2008 Manga Report Cards ~ Bandai Entertainment

Before I get hate mail from you, I want to remind you all… I am a manga reader. I don’t watch anime. I don’t believe anime should support manga. And I know manga is the origin of anime. I don’t care what past trends have shown. I don’t care if most “otaku” in the USA are anime fans. I work in the manga industry. I write a blog about manga. And the only reason I go through the pain of making these report cards is because I want to see this industry stand on its own merits.

So hate away, because I cannot support Bandai anymore. I can support the titles I like from them (Euraka SeveN ~Psalms of Planet~ and Gurren Lagann). But unless Bandai changes their policies I will not consider them a manga publisher.

They are an anime company that jumped into this industry when the market was on the rise, hoping to cash in on a new revenue stream. I can understand why they would go that route. They aren’t the only company to have done this. ADV did this and they had a couple of downfalls. But fortunately with a new economy I am sure that Bandai will be the last anime company in a while that will be able to try something like this.

So yeah, this one isn’t going to be pretty. Sad too because I like some of the people who have worked with this “pub” and I have liked their productions for a while (even if I cringe at the thought of having to read another code: GEASS manga).
Bandai Ent
Bandai Entertainment, Inc.
5551 Katella Ave.
Cypress CA 90630

website: NONE
Founded: July 2005
President: Ken Iyadomi
Affiliate of– Bandai America Incorporated
Imprints: Bandai Ent; Top Cow Manga (manga trimmed collections of Top Cow titles)

Eureka SeveN -Gravity Boys & Lifting Girl- 2
code: GEASS -Lelouch Of The Rebellion- 1,2
Ghost Slayers AYASHI 1
code: GEASS -Lelouch of the Rebellion- 0 (LIGHT NOVEL)
code: GEASS -Suzaku of the Counterattack- 1

6 volumes from 5 titles (4 manga and 1 novel series)
1 series completed
4 series debuted

Content

Bandai could have been renamed code: GEASS in 2008. The publisher debuted three titles from the Sunrise anime property. Two manga and one light novel came from the series, all of which were announced at New York Anime Fest 2007. And if that weren’t enough, another code: GEASS title is scheduled for 2009.

Just to add a little variety to 2008 Bandai closed out the year with a single volume of Ayashi (and had another volume delayed and pushed back into 2009… who knows when).

New manga series for 2009 are the following anime based titles - code: GEASS -Nightmare Of Nunnally-, Gurren Lagann, and the Girl Who Leapt through Time. Not much of a surprise but out of character for Bandai is their acquisition of  the 4-panel manga Lucky Star.  Lucky Star is going to be a challenge for Bandai, as it is a format that is still not proven in this market. Lucky Star is also unique in that it’s a manga that inspired a media phenomenon. Bandai tends to go the other way, so most of their titles are high style but poor content wise. Lucky Star isn’t an award winning comic, but it is by far the biggest title they have ever released, and critics should approach that title with a more critical eye than with most of Bandai’s properties.

New novel series for 2009: Eureka SeveN

Content: D- (things will change in 2009, but wow 2008 was dismal. I’d take another year of WitchBlade over the books from 2008)

Production:

With only six books to evaluate it is really hard to judge their quality. Bandai titles are a step up from the average Viz or Tokyopop release, as they usually feature color plates. Their prints are good but Broccoli, Aurora, DrMaster, Seven Seas and Icarus have better looking pages. With Toshi Yoshida doing Eureka SeveN and Satsuki Yamashita handling code: GEASS their translations have been of the highest quality (two of the best in the business).

The $9.99 price point sets these guys apart from many publishers. As one of a handful of pubs that debuted in the last two years (or so), they are one of the few to keep prices down at a time when most publishers are coming into the game immediately thinking $10.99 with so-so quality.

Grade: B+

Distribution:

Bandai is distributed through Diamond. Unfortunately, I have had a hard time finding their books in comic shops in my area. When they were releasing WitchBlade this wasn’t a problem, but we are now more than a year removed from that release. Finding Bandai books in chains is not too hard, but I saw Eureka SeveN more than I saw code: GEASS. Actually if not for the NCRL, I would not have known code: GEASS was in stores (and I was not aware that Ayashi was available until I did some research).

Like many smaller pubs Bandai had its problems meeting street dates. Then again if you didn’t know a book had a street date you shouldn’t have to worry about this.

