Manga you wish was licensed

[gunswordfist]

Heh, I suspected it was still ongoing.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's strange to me how Hokuto no Ken and Guyver were never completed by Viz despite how both mangas got live action films in the 90's. Does anyone know exactly why Viz dropped them?

Viz tried to release FOTNS twice back in the day, first in 1989 and then later in 1996. Ultimately, the sales just weren't and they only got through roughly five volumes worth of content. Raijin Comics tried to do it later in 2002, but that attempt also failed, so badly in fact Raijin abandoned the american comics market entirely afterwards. The series has three strikes going against it at this point, so unless a new anime adaption comes out and becomes really popular, the chances of another attempt by anyone is pretty slim I'm afraid.

Fist of the North Star would go over great these days, but yes, it needs a new anime first before a new license would happen. I've been saying that a series that ends with the final fight with Raoh, cuts the filler, and has sharper pacing, would go over really well. Especially if someone like David were the ones to do it. I'm actually kind of amazed it's never been done again.

I just hope the same can happen with Ushio and Tora. Some might ask why don't I just learn Japanese and import the various series I wish were licensed. It's not that I don't want to learn Japanese, I'm just not in a good place in my life to really take the time to learn a new language and importing stuff can be very expensive.

Ushio & Tora depends entirely on the anime's success in NA at this point. If it gets a TV run, it's dub is really good, and is as successful as it by all rights should be, only then will the manga have a chance. It's my #1 most wanted license over here, but even I have to admit that it's not that likely to be picked up as it is right now.

Now, if Viz could let smaller companies sub-license series they don't want to invest money in that would be a whole other kettle of fish. They're sitting on sole licensing rights to series that could do well enough with less risk to them. I mean, there are series that could do well and would certainly sell better than stuff like Big Order but aren't getting the opportunity.

The other chance is if Souboutei is licensed and does well enough that they look into the author's previous works. However, considering that Sunday titles are rarely licensed these days, it doesn't look likely. A series written by the writer of Full Metal Alchemist wasn't enough to even be considered for licensing. I can't imagine a series by an author who has never had exposure over here is going to stand a chance.

[gunswordfist]

I just want the show's art to be Tetsuo Hara level.

[Spark Of Spirit]

If it was David, they would probably keep it pretty close in style. I can't imagine it looking much different than the design style in Phantom Blood or Battle Tendency.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

As cool as a FOTNS adaptation by David would be, I kind of want to see them do Sakigake!! Otokojuku first, since that series only got the first quarter of its manga adapted into an anime, and I feel like they would nail the style.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That's a good choice for them. I watched some of the old anime ages ago and I think it holds up really well from a comedic standpoint.

On the other hand, I'm not quite sure who could do City Hunter justice these days. It's not really the type of thing you see much in anime form, especially within the last ten years.

[gunswordfist]

EDIT: Better video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq3JYmkmDhk It's ALMOST time!!!!!!!

[Markness]

Why is it when a company like Viz stops publishing a certain manga, it'll be announced that the latest volume will be the final volume for that series  but the reason for ceasing publication will never be announced?

[VLordGTZ]

Why is it when a company like Viz stops publishing a certain manga, it'll be announced that the latest volume will be the final volume for that series  but the reason for ceasing publication will never be announced?

It's implied that Viz dropped those series due to low sales and did not view it financially viable to license more volumes.  Viz did this to a number of series during the 2009-2011 period when the US anime/manga market was in a "drought" (Zatch Bell was an exception since that was due to Raiku's dispute with Shogakukan).  It's usually not a practice Viz does anymore as most of their pickups now are series that they have safe confidence in their success or that they can break even on.  At their worst, they slow down the rate of new releases for series if they aren't doing great.

[Markness]

Oddly enough, I didn't notice the manga drought until later on. I was actually getting into manga seriously when it happened so I didn't see anything suggesting the market was shrinking until I starting seeing how some Tokyo Pop series were disappearing from the shelves as well as seeing some books getting briefly solicited on Amazon but never coming out.

I also read somewhere that if Viz announced the series wasn't selling well, the mangaka could sue them for defamation. Is there any cases of this happening?

[VLordGTZ]

I also read somewhere that if Viz announced the series wasn't selling well, the mangaka could sue them for defamation. Is there any cases of this happening?

I don't think that has happened before as far as I know.  From a business perspective, it's usually a bad idea to talk about how bad a series is selling while it's still being released.  Even with Viz's worst selling manga titles like Firefighter!, I don't believe they directly said how badly it sold until after they finished releasing the entire series (which they only did because of contractual obligations to Shogakukan).

[Markness]

I wonder if maybe Viz cancelled Guyver because they may have been hoping the movies would boost the sales of the manga but it looks like the movies didn't generate interest in the manga on a wide scale. One of my friends didn't even know there was a Guyver manga, just the live action movies. Maybe it was the same with Hokuto no Ken?

[VLordGTZ]

Guyver, like a lot of 80s manga, never really seemed to catch on over here.  Though, it probably would have done decently well if Viz had attempted to re-release it around the time of the 2005 anime.  It's a real shame since I know the series has a small but extremely dedicated fanbase in the US. 

Fist of the North Star seems to be one of those series that a lot of people are aware of, but aren't interested in checking out.  Even if they do, they tend to be more interested in the anime rather than the manga since American audiences had far more exposure to that.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm pretty sure FOTNS would be huge if someone like David Productions simply made a new anime with sharper pacing and the filler (and post-Raoh material) gutted. Like Ushio & Tora, Parasyte, or JoJo, it needs to be brought back into popular consciousness before a full on manga release were to happen. It also helps if the manga doesn't require a time sink of an investment to re-release.

Speaking of which, was the Parasyte manga ever licensed? If not that was a huge missed opportunity.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I think part of the problem with FOTNS is that the first couple of volumes just aren't very interesting. Speaking personally, I wasn't really hooked on the series until the Jagi arc and it's everything involving Raoh that makes the series truly great. Viz never got to where Jagi showed up in both their attempts to publish the series before poor sales forced them to stop, and the anime never had much exposure either, so FOTNS never really had a chance to really take off in the west. I agree with Spark that if it had a new anime adaption that gave it more exposure there'd be more of a market for a dated-looking and fairly slow-moving manga like FOTNS to get relicensed and given a full release.

Speaking of which, was the Parasyte manga ever licensed? If not that was a huge missed opportunity.

Parasyte was licensed by Tokyopop back in the mid-90s and they fully released it. It even ran in their Mixxine manga magazine alongside the likes of Sailor Moon and Magic Knight Rayearth, believe it or not. Del Ray acquired it after Tokyo Pop went under in the mid-2000s, and after they went bust Kodansha USA has had it since 2011, so the series has always been in print in the U.S. since the mid-90's.