Final year dissertation on comics in France and Ireland

Hagarack

Hi everyone,
I'm a student in UCG doing my final year project on comics in France and Ireland. It's supposed to be a culture compared kind of effort. I've been doing a fair bit on american and european comics in Ireland but not a lot on japanese stuff yet, just wondering if you could give me a few answers or point me in the right direction for some stuff-

How many publishers of Manag either sell their stuff in ireland or are based in ireland?

When did manga and anime really start to get popular in Ireland and why?

Does anyone think the recent upswing in comics in Ireland has translated over into manga sales too (I notice there are shelves of manga in Eason's now). If they're getting more popular now why?

Any other comments on comics in Ireland-is there a certain mentality attached to liking and reading comics. Is there a cultural dimension to why people like/dislike/know nothing about comics in general in Ireland.

If anyone wants to reply to this thread I'd be most appreciative, thanks a lot everyone.

sharingan

Its manga, not manag (I am assuming thats a typo) but more importantly it is uncapitalised (like comic).

The popularity of anime & manga in Ireland simply tracks its UK popularity, which in itself has been seeing growth as an offshoot of the US phenomenon.
Personally I think DVDs were the technology that precipitated anime popularity. Distributers were not forced to release competing dubbed and subbed products, and DVDs are far more practical for extended series.

Anime popularity is something that has boomed over the last 2-3 years *here*. Spirited Away did an awful lot for raising interest. But also bear in mind that about 3 years ago, ADV an anime distributer (no.1 in the US) made a massive drive in the UK about 3 years ago, introducing an awful lot of new anime, much of it modern, and a lot of it very high in quality (Noir, Full Metal Panic!), into stores. In fact thats where we got most of our TV anime. Before that, it was just a handful of movies and video series. Other distributers followed suit, MVM in particular, who sublicense from everyone else. Even Bandai woke up and started releasing material from their very impressive back catalog. Nowadays Irish & UK anime fans have a massive choice in really good anime series, arguably a higher average quality too.

No anime or manga publishing company have headquarters or a local operation in Ireland. Ireland is lumped into the UK from a regional point of view, as to what titles are released directly here (anime or manga). AFAIK only 3 major manga publishers sell directly in the UK/Ireland: Dark Horse, Tokyopop and ADV. ADV's worldwide manga operation seems to have fallen off the face of the planet lately, and there seems to be some speculation as to whether ComicsOne operates here at all. Tokyopop and ADV have headquarters in the UK.

Every other title from every other publisher is imported from the US. Comic shops & web shops are in an interesting situation about importing US versions of tokyopop titles several months ahead of the locally available ones (Tokyopop learning all the wrong lessons from english-langauge DVD releases).

If anything the manga/anime and western comic/GN markets in ireland are almost totally seperate. You get greater fan transfer from anime -> manga than you get from western GNs -> manga. There are segments of the comic community (i.e. western comics & GNs) that aren't into manga, and there are manga fans that would never darken the door of a comic shop.

Manga availability is generally weak. Tokyopop release to bookstores and all that, 6-12 months after US releases. It is difficult to get initial runs or complete sets even at retail. Voice of experience here - I probably picked up the very last volume of Gunsmith Cats in the *country*. The only reliable way to get it is via on-line stores, whose service quality is variable. This isn't helped by the majority of english translated titles being available import only.

CyTai

I noticed that you need some infos, so I'm happy to give you some.

Anime came popular over here when Akira was in Cinema in UK, after that many books were published such as Manga Mania and Anime UK. But Akira didn't really push many people to Japanese Animation. Akira was only a stepping stone for the next big hit, Ghost in the Shell.

That the movie that thrilled many people as well as taking their breathe away. Now before I continue on, I want to make this clear, this is about movies coming from the cinema. So Akira was the first Japanese animation to be view through cinema in the UK. Next was the second best movie that hit cinema, Ghost in the Shell.

Of course, ADV released plenty of anime, but at the end, it was the cinema that captured the hearts of the manga lovers rather from the videos or DVDs (that was still not released)

As for the last question, many people still believe that Japanese anime are for kids, and kids only. Sure, that the tv are broadcasting many anime over these few years, but they are Japanese animation, not anime. Anime such as GunXSword, Cowboy Bebop, HunterXHunter, Steamboy, Blood the last vampire, Blood Plus and many more are anime for older viewers.

So many Irish people still unable to accept the enjoyment of anime. Another piece of information is that animators would leave Ireland even they knew about anime, but unable to continue their teaching about anime or animation because jobs are little to none available in Ireland. Many of my friend either change their job or flew to another country, unable to tell people in Ireland what they know about Anime.

Well, that's my 2 cent.

Peace

Hagarack

Thanks a lot for your help, it's much appreciated