Kodansha Brings Tokyo Tarareba Girls to Print
I’m glad that digital distribution makes it easier for companies to bring certain manga titles to the English language market, but as a fogey, I have to admit I much prefer reading a book to flicking pages on my tablet. So I was glad to hear Kodansha announce that one of their digital series I was particularly interested in would be coming to print in summer of next year.
Tokyo Tarareba Girls, by Akiko Higashimura, creator of Princess Jellyfish, has had eight volumes released digitally so far (out of 9 total). It’s a josei manga about three unmarried women in their thirties, one of whom is determined to get married in the next six years.
Also coming to print Summer 2018: the painfully-hilarious comedy from Princess Jellyfish creator Akiko Higashimura, Tokyo Tarareba Girls! pic.twitter.com/cmhtYDlDi8
— Kodansha Comics (@KodanshaUSA) October 9, 2017
I don’t really understand the concept of using digital sales to determine whether something will be popular enough to bring it to print. I would imagine that it would be harder to release if a good part of your audience already “owns” the books, but apparently I’m wrong about that. Maybe digital readers still want to build a library on visible shelves, or maybe translating for digital means that that cost has already been recovered, so the profit margins for the print version have more leeway. I don’t know, just speculating. Regardless, looking forward to reading this josei comedy next year!