tradition of comic booking in a foreign country is “over” because of recently poor sales. :P God damn, I’d love to have had Al Kahn around back when the 80’s economic bubble burst overseas.
“Anime’s over. There’s no more money for shows!”
Insert a flapping-head douchebag here. :P
Same guy who said in last years conference that kids don’t read. So I guess he’s ignoring Harry Potter and Naruto, eh?
C’mon, this guy’s just looking for attention. 4kids is worthless now.
I’ve also heard that there’s a growing amount of straight-to-keitai manga in Japan. As a graphic designer, I hate the term “print is dead”, but it’s certainly not the only game in town, anymore.
[...] on the ICv2 Conference Tags: 4kids, NYAF07, yen pressOh yeah, stuff besides that whole “manga is over” thing happened at ICv2. According to Myriad Issues reports that there was much discussion of fansubs, [...]