The Anime/Manga I Bought Today Was...

ayase said:
fabricatedlunatic said:
Volume 6 of the happiest manga in the world. Finally. Even cold-hearted, world-weary cynics like me can't help but smile when reading it.
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Do tell me what it's like when it arrives. I really want it but the covers of these new Yen Press editions look... er, quite a bit less well designed than ADV's, which doesn't bode well. :?

When will companies learn NOT TO CHANGE THE DESIGN of partially released licences they take over. It pisses fans off no end.
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It's the exact same cover as the Japanese one
 
With the exception of the title logo they look more or less the same to me. Uniformity would have been preferable, but it's not a major issue for me since, unlike DVDs, I don't display much of my manga on shelves.

According to this AoD post, we don't have anything else to worry about. I only have one Yen Press title, Sundome, and the paper and printing quality is excellent.
 
yotsubavh9.jpg
 
unellmay said:
ayase said:
fabricatedlunatic said:
Volume 6 of the happiest manga in the world. Finally. Even cold-hearted, world-weary cynics like me can't help but smile when reading it.
Click to expand...
Do tell me what it's like when it arrives. I really want it but the covers of these new Yen Press editions look... er, quite a bit less well designed than ADV's, which doesn't bode well. :?

When will companies learn NOT TO CHANGE THE DESIGN of partially released licences they take over. It pisses fans off no end.
Click to expand...
It's the exact same cover as the Japanese one
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Be that as it may, the Japanese covers look good with Japanese on, not so much English. I mean even I can press return after each letter and italicise (a particularly crappy font). Even if they weren't as authentic, at least ADV's had some design work put into them:

yotsuba_1.gif
Yotsubavol1.jpg


But anyway, Yotsuba is a great manga, that's enough complaining about design. I do it with everything and I'm never going to be satisfied with anything I didn't design myself. 'If you want something done properly...' as the very accurate saying goes.
 
Just picked up Otaku no Video and the second half of City Hunter season 1 from Amazon for a smidge under £20. I may actually have to go and lie down now due to the sheer cheapness of that.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
New one's on the left. On the right is ADV's design.

The ADV logo is better designed but, well, it's just a logo.
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In and of itself, it's just a logo. In a larger sense, it's the thing most easily representative of the effort they've put into the book when you pick it up off the shelf, so I think they could have put a bit more than 43 seconds into designing it.
 
ilmaestro said:
fabricatedlunatic said:
New one's on the left. On the right is ADV's design.

The ADV logo is better designed but, well, it's just a logo.
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In and of itself, it's just a logo. In a larger sense, it's the thing most easily representative of the effort they've put into the book when you pick it up off the shelf, so I think they could have put a bit more than 43 seconds into designing it.
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Exactly. It is what you first see, & first impressions are often what makes the sale.
 
I guess there's no scientific way of determining how many people bought the ADV version of Yotsuba simply because the logo--which comprises, I dunno, maybe one-tenth of the cover--caught their attention; and how many will pass over the Yen Press version because it didn't. But one thing is for sure: if those people exist, there is no hope for them.

This doesn't excuse Yen Press' lack of effort, but let's not go overboard.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
ilmaestro said:
fabricatedlunatic said:
New one's on the left. On the right is ADV's design.

The ADV logo is better designed but, well, it's just a logo.
Click to expand...
In and of itself, it's just a logo. In a larger sense, it's the thing most easily representative of the effort they've put into the book when you pick it up off the shelf, so I think they could have put a bit more than 43 seconds into designing it.
Click to expand...
This doesn't excuse Yen Press' lack of effort, but let's not go overboard.
Click to expand...

It's not really about effort. If you look across Yen Press' whole line of manga you'll find a very faithful representation of everything they do, including the covers. You'll also notice how unintrusive Yen Press' own logo is.

Taking a look at the Japanese cover:

6a00e398d5d02b00010109d.jpg


You can see that Yen Press' version is far more representative of the original Japanese cover. I can understand what everyone is saying, and perhaps ADV made a better business decision to have attempted to strengthen the brand by providing a more attention grabbing logo. But I do feel it is unfair to say Yen Press aren't putting the effort in, for not doing the same, as it seems to be an ethos of the company.

While it may not always be an ethos that will be the best business decision in the mass market, I believe it is one that fans will be more especially appreciative of. From their covers to their translations, they aren't tinkering and reworking, which is something I'd consider a sin for most companies (Tokyopop / Viz).
 
I think the reason why staying true to the original doesn't work in this case is because Japanese looks good on that cover, English doesn't. Primarily because there are nine characters in Yotsuba&! in English, and only five in Japanese occupying the same space. Same goes for Kiyohiko Azuma's name. Thirteen in English, seven in Japanese. This means the English looks at the same time more crammed in vertically and not filling enough of the space horizontally.
 
Mars: 1-16 (Complete) - £23 + £2.75

The books are OOP and the manga is one of the most highly rated shoujo titles - one which even men rate 10/10. For not even an average of £2 per volume, I think I got a great deal...IF the books are as described; as new. Time will tell.

After School Nightmare: 1-8 - £16.35 + £2.75

To be honest, I'm not sure about this. Gender swapping isn't a cool thing in my mind. But the title, its high ratings and the Persona-esque sounding story made me give it a chance. If I hate it, I've paid under half per volume what I'd have to pay to get the volumes new.

Rose Hip Zero: 1-3 - £3.99 + £2.75

OOP and Fujisawa. Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip.

Anne Freaks: 1 - 99p + £1.60

I've wanted to have a look at this for awhile. It's supposed to be very dark, it being about school kids murdering, and it's short enough to buy in full with ease.

Overall, though it all adds up to over £50, getting all these books (22) for that price IF they're all mint is good eBaying. However, I'll now have to start selling of the manga I don't like (Gundam and Saiyuki, namely) to make space - I already have a ton of volumes on the floor, and my Kare Kano 1-3 book has somehow gotten a knock.

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Happy Hustle High: 1-5 - £4.99 + £2.75

Had my shoujo eyes on this for awhile. It's short and highly rated - what other motivation do I need to buy a complete series for this little?

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The Devil Lady (Complete) - £14

I saw Fabio mention this awhile back. I can't remember what he said (I think it was positive?) but it made me look on its MAL page, and there I saw 9-10/10 reviews conflicting with an average of 7/10. Niea 7 came to the front of my mind.

It's OOP and I saw it on eBay. I won it. The end.

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Ouran 1 - £9.99

A few days later, HMV dropped their price to £8.99. The bastards...
 
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