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Cel Shaded
Jason Yadao
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Tokyopop’s Web-only sales miss the point
Much of the buzz in manga discussion circles as of late has focused on Tokyopop's move to sell some of its titles exclusively through the Internet.
What raised eyebrows was how Tokyopop is taking eight current titles -- "One," "Neck and Neck," "Heaven Above Heaven," "Sorcerer Hunters," "Soul to Seoul," "Dragon Head," "Dragon Voice" and "Arm of Kannon" -- out of retail stores and putting them into its online store. Several other titles will debut in the online store and remain as online exclusives.
Granted, publishers have to find ways to distinguish themselves in an era of limited bookstore shelf space. In an interview with ICv2.com, publisher Mike Riley called the program an experiment to give some titles more exposure. But I can't help but wonder if Tokyopop is shooting itself in the foot with this strategy.
Speaking as a consumer, I'm not sure if I would be inclined to buy a new or continuing title if I couldn't browse through it at a bookstore first. Tokyopop is also selling their books at full ($9.99) retail price, meaning there are also added shipping costs to consider -- quite hefty when you consider places like Collector Maniacs locally are selling manga at a discount.
Then there's the market-flooding factor. In the interest of full journalistic disclosure, Tokyopop sends me an envelope full of their debuting manga titles for review consideration every month. The number of books has averaged six to 10 per mailing for the past few months. Add that to their ongoing series, and it could turn out that the greatest competition to Tokyopop on retail shelves is ... Tokyopop ...
In Sunday's 'D&Q'
"Read or Die." That might sound like this column's unofficial motto, but it's actually the title of a tale of butt-kicking bibliophiles (that's "book lovers"). Reading is fundamental as I take a look at this franchise in the Sunday Today section ...
Cel Shaded, a look at the world of Japanese anime and manga, appears every Monday. Reach
Jason S. Yadao at
jyadao@starbulletin.com