Aurora holds manga sale | MIMC announced winners, name change

Manga.About.Com spreads the word that Aurora Publishing is holding a sale on its entire catalog, including the imprints Deux Press (BL) and LuvLuv (Josei), both backlist and current releases.  Comics Worth Reading discusses what the future may hold for Aurora.  Manic About Manga claims to have received email directly from Aurora Publishing suggesting the company has indeed arrived at a crossroad in its 3rd year of life (last link via MangaBlog).

This isn’t a pleasant thought, but if all the above are to be believed, then the Japanese-owned Aurora is perilously close to following in the footsteps of Broccoli.  Have overhead costs risen?  Are sales not meeting expectations?  Were those expectations too high to begin with?  Or, perhaps, is parent company Ohzora pre-emptively cutting back, just like every other publisher nowadays?

The weakened economy is as likely a culprit as any, and in vogue too… export-based Japan is being clobbered even harder by the global recession than we are at the moment.  But it’s been 3 years since Aurora was created, 2 years since its first release, and this is the typical point in time when companies are evaluated for their long term viability.  In periods of abundance, companies may be afforded greater leeway, a little longer to reach stability.  But we live in a cruel time.

Anyway, fans who wish to take advantage of this sale, and hopefully right Aurora’s ship through these troubled waters, should email e-tung (at) aurora-publishing dot com with the subject header “Aurora Manga Sale”.  At these discounts (effectively 60~65% off on backlist), I strongly encourage retailers to look into this as well.

Edit: The Yaoi Press blog points specifically to returns as the major issue for Aurora Publishing.

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Found via Journalista… The Daily Yomiuri compares the habits of Japanese otaku and US anime/manga fandom, with particular regard to spending.

I’ve made this point before… the true Japanese otaku is defined by their spending habits.  More than the anti-social hikikomori aspects sensationalized in the press, an otaku’s worth is most often measured in the amount of actual stuff s/he has accumulated (so no, the number of gigabytes of scanlations or fansubs on one’s harddrive doesn’t a proud otaku make).  Basically, they’re completionist collectors, not unlike their American counterparts in comics, yet very different from what one associates with a hardcore anime/manga fan in the US, at least its most visible aspects.  As such, they are the taste makers, and a much sought-after market.

Yet, if there’s a small disagreement I have with this article, if not its words then the impression it gives, is that otaku isn’t the foundation of the manga industry in Japan, generally speaking.  Manga is truly mainstream, so it isn’t dependent on otaku outside of a few specific genres (cough *ero* cough).  (Any anime that isn’t directed at children, on the other hand, is reliant more and more on that sure-fire DVD sale, hence the increase of anime and spinoff merchandise with all the otaku trappings.)

We shouldn’t have to depend on otaku, but in the end, the industry on both sides of the ocean needs people who actually buys things.  (Yeah, crazy thought, I know.)  Ideally, instead of appealing only to the big money-dropping minority, we could try to convert the “cosplaying, party-going” casual fan into a casual buyer with compelling product.  But that admittedly is getting harder and harder these days, as the net has made investment for participation an optional thing…

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Missed it… MangaCast provides a look at the top two winners of the 3rd annual Morning International Manga Competition, which will be changing its name to Morning International Comic Competition next year, a decision prompted by the desire to encourage more original submissions (I always thought the abbreviation “MIMC” was kind of ironic.)  Both winners this round hail from Taiwan, but finalists also included entries coming from outside of Asia: Israel, Brzail, and France.  Be sure to read the brutally honest judge’s comments.

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Because this is of great personal interest, continuing coverage of Japanese fembot technology… Sankaku Complex reports that in another major scientific breakthrough, roboticists have successfuly transported the head and appendages of the HRP-4C onto the body of a maid.

Now if only they could fix those hideous monkey paws of hers, and give her more forehead…