Mag Talk Weekly Shonen Jump [2011] - Discussion and TOC Talk - Part 1

[kewl0210]

Well, that's why I used the modifier -ish. I don't think Ao no Exorcist is really great, as you guys put it "extraordinary", but it's pretty good. It does have the whole "magic school" thing and is trying to build a world with rules of magic and evil forces (in recent issues) and a hero who has a pseudo-celebrity status like HP. But I didn't mean it's similar in the way it feels like everything feels totally real, connected, and every facet is important or interesting on top of the story being told with foreshadowing and a huge world-outlook feeling.
Course, it's only, what, about 30 chapters long? Fullmetal Alchemist didn't feel that big when it was only 30 chapters long either. It could possibly get to something like that level, who knows.

In the 6 months by volume chart, V12 of Toriko sold 330K. The next two volumes had come out but hadn't been out for as long.
And yeah, Ao no Exorcist only has 6 volumes. A series that runs in a monthly magazine generally has far fewer volumes per year. 9-10 weekly chapters make up a volume and 4-5 monthly chapters make up a monthly volume. Varying on the publisher and stuff. Plus the first two chapters are generally longer than normal.

The fact that Shingeki no Kyojin got really popular when it only had 3 volumes I think contributed to it shooting up so fast, also. Because people could easily buy the entire series. Course, it had to develop a fanbase and get world-of-mouth popularity before that could happen.


Also, don't expect anything to suddenly "beat One Piece". If you look at any statistics on One Piece it's almost absurd how far in first place it is. One Piece is the best selling manga ever, and just keeps getting more popular. Especially so since Strong World came out and it started setting "largest ever first printing" records. If anything's going to rival it, it's not going to be until it's been around for over 10 years. One Piece is like a part of the culture it's so big. Like, there are life-size versions of the Straw Hats ship and stuff like that out there. On top of having like 20 video games, all the movies, and a bunch of other stuff they put a ton of production value into.

 

[Negative Syndicate]

When people say that Ao no Exorcist feels like FMA's successor, or that it has a Harry Potter-ish feel, I don't really get it. In my opinion AnE isn't like FMA at all, and it definitively don't give the HP feel. The biggest different is that you can feel the greatness of the magic world in HP, while the stuff that's happening in AnE feels pretty normal. I can agree to the statement that AnE appeals more to the fantasy-oriented audience though.

I think people saying AnE is successor of FMA because its tank sales are getting high and getting closer to FMA's sales (FMA was highest selling shonen manga series in monthly magazine, and AnE is also serializing in monthly magazine); and not saying AnE is FMA's successor because they are similar.

Furthermore, there is series that actually much closer to become successor of FMA than AnE is Shingeki no Kyojin. AnE increased its series because it had boost from the anime. However, SnK doesn't have any boost (except getting lots of cover and color pages), but its average tank sale is already much higher than AnE. So, when SnK has boost (like animation), then I think SnK is able to reach FMA's place before AnE.

For Toriko, I think it is too early to compare it with One Piece. One Piece already has been serialized for more than 10 years and Toriko only has been serialized for 3 years. It is kind of foolish to compare between these two. And we should wait little bit longer to see the result of anime boost of Toriko (well, I agreed that it is little bit disappointing, when it compare with AnE).

For Nurarihyon, I think its tank sales didn't increase much after its anime aired because the time slot is bad for shonen series. Nurarihyon's first season animation aired at late night (1:44 am) and I think many teenage fans are unable to stay awake until this time. However, its second season actually have good time slot, going to air at every Sunday at 5:30 pm (right after AnE); it now has much better time slot than its first season. So, I think Nurarihyon's tank sales can increase more than before.

 

[Suzuku]

Couple things, 1 is that Ao no Exorcist has far fewer volumes to work with. It only has 6, and the anime is only gonna go for like 24 episodes or so most likely. But because of that it's easier for people to buy the whole series.
But Toriko got ranked 10th on the series in total sales over the last 6 months and Ao no Exorcist wasn't on the list.
Also, Toriko's anime ratings have been going up. The last two weeks were at 7.8, after having been around 6.5 for a while. It's certainly doing well. It's only about a point and a half below One Piece right now on average.
And the last volumes came out just right as the anime started to air. Like, less than a week since the first episode aired. You can probably expect the next volume to go up now that the show's actually started for a while. Not all series explode all of a sudden, some get popular gradually.
I mean, I said this stuff before, but people keep saying "it didn't suddenly get super popular so that means it's gonna get canceled and go downhill" and things like that when it's getting high ratings and ranking 1st place in the TOC. It just seems a bit silly to me.

The number of volumes don't usually affect whether at least vol 1 increases in sales. Even when there are a lot of tanks out, people can still buy a couple specific ones, specifically vol 1. The fact that Toriko has very little gain from the anime says a lot. As far as ratings go, the latest episode only scored a 5.5%, which is very bad for its timeslot. Even 6-7% ratings are not good for the timeslot it's in, and it runs the risk of being cancelled if it does not eventually reach 8-9% ratings.

Also, AoEx did rank on the quarterly sales list.

18　*1,350,072　青の祓魔師

And that's before the sales started jumping up 30-40k a week. It will probably out-sale Toriko in the second quarter of this year. Don't mean to knock Toriko, but it just seems that the anime is failing in its goals right now.

When people say that Ao no Exorcist feels like FMA's successor, or that it has a Harry Potter-ish feel, I don't really get it. In my opinion AnE isn't like FMA at all, and it definitively don't give the HP feel. The biggest different is that you can feel the greatness of the magic world in HP, while the stuff that's happening in AnE feels pretty normal. I can agree to the statement that AnE appeals more to the fantasy-oriented audience though.

I may sound a little negative about AnE now, but I'm not. Actually I really enjoy it

Is it just me that don't see any similarity's between AnE and FMA/HP?

