Bookslut talks with Anne Ishii, director of marketing and publicity for Vertical, and learns what separates the publisher from manga giant Tokyopop:
A couple things set us apart from TP. No part of our staff is anywhere as youthful as theirs. Like their head honcho, Stuart Levy looks like he could be Bono’s nephew, whereas our president wears boat shoes. I think their books are marketed to a reader that’s young enough to be what would have been my first child had I decided to have it. Alright I’m being glib and making stuff up. Sorry.
No but seriously, youth is one big difference. That also means profits are a big difference. You said yourself, they are a giant and we’re more like…well, we’re like Japanese people. Am I being glib again? Sorry. Well, so youth and profit are the biggest differences. Is that tautological? Like saying that big dude over there is big, and I’m five-two so that’s the difference? Ironically, I think we probably have about the same ratio of fan service shots. Though again, their fan service shots are of young girls. Ours are of Buddha’s mom.
Vertical publishes translations of Japanese comics and prose, including Osamu Tezuka’s Apollo’s Song and Buddha, Keiko Takemiya’s To Terra, and Koji Suzuki’s Ring Trilogy.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Now, now, don’t go dissing Buddha’s mom. She’s a looker.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Anne says Vertical’s people aren’t youthful, but she’s still young enough to be my daughter. And for anyone who still believes the stereotype of meek, quiet little mousy Japanese and Japanese American girls, Anne blows that right out of the water. And she ain’t dissin’ Buddha’s mom, dude, the fact she’s a looker is why Tezuka drew her with fan service. She just isn’t a preteen girl.