Comments on: Rumour: Kodansha in North America

By: ErinF

ErinF — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:43:23 +0000

I really like the smaller book size. I suspect a lot of Americans read books at home, but I read while I commute by train, and Path of the Assassin can be read with just one hand. I also suspect the average Japanese person has smaller hands than the average American.

By: Michael Avolio

Michael Avolio — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:09:48 +0000

Hugh’s right — it’s an interesting cultural difference due to such confined living spaces in Japan. The large sized editions get printed on lower quality paper with lower quality ink, intended to be read once and thrown away (like a magazine or newspaper over here). The small editions are meant to be kept (like books), and I believe are only made if the project is successful.

By: Hugh Stewart

Hugh Stewart — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:07:22 +0000

This is apochraphyl, but I’ve heard that because of small house sizes in Japan it is a status symbol to have your book published at that size. It means you’re planning to hold on to it rather than throw it out like some of the bigger, cheaper tankobons.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:39:16 +0000

Just a quick aside about LW&C, it has been noted by the Samantha Robertson in the Dark Horse forums a few times, but both Lone Wolf and Path of the Assassin were printed small at the request of Koike/Kojima.

In a thread titled, “Why SO Small?” she stated,
“The Lone Wolf and Cub books are printed at this small size specifically at the request of the series’ Japanese creators.”

That said, I have doubts that we’ll ever see them in a bigger size unless DH went back to the creators and specifically lobbied for it.

By: ed chavez

ed chavez — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:15:50 +0000

hey chris,
Berserk and Lone Wolf are not Kodansha titles. They are from Hakusensha and Futabasha respectively.

Those cancelled reprints might be from Tokyopop. Would you know if Beck, Love Attack, GTO, boys be are/were getting reprints? There are more TP/Ko titles out there but those are the first that came to mind.

By: Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » June 10, 2008: Ol’ Sarge

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:08:08 +0000

[...] [Publishing] Christopher Butcher is still tracking that big Kodansha rumor. [...]

By: MangaBlog » Blog Archive » News roundup

MangaBlog » Blog Archive » News roundup — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:56:43 +0000

[...] Christopher Butcher has more on the mysterious Cthulhu, who set the blogosphere abuzz with his assertion on Comics212 that Kodansha plans to launch a U.S. arm and cut out its licensees. Chris reveals that Cthulhu didn’t respond to his followup e-mail, which is a bit suspicious, and he does a bit of detective work on his own. By the end of the day, he’s still not 100% convinced one way or the other. Neither is Heidi MacDonald, who keeps hearing rumors about Kodansha entering the American market. [...]

By: Susie

Susie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:50:10 +0000

I don’t think so Ray. I’m not too sure about LW&C, but Path of the Assassin was originally published in that dinky size. I’m guessing that LW&C tankoubon were too.

By: Ray Cornwall

Ray Cornwall — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:58:27 +0000

*IF* this is true…might we see bigger versions of LW&C?

By: Chris Williams

Chris Williams — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:58:53 +0000

That’s really cool news. I think Dark Horse has done a good job with manga, but we need more diverse publishing avenues too.