Tezuka In English Discussion Forums

Hi,

Does someone know what is the difference between these two editions of Apollo's song ?

1st edition: 1 volume, 544 pages



2nd edition: 2 volumes, 264 + 288 pages






Do they have a new translation ? Why did they decide to make two volumes for the second edition ?

Thanks upfront.
dasch

As far as I know, there's no difference between the two editions except for the fact that they've split the second edition into two volumes.

I haven't seen Song for Apollo, but I did flip through Ode to Kirihito and there was no other difference.

I can only speculate, but I'd guess that the reason for the change is that Vertical figures it can sell more at a lower price point. Ode to Kiribito, song for Apollo, and MW were all released in large (all in one) editions originally... Possibly because they were a little unsure of the market. If the first volume tanks, there's less chance people will buy a 2nd or 3rd volume because the people who bought the first volume and didn't like it won't buy the rest... And almost no one who didn't buy the first volume is going to start from the second. It's better to release the whole thing at once. The hardcore fans will buy it regardless and you can entice the speculators because they get the whole thing at once.

After they were more comfortable with their market, Vertical released Dororo in three parts (along with Black Jack) and they seem to be happy enough with the results. So now when they reissue Kirihito and Apollo, they know the hardcore fans already own it (like me), so by splitting it they can a) sell each volume at a lower price (so more people buy) but b) they probably can make more money overall by selling two cheaper volumes that cost more together than the all in one.

I think MW is a little shorter than the other two, so instead of making two "too small" volumes, they decided to keep it as one, just soft cover instead of hard this time.

Thanks for the detailed answer !

Anyway, the fact that they re-publishing it is for me a good news. That means, there is a market and that the sales are good enough .