Hi! Thanks for the question.
Manga comics in the US market started slowly but it soon picks up its
pace. Unlike the market in Japan where the comics become popular first
before it is adapted on the screen as a TV series or better yet a
movie, the American market embraced the Japanese cultural phenomena
via the success of such hits as Pokemon and other animes.
Some sources say that manga comics in the US are popular but not yet
to the level of the Japanese market. This is understandable due to the
cultural differences between the two countries. According to the
article “The Epitome of Manga”, the US market for Manga is only $100
million while in Japan it is $5 billion or 50 times as much.
“In Japan manga is enjoyed by all age groups. Unfortunately though
this is not true of the West where anything remotely resembling
"comics" is seen by the general public as being solely for "kids" and
treat it as a limited medium that is unable to provide entertainment
for any age group outside the youth segment. Whereas taking a quick
look inside buses and trams in Japan reveals a different relationship
to this medium as commuters of every age can be found enjoying the
latest issue of their favorite manga.”
“This permeation of manga through the Japanese society is starkly
reflected in the very market for manga in Japan which is estimated at
roughly $5 billion while the present American market for comics is a
puny $100 million. This difference speaks nearly for itself. Japans
manga market is 50 times larger.”
The Epitome of Manga
http://www.inanime.com/manga.html
In this article a more conservative estimate was pronounced with about
only 13,000 books of translated Manga in the US is sold monthly while
compared to 5 to 6 million copies in Japan per week or 20 to 24
million a month!
Categories of Japanese Animation
http://animemania01.tripod.com/essay01.htm
In an interview with Fred Schodt, a manga enthusiast and expert in the
US, he mentions the demographic of a particular manga or anime fan in
the US. He is the author of the books MANGA! MANGA! THE WORLD OF
JAPANESE COMICS and DREAMLAND JAPAN.
“In America, 90% of the market is male, and I think most of the
readers are in their early 20's. That's a big difference from Japan
right there, since the market there is much closer to a 50/50 split
between males and females.”
“In addition, the age range of manga readers is much broader in Japan.
Probably everyone under 55 has--at various points in life--read a lot
of manga.”
Dreaming in Black and White
http://www.ex.org/1.3/07-schodt1.html
Sounds that the market for Manga is not yet that big? Well maybe we
get another thing coming. In a fairly recent article in the UCLA’s
Daily Bruin Online, (May 2002) it says that according to the April 24,
2002 issue of Variety Magazine, 2.3 billion manga comics were
purchased last year due to the popularity of Pokemon and Sailor Moon
anime series. A great leap!
Super Manga By C.J. Yu
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
http://www.tokyopop.com/news/dailybruin1.pdf
In this article we could get a better picture of what the competitive
landscape of the American Manga market is right now.
The Manga are Coming
BY DOUGLAS WOLK -- 6/17/2002
http://www.tokyopop.com/news/pubweeklymanga.pdf
------------------
The following articles might be of interest to you since it provides a
background to the figures mentioned in the articles above.
Manga --Where the Sun Never Sets (History of Manga)
http://library.thinkquest.org/3177/gather/manga.html
Japanese Manga (A comparison with American Comics)
http://www.hhs.se/eijs/anomaly/JManga.htm
What are manga? (Another US and Japanese comparison)
http://www.us-japan.org/jsnc/virtualjapan/PopJpn/whatsmanga.htm
Fifteen Years Ago this Month--First US Manga (A little bit of
History).
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/1091.html
Knowing A nation in Comic Books
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/10.10.96/comics-9641.html
The Right Stuff An Introduction to Anime (The development of Anime in
the US)
http://www.rightstuf.com/introduction/ni14.html
A Gai-jin's Guide to Anime and Manga by John C. Snider
http://www.scifidimensions.com/Jun00/comics_anime_manga.htm
Search terms used:
Manga American market
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Regards,
Easterangel-ga |
