Quote:
Originally Posted by ILOVEJAPAN
Some interesting satistics:
weekly manga sales are higher in Japan then yearly comic sales (of any kind) in america.
In Japan they sell enough Gundam models for every single person in the country to have at least 3.
I know you live in Japan so you probably know more then I do,
but does it make sence that they make so many with such high quality if it didnt sell well?
There are probably just a few that are really popular that everyone has seen and the rest still sell incredibly well but just among otaku, who probably try to keep there obsessions secret.
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Manga sell. But they fit into the niche of magazines and newspapers elsewhere. Most people read a manga series or two. That does not equate being a rabid fan.
Outside of Japan, it seems that reading manga or watching anime automatically marks you as a fan. It has a special sort of feeling. In Japan, however, it`s just another type of *media* and not a *genre* as it has become elsewhere.
For example - let`s say we have person A. Person A likes, hmm... Let`s say, golf.
Person A plays golf on the weekends. They subscribe to a golfing magazine, and watch famous golfing events on tv. They also read a golfing manga.
Manga is just another form of media. They would NEVER call themselves an anime or manga fan - because they`re not reading it *because* it`s a manga, but because it is about something they`re interested in.
If you`re interested in something, and subscribe to a magazine that covers that topic.... Does that make you a "Magazine Fan"? No - because the magazine is just a media. You`re a fan of the *content*.
It works the same way with manga. It`s JUST a media type.
Gunpura have been sold for 20 some years. Most people who make them make TONS of them. Sometimes 100s. How many have been sold over a period of 20 years really has nothing to do with much of anything... Especially when those that have sold the most in the past have been the 500 yen, aimed at gradeschooler types.
I never said that there is NO popularity to anime and manga. What I said was that it is JUST another media type.