The Eastern Edge

I AM VERY GREAT FULL FOR THIS POSTING ON LEARNING SOME OF OUR TIMES' GREATEST MANGAKAS
I LOOK FORWARD TO READING MORE :)

Felipe,

Thanks for your comments.
Since I've addressed many of your points multiple times in response to other people, I won't address them all. However, I would like to clarify a couple things;

First, I never stated that piracy is the sole reason for profit loss. My rant was about the excuses people make to justify pirating and make it sound like a noble thing. That's it. I'm not offering solutions and I'm not saying pirating is the only problem. I have written some very critical things about the industry before all this, but this time I think they have a right to be pissed of at their so-called "fans" (not real the fans, of course).

Second, I never said the overseas market doesn't matter, I wrote that content is not created for a foreign audience - which it is not.
The overseas market IS part of the industry, however, because licensors pay to translate and distribute content. If they don't make money, they go out of business. If they go out of business, the content creators (i.e. Japan) lose that revenue - which they happen to need right now. I think the connection is fairly obvious 0- but that is not what I was writing about.
Of course the foreign market affects Japan and I never said it doesn't matter - but that doesn't change that fact that the content itself is NOT created for a global audience. The global fans also want "Japanese" content, and that is what they are getting - which the creators are very happy to "sell" to them NOT "give" them!! - but with that comes consequences, i.e. simultaneous localization and release is more difficult and expensive than it would be worth financially. In the Japanese content industry, Japan comes first - then they try to sell it overseas.
If overseas fans like you increase exponentially over the next decade or so, then things will change. But right now their main audience is overwhelmingly Japan. It is that simple. The costs involved in doing simultaneous, localized releases won't translate into much of a revenue increase, so the time and money just to set up the logistics won't be spent.

I won't complain to you if I can't have English versions of Brazilian content on demand, so please don't bitch to me because you can't have everything Japanese that you want!

That leads me to my final response; your insatiable appetite for manga has nothing to do with what I wrote. It doesn't matter if you can read 50 volumes per day, it still doesn't change the issue.
If I can eat 100 hotdogs in a day, that still doesn't give me the right to go to the supermarket and steal them because I can't afford to feed my appetite.
I wish I had enough money for all my hobbies too, but I don't. Most people don't!!
Using that as an excuse to pirate and say it's okay is ridiculous.

In the end, I do respect your opinion, but if you agree - as you said at the end of what you wrote - that most reasons for scanlating fail, then I don't see your problem with what I wrote because THAT is exactly what I wrote!

I am not saying that everything is the scanlators fault, or that the industry is a victim. Not at all. I don't think law suits will solve anything, but inaction won't solve anything either.
In any case, what I wrote was that excuses to justify pirating are just that; excuses. I think it's wrong to pretend that it is something "noble", "for the fans", and "out of love" - especially when people are making money from this type of theft.

That's what I was writing about and that is what I believe.

Continuing...

If a person is not entitled to a product (be it a translation to his native language or some universaly know ex English) then a company is not entitled to earn the money of a product it doesn't make.

So is hard to accept a rant on loosen profit if you do not provide the service you are willing to charge for. It's like blame low sales for bankrupt, but you never had a factory to begin with.

Piracy is a crime according to Law? Sure thing. Is it the solely reason for low profit? Hell no. Recession, tax, costs are a lot of other reasons, because you can never lose money in a product you don't sell.

You uses a double standard (maybe the publishers shares it) first the product is done in japan, for japanese - so overseas doesn't matter. Then overseas sales that are lessened because of scanlators are guilty of low profits.

The manga industry as someone mencioned, let's say in the lates 80's and early 90's didn't were basically domestic - and golden age - they didn't had scanlators as today and it wouldn't be a problem, as they didn't sold anywhere.

The real problem is they spend money to widden the market and expect the sales to follow, so today they need much more sales - and overseas also - to compromise the bottomline. But this money is not used in the right manner and them turn into loss.

