From ANN –
Manga Sales in Japan Decline for Fifth Consecutive Year
Figures released by Japan’s Research Institute of Publications show that sales of manga in Japan fell to 481 billion yen (about US$4.1 billion) in 2006, a decrease of 4% from the previous year…
…the Reseach Institute for Publications also found, sales of manga for mobile phones are rising…
Ray’s take: Are we witnessing the slow exitinction of traditional media formats? Anime companies are having problems selling DVDs in US, and the sales of printed manga has been dropping. However, one thing that I do agree is the fact the plots get boring as hell. If one sees the 1000th moe maid cafe waitress with super powers fighting for love, justices and keeping her clothes on, one would get really tired of it.
Of course, I’ve never gotten tired of a little ecchi, but I have never been a hurry to go out and buy them, either. BTW, I like Claymore, Black Lagoon, D.Gray Man (but it’s turning shonen battle cliche), and this manga titled (in Chinese): 終極感應, translates into English it’s roughly: Ultimate Sense/awareness [Editor’s Note: The English title that the author came up with is “Until Death Do Us Apart”. No it’s not romance. It’s about a blind swordsman in today’s Japan, a secret organization fighting crimes, and a 12 year old girl who has the ability to predict some of the future.]. These all have excellent plots and great characters. The drawings are good, too.
