Animestan

[Rei Kuroi]

1. No, its because pirater don't veiw manga as important enough to be pirated (heck, i dont think they even know what manga is)

2. No, manga will definately never grow at the same pace. They are still veiwed as "comic books" by most people in India, and nobody wants to try something they may not like at Rs345. Its just a shame I have precious few friend who read manga and watch anime (3 to be exact).
And there are a few more who watch DBZ but thats about it.

3. Yes it will. This is because it takes people a long time to grasp the expressions, honorifics, traditions etc

4. Main challenges: (1)Really high prices (2)No promotion (3)Not a big english-speaking crowd (4) Among english speakers, few accept the idea of a "graphic novel" and constantly reffer to manga as "comic books" (5) Useless run-of-the-mill anime like pokemon give it a bad stereotype. (6) Adults and most teens think "comic books" are beneath them.
Gosh, i cant go on...

5.My guess is manga would be more popular in the big metropolitan cities like bangalore, hyderabad, delhi, mumbai, chennai, kolkata etc. where the more...er..."technologically elite" live. Also, to be blunt, you need cash.

6. Since everyones got a TV at home these days, generally the first step to knowing what manga is, would be watching anime, though the production process is actually the other way around.

7. Beyblade can be put at this price because, artwork, story, etc. are really lame compared to other manga. Also, since the TV series is popular, they can be pretty sure that the manga will sell reasonably well, thus allowing them to lower prices. Also, they might have a production unit somewhere in India, thus lowering transport costs. The manga with the more mind-blowing artwork and storylines will be going for Rs250-350 because of the quality and importing.

Please tell me if you found this info useful

[jd]

[edited]

[shruti]

I HAVE seen manga in delhi..There are a few bookstores in South Ext. where they USED to sell manga but here's the description: The cover was Upside Down and the pages were Numbered 1,2,3 from the FRONT but they wer actually the opposite!! seeing this made me feel terrible.Though U do get manga in delhi I haven't seen them yet. and yes it would be great if a few popular manga volumes would be released at moderate prices!! If not hardcover atleast Paperback!! the Black and White theme is the best (as it also attaches value to those "colour!!" pages that come once in a while) and the right to left reading would also be great as it would keep it original!! But an intro to these facts should also be given (like in VIZ versions). I just bought this manga from SCHOLASTIC!! (Barefoot Gen vol 1) But the subheading on the very first page (cover) was "Bare foot gen A cartoon story of hiroshima" when manga is introduced as comic and cartoon in the very beginning the actual stuff really won't come up later and also I bought it for RS 250 which wasn't really appealing you c. If people were ready to shell out around 300 for a book it wont become popular!! The basic needs for introducing manga in India is
1 moderate (to be frank AFFORDABLE prices)
2 Intro.s and proper information
3 good advertising
4 constant quality (it has to be "worth it")
5 It would be great if popular manga is introduced first you see

Thatz all I have to say for now.. lemme catch up with honey and clover on Animax now

[pitchan]

There is manga in Delhi. All bookshops in Delhi always have a copy of 'Buddha' by Osamu Tezuka. Only Gurgaon shopping malls have mainstream manga though. Such as Reliance Trendz bookshop, or Landmarks.

Hi All,

Here I list a few queries that I had.

1. NO. I haven't seen any pirated manga in India yet.

2. Most of my friends have no idea that there is such a thing as anime/manga. It still a unknown quality here in India. It will be very hard for it to become popular/mainstream.

3. Yes it will.

4. Manga are published in English as it is supposed to be in Japanese i.e. pages read for right to left. Many regular people who might be put off by that.
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[kaychan]

i am not from india.but i can do some research about mangas in malaysia.

1.

pirated mangas are VERY EASY to get.the low-quality-papers-but-good-translations official ones are RM5. the great-quality-papers-and-good-translation ones are RM 6.50 (no colour) and RM7.50 (full coloured or half coloured).while the pirated ones are RM5 or lower.bad translations,bad quality,blurred images, and lots more.

2.

manga and anime is quite well known in malaysia.mostly because mangas are sold EVERYWHERE,plus the weekly manga magazine,and local tv airing anime almost every day.but some fans are just mild fans.they call animes cartoons,sooo typical.

3.

of course they are differences between our cultures,but once you get used to it.it doesnt really matters.

4.

the main challenges are the censorship, i think.nudity,violence, are censored.and the censorship is kinda too much sometimes,or they dont censor it at all.both are bad.
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[Aceviper]

I doubt the piracy industry will get a good sale thru pirated manga. And anyway....I know places in Bombay I get them from 50 to 150 bucks original.

Of course, Crosswords sells for 500 bucks....cheap duds.

[Dante]