The big new trend in digital manga and print is elderly people. Many publishers and independent artists are incorporating people between 60 and 80 as leading characters. The popularity of these characters reflect anxieties shared by all people about how to make post-retirement life meaningful and cope with nursing care … [Read more...]
The closure of a prolific pirate manga website is a boon for authors
The closure of one of the largest pirated manga websites in Japan is led to authors and publishers seeing an influx of revenue. This is proving that manga users are more likely to purchase digital content, than ebook readers who will just move on to the next pirate site when one shuts down. Mangamura originally … [Read more...]
Japanese publisher shuts down manga website
A hugely popular manga website has shuttered its doors because of the increased pressure of the Japanese government and major publishers. This one website was being visited by 100 million people per month and Based on a one visit, one manga title read formula, it is estimated that the site caused damages to the manga … [Read more...]
Japan is Facing a Digital Manga Piracy Crisis
Digital manga sales are on the rise in Japan. For the first time ever the digital format has overtaken print, but there is a looming crisis when it comes to piracy. One of the most notorious manga pirate websites in Japan drew a whopping 174 million visitors in the month of March, making it the 25th busiest website. … [Read more...]
Digital Manga has Overtaken Print for the First Time
Digital manga sales in Japan have overtaken print for the first time ever. According to a survey by the Research Institute for Publications, sales of digital manga last year are estimated to have risen 17.2% from a year earlier to 171.1 billion yen, while sales of prints fell roughly 14.4% and generated $166.6 billion … [Read more...]
Princess Leia will be turned into a Manga for Star Wars Day
Line Manga has secured the rights to publish the origin story of Princess Leia. It will be loosely be based on Claudia Gray‘s YA novel, Leia, Princess of Alderaan. This will be the second time that Line that secured the rights to Star Wars, the first was a manga adaptation of the prose novel Star Wars: Lost … [Read more...]
Do you prefer audiobooks, ebooks or other digital content?
Good e-Reader Intelligence recently conducted extensive research on what type of digital content readers prefer. The vast majority of users continue to be enamoured with ebooks, while audiobooks have made solid gains. Over a one month period 799 people casted their vote and proclaimed what type of content they use … [Read more...]
Japanese Manga Sales Declined 12% in 2017
Japanese manga has been in a state of decline for the past twenty years and in 2017 sales decreased 12% from the same period in 2016. Despite the decline, manga is still huge business and overall sales amounted to 600 billion yen, which is around $5.34 billion US. Lite Novels, books and magazines generated 1.37 … [Read more...]
eOneBook is innovative, but will likely be a commercial failure
The eOneBook is a dual screen 7.8 inch e-reader that opens and closes like a real book. It runs on a bunch of AAA batteries, since it does not have an internal battery. It is expected to ship in Japan and the United States in April 2018 and cost $300. The real downside of the eOneNote is that the content is preloaded … [Read more...]
Clip Studio Paint Launches Native iPad App
Clip Studio Paint is one of the most popular manga app for the PC and MAC. Over three million people currently use it and today the company has unveiled a native app for the iPad and compatibility with the Apple Pencil. The initial software was released in 2011 and was designed to compete against Adobe Photoshop. … [Read more...]
Kodansha Announces New Digital Manga Titles for 2018
Kodansha is one of the largest digital publishers for manga and their North American branch just announced all of their new titles that will debut in 2018. At the New York Comic Con the team expressed the importance of digital releases, noting that it gives them the ability to offer fans more diverse manga and gives … [Read more...]
The Future of Manga is Digital
Manga is going digital in Japan and the sector saw a 27.1% increase in 2016 while sales of paper manga saw a record year-on-year decline of 7.4%. Possibly this year, annual sales of digital comics may surpass that of paper for the first time, according to a report released by the Tokyo-based Research Institute for … [Read more...]