Society Gaming

In 2016, I received an email from an aspiring manga artist in Morocco. It began like this: “I want to become a mangaka, but there is no manga publishing industry in Morocco.” Many people around the world love manga and read it, but when you look globally, there are many countries where manga is simply not published at all. In some places, there is not even a publishing system(including publishing, translation, and distribution) in place. Even where books exist, the infrastructure for printing, distribution, and bookstores is often lacking, making it very difficult for a true industry to develop. Telling manga fans in those countries, “Your country has a relatively high GDP per capita, so you should buy manga,” is meaningless if there is no actual way for them to buy it. That is something I find deeply painful. Why is it that the manga industry has not been able to properly serve those regions? Even in countries where publishing exists, manga books are often too expensive. The price of a single tankōbon book is $ 15 to $ 20, which is high even in the United States, especially when today’s digital entertainment offers so many alternatives at much lower prices. So, this is why I believe the future of manga is clearly not limited to print publishing, but must include digital services—manga that can be enjoyed in a reasonably accessible and affordable way. If such systems are established globally, I believe the manga industry could grow dramatically. In North America alone, a tenfold expansion would not be unrealistic. Even countries without any publishing tradition could develop sustainable manga industries. Once official digital services exist in each country, they can generate tax revenue, and governments can more seriously address piracy. At that point, creators and aspiring manga artists can also demand proper enforcement and protection. Most importantly, it would create opportunities for local aspiring manga artists. And those opportunities would, in turn, strengthen the global industry as a whole. When a country’s manga ecosystem develops properly, it becomes a cultural export industry. From a government perspective, piracy then becomes something that can and should be actively addressed. The first people to pay for legitimate manga services will, in many cases, be the very readers who once relied on piracy. They are not enemies of the industry—they are its earliest supporters in waiting. Pirated manga readers are not our opponents. They are our future audience. They are proof that demand already exists. In late 1990s Korea, manga piracy was widespread, and attitudes were often very hostile toward paid content. Many believed that paying for manga was unnecessary, or even that the industry itself should not exist. At the time, Steve and I did not fully understand this. We were wrong in many ways. But later, when proper legal services were introduced in Korea, readers were more than willing to support them. They paid for content gladly, and the Korean webtoon industry grew stronger, eventually becoming a major source of IP for film and television. We learned, through experience, that the joy of not paying cannot compare to the deeper satisfaction of supporting and sustaining the culture you love. Piracy users were never the enemy. They were simply manga fans. And all manga fans, in the end, are on the same side. Through our mistakes, Steve and I came to understand this more clearly. What needs to be done is simple: build proper digital manga services. Ensure fair pricing. And most importantly, help each country develop its own manga ecosystem. Because only then can a truly global manga industry exist. And only then can the works we create truly reach the world. To be continued...