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Everybody wants the manga

2022-05-02T04:02:09.258Z


The large publishing groups are vying for a market that is adding more and more readers, has doubled its collection in the last year and already accounts for half of the comics sold in Spain


The doctor looks at the x-ray.

And he passes the verdict on him: young Izuku has no gift.

In a society where 80% of citizens have some special power, he was born average.

Just a teenager, and they already condemn him to irrelevance.

The boy, however, has other plans.

He has decided that he is going to be a hero.

And not just any: the best.

For many readers, in fact, it has become an idol: last year

My Hero Academia

(Planet), by Kōhei Horikoshi, was the best-selling series in the manga market, according to industry data accessed by EL PAÍS.

And one of the thrusts of the triumph of Japanese comics in Spain: after years of growth, it already accounts for half of the sales of comics at the national level, as confirmed by two publishers.

More information

New imprints and readers drive manga success

The signs of the boom, in fact, are everywhere.

And in half the world, from France to Italy, passing through Germany and the USA. In Spain it is enough to see the numbers, such as the income generated by the manga more than doubled between 2020 and 2021, according to the confidential report of the Gfk consultancy to which This newspaper agreed: between four and five million copies are already sold per year, with a turnover that went from about 13 to 31,887 million euros.

And up.

Hence

Haikyu!!

(Planeta), by Haruichi Furudate, or

Tokyo Revengers

(Norma), by Ken Wakui, have reached the podium of the list of best-selling books —in general, not just comics— that is regularly published by the Spanish Confederation of Guilds and Associations of Booksellers (Cegal).

Further proof is in the identical response from five publishers: they have all sold and published more manga lately.

So much so that they already account for a quarter of the 3,780 comics published in Spain in 2021, according to the count of the specialized Comic Guide: on average, almost three sleeves are released a day.

But perhaps the most solid demonstration is the landing of a colossus like Penguin Random House, which has just launched the Distrito Manga label.

Its manager, Catalina Mejía, says that the decision follows a long study of the sector and that they will try to mix "great commercial impact and quality", as well as different demographics, although from 12 years old.

The market, which today dominates Planeta, followed by Norma and Ivrea, looks more and more like another famous manga series:

Attack on Titan

, by Hajime Isayama.

A page from the first volume of 'Tokyo Revengers', by Ken Wakui, published in Spain by Norma Editorial.

The arrival of new actors on the market, in the cinema, led to million-dollar fights in 2016: platforms such as Netflix and Amazon began to dispute the most promising films from Sundance or other festivals with traditional studios, with checkbook blows.

Since then, production has skyrocketed, although there have also been alarms about a

streaming

bubble .

In the manga, at the moment, no auctions have been unleashed between the large groups, according to one of the main editors.

And, in any case, the figures would never touch those of the film industry.

Apparently, the Japanese market, from which almost all the manga published in Spain comes from, values ​​trust more than portfolio.

Maybe it stays that way.

Or maybe it's just a matter of time until interests collide.

"It is clear that we intend to publish the most successful and relevant content," acknowledges Mejía.

In fact, the first licenses of it, such as

Complex Age

, by Yui Sakuma, or

Joy,

by Etsuko, come from the same Japanese label, Kodansha, which publishes the best-selling

Tokyo Revengers

,

currently owned by Norma in Spain.

And if the giants fear each other, their eventual war makes less powerful competitors more fearful.

"The incredible offer crushes small publications and authors," warns Kenny Ruiz, one of the most famous

mangaka

(manga artist) Spanish, and among the select few foreigners who work for the hermetic Japanese market (with the comics series

Team Phoenix

).

He spoke precisely about this last Night of the Books in a talk entitled

From Japan to Madrid and vice versa

.

Others insist that there is room for all stamps.

From Milky Way to Gallo Nero, from ECC to Panini, passing through Kitsune or Satori.

And they repeat that, even if the ceiling is reached at some point, the market is consolidated.

“It is an underlying trend, it has not suddenly exploded.

It had been growing steadily for some time,” says Andreu Giménez, director of Planeta Cómic.

The opinion is shared, as are the causes of the recent hit: the years of the pandemic have triggered the reading of comics in general and manga in particular, according to all the sources consulted.

And, in addition, the Japanese comic has found new followers.

“The stereotype of the adolescent is false.

In fact, there is no such thing as a 'manga reader', points out Alejandro Martínez, editor of Panini.

Cover of 'Joy', by Etsuro, which will publish in June Manga District.

The truth is that the young boy is still the majority profile, but no longer exclusive.

First of all, because the other half of the planet has joined: women make up 44% of readers, with an increase of nine points compared to 2019, according to a study by Fnac.

The coronaotakus

also contribute

, children who, as a result of the

animes

[Japanese-style animation series], have discovered the manga on which they are based.

