Manga: What Next?

[Aion]

I think we all know Soul Eater is going to be joining D.Gray, but which titles would you rather see sold for cheap in UK stores?

(Jerome should be doing this poll **** for his company, but whatever - he's more anti-social than me.)

I'm going to vote for Xam'd. Like DtB, I put it on-hold when it was being fansubbed, the main cause being the lengthy gap between the first and second halves of the series. The usual Bones lack of explanations also played a part. However, I want to finish it on DVD, and Bones titles always look lovely on DVD because of the vivid colours used. It'd be a great buy.

Nearly all of the other titles listed are of interest to me, only GG2 (had to remove it; too many options) being one I'd avoid because of a lack of quality. But, out of the rest, I'd love to own Spice and Wolf on DVD, re-watch it and then jump into the OVA and second season. In an ideal world, MVM would license it and release it in art box form from the get-go, but...

I'd buy NHK, despite owning the first two R1 volumes. It's the best version of NHK. I'd also buy Monster because of its complete lack of the usual anime silliness (and because it has a very good, very slow story)... Actually, I'd buy everything apart from GG2 and stuff I own already.

 

[Lupus]

Herb and Yiff would be nice.

When They Cry too, as well.

But mainly because I haven't seen them yet. Some older releases would be nice from Funimation, like Blue Gender.

 

[deactivated]

I really want to see Spice and Wolf. So that, or Monster, which I've heard only good things about.
I'd say welcome to the NHK but I already ordered the R1 boxset.

 

[Olio8O]

I voted Gankutsuou - it would be nice to see Macross Frontier but I understand the licensing is a ****-storm of problems, and also I would like to see if When They Cry could survive the BBFC

 

[Chaz]

I can see Space and Wolf becoming the next manga made out of those choices. It's a very manga-esk feel to the anime, something not too shocking, but a nice relaxing read on a journey/holiday.

 

[unellmay]

Sgt frog please
and *cough* dragonball z kai *end cough*

and like the rest of school rumble


They already said they have fma brotherhood and their gonna stream it in like a week or something

 

[Rui]

I voted Macross Frontier because that one would be a dream for me; I don't think it's at all likely but there's hope. Xam'D would be my second choice. I prefer things not licensed (yet) elsewhere since it gives me more options.

Monster, GTO or Gankutsuou would be amazing and with the right release/marketing could get some more interest in anime. With the wrong release/marketing none would sell at all. Getting the GTO live action movie as a taster would be an interesting strategy since live action stuff tends to go down quite well over here.

FMA:B is a given, just a matter of time. I'm also expecting them to grab Nabari No Ou for some reason; it somehow feels like the kind of thing Manga would put out in cheap packs.

Andrew's comments in another thread were cryptic, but surely Baccano would go down a storm here too if Funi are the ones with the R2 rights to it.

R

 

[unellmay]

Monster, GTO or Gankutsuou would be amazing and with the right release/marketing could get some more interest in anime. With the wrong release/marketing none would sell at all. Getting the GTO live action movie as a taster would be an interesting strategy since live action stuff tends to go down quite well over here.



R

Really?

 

[Rui]

Really?

Assuming you meant the live action comment; in my local stores the live action "world cinema" is enormous even though the releases are often fairly basic and sub-only. We get a lot of live action manga stuff long before the US, too, for example the 20th Century Boys and Mushishi movies. Of course I haven't seen sales figures and this is conjecture. The impression I get is definitely that there's more of an audience over here for the live action stuff with the anime being more of a niche market within the niche.

R

 

[unellmay]

Really?

Assuming you meant the live action comment; in my local stores the live action "world cinema" is enormous even though the releases are often fairly basic and sub-only. We get a lot of live action manga stuff long before the US, too, for example the 20th Century Boys and Mushishi movies. Of course I haven't seen sales figures and this is conjecture. The impression I get is definitely that there's more of an audience over here for the live action stuff with the anime being more of a niche market within the niche.

