If you get the Tokyopop Newsblast newsletter there was an article featured in yesterday's issue about a panel about OEL (Originally English Language) manga and why it hasn't been very successful. I'd give you a link to this article but like a moron I deleted it and Tokyopop's search on their site is useless I couldn't find it on their site. Anyway, I'll just paraphrase what they said and give you my opinion as to why they *really* don't sell. They listed seven problems, among which are that fact that people may not like them because they're not Japanese and they are too much like American comics. A lot of stuff I agreed with, but for the most part I thought the article completely missed the point and failed to really take into account what the biggest issues in American Manga is.

Now please keep in mind, this blog isn't meant as some kind of retaliation for not getting published myself, this is more just an observation

Follow up:

Problem 1: The Art Manga, is a very tricky term to define. In Japanese it merely means visual entertainment. It doesn't mean specifically comics, specifically comics in black and white or comics done by the Japanese themselves. But over the years Manga has come to mean a specific style of artwork and storytelling. Some people believe it only applies to Japanese comics done by Japanese artists. Others say it means black and white comics done with stylized characters with large eyes and exaggerated expressions. People will argue it has to be right to left, and others say that the direction it's read doesn't matter.

The one thing people can agree on is that you know manga when you see it. And here in lies the first problem of manga done by Western artists. Most published artists are great artists: they have a good understanding of perspective, proportion and detail, but sadly, they lack the understanding of manga. Most of the time characters get drawn very geometrically, with boxes for faces and too many sharp lines, they always seem to make the eyes too big and there's no life to them. Even when expressing themselves characters come off as flat and too cartoonish, making them hard to like and hard to connect to. Or on the other side of the spectrum there are artists who end up making their art too western, looking more like a black and white comic book, and don't take advantage of the exaggeration that manga allows. The artwork looks like someone trying to draw manga, as opposed to just being a manga. For years and years I could spot 99 times out of 100 when the artist was a Westerner instead of Japanese. This is beginning to change with new generations of artists, but it still remains a major issue

The other problem with OEL manga is it tends to be toned to death. Comics published in Japan are done in black and white to be as cheap as possible, and this has led to a distinct style where girl's comics are light and elegant, with most art looking almost like calligraphy. Boys comics take advance of black, giving it a hard gritty edge and they pop off the page with their use of line. But Western done manga look like American comic books photocopied gray. Every inch is covered with some shade of gray, pattern or texture, and art and scenes tend to get muddy and hard to understand. I've learned through lots of trial and error that if a page doesn't look okay without screentone, it's not going to look too great with it.

There are of course exceptions. And these exceptions tend to be the titles that sell best. Series like DramaCon, Aoi House, Amazing Agent Luna and Van Von Hunter make good use of lines, toning and character design, making them appealing to anyone who is interested in manga.

Problem 2: Story One thing that annoyed me to death in the article from Tokyopop is that one reason they suspect OEL doesn't sell well is because the storylines are too American and people like manga because they are Japanese and foreign. I disagree with this completely. If you have a compelling story with awesome characters and good dialog, regardless of the style it will sell. Graphic Novels with all kinds of different art styles, from photorealistic to complete surreal have sold well over the years because their stories were so groundbreaking, like anything by Frank Miller or Alan Moore. The harsh reality is that the stories of most OEL mangas SUCK. The stories tend to be extremely unrealistic, illogical and gummed up with cliches and Mary Sue characters. They try too hard to be Japanese, using customs and traditions from that country that don't translate well to the US or the rest of the West. We don't call each other honorifics. We don't call each other Jessica-chan or Larry-kun unless you're a wannabe Wapanese fangirl at an Anime Convention. Instances of comedy that appears in Japanese manga would be considered sexual harassment and treated completely differently. We aren't obsessively loyal to our work, we don't have to bow to our superiors and physical and society barriers aren't as completely enforced. So when you have a character who is supposed to be a slacker from New York acting like a Japanese person, your alarm bells go screaming that the behavior isn't right and you think 'no way this would happen'. The same goes for Shoujo romances, and especially for Shonen and Shoujo Ai. Homosexuality is treated completely different in the West than in Asia. In Japan it's viewed as a character flaw that makes you different than normal. In many parts of the US it's treated as an abomination against God and a threat to morality. Once again, a scenario that doesn't translate when you have a Japanese style story that takes place in the US. Mostly I've been talking about slice-of-life and comedy stories, but for other genres it's even worse. Most fantasy series are no better than dime store dragon slayer tales, horror tends to be graphic and not enough psychological naunce and sci fi tends to be a joke. The bottom line is nobody is going to buy a series with a terrible story, no matter how good the art, and nobody is going to buy a Japanese style story unless it's written by an actual Japanese person.

Problem 3: Marketing Truthfully, the way most anime/manga series gain popularity is through word of mouth and internet exposure, this is what happened with Naruto, Bleach and pretty much every famous series that is out today. But a lot also has to do with marketing and advertising. The truth is, even for a lot of good series, you never hear about them. I've been an avid follower of OEL manga for over 5 years. From when I first wanted to do comics I have been trying to learn about the industry and who's hot, and even with constant checking there are TONS of series I've never heard of. Online, in bookstores and at anime conventions, OEL series are NEVER advertised. Tokyopop is better than most about pimping their series, but usually only *after* the series is becoming popular. And advertising works. Princess Ai, as pretty as it is, is a very average story, yet it's one of TP best selling series. Why? Because it's the only manga I've ever seen an advertisement for, ever. When the series first came out they actually made animated commercials that aired several times a day on channels like Cartoon Network and MTV. And that's another thing, most manga series get popular after the cartoon comes out, not the other way around. It was because series like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors and Yugi-Oh were on the air that their manga counterparts sold so well. So unless companies really start selling their wears, people are *not* going to risk 10 dollars or more to wonder if a series is any good.

There are, of course, many western series published by companies like Tokyopop and Seven Seas Entertainment that are well written, well drawn and well marketed--and these of course are the ones that sell best. Until companies figure out what is it about manga that makes it sell to begin with, OEL will continue to be the red headed step child of the industry, leaving people like me and other wannabe manga artists constantly fighting uphill to get respected. And sold.