VIZ Media Licensed Series Dropped on Manga Stream

[leokiko]

Smart people know that other groups will definitely release it(actually, mangazone already does, Viz did nothing so far) like I said. They won't be encouraged to switch to Alpha all of a sudden, SPECIALLY when one's favorite scanlator got shot down. It's like giving money to someone you hate, why would you do that?

About the rep: Just check their FB page. If I wanted to subcribe, I would take a look at everything I can first. If I went there and saw tons of comments saying shit about Viz, I would certainly not pay them.

Also, these numbers I used express one simple thing: How many subcribers they could have if they weren't so limited to USA/Canada and were faster. I mean, their translations ARE superior and the scans are much cleaner than ANY fansub, since they get it directly from Japan.

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

I've never been to Mangastream, but their response is fundamentally correct. This move is not going to get people to buy Viz's product because Viz is not providing a viable alternative.

On ther internet, people care most about three things - convenience, followed by quality and cost. People pay for convenience more than anything else. iTunes's business model is about having a wide database of highly searchable, immediately downloadable content, which is delivered at mediocre quality, locked into iDevices, and is also fairly expensive (approaching that of what a physical CD might cost per song). Despite the mediocre quality, the locking, and the expense, iTunes has done well primarily because they are convenient. It's the same situation with a few of the video and TV streaming websites, which are reasonably cheap, and provide on average mediocre to crap quality video for your average internet connection.

People can whine and moan about how entitled internet users are to get their manga day of release, in high quality, and whatnot, but that's the bar that has been set, and consumer behavior is not going to change or pay for less, nor are the free scanlators that provide that level of quality and convenience going to go away. It will just get pushed into places where it is harder to control, like torrents.

So how can Viz make money with this sort of competition? By doing the exact same things the scanlators and aggregators are, but better, because people pay for convenience. Viz can easily create a monthly fee or pay per view manga aggregate site with welcoming free trials that will let a reader view entire manga. The trick to competing with the scanlators and aggregates is to be an aggregate and quick releaser as well. The aggregate part is covered by Viz's broad licensing. The site can compete with free scanlators using crowdsourcing: have the scanlator groups do exclusive scans in exchange for site credit or other incentives. They don't need to be employed, and the site provides the communications channels where scanlators can get organized. Viz can replace the fan translations with official ones for the popular series later, and at the same time Viz learns about what is popular and how fans like their manga translated best. Furthermore they can directly advertize physical volumes and other manga and anime related products to a highly relevant market which ought to subsidize the cost of the website quite a bit.

While it won't stop other scanlators from existing or having distributions outside the official site, as long as Viz is the best culmulative and consistent location around, people will pay for it, provided the price isn't outrageous and they offer different buying models for different types of viewers. Finally, scanlators already do the work for free, so as long as providing a little incentive attracts enough scanlators to cover desirable series, they can provide manga rapidly and with more satisfaction at a fraction of the cost of actually hiring translators.

Of course, there will be people who will never pay, despite how convenient Viz makes its site. They aren't Viz's customers because Viz cannot monitize them, and going after them isn't going to stop them. The best Viz can do is hope that one day they will become attached enough to pay for Viz's product rather than waste money chasing after non-existant lost sales.

[leokiko]

Great post there and great idea but.... The main problem is how they are gonna get the release quickly. They have an 2-week difference and there's a reason why. If it's impossible for them to shorten this time, then your suggestion becomes impossible.

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

Great post there and great idea but.... The main problem is how they are gonna get the release quickly. They have an 2-week difference and there's a reason why. If it's impossible for them to shorten this time, then your suggestion becomes impossible.

It's not. I'm advocating a system where crowd-sourced scanlators work as they normally operate which means they provide their own scanlations, wherever they normally get them. The bigger problem will be having the big series release on schedule with the Japanese release (I assume Viz would not be allowed to beat out the Japanese release), which is later than free scanlators that typically release early.

[leokiko]

Great post there and great idea but.... The main problem is how they are gonna get the release quickly. They have an 2-week difference and there's a reason why. If it's impossible for them to shorten this time, then your suggestion becomes impossible.

It's not. I'm advocating a system where crowd-sourced scanlators work as they normally operate which means they provide their own scanlations, wherever they normally get them. The bigger problem will be having the big series release on schedule with the Japanese release (I assume Viz would not be allowed to beat out the Japanese release), which is later than free scanlators that typically release early.

That wouldn't be legal, since MS got the scans before it was released in Japan. It would be a great move by Viz, but I don't think they will do it ;/

[MaitreDétective]

I don't watch any of these anyway

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

That wouldn't be legal, since MS got the scans before it was released in Japan. It would be a great move by Viz, but I don't think they will do it ;/

I don't think there would be any problems doing that way. Getting the scans and releasing them are two different things. Stores get the magazines before they are released after all. Viz can ignore the scanlators getting the scans early as necessary prep time, as long as Viz doesn't release anything English prior to the Magazine's official release.