~~ the long-brewing manga rant -.-
Apr. 13th, 2005 10:53 amOkay, so... one of my favorite new manga has just gotten licensed after only 2 chapters having been translated by a newly founded company of fans... and I'm pretty upset. I could try to explain away this reaction & try to rant about how annoyed I am that licensing is supposed to be this great thing, but it's not like the licensed yaoi manga is cheap & easily available, is it? It's not like new issues come out monthly like with normal comics, is it? It's not like it's $2.95 per issue like with normal comics (which are already barely affordable to a young person), is it?
And all right, this particular manga is only one volume and if it was available right now, I'd buy it... but there's no release date set, and... it just upsets me that this is supposed to be a happy event or something, sharing yaoi manga with English-speaking fans, yeay, except it's already being shared. So the only positive is money being made, right... and I'd rather buy the Japanese-language manga and learn Japanese than pay American companies for it. Maybe I'm just being stubborn and unreasonable... okay, I know I am, but. From what I've seen, the fan-translated mangas are often better-looking than the professionally-made ones, and they don't translate Japanese suffixes and some basic terms as much, which makes it cuter. And then there's the more annoying problem of really low distribution and having to buy it online or hunt for it, and not being able to just get it in my comics store like I'd get most things.... Annoying.
See, it's really not about the money, it's the principle of it, that's what bothers me. I've spent oodles of money on comics & books in my life, so no one can accuse me of just wanting to freeload or something (well, I do, but I've certainly spent way, way more than enough anyway, and by 'more than enough', I mean I spend most of what I can possibly attain on books/comics/art & food and that's it). It's the propaganda, like, 'yeay, you're paying the artists so now they're more encouraged to make more! aren't you happy you're supporting the corporate support of artists? we all know you are!!' And I just seethe in frustration. I'm not happy, I just accept that's how it is.
( Rawr. )
And all right, this particular manga is only one volume and if it was available right now, I'd buy it... but there's no release date set, and... it just upsets me that this is supposed to be a happy event or something, sharing yaoi manga with English-speaking fans, yeay, except it's already being shared. So the only positive is money being made, right... and I'd rather buy the Japanese-language manga and learn Japanese than pay American companies for it. Maybe I'm just being stubborn and unreasonable... okay, I know I am, but. From what I've seen, the fan-translated mangas are often better-looking than the professionally-made ones, and they don't translate Japanese suffixes and some basic terms as much, which makes it cuter. And then there's the more annoying problem of really low distribution and having to buy it online or hunt for it, and not being able to just get it in my comics store like I'd get most things.... Annoying.
See, it's really not about the money, it's the principle of it, that's what bothers me. I've spent oodles of money on comics & books in my life, so no one can accuse me of just wanting to freeload or something (well, I do, but I've certainly spent way, way more than enough anyway, and by 'more than enough', I mean I spend most of what I can possibly attain on books/comics/art & food and that's it). It's the propaganda, like, 'yeay, you're paying the artists so now they're more encouraged to make more! aren't you happy you're supporting the corporate support of artists? we all know you are!!' And I just seethe in frustration. I'm not happy, I just accept that's how it is.
( Rawr. )
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