As brick and mortar bookstores struggle to bring in faithful customers, the tween and young teen set are finding new reason to frequent the U.S. chains, as they scour the shelves for the latest manga titles. But will manga be able to keep its momentum going, especially as bookstore sales dip overall and the American economy takes a downturn? Greg Thomas, director of research and programs at Emory Marketing Institute at the Goizueta Business School, admits that it is especially difficult to gauge the tastes, loyalties, and predilections of readers.

For now, the graphic novel category, including that of manga, has seen a major bump in sales online, in comic book stores, and at independent and major bookstore chains, even as sales in most other book categories decline. According to Nielsen BookScan, sales of graphic novels are on the rise, up from unit sales of 8,943,000 in 2004 to 14,858,000 in 2007. These numbers seem to belie the overall trends in the bookstore marketplace, with both Barnes & Noble and Borders announcing lagging third quarter results.

But with a following devoted to a favorite manga book series, bookstores may have found a way to bring the readers back in the doors again and again. Gonzalo Ferreyra, vice president of sales and product marketing for VIZ Media, a San Francisco, California-based publishing, animation and licensing company, notes that manga continues to be one of the biggest draws in the graphic novels genre, with the large bookstore chains expanding and enhancing their graphic novel sections to cater to the growing fan base. VIZ Media is the publisher of such popular manga titles as Naruto, Rosario+Vampire, and Death Note.

Ferreyra adds, “There’s no question that many bookstores have seen in graphic novels a chance to attract a new, avid customer, and open their aisles to the enthusiasms of teen boys, (formerly) reluctant readers, goth girls, and many more. What was once at the edge has gone mainstream, and the bookstores are certainly enjoying the ride.”

Drawing in Teen Girl Fans

Riding the graphic novel wave is “shojo manga”, or manga specifically geared to young girls. While comic books have generally been the passion of male fans, the entry of manga geared to girls is helping to boost the overall appeal of the category. While the more traditional titles do dominate the graphic novel bestsellers lists, including Watchmen and Batman, manga, and especially shojo manga, is beginning to make headway into the top graphic novel slots.

According to Nielsen BookScan’s tracking of the bestselling U.S. graphic novels in major book chains, mass merchants, online retailers, and selected independent bookstores for the month of November 2008, twelve manga titles appeared in the top 20. Of the top five titles for the month, a shojo manga title, Fruits Basket (Volume 21), placed 2nd, and Naruto (Volume 32), a title popular with boys and girls, placed 3rd. Shonen manga Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Volume 2 was ranked fifth. (Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh! are both popular kids’ television programs, with additional toy tie-ins.)

VIZ Media’s Ferreyra adds, “While there’s no question that television broadcast boosts the profile of a [book] series, I’m happy to report that it’s not a prerequisite to success.” Other hot shojo manga titles over the past year, he notes, include such entries as Absolute Boyfriend and Vampire Knight, with the latter being the highest debuting new manga series of 2007, and both titles enjoying popularity without broadcast support.

Goizueta’s Greg Thomas notes that it is easy to understand the appeal of shojo manga, given the storylines and the heroes and heroines in these newer titles. He notes, “Old school comics were so much more from the perspective of the male ego—like Superman, Spiderman, Batman and the like. However, from the manga I have seen, there are some titles where women are the protagonists in the tales.”

Still, Ferreyra contends, “The hottest titles at this point, specifically Naruto and Bleach, are considered “shonen”, or boys’ manga, and while there’s certainly a sizable female audience, we also have clear indication that the readers are predominantly tween and teen boys. I suspect that the media has been drawn to the story of American girls, customarily a more avid group of readers than American boys, finally having a comics form targeted to them, with storylines that parallel much of currently popular girls’ fiction. Shojo, or manga for girls comics, is in fact a strong and steadily growing category, and there’s no question that girls are comfortable shopping the manga category, but the total market still skews male.”

Keeping the Fire Going

Building a wide appeal just may be the key to keeping the sales up, especially in a lagging retail environment. Milton Griepp, president of ICv2 Publishing, a Madison, Wisconsin-based publisher tracking pop culture trends, notes, “Manga sales, including both comics and periodicals, were up about 5% to $210 million in 2007, up from $200 million in 2006. This was the lowest growth rate for manga since ICv2 began tracking sales.”

He reasons that manga may have grown too large, and too soon. Griepp adds that manga releases climbed to 1513 in 2007, up 25% from 1208 in 2006. “That rapid growth has squeezed out some of the smaller folks, with publishers like Tokyo Pop having to lay off some staff. But the industry appears to be fine for now.”

Griepp estimates that graphic novels represented about $375 million in retail sales at U.S. and Canadian book and comic book stores in 2007. “Manga represented about 210 million of that in 2007.” And, he does believe that the U.S. market for manga does skew a bit more towards female fans, maybe at about a 60/40 split. But he does add that the number one property, appealing to both young boys and girls, remains Naruto.

To keep the momentum going in the manga genre, Goizueta’s Thomas notes that bookstores and publishers will also need to bring American adults into the manga fold. “In Japan, it is culturally accepted that adults read manga. For the U.S. market penetration to reach close to Japanese levels, the same shift in acceptance would need to occur,” he concludes. Recent U.S. sales of manga books on such things as careers, classic lit, and assorted fiction, do indicate a growing interest in the genre for adults.

VIZ Media’s Ferreyra remains encouraged that there will be an ongoing expansion of the customer base. “It's clear that manga has acquired a strong foothold in American pop culture, and that position continues to solidify,” he notes. “In the next few years, we’re sure to see a broadened definition of what constitutes “manga” to incorporate the dozens of genres that have been popular in Japan for decades--manga for smaller children, manga for grown-ups, manga about fine food and drink…to name just a few.”

Thomas concludes, “Manga has been going strong in Japan for a long time. So, it is my guess that it is here to stay. Extra disposable income for manga may hit a dry spell, but it is my guess that it will continue to be a sensation for as long as the industry can keep turning out decent content.”