Manga Manga/Manwha Distribtuors

[Luminaire]

[color=crimson]A few weeks ago I went to the bookstore with a friend. I purchased the first issue of Juvenile Orion. When we got home, I put it on the shelf with all my other manga so I could find it later. My friend went to peek through my collection. She later pointed out that the one I just bought was the only non-Tokyopop manga I owned. I thought she was kidding so I went to look myself. Gatekeepers, Brain Powered, Fake, etc. All manga distributed from Tokyopop.
I think (as in I'm not exactly sure) that Tokyopop distributes more titles than any other companies. I looked through their title list and others and theirs has been the longest so far. Yet, I wonder if that is really why I have so many Tokyopop titles. I have read a few shojo mangas. The titles from Clamp or Shojo never really caught my attention like those of Tokyopop. Same with some other genres, like mecha. I like Brain Powered but most of the Gundam titles I don't read. I like the art in Tokyopop titles more as well, but I think that just has something to do with my psycho mind.
What I really wanted to know is if anyone else prefers a specific distributor. Does anyone else have only Tokyopop titles in their manga collections? Does anyone else prefer a genre from one distributor but not another? etc.

~Lumi ^_^[/color]

[Monkey_Orange]

[QUOTE=Luminaire][color=crimson]
What I really wanted to know is if anyone else prefers a specific distributor. Does anyone else have only Tokyopop titles in their manga collections? Does anyone else prefer a genre from one distributor but not another? etc.

~Lumi ^_^[/color][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]Honestly, when I purchase my manga I don't really look at the name of the distributor. It just so HAPPENS that the bulk of my collection are from [B]Tokyo Pop[/B].

For me, I purchase my manga solely based on the titles themselves. Of course, there some minor flaws within each distributor, but I do not let it stir me away from my stories of interest.

As of now, I'll soon be finishing my [B]Tokyo Pop[/B] manga--Fake and Demon Diary. Then I'll be moving on to titles such as [B]Hana Kimi[/B], [B]Angel Sanctuary[/B], and soon [B]Yami no Matsuei[/B]. Those three titles ALL belong to [B]VIZ[/B].

So all in all, I guess that I don't prefer one distibutor over the other--it's all about the story *^^*
[/COLOR]

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Well here's the differences between the distributors:

Tokyopop releases the most titles, as well as the most [i]new[/i] titles, and by quite a margin. Tokyopop also is the most hardcore when it comes to marketing manga. Basically, they're making a killing (61% of all graphic novels sold are Tokyopop, and Viz/Darkhorse/DC/Marve/etc. make up the rest). Tokyopop also does cater more towards females, as 60% of their readers are girls.
And, Tokyopop got themselves the two hottest titles, Chobits and Love Hina. Those things were dominating the charts last I looked.
Tokyopop's manga is the cheapest, but it's also the worst quality as far as products go. For $10 bucks, you get yourself a paper quality just above newspaper, and numerous typos and horrendous text placement (often bubbles and text don't match up). The quality doesn't sway anyone, though, as far as I know (except for myself).

Viz has some extremely good titles, and far better product quality. They are the second largest distributor in the U.S. Their manga is about $15-$16 per TPB, and they have a good variety of every genre. They are much slower at releasing successive volumes than Tokyopop, however. Well, Viz's second editions will be $10 each, but perhaps worse quality. I haven't checked them out yet.

Dark Horse has the fewest titles and is the SLOWEST at releasing successive ones. However, their products are the highest quality, albeit the most expensive. They reverse the frames in most of their manga, but they just rearrange Blade of the Immortal's panels w/o reversing them. Some people don't like reversal, but they do a darn good job of it, and must have some great artists doing the touch-up work, because I haven't had anything to complain about yet.

My favorite publisher is Dark Horse only because my favorite manga is Oh My Goddess! My next favorite is Viz only because my second favorite manga is NGE. My third favorite manga is Tokyopop's Love Hina, which is plagued by unprofessionalism.

[Dagger]

Let's not forget about the anime powerhouse A.D. Vision. Although this company's products are usually released to mixed reviews, ADV is only just beginning to explore the world of manga and manwha. They've proven that they're willing to learn from their mistakes; the later volumes of Azumanga Daioh, for example, contain fewer errors and are much more fan-friendly than its first installment.

Current ADV series include Full Metal Panic, Gunslinger Girl, the aforementioned Azumanga Daioh, Figure 17, Steel Angel Kurumi and Louie the Rune Soldier. ADV also owns the rights to Chrono Crusade (which will sell very, [i]very[/i] well), Peace Maker Kurogane, Mythical Detective LOKI RAGNAROK, To Heart, Pretear and many other manga. It looks to me as though they're attempting to capitalize on their domination of the anime DVD market. If ADV's strategies work, Tokyopop may end up having some serious competition.

A good deal of the manga I buy is shounen-ai... and as far as I can tell, Tokyopop is the only company that offers a significant amount of it. This could change sometime in the near future, since Viz recently licensed Yami no Matsuei, and Media Blasters plans on distributing Skyscrapers of Oz.

~Dagger~