Hey all, I just had a really quick(and probably dumb) question. Why are Tankōbon releases of manga in the US set between 10-12 USD MSRP, but in Japan they're around 400 yen(~3.82 USD according to Google). Aren't they really similar products? covering the same span of story, and on similar paper? Is this just the mark-up to compensate for paying for translation? Am i just missing something huge here? This also seems to be more of a manga as a whole thing, rather than just Dragon Ball.
Thanks for any responses!
Why are Tankōbon more expensive in the US?
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Re: Why are Tankōbon more expensive in the US?
All of these are specific to Dragon Ball and Viz, but of course many apply to other series and companies, as well, where appropriate:
- Cost of licensing in the first place (Shueisha already owns it, since they made it!)
- Additional cost to translate
- Additional cost for series editor
- Additional cost to redraw sound effects (something Viz still does for the collected editions)
- Printed on arguably higher-quality paper than tankōbon in Japan
- Printed at a larger paper size than tankōbon in Japan
- General printing and distribution costs across an exponentially-geographically-larger country
It's also worth noting that Viz's original (even larger-sized) collected editions were $12.95, and that got lowered to $9.99 when they switched to the smaller "Shonen Jump"-sized "Graphic Novel" standard (which they still use).
Still a Hell of a deal.
- Cost of licensing in the first place (Shueisha already owns it, since they made it!)
- Additional cost to translate
- Additional cost for series editor
- Additional cost to redraw sound effects (something Viz still does for the collected editions)
- Printed on arguably higher-quality paper than tankōbon in Japan
- Printed at a larger paper size than tankōbon in Japan
- General printing and distribution costs across an exponentially-geographically-larger country
It's also worth noting that Viz's original (even larger-sized) collected editions were $12.95, and that got lowered to $9.99 when they switched to the smaller "Shonen Jump"-sized "Graphic Novel" standard (which they still use).
Still a Hell of a deal.
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:: [| Kanzenshuu - Co-Founder/Administrator, Podcast Host, News Manager (note: our "job" titles are arbitrary and meaningless) |] ::
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Re: Why are Tankōbon more expensive in the US?
You know it amazes me when you reply to my posts, just goes to show how awesome of a site Kanzenshuu is!VegettoEX wrote: ↑Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:02 pm All of these are specific to Dragon Ball and Viz, but of course many apply to other series and companies, as well, where appropriate:
- Cost of licensing in the first place (Shueisha already owns it, since they made it!)
- Additional cost to translate
- Additional cost for series editor
- Additional cost to redraw sound effects (something Viz still does for the collected editions)
- Printed on arguably higher-quality paper than tankōbon in Japan
- Printed at a larger paper size than tankōbon in Japan
- General printing and distribution costs across an exponentially-geographically-larger country
It's also worth noting that Viz's original (even larger-sized) collected editions were $12.95, and that got lowered to $9.99 when they switched to the smaller "Shonen Jump"-sized "Graphic Novel" standard (which they still use).
Still a Hell of a deal.
Yeah, that all makes sense, and they are an awesome deal. Thanks!
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Re: Why are Tankōbon more expensive in the US?
I agree with VegettoEX, but despite costing more than they do in Japan, they're faaaaaaar cheaper than American comics. There are single issues that cost up to $7 from Marvel and DC. Even with the higher prices, manga is still by far a better deal than comics will ever be.