And other point you mentioned were the response to Customer satisfaction. Roughly as "If the client isn't sattisfacted why the stories is so popular"... the clients isn't satisfected with the service (be it delay, price, storage, or any given reason) but are really satisfacted with the story (so the person search for the best alternative for himself).

So the industry don't earn money witch-hunting, they win money satisfacting customer. It's a customer right to demand whatever he wants to buy a product, and is a obligation of the provider to do so - sure not having things as you like is no reason to robbery (but as someone told before, scanlators don't steal the goods and sell them after, they duplicate and them sell - just as the japanese car industry done back in the 50's and the chineses in the 90' and today they are top industries). Its standard in industry to steal secrets and ideas, they don't usualy steal products, but will always steal goodies... by your thinking if one enterprise launch the Blu Ray all others can't use, or as Otto designed the inner combustion engines just he should do cars. What most fails to see is that scanlators don't steal products but idea, what is much more accepted in society (as almost everybody already cheated in school).

I do preffer printed, but i can't buy everything i want - but it's a human right the acess to knowledge - so i buy what i can and the rest i read (don't care to store in drive, but liking the story, provided the goodie in a way i can afford i will - maybe i'm not mainstream, but who knows). Would i steal a car? Never. But if a friend had a Ferrari and let everyone drive would i? Sure, would this prevent me from buying one? While i don't have the money yes, but i want to have things for my own so i would buy whenever i could.

But the more strange would be rant about fansubbers, as this are provided for free in television so where are the revenue lost? In publicity? Most people i know that watch fansubs in brazil lets the TV all day turned on Animax.

The industry will never will gloating and calling customer and fan as thief and pirate. You don't earn money by hunting but by selling, so the industry needs to discover how to appeal to customer not only in content, but in price, avaiability and whatever other demand they need to meet. Its a obligation of the industry to discover how to sell not a guilty of the client for not to buying.

But i do see your point and agree in some parts. And the most important is when you say "balance must be brought back". And this balance would become true by not criminalizing fans or translators (there are professional translator that work for licensed titles, that translate for free in sites as mangahelpers). And in Brazilian version of Berserk the editor himself says he doesn't think of scanlations of unlicensed material as crime, but does think whenever there is a real product you shall buy it not store (even accept in case, lets say they are realising the 3rd tankohon and in japan it's in 30th, you read online and then buy it when release). He even thanked scanlators for popularizing and creating a market (and aknowledged that without the community they wouldn't have a clue of what to release). So the balance will come by the time scanlators is no more a hidrance but an allied.

And about simultaneous release. I agree its much harder to do with manga them to anime (but this would be a case of re-engineering), but as someone said, if a amateur can do a scanlation in some hours (with staff as low as 3 men) then the digital provided copy could be done as fast or faster by professional. Sure the print would delay a little, maybe a month or less - not the same as the years before - maybe some weeks.

There are a lot of more inteligent options they shall explore then legal battle. I'm almost sure they wouldn't be able to sue someone in Brazil with Japanese law for content that aren't released officialy. And the costs to sue so many people - this if they can find them - and them maybe arrest every bootleg user is something that will cost much more than they will profit.

Sure most of the reasons to scanlate is fail, but know this won't help industry make money, just discovering how to solve the issues can help

If you defend MANGA is an Japanese product for JAPANESE person, then how someone that doesn't buy the product outside of Japan (of course, he were never tough of) is damaging the industry (as you said profiting were never tough off), it's really a mind boggler.

I myself learnt a little Japanese, spent more than 3 thousand dollars in Manga (have about 500~1000 volumes in paper stored in my room) but i can't afford more space shelf or money as i'm buying an appartment for myself. So i keep up reading online - for 6 years i bought ALL the mangas that released in my country, believe it or not - something like 100~150 dolars month sometimes - and now i buy none (i will reupdate my shelfs with bough products whenever as i can).

