Bleach promotion draws DM ire, OEL manga sale

At ICv2, comic retailer Cashman’s responds to news of Viz’ mallrat-oriented exclusive promotions for Bleach with rancorous indignation and threats, which causes Journalista to furl an incredulous eyebrow and open a can of whoopass on the Johnny-come-lately DM and blame-everything-but-our-own-myopia retailers everywhere.

Okay, it wasn’t that bad.  But that analogy at the end of Dirk Deppey’s post is lovely.

This is not the sort of issue where one can firmly plant his feet on one side or the other, but personally I question knee-jerk declarations by sensitive retailers as sound business decisions.  It just feels an awful lot like cutting off your nose to spite your face.  Bigger accounts are going to get more attention and better service, period… retailers of all people should know this well, since that’s the kind of thing they tell indy publishers all the time, and they’re absolutely correct.  It’s not personal, it’s not about perceived fairness or any undeserved rights.  So Viz is spending more money in a market that they know will reciprocate their efforts… is that a surprise?  And DM retailers get exclusives all the time… from publishers that do well in the DM.  I don’t hear the same kind of rancor from bookstores.

That large chains will get preferential treatment is a serious problem for individual retailers, though, and it’s probably something that can only be dealt with at the distributor level.  By the industry’s own design, Diamond is the collective face of DM, so they’ll have to be the ones taking the reins and working with publishers toward mutually benefitial goals, and retailers should work towards that end as well.  That would be preferable to intentionally alienating yet another customer base in an already isolated industry.

…on the other hand, I could get behind retailers dropping Viz and Tokyopop (look, look, they’re having a sale.  Totally unfair.)  More money for Icarus Publishing books, yeah!  And we’re direct market exclusive.  You can’t beat that for loyalty, right?

+++ 

Via MangaBlog, Tokyopop is offering a buy 2 get 1 free sale of their OEL books at their online store… which is handled by TRSI, who’s already having a 33% off sale (it’s, you know, the same as getting 1 free book for every 2 you buy) on all TP books.  *Commence headscratching.*

Anyway, I’d recommend Dramacon, Peach Fuzz, and for the third book… maybe Becky Cloonan’s East Coast Rising or Boys of Summer for the eye candy (oh crud, that song’s in my head again…)  And for all the hating it’s received, Princess AI is really not too shabby.

+++

Anime News Network’s favorite director poll has closed, and the winner, with 1021 votes, is Hayao Miyazaki.  Satoshi Kon comes in third, with 338 votes.

After watching Millenium Actress again last night, I can say with 100% certainty that those 1021 people who voted for Miyazaki are wrong. *Shakes fists.*