Entry tags:

dmp, june, oaklashuppan, pwcw, shinshokan, taiyo pub

Spinal Tap ~ What Does Co-branding Mean?
Being a mangavore I need only a few things to live a happy and healthy life. I need daily servings of manga and I need a balanced menu of manga. Getting manga isn't a problem. With so many volumes released every month the MangaCast is never concerned about shortages. What I occasionally worry about is variety. A healthy manga industry needs a number of publishers, genres, distributors, licensors and readers. And a healthy industry means a healthy MangaCast office.

PW's Comics Week's Kai-Ming Cha reports on what could potentially be a huge deal where Digital Manga has gone into a co-branding deal with three Japanese pubs. In this new deal DMP, mainly their June and 801 lines, would place the logo of their imprint along with the appropriate Japanese publisher logo on the spines and back-cover of books.

Los Angeles manga publisher Digital Manga Publishing has entered into an unusual co-labeling contract with three Japanese publishers—Shinshokan, Oakla Shuppan and Taiyo Tosho—under which all titles licensed by DMP from these publishers will carry the original Japanese publisher's logo as well as the DMP logo.

The three companies are known primarily for their boys’ love, or yaoi, titles. DMP expects to publish 10 books under this co-labeling agreement this year, with many more planned for 2008. The first book will be published this month: Kashinfu by boys’ love mangaka (writer/artist) Makoto Tateno will feature both the DMP company logo, along with the Japanese publisher’s logo on the spine, back cover and inside of the book.

There is a lot more to the deal than that though. KM goes on to note that the partnership will have DMP representing properties for all three publishers in multi-media and merchandising negotiations. DMP will also provide space at events for the publishers to promote their books. So DMP will essentially share a large booth/pod with Shinshokan, Oakla Shuppan and Taiyo Pub at media events like the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, AX, SDCC and NYCC in 2008 (no word on YaoiCon as of this moment). Add to that potential web-sites, web/cell distribution and it almost sounds like an exclusivity contract.

Now if you were to read PW's piece you might think deal this would not really help DMP with diversity. "The three companies are known primarily for their boys’ love, or yaoi, titles." But truth is that one of those three pubs is known for much more than that.

A little bit on the pubs...

Taiyoh Tosho is by far the publisher of the three that is least known in the west but it has plenty of potential for DMP. Taiyo Pub is the manga division of the larger Taiyo Group (a company that runs a handful of businesses including lifestyle mooks -EGG, GUNNER, Craft, ANIMA, HertZ and Sabai Thai-, ero media - Taiyo Shobo (which includes magazines URECCO and gal), idol goods publisher - AQUAHOUSE, tabloid publisher - Million Pub, and magazine publisher - Wailea Pub).

Manga from Taiyo is print under two lines from Taiyo -B's Garden and Hero Books- which both fall under a single imprint Million Comics. Hero Books tend to be omnibus re-releases of 70's and 80's titles like Kamen Rider, Transformers and Ultra Brothers. Having personally bought some of these I can say they repackage these series with great care but releases are very infrequent as their catalog is pretty small.

Now if you think of Taiyo manga you will most likely be thinking of their BL line - B's Garden. Under B's are the HertZ, ANIMA and craft anthologies where all of their BL manga and some content for their light novels come from. These are different from most manga anthologies of this nature as they as these are not considered magazines they are technically books. "Original BL" craft comes out every two months and is possibly their best known. Titles Lost Boys, Il Gatto Sul G and You and Harujion came from here. "Super Hardcore BL</b> B's ANIMA is a seasonal release that regularly features famous artists Sakurai Shushushu and Yamada Yugi. Most of Taiyo Pub's licensed properties at one point or another ran in this anthology. Finally, "Styish & Sexual" HertZ also is a seasonal collection for established artists like CJ Michalski, Nitta Youka, Yamashita Keiko and Nanase Kai.

While three anthologies might sound impressive, Taiyo is not very big in manga (only 100 vols total). They actually have many more BL novels than they do manga tankoubon. Their novel line has 144 titles and DMP could really expand their own novel line by tapping into that catalog.

The anthologies that Taiyo releases are also very intriguing. They are similar in format to what DMP did with J*Boy. Releasing craft might be tough since it comes out so often, but imaging if DMP could negotiate a release of seasonal HertZ for June or B's ANIMA for 801.