R

This is surprising if it's it true
I'm pretty sure it's cheaper
to get these though cause there always pretty low budget type stuff
and I'm pretty sure there some sort lottery money thing that helps pay for it

plus there always region 0 so perhaps they get a lot of imports

I bet if they compared studio ghibli movie sales to a typical selling of a live action foreign movie it would be about the same or more

 

[Zin5ki]

The only thing I could plausibly see myself watching out of these options is Frontier, seeing as Xam'd appears somewhat bizarre in its premise.
Personally, I'm somewhat indifferent to things already adequately catered for in R1. Rescuing OOP oldies would bring a smile to my face however.

 

[unellmay]

My dream would be to forget all these shows
Hope funimation immediately get setsubou sensei Dub it sub it and stuff
Then gets it like within the same month manga gets it then brings it out

But *sigh* that won't happen


Oh and macross frontier keep dreaming mate maybe 20 years or so

 

[Just Passing Through]

Xam'd for me. It's awesome. FMA:B has already been licenced by Manga. I fully expect them to release Bacanno here. You couldn't get more Manga a title if you tried, and as their new best buddies Funimation have it in the US, it's only a matter of seeing if they can go straight to boxset, or if they will have their scrote entangled as happened with Hellsing Ultimate.

 

[ayase]

Toss up between Spice and Wolf or NHK. Went for S&W in the end because NHK already has a good priced R1 complete collection out.

One of the main reasons these Manga double packs work so well is because they're often of series that aren't fully released in the US yet (or are released in singles). I'm sure they would still sell if there's an R1 collection out, but probably not by as much - Manga seem to be concentrating on the newest series they can get their hands on.

Macross F, GTO and Gankutsuou would all be definate buys for me if released. As Olio mentioned though, I don't think we're ever likely to see Macross or Higurashi for legal reasons.

 

[Shakey]

I would like to see all of these tbh. But When They Cry gets my vote!

 

[Arbalest]

Xam'd and Spice and Wolf strike me straight off. I've only watched 14 episodes of Xam'd so far though, yet its probably one of my favorites. The characters, story is all great, despite some obvious plotholes which are lingering about. If it where to get a DVD release, i'd probably pick it up straight off. I know the US had it available via PS3, but was there ever any plans for it to get a DVD release there too?

As for Spice and Wolf, i can see that still being more likely than Xam'd at present due to it being picked up in the US for DVD release, so i could see that appearing here sooner rather than later.

FMA: Brotherhood just seems obvious for getting released here though i will say, specially after the success of the original series.

Macross Frontier...although i would love to see it get released here, i have this feeling it may not be. US possibly, but here..not so much. I dunno why, its probably just the feel the show gives.

 

[CitizenGeek]

I'm going to say Macross Frontier because there's a serious lack of Macross being released over here. I would be interested in possibly buying all of those titles (excepting Nana) though.

 

[fabio de lunatico]

I made the (as yet) lone vote for Nana. Viz are releasing the TV series in four $60 collections, the first of which is out next week. After discounts those sets are reasonably good value, but I'd much rather pay Manga UK prices.

I ordered Funimation's release of Spice & Wolf during Right Stuf's recent Funimation sale. It's won't ship until November, though, leaving plenty of time for Manga to announce that they have the license...

 

[ayase]

Just thinking out loud here... It's the Macross name which is the contentious legal issue isn't it? (with Harmony Gold being complete ********s about the fact that they trademarked it everywhere outside Japan) Can't they just release it as Makros or something outside of Japan?

 

[Rui]

This is surprising if it's it true
I'm pretty sure it's cheaper
to get these though cause there always pretty low budget type stuff
and I'm pretty sure there some sort lottery money thing that helps pay for it

plus there always region 0 so perhaps they get a lot of imports

I bet if they compared studio ghibli movie sales to a typical selling of a live action foreign movie it would be about the same or more

It's true that I have absolutely no idea what the licensing costs are to bring over the Mushishi/Death Note/Sukeban Deka live actions vs the anime. I think the biggest saving might just be that they rarely dub foreign films (with the exception of martial arts films and the occasional blockbuster) which means they have to sell far fewer to call them a success; also being standalone movies there is much less risk to absorb if one flops than a long series. Anime's not quite there yet over here aside from those films which manage a crossover with the arthouse or gaming crowds (or as you say, those targeted at kids like the successful Ghibli releases).

R