Do you think that Dark Horse Comics will release Leo manga?

by **putrocca** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:48 pm

I'm getting rather tired of hearing people argue over this. I have personally spoken with the presidents of five American anime and manga publishing companies who all say they've done studies that proved old-fashioned manga art doesn't sell as well in America as new manga art. That is data based on statistical analysis of sales of hundreds of titles at thousands of bookstores and comic shops across the country, and the trend is true for all manga which have old-fashioned art regardless of who wrote them, what genre they are, how old they actually are (as opposed to how they look) or how objectively good they are. A trend which holds just as true for Gundam, Bride of Deimos and Go Nagai as it does for Tezuka is clearly a trend and not a fluke. Until I see another study which involves as many people as data sources, I'm not going to discount such well-founded and scientificaly-established studies.

Now, the fact that old-style art tends to sell less well in the US does NOT mean that there are NO American fans who like it (there are many who do which is why it's still released) nor does it mean that it doesn't sell AT ALL, simply that it sells LESS than comparable titles that were drawn more recently. There are certainly still Americans out there who like the old stuff and buy it, but not AS MANY as those who like and buy Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist and other things with a smoother, more modern feel - take a look a these manga's relative booklist sales ratings and you'll easily see the difference.

by **Princess Sapphire** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:54 am

by **Deda** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:01 pm

by **Huscheli** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:18 pm

by **cmoon** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 2:51 pm

by **Princess Sapphire** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:49 pm

by **cmoon** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:55 pm

If Vertical does it, it will probably be about 2010 or so. I mean, they are caught up in Black Jack and Dororo right now, and I think that will keep them busy for a couple years.

I really don't think there is anyone else out there in the running for putting Leo out in English. I don't get what happened with Dark Horse (other than the possibility of those Tezuka releases doing VERY badly, I don't know) or Viz, but there's no sign that either of them would be picking up Leo.

by **KimbaWLion** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:38 pm

by **cmoon** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:17 pm

by **Princess Sapphire** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 1:24 am

Do you think that Dark Horse Comics will release Leo manga?

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