When we say AoEx is its successor we mean in the situation it's in, not that the stories are similar. It's airing on the same slot as FMA (technically the spiritual successor of FMA's slot; FMA aired on Doroku or 6pm Saturday slot, while AoEx airs on Nichigo, or 5pm Sunday slot, which replaced Doroku), both are Shounen from monthly mags that are being funded/co-produced by MBS, both are distributed by Aniplex, and both were series that only sold around 150k copies before their anime and received a huge boost after the airing of the anime.

Furthermore, there is series that actually much closer to become successor of FMA than AnE is Shingeki no Kyojin. AnE increased its series because it had boost from the anime. However, SnK doesn't have any boost (except getting lots of cover and color pages), but its average tank sale is already much higher than AnE. So, when SnK has boost (like animation), then I think SnK is able to reach FMA's place before AnE.

I wouldn't compare Kyojin to FMA, because Kyojin has gained such sales even before an anime has been announced, while FMA didn't start selling a million copies until after the anime aired.

However, its second season actually have good time slot, going to air at every Sunday at 5:30 pm (right after AnE); it now has much better time slot than its first season.

Small correction. AoEx airs on MBS while Nurarihyon airs on Tokyo MX.

 

[Akiyama]

Dois Sol ended, I looked at the chapter. Nura is getting 31 pages in issue #29 from Sasaki's twitter.

 

[Westlo]

I wouldn't compare Kyojin to FMA, because Kyojin has gained such sales even before an anime has been announced, while FMA didn't start selling a million copies until after the anime aired.

Exactly... Kyojin's popular prior to getting an anime is a completely different level than FMA and AnE. Heck Kyojin could break the million mark before getting an anime...

AnE and FMA are compared because they went from minor hit manga series into the next big thing due to the anime. AnE has been going from strength to strength while still mostly in the setup phase, wait for Episode 11 to come out!

Blue Exorcist is the next big thing for Shueisha, it's what they would've wanted Toriko to have been. I really don't see Blue Exorcist not challenging Naruto's sales in the future...

 

[CannedJam]

Wow. Seems like the odds are stacked against Toriko...at least in here. I can only see this series becoming a hit. By this time next year Toriko will still be running on TV while AnE will have ended. Not to say that it'll go silent once the anime is over, but it just looks like Toriko is set up for long-term success.

 

[perroloco]

Well, I imagine if Ao no Exorcist does become that popular the mangaka could change to WSJ so the manga's story progresses quicker? Sure, its unheard of but it could happen..
Also.. Does anyone have any info on Beet the Vandel Buster or Claymore sales prior/after their anime releases?? I think they are the closer thing to Ao no Exorcist?

 

[Zeromcd]

According to chapter 158 of Nurarihyon no Mago that was released this week, the series has now sold over 9,000,000 copies.

 

[SoulEaterFreak]

Dois Sol ended, I looked at the chapter. Nura is getting 31 pages in issue #29 from Sasaki's twitter.

Show it to me and I'll believe it =P Just saw it until chapter 16..


- Alright, I saw it. Dois Sol was shorter than Light Wing with only 17 chapters o_O

 

[Negative Syndicate]

By looking at this week's issue, I think Hokenshitsu is heading to its ending and it seems Sengoku is trying to wrap up.

 

[Kubukurin]

How much is near the end for Shinigami?

 

[Negative Syndicate]

How much is near the end for Shinigami?

I think maybe around two or three chapters, but I might be wrong since there are two more series that is doing worse that Hokenshitsu.

 

[xi0]

Well, I imagine if Ao no Exorcist does become that popular the mangaka could change to WSJ so the manga's story progresses quicker? Sure, its unheard of but it could happen..
Also.. Does anyone have any info on Beet the Vandel Buster or Claymore sales prior/after their anime releases?? I think they are the closer thing to Ao no Exorcist?

They moved DGM to SQ to bolster sales, there's no way they'd take a legitimate hit and take it out of SQ. They're dying for more hits to increase circulation.

 

[Westlo]

By this time next year Toriko will still be running on TV while AnE will have ended.

And at the time AnE will still be selling vastly more copies for its tank releases.

 

[CannedJam]

And at the time AnE will still be selling vastly more copies for its tank releases.

In a perfect world, maybe. The only thing certain for this time next year is the AnE will have ended. Although, that's not written in stone either, is it?

 

[Maxy Barnard]

It would certainly be a mistake to declare either Toriko or Blue Exorcist as a superior series at this point in time. especially as A) they're not competing and B) the true deciders over the success of any one series can only truly be noticed upon the series completion

 

[Galactic Tomahawk]

I agree, they're not even in the same magazine and both are doing fairly well for themselves.

It's not like one's gonna collapse because the other's doing better.

 

[Rejuvenation]

Its not a big deal if Toriko isn't exactly the next One Piece right off the bat. OP was the #1 manga in Jump for a while now, but we do need to remember it wasn't until recent years that each volume was getting at least 2 million in sales and it had a stronger choke hold on the top spot of the ToC. Half a decade ago it was one of the biggest series but not in the God-like heights it has reached since then. To expect Toriko to match One Piece's pace exactly is unrealistic. We are talking about a once in a generation-type series here in terms of accomplishments. Those don't just grow on trees even when the full weight of Shueisha is behind it.

 

[Samui]

Wait, there was an anime announcement for Kyojin?

 

[saladesu]

No there wasn't, though one can't be too far off with how well it's been doing so far. It's too new to have one yet, though, not nearly enough to animate a season with. What people are comparing is that Shingeki no Kyojin has managed to get phenomenal sales despite not having been turned into an anime yet. Once it does, it's very likely that its sales will skyrocket further and pose a much greater threat to Shueisha's series than it already is.