DEL REY AND THE KODANSHA CONNECTION
Q: So given that Del Rey has a deal with Kodansha that gives you access to an incredible wealth of content, a huge catalog of titles, what do you take into account when you choose titles to publish in the U.S., because obviously you can't bring them all in...?
DM: No, god, no! (laughs) I think Kodansha publishes something in the neighborhood of like 1200 to 1800 books a year. I might be wrong about that number, but no, there's just no way we could put out every book that they publish, as well as going through their back catalog to find stuff to try.
We look for a lot of different things. We're always keeping an eye out for the hits, and look for the shojo and shonen titles that we think will really click here, that there's a lot of buzz for.
We have Fairy Tale coming out next year, and that one is by the creator of Rave Master. That's one we're really excited about. From looking at it, from reading it, it's an excellent book. It has all the makings of potentially being a major hit for us.
But anyone who looks at our list knows that we like to take some chances too. As in things like Mushishi, Parasyte and Nodame Contabile, a fantastic josei manga series, which again, are not 'no-brainer' choices. Sometimes we want to pick up series we know everyone will like, and sometimes we'll pick up series that we know we'll have to put a little more effort into to make people aware of them.
Q: Are there titles out there that you're dying to bring in, but you don't think that a U.S. audience would be receptive to?
DM: Yes... but I'm always reluctant to talk about them. (laughs) I can think of one that I can talk about. I have been told that Ookiku Furikabutte is an outstanding manga. But it's a very long manga about baseball, and so far, we found that sports manga has a very hard time finding an audience in the U.S. It's also more of a seinen title, since I think it appears in Afternoon Magazine in Japan. From what I've seen, it's very much the type of manga that I'd like to read, but it's also the kind of manga that would be very challenging to release in this market.
Q: That makes sense. I can see that certain genres of manga are a hard sell in the U.S. but that's also partly because the audience for manga is mostly teens, whereas a lot of the more artistically innovative stuff is more for older audiences.
DM: Yes, that's absolutely right.
Q: So is it hard to get manga in front of that sort of older audience who might appreciate edgier stuff?
DM: Yes, I think that's challenging, I do. It's challenging, and it's something we're working on, and when I say "we," I mean all manga publishers in the U.S. and Japan. We're hoping that as teens read manga, and as they get older, we can provide them with more sophisticated material and keep them reading the form. But there's no question that now, as it has been for several years that the audience are primarily teens and they have a very specific taste of what they're looking for.
THE RISE OF OEL MANGA AND WHAT MAKES MANGA LOOK LIKE MANGA?
Q: Let me change gears a bit and turn to the topic of Del Rey's Original English Language (OEL) manga releases. I recall you talking about them with great pride at the Del Rey Manga panel at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con. I was interested to find out why there's more OEL manga on Del Rey's upcoming releases list where there weren't so many before.
DM: Yes, absolutely! People have been asking us about OEL manga since we started Del Rey Manga in 2004. People have been asking us since Day One if this was something we'd be doing, and the answer has always been yes. So I hope it didn't surprise too many people when we started to announce new titles.
But the way we approach OEL manga is simply that we're looking for good books that we can sell. And that's how we determine whether we acquire a book. So what that means is if ten great OEL manga proposals come across our desk tomorrow, then chances are good that we'll make an effort to sign all ten of them. And suddenly, we'll have a big push of OEL manga from Del Rey onto the shelves.
Alternatively, if we don't see a good proposal for the next year, then we won't buy any more OEL manga. Our approach is driven by the strength of the book. If we find something good, we'll publish it, and hopefully in the process, we'll establish a reputation for Del Rey Manga's OEL manga program that that's the kind of book that we do. And if there's a new one, then fans will hopefully check it out.
Q: Do you think OEL manga has a handicap, in general, as far as fans responding well to it vs. Japanese manga?
DM: It seems to, and I have to confess, I don't understand why. I've been on the (discussion) boards, and some people are just vitriolic about it, about how much they don't want this stuff to be called "manga."
Q: Do you see a difference between OEL manga and Japanese manga that makes this kind of sentiment understandable or do you think it's an unfair prejudice?
DM: I don't have any problem with people criticizing a book due to its quality or lack thereof, but I don't understand that people would criticize a category this way. When it comes down to it, you have to judge each book by its strengths and weaknesses. I don't think these people are seeing a bad action movie and then saying "Action movies suck." But that's what I think what they're saying.
Are there OEL manga out there that aren't as strong? Absolutely. There are some out there that aren't so good. But there are also some out there that are stellar. Dramacon, Megatokyo, The Dreaming, there are some really fantastic OEL manga out there, and the sales numbers I've seen indicate that people are already giving them a chance.
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