The year 2023, despite its share of expected manga news, begins with bad news for lovers of the genre: most publishers increase their prices as of January 1. This concerns the giants (Ki-oon, Kurokawa, Glénat, Pika), more modest companies (autumn, Taifu), but also new market players (Mangetsu).
“A publisher is never happy to raise their prices, because we know readers will have to make decisions,” recalls Ahmed Agne, Ki-oon’s boss. Kana and Panini, which already increased last July, are maintaining their prices for now. No increase is expected at Vega-Dupuis, Delcourt, Akata, NaBan, Imho and Sakka. Contacted by BFMTV, Crunchyroll declines to discuss the issue.
Amid an explosion in sales, the manga industry has been grappling with paper shortages in recent months that have prevented it from republishing wildly popular titles. The situation only got worse. Sappi Papier, one of the largest paper manufacturers in Europe, increased its prices by 8-10% at the end of September. Not to mention factories closing down or specializing in cardboard and packaging, which is more lucrative than paper.
“We are no longer in a position to negotiate”
Added to this crisis were the increases in the raw materials needed to print a manga (fuel, energy, ink) and the costs of transportation and storage. The main increase in printing prices (20-30%) comes from the energy crisis, inherited from the war in Ukraine, which has been going on since last March. All these are factors that force publishers to increase the price of their books.
The situation was already difficult last year, but many publishers made the decision to wait “in order to prepare [les] upstream readers”, specifies Satoko Inaba, editorial director of Glénat Manga. It is also impossible to announce a price increase while publishers went all over the media to congratulate themselves on the extraordinary sales of the manga.
Released in the spring of 2021, Mantegsu couldn’t afford not to communicate its increases. “It would have sent a very bad signal not to say anything,” confesses its collection director, Sullivan Rouaud. One year later, the situation is untenable: “We are no longer in a position to negotiate anything,” said Ahmed Agne, who until now had never touched the price of a published series.
The symbolic threshold of 7 euros
The challenge of this increase was to avoid exceeding the symbolic threshold of 7 euros for titles that cause a sensation among adolescents, whose budget is not extendable. “It was the most complicated equation,” admits Ahmed Agne. In Glénat, the Shonen blockbusters One piece, tokyo revenge, crazed, Bleach, dr stone either Dragon Ball thus go from 6.90 to 6.99 euros.
“We didn’t want to cross this psychological threshold,” says Satoko Inaba. “We know that our most popular titles are in the lower price category. But we had to do it a bit. As it is a low-cost product, the manufacturing price has a very important part in the final price of the item.”
The threshold has been crossed in Pika (Fairy tale, The attack of the Titans), Kurokawa (Spy x Family, one punch man) and Mangetsu (ao ashi), which will now offer its flagship shonens for 7.20 euros. “We made an inventory of our prices,” says Marie Vautrin, Pika’s manager of relations with booksellers and distributors. “We didn’t want to increase for the sake of increasing.”
Ki-oon resists. Long the cheapest shonen blockbuster on the market, my hero academia it will be offered at 6.95 euros instead of 6.60. the same for me jujutsu kaisen (sold so far 6.90). However, no publisher is afraid of losing readers. “I don’t believe for a second that we will sell less than my hero academia Y jujutsu kaisen“, says Ahmed Agne. “But they will make decisions on future launches.”
trim margin
On the other hand, greater increases are to be expected in titles aimed at an older audience, with greater purchasing power than adolescents. Lovecraft’s Masterpieces Gou Tanabe’s increases by one euro and Junji Ito’s (in Mangetsu) between 2 and 5 euros. “The debate is whether the book has the right price compared to what is on the market,” says Sullivan Rouaud.
But as Stéphane Duval, the head of the Black Lizard, points out, these price increases do not fully benefit the publisher: “Increase in one euro the midnight canteen. But it is not a euro in our pocket, but about 40% of a euro in our pocket. Because there is also the part of the bookseller”, specifies who will launch a collection in small format and at a low price next year (at 8.50 euros).
And these new prices do not cover all increases. In order for shonen blockbusters to remain accessible products, publishers are forced to cut their margins a bit. “If we wanted to be comfortable, my hero academia it would not be at 6.95 but at 7.50”, specifies Ahmed Agne. “We prefer to take a little bit of our margin to be able to contain this increase to the minimum possible”, adds Satoko Inaba.
Maintaining a wide margin is the strategy adopted by Pika for several months. “The increase had to be significant, for there to be an impact on our part. We looked at the increase that made it possible to cushion the increase in costs. That’s why we went from 6.95 to 7.20”, confirms Marie Vautrin. The publisher also took the opportunity to increase several of its historical series that ended a few years ago.
Recent releases, such as the reissue of Rokudenashi Blues, were also offered at launch at a high price to anticipate the rise. “When we launched it, we had already set a price that we could maintain without having to increase it six months later,” says Marie Vautrin. “In our calculations we had taken into account the increase in energy, transport and raw materials that there would be.”
“The End of Recess”
Added to this is another issue: increasing prices while maintaining the quality of the paper. “We will not lower the quality of the paper,” insists Satoko Inaba. “If we have to choose other roles, we will choose similar ones.” Same story with Ki-oon: “We don’t want it to be the double penalty.” And to add: “In all transparency, I hope this is a speech I can still make a year from now.”
The fear of paper becoming a luxury product is present. Especially since “there are no signs of improvement, in any area”, reacts Sullivan Rouaud. “The situation is worse than last year and it keeps getting worse. The costs will not stop increasing. I think there is an element of anticipation in raising prices to absorb future disappointments that we could have in 2023.”
“Aren’t we going to have to raise again in six months or a year?” asks Ahmed Agne. Added to this is the possibility, after the rebound in 2020-2021, of a 10-15% drop in sales in the next two-three years: “We are not going to complain, because we will always be +95% compared to 2019″. , but it will be a little bit the end of the break.”
Source: BFM TV
