ICv2's latest Retailers Guide To Anime/Manga provides an overview of the state of the markets at the three-quarter pole for 2003.  While the proliferation of anime titles has led to some cannibalizing of sales, with the number of titles growing faster than the overall market, the manga marketplace is still in 'full boom' mode.

The stellar growth of manga sales in bookstores has quite naturally led to an increasing number of publishers producing manga titles for the American market.  Japanese-backed companies such as Gutsoon Entertainment and Broccoli have entered the field in 2003, and the anime packager and distributor ADV has already had an impact on the marketplace with its first wave of titles.  Another key player in the anime market, Media Blasters, is reportedly planning its own manga line, and next year, the first mainsteam American publishing house enters the fray as Del Rey unleashes its line of new Kodansha manga.

Manga titles aren't just coming from new publishers, they are coming from new continents.  Tokyopop has led the way with its Rising Stars of Manga series, which features North American artists working in the manga style, and Dark Horse has just signed up Fred Gallagher and his popular Megatokyo title.  Of course Amerimanga pioneer Ben Dunn continues his fine work and his previous publisher Antarctic Press also publishes a list of manga titles by American artists.  DC Comics published what is perhaps the most successful of all American mangaesque titles, Jill Thompson's Death: At Death's Door, which did very well in both the comic shop and bookstore markets.

But the most successful non-Japanese manga titles (judging from American bookstore sales) are from Korea.  The new Retailers Guide To Anime/Manga examines the Korean phenomenon in a separate article, 'Manwha -- The Korean Alternative,' which runs down the most successful Korean manga franchises.  How successful are these Korean titles?  On the BookScan Top 50 list of graphic novels sold in bookstores for the week ending September 7, 2003, there were twice as many manwha titles in the Top 50 as there were American graphic novels.

For a much more detailed analysis of both the anime and manga markets, see the ICv2 Retailers Guide To Anime/Manga #4 (for information on how to obtain this invaluable tool, which is free to all retailers, see 'ICv2 Releases Retailers Guide To Anime & Manga #4').