208 - 4 More Years - 4 year Anniversary Special with Ryan Higgins

Please join us for our special 4 year anniversary of Manga Machinations! We’ve asked our friend Ryan Higgins from the Comic Conspiracy store and podcast to join us as we talk about the comics industry through a retail store and learn how manga is sold!

Follow Ryan Higgins on twitter!

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Timestamps: 

• 00:00:00 - Intro Song: “New Stranger” by sora tob sakana from Hi Score Girl, Opening, Introductions, tropical storms
• 00:04:34 - Update on our podcast feed and re-uploaded episodes
• 00:05:42 - Listener Emails: Announcing our next Retrospective review
• 00:09:05 - dakazu read the end of Dorohedoro, we discuss other ongoing decade-long comics and manga projects
• 00:13:13 - We talk about our preference for physical or digital media, comparing web manga sites to their Western equivalents
• 00:23:23 -  Main Segment Comics & Manga sales: Transition Song: “Don’t Make Me Wild Like You” by Etsuko Nishio from Ranma ½, Ryan recaps his history that lead him to be the owner of Comics Conspiracy, Ryan talks about the single issue sales of Ranma ½
• 00:27:56 - We discuss what we think caused the recent resurgence of the manga market
• 00:33:10 - Round table discussion about manga/anime piracy linked to early days of fan translations compared to modern options
• 00:38:52 - Ryan tells us why he only carries the 1st volume of most manga, he explains the importance of pre-ordering for retail stores
• 00:49:45 - Banpresto figures sell really well, Ryan looks at newsletters and forums for his manga suggestions
• 00:54:13 - darfox wants to know why Ryan stocked My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, Dragon Ball is the best selling manga franchise for Ryan
• 00:59:46 - we love it when more unknown manga find success
• 01:02:56 - darfox wonders if the Western success of One Punch Man and My Hero Academia is linked to their superhero themes
• 01:08:39 - Ryan weighs in the rise of digital comics/manga releases and what it means for physical retailers like him
• 01:13:49 - Listener Questions: Ryan recommends some independent comics and horror comics
• 01:18:59 - A quick synopsis of the Comics Conspiracy podcast
• 01:22:58 - Ryan want to know why light novel titles are so damn long
• 01:33:36 - darfox asks Ryan about Tom King’s The Vision
• 01:40:28 - Next Week’s Topic: Seamus on Seinen, Social Media Rundown, Sign Off Song: “wish men” by sunbrain from Beet the Vandel Buster