But it's just impossible to buy every damn manga, movie and music you will ever want to enjoy - i have tons of collections - almost 50 jackie chan' movies original copies and some 10 or 20 downloaded movies that were never sold in Brazil. So your solution would be to move to china or learn chinese?

And if japan is importing people as you suggest were do i submit my resumè to? I would love to live in Japan, but i don't think i will be able to so soon.

I'm capable of reading 10 to 20 tankohons a day, so i would have to buy 300~600 a month to keep me busy - so just to satisfies my need i would need to spend 3k dollars month. This without the 3 movies a day, more 900 dollars month. Music i preffer to replay, have some 100 discs. And video games i can't forget also (costs 2 to 4x more here than in native country) that i have 20 ps3 titles.

If you ever find a solution to earn 10k dollars just for entretainment (sure it would be just a slice of paycheck) without drug dealing i would love to hear.

So I am a criminal for reading a title 3 times (as i done while translating Harry Potter, once in original, then while i translated and finally when released i read the official - and bought).

I do support my authors as most as i can. But as average wage in brazil is about 300 dollars month - and most manga fans are minor, so have allowances below 20 dollars. Each title costs about 5 dollars, so you want someone who likes (let's say 2 mangas) spent half their month money on manga? I just bought so far because i could. And i don't believe supporting your author is starve to buy their product (and here the editorial market is 10% of net revenue is to autorship), to support is to give what you can whenever you can to keep the work.

You can rant all you want, but if the product were never meant to be sold overseas, you can't blame overseas readers to reading it for free... you can only blame japanese folks for not buying enough products.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Very much appreciated!

I will try to put up a better image of Oda's Vagabond when I post part six.

PandMoan,

The moaning, in case you hadn't noticed, is on all sides. It sounds nice to say "freedom for all", but if freedom didn't have rules we'd be in a Mad Max movie. Unfortunately, picking and choosing the rules you wish to follow isn't noble, it's just as arrogant as you accuse the "good guys" of being.

"You weren't in this industry you'd do the exact same as we do."

-- For the 100th time I'm NOT in the industry, and I still DON'T do what you do.

"Contuniue your "letter writing" im not gonna waste my time and bore people with futile prattlings."

-- Too late. You should have thought of that before you wrote your "letter" back to me.

Moan Moan Moan.

You weren't in this industry you'd do the exact same as we do.

Taking a moral stance in this way by writing the pirates a "nasty letter" should be stopped.

Letter writing, look at me im a good guy nonesense.

The scanlations will not stop, torrents will not stop, music, movies filmed on a camcorder will not stop. Anything done will be a small speedbump in thier respective roads.

The problem and beauty of the internet is that its freedom immortalised in a computer. Freedom for complaining "good guys" like you and the freedom for the pirates also.

The problem is so massive that when they tackle phase 1 the pirates are on phase 4.

Contuniue your "letter writing" im not gonna waste my time and bore people with futile prattlings.

I was sooo late to know 'bout that there is an interesting interview with Odacchi and Inoue sensei like this one, I'm gonna stay put-in on this interview, definitely!! (laughs)
both mangaka are my Fave *ouyeaah
can't wait for next part!!!
uh-yeah, gottsuiiyan i'm countin' on you!!

Agree @J.P. Polnareff's statement, kubo tite seems like had too much lacking off of his manga, even though he still had tons of fans, like i were before. let me say this, kubo had his fans decreased in number (me and lots of my friends for ex. :D).

PS: i wanna read the origin version (japanese) too, actually hahaha, so could you post it here too?

lotsa thanksies!!

Man, I'm loving your work with these translations, great stuff from two of my all time favorites mangaka....

I dunno if you can do this, but I'll ask you something...
I recall a post of yours some time ago with an drawing of Musashi made by Oda in this magazine, it is a not so good picture, but I have it saved and your the only one who ever mantioned it......
So....is there any way you can take a scan or a clearer pic?....

Thanks beforehand....

Oda: I'm probably living in haste. My panels get smaller and smaller, and I don't draw unnecessary panels.

