The new manga boom exploded with Coronaotaku

In recent months, the Japanese comic book market in Spain has experienced unprecedented growth. The controversy and social alarm that accompanied the first headlines published in the early 1990s is now far away, and today the manga is not only fully established in the publishing market, but is also multiplying sales with great speed. The CEGAL report confirms that in the context of 2021 generalized growth, comics have grown by 70%, a percentage mainly due to this manga boom, which means that in recent months titles such as The Avengers of Tokyo (Editorial standard) Ken Vacui or Hi! Haruich Furudat (editorial standard) will be crowned the best-selling book on the market. But this is not just a Spanish phenomenon: even in other countries that have strong local production, such as the United States or France, something very similar is happening. In the case of France, it is symptomatic that the cultural bonus given to young people was spent mainly on the purchase of manga.

Recently, publisher giant Penguin Random House announced the creation of Distrito Manga, their own label that will join the big publishing scene, which has grown tremendously in the last two years with the arrival of small publishers in search of their space. . Catalina Megia is the editor of Distrito Manga with Claudia Cuciarato and is also responsible for the graphic novel Salamandra Graphic. In his opinion, the sector is in a great moment: „DWe have market research showing that comics have grown the most in recent years, mostly because of manga: 70% of the 100 best-selling titles are manga.”. This sudden increase, according to Oriol Estrada, manga content advisor at Barcelona, ​​is linked to a pandemic: „YOr I call them Coronaotacus: 9- to 12-year-olds who started watching anime on different platforms while in prison and who miraculously jumped on paper.”. Paloma Liranzo, illustrator and book seller at Generación X (Madrid), highlights this massive influx of young audiences: „T.Their favorite anime season is over and they are in the manga. We had it in a bookstore in a less conspicuous place, but we moved it to a priority space when we felt something was happening”. Her bookstore currently accounts for 25% of total manga sales. “I am very surprised by the interest”Liranzo continues. “They are no longer a boy stereotype bastardBut groups of the whole class come in search of his manga, they share his hobby”.

Another key for Megia is the variety of offers. “For all kinds of sleeves, though true Excited (Young boy-centered manga) is still a leader. But there are smaller publishers who have more of a minority demographic or genre, and they work. Readers of this type of content are expanding. Because a lot of women are already coming to read the manga and because it just isn’t like that anymore Excited Of action“. Liranzo confirms that the published material is incomprehensible: „YOr the same that I have to be mostly a manga reader, I can not bear and read everything”. According to Estrada, this diversity is related to changes in the readership. “People are no longer ashamed to read the manga as before. There are also comic book readers who are tired of the habit of going to Manga because it is so diverse”. But also a new audience is coming and not just the youth: “Watch people who have never read the manga Attack the TitansOr reading any successful manga”Estrada explains. “People are losing fear. Now there are a few titles Mainstream, But not all series are. Much of the manga that has been published is not. But great titles like Dragon Ball Or NarutoThey reached out”.

Simultaneous digital editing

Mejia It is clear that the Distrito Manga catalog must respond to this diversity and among its first announced releases is BL (acronym: Guys love itManga about romantic relationships between boys), joyBy Etsuko, an action series like Ranger denial Negi Haruba or a Shojo (Young girl-centered manga) Like Love in focus By Yuko Nogiri. “The goal is to create a label that focuses on Japanese manga, although in the future there may be projects with Western authors and an invasion of Korean manga or Chinese manga. We will publish all the demographic works that are currently working: Shojo, Excited, Seinen…”. With the intention of taking care of its publications, and especially its translation, Distrito Manga is clearly betting on an area that has never done well in Spain: digital comics. “In Japan, since 2017, digital manga sales have surpassed paper manga. Obviously, this phenomenon is not very developed here, but we believe that digital sales are an important complement. We are going to negotiate that all our manga be released in a simultaneous digital edition”.

But there are always doubts that arise during the boom of the sector: how sustainable will this growth be? There are obvious differences for Estrada in relation to other moments of manga brilliance in Spain. “It’s the first time I see publishers believe me and so I feel it’s serious. Even small publishers like Ediciones Tomodomo have announced that they have sold 20,000 copies. OrangeBy Takano Ichigo. By this time it had become possible to stop the flight of the adult audience in the manga, where the opposite had happened, rather than in other types of comics in which the adult audience remained, but it was difficult to update the youngsters. Now people over the age of 35 and 40 are still reading, and another person who read the manga as a teenager but refused is re-enrolled.”. Mejia points to another important issue: the existence of manga in non-specialized bookstores. “Anyone, even if they do not have the space to have everything published, knows that it must have ten or twelve flagship series.”.

Small publishers play a crucial role in this scenario. Estrada, who does not believe that the entry of large publishing groups threatens to save her, “Because little ones occupy very specific niches”Emphasizes that “Both models can coexist. Some small publishers work very well and meet the demand with short but lucrative releases. Now they have a lot more information, thanks to networks they learn from other people’s mistakes and know what to do. A project like Milky Way started with a project by three friends who edited in their spare time and is now one of the most important medium-sized publishers.”. Liranzo also praises this publisher very much for what he says “He has done a great job and he knows very well how to choose his catalog: everything is on one line”. The bookstore also highlights Arechi, a Yermo Ediciones label work that restores some classics such as City Hunter By Tsuka Hojo or Candy Candy By Keiko Nagita With good sales. However, Liranzo is also critical: „H.There are publishers who join the manga because they see that everyone does it, but you have to have the knowledge, to know what worked in Japan, to know what impact it can have”.

Here is to stay, this is not fashion

When asked about the future, they are all optimistic. Oriol Estrada quotes a few words from David Hernando, editor of Planeta Comic: “Suffolk will probably fall at some point, but will not fall to the level of five years ago. Three steps up and maybe one down, but it will stay here”. Along the same lines, Paloma Liranzo states: “Everything that goes up ends up down, but it will not be an exponential decrease, it will continue. Keep in mind that a large portion of the audience are children who are in the process of changing their lives. Of the ten who are now crazy about manga, maybe at least three will read it in ten years. But the main thing is to keep this hook so that those who go, change that it is not fashionable”. Catalina Mejia reveals that Distrito Manga’s commitment is long-term: its plans for 2023 are to publish thirty series, which means launching more than a hundred volumes on the market. They even rejoice in the classic edition, “Headlines that were posted at a bad time and could not find its audience”Some of which will be announced at the next edition of Manga Barcelona (December 2022) at the market Otaku Most important is the state, which in its latest edition, even with pandemic proportions, gathered more than a hundred thousand visitors and which in 2022 will become the most reliable thermometer of this boom. Mejia is clear: “Manga consumption is normalized. This is no longer a niche: this is a culture Mainstream”.