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The smallest of the three is Oakla Shuppan. A fully-owned subsidiary of ero manga publisher Outou Shobo, Oakla Shuppan has outgrown its parent company and has branched out to BL manga, magazine publisher and they also hold Japanese rights to a number of Star Wars novelizations as well as SpongeBob Squarepants Fanbooks. Outou Shobo has made a living on alternative interests. Oakla's magazines include French bulldog mag BUHI, Korean entertainment magazine Koreal, and the idol mook series U-15 STAR.

Outou's manga is split into two halves. The larger half belonging to the much older Oaks Shuppan home of Oaks Comix and Comic OX. Oaks Shuppan also releases BL parody anthology collections (similar to the Comic Party (CPM Manga) and Galaxy Angel Party titles). And then there is the half that DMP is interested in from Oakla Shuppan, Aqua Comics. Aqua might not seem very big; it is the only manga magazine Oakla releases (incidentally there is also a Novel Aqua magazine). But this line has more than 700 volumes of BL manga, 800+ volumes of BL novels and 25 of what they call BL CDBooks making it one of the bigger catalogs in BL. Their manga line has a great mix of titles and genres. Aqua is also one of the few publishers experimenting with bara (they publish the anthology Nikutaiha.

The list of licensed Aqua titles is very long. I'll drop a few just to give you all some references...

Manga - A Doctor's Rule (DQ), DASH! (June) Empty Heart (DQ), KaShinFu (June), King of Debt (801), LOVE Share (June), Maiden Rose (DQ), My Dear Sweatheart (DQ)...
Novels - Caged Slave (June), Body Language (June), Sweet Admiration (June)

This might not be a large publisher but Aqua's decade plus of experience gives them a huge catalog that has a number of intriguing properties for a company like DMP. Manga, novels, anthologies and CDbooks could all fall into DMP's multimedia and merchandising plans.

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The gem of the three is Shinshokan. Contrary to what PW says, Shinshokan is not primarily a BL publisher. Of the three, this is a publisher that is almost mainstream. It is still a relatively small publisher but unlike the other two this pub because it releases manga for mainstream demographics, shojo and josei in particular, its manga is sold at most manga retailers. Shinshokan has been around in some way or another since 1961. The publisher is best known for its Wings and Dears manga lines, but they also sell a number of ballet and figure skating magazines, books and videos.

For the longest time Shinshokan was one of the only purveyors of josei and mature shoujo in the west. Well read mangavores know Shinshokan's major titles - Antique Bakery (DMP Books), Demon Ororon (TOKYOPOP), the Devil Within (Go!Comi), Dragon Knights (TOKYOPOP), Earthian (BLU), Princess AI (TOKYOPOP), Princess Princess (DMP Books), RG Veda (TOKYOPOP), Tokyo Babylon (TOKYOPOP), Vamire Game (TOKYOPOP), Young Magician (CMX)... They are well aware of the quality of title that comes from Shinshokan's Wings, Novel Wings and josei gag magazine Un Poco. Stories are more mature than what is available in Nakayoshi or Ciao and the art is just as good or better.

Looking for BL and you turn to Dear+. I have had manga loving friends of mine laugh at me when I suggest that shojo readers transition to josei by reading BL. I got the idea through Shinshokan. Wings, Dear+ and Un Poco in that order. Dear+ titles make up a good chunk of June's library. Because the publisher is more mainstream the titles are not very graphic but Dear+ should be considered a good introduction to the wild world of BL.

Most of DMP's non-BL titles (you know the DMP Books line) consists of titles from the 650+ volumes of Wings Comics. No one has touched any of their 50+ Un Poco releases. And as noted before DMP has gone to Shinshokan's 200+ volumes of Dear+ Comic quite a bit in their young career.

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Historically, DMP has had good relations with all three. Outside of a couple releases from DramaQueen most of Taiyo's licensed titles have come from DMP. But where things get tricky is with Oakla and they get very complex with Shinshokan.

Oakla Shuppan has dabbled a bit more in this market; with announced licenses split almost 50/50 between two pubs (things might change after YaoiCon next month). DMP and DramaQueen each have a good number of Oakla titles. What this could mean for future DQ relations is still unknown.