The Japanese comic occupies conversations in schools, where albums are even exchanged like old trading cards, and it was the most borrowed by the Barcelona Libraries circuit in 2021. The increasingly frequent adaptations to video games or

anime

they also trigger visibility and results.

“It helps a lot, it makes a comic series more relevant.

It may be that it is sold without pain or glory and experiences a rebound after reaching the audiovisual format, ”explains David Hernando, editorial director of the Planeta comics department.

💬The manga segueixen sent the most popular comics and per second capped the list:


🥇 'My hero academia', by Kohei Horishi.

pic.twitter.com/RzHkogcB3k

– BibliotequesBCN (@BibliotequesBCN) January 26, 2022

And then there are the adults.

"The vast majority of adolescents who read manga in the early 2000s now continue, and many of us have children for whom we buy them," summarizes Carlota Lloret, deputy manga editor at ECC Ediciones.

Dragon Ball,

The Knights of the Zodiac, Naruto, Sailor Moon

or

One Piece

opened a path three decades ago that today has become a direct highway between Japan and Spain.

And yet, in reality, they contribute to traffic

:

75% of the market is due to funds, estimates a publisher.

There are the works of myths like Rumiko Takahashi or Osamu Tezuka, known respectively as the queen and the god of manga.

According to Fnac data, now 40% of the public is between 35 and 50 years old.

Because the manga also includes books as hard as

Uzumaki

, by Junji Ito,

Lost World,

by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, or

The Man Without Talent,

by Yoshiharu Tsuge.

The reader with more than half a century of life, yes, is still residual.

“It is a very different evolution from superhero comics, which are no longer for children but for adults who read them when they were young.

And with so many cross-references between stories, it is very complex to enter.

In the manga, the reader knows what he buys, and it's hard for him to miss out.

A book intended for 12-year-old boys strives to ensure that its code is consistent with that age”, Ruiz underlines.

He also knows it from his work for Japan: it attests to a more demanding pace and greater control of the publisher compared to other markets.

Despite “many corrections and changes”, the cartoonist says that he feels free to tell the story he wants and that the notes, which he considers almost always useful, focus on “maintaining the tone with respect to the commitment they have with the reader ”.

Because, although it is addressed to everyone, Japanese comics want to speak a different language for each follower: their own.

"In Japan it is said that there is a manga for every reader," says Mejía.

Someday maybe.

But what does exist is a myriad of specific categories:

shonen,

the best-selling product, is aimed at teenage boys.

“These are works centered on the theme of maturing.

The difference with respect to the usual narration in Europe is that the plot is subject to emotions.

You follow a character evolving each month, pursuing his feelings more clearly.

The complexity, the twists, are not necessary, the viewer is hooked because he loves the characters and wants to go with them wherever they go, ”says Ruiz.

But then there's

shōjo

, which speaks to teenage girls;

the

seinen

targets older men, and the

josei

targets women, while the

kodomo targets

younger ones.

Although the objectives can be even more detailed: they are known as

boys love,

for example, comics about homosexual relationships that are also very popular among female readers.

The yuri

genre ,

on the other hand, focuses on two girls and their feelings.

Perhaps the only thing common to all is the format: usually small and in black and white.

It is no longer synonymous with adolescents who are exclusively looking for sex or violence, the public knows that it is an adequate medium to deal with all kinds of topics”, explains Anabel Espada, manga editor at Norma.

“The stereotype is ridiculous.

If someone thinks that more than 3,000 titles a month in Japan are all of the same type, they don't know how to add up”, Ruiz is outraged.

The highly sexualized Japanese comic, in fact, occupies its own category:

hentai.

Although in Spain it hardly has a presence.

Just as there are still very violent works.

Within, however, an ocean of proposals.

What has changed the least, yes, is the origin.

Almost everything comes from Japan.

First, of short stories that are published by installments in magazines.

Those that have more pull continue, and end up converted into books.

And, later, in international successes.

Outside the Japanese country, however, something increasingly important is cooking.

Norma's editor attests to the growth of the

manhwa

(comics of Korean origin).

The French series

Radiant

has swept the paper and now also on the screens, just like

Heartstopper,

by the American Alice Oseman.

And there it is every two months

Planet Manga,

with hundreds of pages created by national artists such as Ana Oncina or Luis Montes.

The sales success has given the group confidence to launch the magazine also in South America.

Andreu Giménez, director of Planeta Cómic, explains it this way: “The fan doesn't care if the author is Spanish, Chilean or Japanese, if the aesthetics and the plot convince him”.

It's about drawing and narrating well.

After all, the word itself makes it clear.

For once, it's nothing specific: manga, in Japanese, means cartoon.

A panel from 'Haikyu!!'.HAIKYU!!

© 2012 by Haruichi Furudate

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Source: elparis

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