The Four Color Media Monitor

Anime News Network's gathered information from industry analysts who believe manga's skyrocketing success is here to remain, and makes the following observations:

COVID isolation is not the only factor contributing to manga's growth in popularity, however. Many fans are simply choosing manga over comics produced by companies such as Marvel and DC. This could be for a variety of reasons. Manga is written by one author, as opposed to a company, which allows for more creativity and flexibility, a more consistent art style, and often bolder topics. The internet has also increased manga's popularity, with the availability of reading content online and the accessibility of online forums for fans to discuss their favorite series.

They come close to admitting why manga's surpassing US superhero fare in the mainstream, but it's also because, by sharp contrast, said superhero tales owned by conglomerates seen today are simply of bad quality, continuity's been ruined, as the stories and art become worse and worse. The repeated company wide crossovers obviously aren't helping either, as they're another reason for loss of creative freedom at the Big Two, along with divisive, woke leftist politics. Something which, for now, most mangakas and animators haven't been victimized by, but if their guard is let down, it could happen, and may have happened with at least a few video game producers.

So, good for Japan if they can hold firm on their committment to creativity, but if they falter, they can't be surprised if they too will eventually find more failure than success.

Labels: censorship issues, crossoverloading, dc comics, Europe and Asia, indie publishers, manga and anime, marvel comics, sales