Hello all;

I agree with Mike Duncan, but there is another factor to this loss in sales
of manga; the fact that IRC is flooded with scans of the DH manga as well as
translated, edited copies of the chapters from Kodansha.  As a result, you
see each volume at realistically higher prices than usual.  Currently, the
online translated and edited scans are up to chapter 117. The point is,
fansubbed manga seems to have the same effect on the manga market as
fansubbed anime on the anime market; both markets are incredibly unstable
and vary with each release (such is the entertainment world). Another
consideration that companies have to take is the risk of plagiarism of
fansubbed material; in my personal opinion, fansubbed anime/manga
translations are much more meticulously done than commercial releases.  One
possible reason for that is because fansubbed versions are easier to produce
as a result of the negligence of licensing, making companies to re-edit
their manuscripts to avoid copying fansubbers (and lawsuits). So, while the
companies are bargaining and haggling over the licenses of the titles,
fansubbers have already subbed and edited the original copies and have
started distribution, which leads to the huge cut in profits when the
companies actually DO get their products out.  While fansubbing brings
interest and attention to the anime/manga series, after getting all of that
series, who's going to go out and buy the commercial releases when they know
it's slightly, if not totally, not as good quality subtitling/editing?
Being a fansubber myself, I have talked with people and found that the
majority of people who get fansubbed material do NOT go out and buy the
commercial releases afterwards. Of course, I'm operating on the web and the
Hotline community, where people have voracious appetites for free stuff.  I
still push for people who like my work to buy the commercial releases, but I
know that realistically, I can't expect more than 30% compliance.

On another point, I'm sure that every person who buys the manga to support
the company's profits are important since, as I said above, the number of
fans buying the manga are a dying species.  Personally, I do not own any
printed manga whatsoever, but I have intentions of getting the DH manga,
even though I can read Japanese to a degree. <realizes he is rambling>
Right. So ends my argument, of which I'm not sure if many people on this
list will agree or disagree with. -.-;

~Keiichi Morisato

"The greatness of one's sorrow when parting is the evidence of the deepness
of one's love, so.... If one fears sadness, one wouldn't be able to love
anything."
- Belldandy <Ah! Megami-sama>

"The bluest sky is infinitely high and crystal clear... that's what the
world should be... a world of infinite possibilities, laid before us,
crystal clear."
- Aizu no Takatsuki Gentatsu <Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin no Requiem>