According to the ICv2 Guide #51: Anime/Manga, sales of anime DVDs in North America tumbled by more than 20% during 2007.  The number of anime releases in the North American market also continued to fall, dropping another 21% after a 19% decline in 2006.  ICv2 estimates the size of the North American anime market at $275-300 million (in retail dollars).  The difficulty of ascertaining the scope of mass market anime sales (especially through Wal-Mart, which does not report its DVD sales) makes a precise calculation of the market size difficult.

In spite of declines in both sales and the number of releases, the ICv2 Guide still finds positive signs for the future of anime in America including a growing awareness of anime among American audiences, the eagerness of American anime companies to do whatever they can to shorten the gap between when an anime series debuts in Japan and when it is released in the U.S., and the willingness of those companies to both experiment with new modes of delivery and to devise new lower cost formats.

ICv2's manga and graphic novel market estimates aren't available yet, but it does appear that manga had another strong year in 2007 although its rate of growth is clearly slowing. The major problem facing both publishers and retailers engaged in the manga market remains the proliferation of new titles, which, if publisher projections are to be believed, will be coming at you at the rate of 33 volumes of manga per week.

The new ICv2 Guide also covers the growing number of live action Asian movie releases including in this issue, reviews of two live action films based on popular manga series -- Love*Com, which adapts Aya Nakahara's popular shojo manga, and Death Note, a superb live action version of the hugely popular manga written by Tsugumi Ohba.  In addition to reviews of anime, manga and live action movies by noted librarians, retailers and the ICv2 staff, the new Guide contains anime and manga market report, coverage of the top manga and anime releases for the months of May and June, and ICv2's authoritative lists of 'The Top 50 Manga Properties of 2007' and 'The Top 25 Anime of 2007,' both of which are based on sales for the entire year.

Here are the top ten titles from each list:

ICv2's Top Ten Manga Properties for 2007:

            1.  Naruto

            2.  Fruits Basket

            3.  Death Note

            4.  Bleach

            5.  Kingdom Hearts

            6.  Pokemon

            7.  Vampire Knight

            8.  Fullmetal Alchemist

            9.  Absolute Boyfriend

            10. Loveless

ICv2 Top Ten Anime Properties for 2007:

            1.  Dragon Ball Z

            2.  Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

            3.  Pokemon

            4.  Naruto

            5.  Afro Samurai

            6.  Howl's Moving Castle

            7.  Bleach

            8.  Robotech Shadow Chronicles

            9.  My Neighbor Totoro

            10. Karas the Revelation

For information on the release of ICv2 Guide #51: Anime/Manga, and information on how to get the ICv2 Guide, see 'ICv2 Releases
'ICv2 Guide #51: Anime/Manga.''