267 replies to this topic

[Dreamer]

A year or two ago manga popularity was so high they even had them in Wal-Mart; they had a lot of Naruto volumes for seven bucks a pop, even.

Yeah, they still got WSJ at my local Wal-Mart.

[Cloud]

Yeah, the Chinese version is practically identical to Japan and most Raws now come from a Chinese provider.

Not only that, but the similarity of the languages makes it nearly impossible to have translation loss.

How are those anyway?

The Gears of War Novels are a bit expensive, but an excellent read. I bought one of the latest issues. Actually liked it.

[Insurrection]

Not only that, but the similarity of the languages makes it nearly impossible to have translation loss.

Wait you mean you couldv'e told us the actual translation beforehand!?!

Edited by Insurrection, 24 July 2010 - 11:42 PM.

[Toasty Warrior]

I've bought manga myself before, but Barnes and Noble charges too much just for a copy of the latest Naruto manga volume, I think when I last looked, they wanted $14.99 just for one volume...

[KungFuTruffle]

I've bought manga myself before, but Barnes and Noble charges too much just for a copy of the latest Naruto manga volume, I think when I last looked, they wanted $14.99 just for one volume...

Which is completely ridiculous, as Viz themselves only charge about 8-10 dollars for a volume. 50% markup can go suck a lemon.

[Cloud]

It may just be me being selfish but I'd rather give up reading manga before buying the coalitions overpriced manga products. They just aren't worth the money. Even if it is to support the official release.

So you're saying you'd read for free, but not buy official releases.

[Gravenimage]

Well I have no choice but download manga chapters or read them online. I'm my country it's a little hard to buy manga volumes so even if I had the money to buy them it's finding them the hardest part for me.

[dl316bh]

The Gears of War Novels are a bit expensive, but an excellent read. I bought one of the latest issues. Actually liked it.

Interesting. I may have to track them down; it's not high art by any stretch of the imagination, but I find the Gears world interesting enough. I'm actually curious about the comic out as well.

It may just be me being selfish but I'd rather give up reading manga before buying the coalitions overpriced manga products. They just aren't worth the money. Even if it is to support the official release.

That's the thing though. Of course you don't think it's worth the money; you've been reading them for free. Laws or not, at first blush you never want to pay for something you've been getting for free, even if you were never supposed to get it for free to start with. But that's not how things work; or are supposed to work anyways, since the internet's been a hell of a wildcard ever since broadband became big.

[iwant2bnaruto]

It would seem that mangafox has taken down its Naruto chapters stating licensing issues. Strange as they were available a day ago. Not sure if this is apart of the aftermath concerning Onemanga.

[KungFuTruffle]

It would seem that mangafox has taken down its Naruto chapters stating licensing issues. Strange as they were available a day ago. Not sure if this is apart of the aftermath concerning Onemanga.

They actually took down all of the Big Three, as well as many other series. It's not aftermath, it's continuing events.

I'd love to be able to buy all of the series I read, but I'm broke. Broke as hell. Buying the entire Naruto series to date would take around 400$, and it'll most likely get to be $500 by the time it's over. I doubt most manga readers have that kind of money.

[iwant2bnaruto]

Yeah, I second that. Definitely would buy the series that I follow but not really in a position to splurge. Ah well...

[dl316bh]

At this rate it'll be surprising if any of the major scanlation communities last the summer.

Edited by dl316bh, 25 July 2010 - 03:32 AM.

[Dreamer]

Darnit, not Mangafox.

[James S Cassidy]

A year or two ago manga popularity was so high they even had them in Wal-Mart; they had a lot of Naruto volumes for seven bucks a pop, even.

Yeah I remember that. At the time I wasn't really big on manga however.

It seems prices vary drastically not only depending on what country or where you are, but immediate locations like one store just down the block. I swear the Barn and Noble here at Fort Lauderdale in Florida sells manga really cheap whether they just came out or not. They even offer the HUGE collection volumes which are hard cover and contains 7-10 volumes in one huge book. While I go to orlando which is just 4 hours away, sells them at $15 or more depending on the manga an they don't have them all. Well Barns and Noble doesn't have all of them because I couldn't find Haruhi, but they have most of them.

How are those anyway?

Really good actually. They are like the Halo novels. Well written and can really expand the history of the game series, but you have to actually like the series it is based off of. Since you don't have to worry about that variable they are really good.

The third one is coming out this August and the fourth one coming out next year.

Darnit, not Mangafox.

Yeah, they are weeding out the big players. I hate to jinx it, but how long until Mangastream gets hit. Which is what, the second biggest for Naruto source?

The funny thing is though, this is like the war on drugs...the more you try to fight it, the more people will crave for it because it is illegal.

The question is, why does it take SO long for the publishers to find these sites...they are either really stupid or really don't care unless the "free" stuff digs into their wallets.

Edited by James S Cassidy, 25 July 2010 - 03:44 AM.

[dl316bh]

But I suppose the American companies are just trying to pander to the kids who still live with their parents and don't have to worry about such things. Other wise they'd be far cheaper and more accessible .to the fans who actually have to live on budgets.

That's the problem though. The companies survive and make this stuff by making money. Manga volumes are already done about as cost effectively as one can really expect - the paper quality isn't so hot, there's almost NEVER color in a given manga, the size is smaller and so on which seem to cut costs - so I'm not sure what you're realling expecting out of them. I think what ends up being the problem is not the individual price, but how it all adds up; I mean, a lot of manga are just way too long and forty eight volumes of a manga times seven to ten dollars adds up DAMN quick. But that's more a problem with the material than the manga companies.

At the time I wasn't really big on manga however.

I was actually somewhat the opposite at the time; I hadn't yet become disillusioned by manga as I am now.

I do occasionally pick up a volume of Berserk when the mood strikes, as I still quite like that manga; I usually do most of my shopping online through Overstock, which ends up being quite cost effective.

Really good actually. They are like the Halo novels. Well written and can really expand the history of the game series, but you have to actually like the series it is based off of. Since you don't have to worry about that variable they are really good.

The third one is coming out this August and the fourth one coming out next year.

Good to hear. Thanks. I'll have to track them down and check 'em out.

The question is, why does it take SO long for the publishers to find these sites...they are either really stupid or really don't care unless the "free" stuff digs into their wallets.

I'm not sure it's so much them not finding it as it is them weighing how much damage the sites could do. A couple years ago, things were a lot healthier, so I guess scanlation sites didn't seem to be as pressing an issue as they do now. It's not a smart tactic - I mean, I expect a lot of us knew the market for manga wasn't always going to be as high as it had been in the past - but whatta ya gonna do, eh?

I've heard some rumblings about stricter enforcement of international copyrights too - I think someone touched on this earlier in the thread - so that might well play a factor in this.

Edited by dl316bh, 25 July 2010 - 05:18 AM.

[dl316bh]

and I'm sure the release dates growing longer and longer between each volume is also the fault of the material not the company?

Cute.

Didn't several just have a bunch of speed up releases to rectify this? Besides which, how does this reflect on price, which you were just talking about having driven you out of it?

Edited by dl316bh, 25 July 2010 - 05:24 AM.

[Insurrection]

Too bad the companies didn't decide to actually turn onemanga into something, if it gets 4.2 million visitors a day how much money do you think it could be worth? We have another problem, if we're a Naruto related site how does this affect us in the long and near term? This could be something the other fanbases actually agree with us on.

Edited by Insurrection, 25 July 2010 - 05:34 AM.