Shinshokan is much more complex. If it were only BL, DMP's JUNE would be in good shape and other pubs might be able to live with that. BLU would have been hit the most from this move. However, Shinshokan is a mainstream pub and they have worked with a number of licensees in the west including large pubs TOKYOPOP and CMX. The large number of titles could give DMP a great chance to expand their tiny DMP Books line. These mainstream titles could be quite attractive to TV and film in the west (apparently Antique Bakery has had film inquiries). The merchandising and licensing money could come from these titles and knowing that I am surprised to see this mid-major pub (Shinshokan) partner up with what is essentially a niche pub (DMP) when DC or TP could have given them more exposure. But then again the added bonus of US representation, labeling, web services and sharing event space might not have been matched by larger companies.

If exclusivity is not part of this deal I almost wonder how much DMP would benefit here also. Titles like Antique Bakery and Cafe Kichiouji de could make nice movies and generate revenue for the company (if options are sold). Some of the other titles, Heroes are Extinct and Princess Princess don't look like prime time properties in this market. Getting access to those other titles would be critical.

When looking at Japanese news about this deal I have noticed that they are comparing this to deals such as Viz with Shueisha/Shogakukan and Del Rey with Kodansha. To them this deal is about allowing Japanese pubs more presence in a new growing market. Distribution and increased cooperation over content are also key points that should not be ignored. While I don't think labeling is that big a deal (actually I think it might be confusing especially since DMP already has a series of imprints) it is control over how those licenses are handled that might be more important.

Licensors are now much more active in the production process. They check advertising and promotional methods more than before. Licenses cost more now and there is more competition than ever before as more licensors come online in the States and abroad. They don't want to be in positions where they are regretfully handing over properties that could be managed poorly. So for smaller pubs to get a strong hold on another growing market, this could be a new revenue stream if handled properly. Then again two of these pubs are niche, so their options are limited already. Exclusivity could hurt them as exposure would be limited to another single niche pub.

I have to agree with Simon, the comparison to SquareEnix is not the best one. SquareEnix at SDCC did have that stamp rally for manga, but the company dedicated a small portion of their booth to those properties. And what was manga was only licensed titles. They did not openly advertise unlicensed properties as Sigongsa, Haksan and Daiwon CI have in the past. Instead SquareEnix used most of its space to push video game and anime properties that they are better known for. They would want a reader to know that they are behind Final Fantasy and Violin of Hamlet. A company like this, which is not a major manga pub, is trying to get recognition for a smaller division by promoting the fact that they are one of the biggest names in video gaming. Shinshokan cannot say that, but if they wanted to publish manga on their own like Ozhora then they'd have name recognition. And I am sure DMP wouldn't want that.

Personally don't see anything really wrong with this deal, but calling this a co-branding deal seems too ambiguous. Without confirmation on exclusivity there things I can't say if a mangavore like myself would get heartburn or if should give in and belly up to the new DMP smörgåsbord.

No exclusivity:
Shinshokan can still work with bigger fish like TP, CMX and potentially Yen Press (maybe Del Rey). More control. More exposure internationally.
Oakla and Taiyo can still work with other niche pubs and potentially get better licensing fees. More exposure internationally.
DMP has to devote more resources to handle the added needs from these pubs. They are not guaranteed the best licenses but they can make full use of licenses they do get. They also get to work in the Japanese market (don't know if there is a big market for english manga out there but...)

Exclusivity:
Shinshokan loses out on bigger distribution. More control. More exposure internationally. Because of its more diverse library could use this as a platform to go on their own.
Oakla and Taiyo become two small parts of a growing catalog of DMP pubs which include Tokuma, Frontier Works, Tokyo Manga Co, Kaiousha, Houbunsha and Kousai Shobo. Very little potential for growth. Labeling helps their books stick out from that busy crowd more but could mean little to readers, for in this niche artist names are more relevant than publisher logos. License fees could stagnate. More exposure internationally.
DMP locks up more than 1000 volumes of manga and another 500 volumes of light novels. They can represent these titles in the west for merchandise and media licensing. They can also continue to grow their shojo and josei libraries with Shinshokan's mainstream titles.

In the end for me the pluses and minuses are based on the pairing. How BL is that?!