Kubo should take note on that.

Other than that, thank you so much for translating this interview. Really appreciate your dedication. :)

Considering his book sales, overall success worldwide and a comic that at least equals Dragon Ball, I think he has every right to be.

Believe me really ,Eiichiro Oda is full of him self and he thinks that he is the best manga artist in the world.

Jennifer,

What can I say? As usual you are hitting everything from multiple, and very interesting, angles!
Your comments are always a good read.
Thank you!!

Jonathan,

No, let me recap for you!

If you're comparing producing a subtitled version of a 22 minute animation with translating and publishing a serialized comic, then you have no idea how either is made. I've worked in the animation industry and I know many reasons how and why Funimation can do that, and I also know why it would be a logistical nightmare to do the same thing with a serialized comic.

Just to mention one point of many, animation scripts are complete and the voice actors are in the studio recording to the animatics long before the animation is even done! I've been in the studio and seen it! Comics, especially weeklies, they are done when the creator is done, which is usually just in time for them to be published domestically.
That alone should show you why you are making a false comparison.
i.e. Yes, I am going to sit here and tell you that creating a translated manga from a serial takes a lot longer than a subtitled animation simply because animation can be done ahead of time. Serialized comics can't!!

Look, I have no problem with you disagreeing with me, taking shots at my argument, or wanting your comics faster. But, please, next time at least google this shit and do some homework before you come out calling it bullshit.

Andrew Leung,

You = case in point!

Gene,

Thanks for your comments.
As I wrote to others above, I agree that the industry has fallen behind and they must adapt to changing realities. I also think, however, that it is nowhere near as simple as many angry scan readers seem to think it is.

Yes, the publishers have to take a bite out of scanlators by rethinking how they produce and distribute comics. Digital is way behind where it should be and that fuels the pirate sites.
If and when the publishers catch up, I hope the fans who claim they want to really support creators will get on board and prove it.

We'll see.

Whye,

Thanks for your comments.

I understand your argument, but I think this whole issue has moved beyond being able to compare pirate sites to kids sharing at school because 1) Kids sharing at school doesn't give the entire rest of the world access to what they are sharing. 2) Kids sharing don't sell advertising or claim copyright to things they share. The problem is that it's gone too far, otherwise it wouldn’t be a problem.
That's my opinion.

My statement that manga is "made for Japanese by Japanese" isn't a selfish statement because I'm not Japanese. It's a fact. Even though I can read them, they don't make their comics for me either!

I passed around comics, games and other things with my friends on school. But no one ever made any money, no one claimed ownership, and in the end we were "trading" stuff to borrow, which means that we all paid for legit things to share with each other.

I think that makes all the difference!

Shika,

Thanks for your comment.

And there is nothing small or insignificant about your standpoint. You make some great points!

When you are a fan of comics other than the big money makers, it can be hard and I have been in your situation where I couldn't get what I wanted to read unless I asked friends or came to Japan and searched.

When I first started learning Japanese, if scanlation even existed I didn't know about it so I just asked friends to send me books once in a while in exchange for things they wanted from Canada. I also bought things when I visited Japan (which wasn't very often because I wasn't exactly rich either).

I had no choice but to read the books or comics I was interested in in Japanese, and I had to buy them from Japan.
I hate to sound like an old man and say "You have it better now than I did," but it's true - you do have it better now! Much better!!

Having said that, htough, I honestly hope some sort of balance can be struck so that more obscure titles can somehow be distributed widely and cheaply because, frankly, mass scanlation has ruined it for you guys who were enjoying little known titles under the radar.

Boozer X,

Agreed. See above comment.
The industry must do more than just issue cease and desist letters. I hope they take this as a wake up call and feed the demand.

Phip P,

Yes, it is a dog eat dog world. Sometimes the dog that's getting eaten bites back and I think that's what's happening here.
I agree with you that a solid digital distribution system is what's needed.

Beat the scanlators at their own game and they become irrelavent. Dog eat dog!