Grade: D (working with Diamond guarantees a C… missing dates with a small catalog drops the grade to a D)

Communication

Bandai barely has a website for their anime, and their manga releases don’t even have that much. No site! No blog! No BBS board! And since 2006 no Bandai Manga panels at conventions. Ironically, the pub had more panels before they released a book than after. They do not send out press releases for manga. I don’t believe they have ever made an ad for their own manga (though I think Top Cow did when Bandai was releasing Tomb Raider). And I don’t think they have anyone solely dedicated to promoting their manga, outside of maybe their lone editor Robert Place Naplon.

If you happen to find info on Bandai manga it will most likely come during an anime panel at AX or NYAF. But you really have to pay attention because Robert will likely announce it as a pack-in for a future special edition release for a recently announced anime license.

Grade: F+

Evaluation:

Releasing six books in one year would sound like decent year for a boutique publisher.

Bandai Ent is not releasing titles that would fit the mold of a boutique publisher. They never have. Bandai’s catalog is based solely on comic tie-ins to their anime properties. And these are not manga that inspired anime titles; these are media-mix titles created solely as additional revenue streams for the production committees involved in the properties. Bandai launched in 2006 as a publisher of ani-manga and manga-sized collections of Top Cow titles. Two years later at a time when manga is beginning to make its own image, they continue to reinforce one of the strongest banes of licensed manga - anime success = manga sustainability.

In 2008 Bandai was almost non-existent. A volume of Eureka SeveN ~Gravity Boy and Lifting Girl~ was scheduled for 2007 but slipped into 2008 because of delays. And then… Nothing happened until they started releasing their code: GEASS titles mid-year.

How does that happen? How does a “pub” just shut down for eight months and then expect to win back readers? I understand Bandai is not in the business of manga; they’re an anime company. But the Girl Who Leapt Through Time came out in theaters and on DVD in 2008! Why wait until 2009? Couldn’t they have picked up both licenses through Kadokawa at the same time? A one-shot takes time to produce, but as most publishers have proved by now, turn around can be expedited to a matter of months if not weeks. Where is the logic? Where is the foresight? It’s no where in regard to Bandai manga. In my opinion manga is nothing but a pack-in for this company. But considering how much production goes into something like a manga, why treat these titles like t-shirts or screen-wipes?

But what best describes Bandai this year is this quote from Satsuki Yamashita:  I’ve only seen negative reviews for the Code Geass manga…if anyone has seen a positive review, please let me know…

If practically all Bandai released was code: GEASS and a positive review is no where to be found, a positive review for Bandai is not coming either.

Grade for 2008: D+ (Manga should not be relegated to cheap pack-ins! The two code: GEASS series have been horrible. Ayashi was treated as a DVD pack-in and possibly shouldn’t have been released at all.)

Projection-

2009 will look eerily similar to 2008 but production is projected to increase by at least 200% (increasing their production from 6 books to approx 19~20). Like 2008 much of the 2009 first quarter will be devoted almost entirely to code: GEASS. Bandai will add another manga, Nightmare Of Nunnally, to two continuing manga series and a light novel series. Spring will bring some needed diversity with the scheduled releases of Gurren Lagann, the Girl Who Leapt through Time (one-shot), and what might be one of the most intriguing titles of the year, Lucky Star. Bandai will also go back in time by tackling the Eureka SeveN light novel.

Media-mix one shots are usually no good, so I don’t have high hopes for TokiKake. The Gurren manga starts off slow but similar to the Evangelion manga goes in its own direction under the guidance of the original writer for the series Nakashima Kazuki. Lucky Star could easily become Bandai’s best selling manga of all-time. If the Haruhi manga, which does not compare in quality to Lucky Star, is selling very well, this property should do at least as well if Bandai can find a way to get it into stores.

Where Bandai goes from there though is most likely up to what anime they license over the next year. With the whole anime industry in dire straights I would be concerned for any publisher that relies on their anime for licenses. If the future of anime is digital distribution, how will Bandai promote their manga without pack-ins? If studios and production committees start to partner with online companies directly bypassing traditional localizers, how many licenses will be available to studios? Fortunately for fans Bandai has not invested itself heavily into manga like ADV did a few years back. So while it is never fun to see a series canceled, Bandai’s small catalog of extremely short series might actually be somewhat safe (unless the anime industry collapses entirely).

It would be great if they would pick up the rest of Galaxy Angel III from BroBooks, but I am sure that will depend on whether there will be sets in the future.

Projection for 2009: C (Lucky Star was a major pick up and could give needed energy to this publisher. Gurren Lagann won’t shock people but isn’t bad for a tie-in title. The current anime situation in this country really makes the publisher’s long-term future uncertain.)

Wrap-up:

• Content: D-
• Production: B+
• Communication: F+
• Distribution: D
• Overall Grade: D+