Tezuka In English Discussion Forums

It is the inevitable question... why do you think Tezuka's manga are so much more successful in Europe? France and Italy both have very long releases of Black Jack, and a Spanish set is on the way. France has almost twice as many Tezuka titles in print than the US, including many of his more mature works like MW, Ayako, I.L etc. , and they are selling very well. Meanwhile, when I talk to US manga publishers at conventions, they all say the same thing: "We'd love to release more Tezuka manga, but it just doesn't sell in the US."

Why?

What's happening here in North America is that certain types of manga are becoming very popular, mostly newer stuff (ie. Naruto, Fruits Basket), while others, like classic older manga (ie. Tezuka), as well as more "artsy" manga, haven't caught on here as much. This is almost certainly because manga readers here tend to be younger, while in Europe, manga readers, and comic readers in general, are older on the average. Tezuka's work is not as "slick" looking as most of the new manga, so it's not surprising that kids aren't picking it up. As a result, it seems as if the Tezuka releases aimed at adults (ie. Buddha) are more successful than those aimed at kids (ie. Astro Boy). I would be curious to know how well Dark Horse's Astro Boy books have sold.

I believe the Dark Horse Astro Boy edition sold pretty well when it was coming out in 2002 - it made it into the top ten best selling graphic novels regularly at the time (check Anime News Network records), but as you say, those were the days when the top sellers were Lone Wolf and Cub or Blad of the Immortal, before big selling kids' titles like Fruits Basket and Naruto, when manga NEVER made it into the top 100 best selling books lists at all, so lower selling titles were the standard.

You're certainly right about US market being much more kid-oriented than Europe, with adult or artsy books selling less. As I've observed before, French manga displays often segregate works into Shounen, Shoujo and Seinen sections, all of equal sizes. If I tried to segregate an American Borders manga display that way the Seinen section would be less than 1/4 of the size of either of the others, if that. And with the market shrinking as more titles come out, the likelihood of companies picking up lesser-selling titles is only going to drop.

We'll just have to hope that Buddha's Eisners help...

The answer I get from all my American fans when I ask them why
they don't give Tezuka a try is always the same. "I don't like the artwork." Apparently it is too "cartoony" and not "anime-ish" enough for them.

Totally lame reasons if you ask me, but at least the recent animated works from Tezuka Pro. are beginning to update the look a bit.

My opinion has been that Europeans see Tezuka in the context of world
comics - not in the context of manga.

Many kinds of comics from around the world are published in French
that never or barely get an English showing..

Tezuka is great comics - well, we need that translated say the French.

Tezuka is classic manga - well, other manga is more fun say the Americans.

David

The French do the same with various types of animation. For example, the French have started releasing animated films and short episodes produced in Senegal. Not one of the countries one normally associates with animation, at least not from an American perspective, but the French are really way ahead in terms of viewing comics and animation as worldwide phenomena, rather than just American = Disney; Japanese = anime; other = huh, that's odd.

I think the recent changes in Europe are probably also responsible for some of it. Europe is more primed than many other parts of the world to see a global artistic phenomenon for what it is. Also, frankly, the French have somewhat less emotional baggage concerning Japan than the US.

"Anime" and "Manga" still seem to be regarded as genres in themselves in America, rather than media that contain many genres. As such, it's all about the look and less about the content. :\ Older works and more mature works are having a hard time making headway, especially if they are done in a more "cartoon" style. v_v

Still! If we all convince a few people to just *try* some of Tezuka's work and then they convince a few people ('cause how can you not get hooked, amirite? :p) then soon enough everyone'll be reading Buddha/Phoenix/Blackjack/<insert your favourite Tezuka series here>! :B Huhuhu, it'll be an unstoppable tide...

I wish a stream of anime from Tezuka was released in a tidal wave all at once.

If Astro Boy had the same run or longer than the first anime, it would be popular here. We need more merchandise and advertising which leads me to the belief that Saban Brands LLC. should buy the rights to all of the anime domestic here since they have proven they can revive a dead franchise like Power Rangers and turn it into a well known series again plus his company promotes the helluva of all his properties he owned/will own. IF a remake of Astro, given its 200-300 episodes , ever comes up I hope Saban gets the series since the company has proven financial success and brand recognition with Power Rangers and it lands on Nick. I can't see anyone else handling Astro in the States/Globally than them .

They need to simply remake Kimba , adapt Vampires into an anime , Don Dracula, Ambassador Magma (Space Giants) and Princess Knight too since they are perfect/would be.

Like you said Dr. Jerk, they need to advertise the anime and the toys in order to bring the manga over plus it needs a series of (good?) video games.