Coincidentally, Viz has redesigned its online store, and it does seem like an improvement. Viz's press release promises easier navigability and better search functionality, and a couple of quick tests seem to confirm those claims. Viz's manga titles are listed by imprint on the store's front page, which is handy, and there are some web-only discounts running down the sidebar.
There are a few odd things going on. Clicking randomly through series, it seems like some volumes from some series aren't available. (Just at a glance, some with only partial runs available are Kekkashi, Aishiteruze Baby, and Maison Ikkoku. Poor Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs and Yakitate!! Japan aren't there at all yet.) Maybe Viz is still finishing up its listings, but that seems like something that should be corrected as quickly as possible. If a publisher is going to have an online store, which is never a bad idea if it isn't going to be too burdensome to manage, then the publisher should have its entire catalogue available for purchase.
That seems particularly important for the C list titles. If a book is having trouble finding space on bookstore shelves, then it's not unreasonable for a customer to seek it out online. The publisher's online store might not be the first place they look, but a certain percentage of them will wind up there sooner or later, and it would be best not to discourage them in their inquiries.
And speaking C list titles and the Viz store, there seem to be some missed opportunities to give those books a push. Viz's best-selling properties (Naruto, Death Note, Bleach, and the like) tend to eat up most of the front page's visible real estate. I'm guessing you would have to work pretty hard to find retail markets where books and DVDs from these properties aren't available. It's not a bad idea for a publisher to brand itself with its successes, but why not use their rising tides to lift a few dinghies in the process?
I'm thinking about something along the lines of Amazon's "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought…" widget, but with a more activist bent. I'm not all that crazy about suggestive selling, but I'm less bothered by it when it's in service of underperforming but worthy books. Offering discounts on those C list books with purchase of an A list property might be a good idea as well.
Does anyone know how to turn off the "Possibly Related Posts" function on WordPress? I kind of like to have a say in what's linked from my blog, and this surprising feature makes me a little uncomfortable.
Updated: Found it. It's under the "Extras" link in the "Design" category of the dashboard.
There's a nice mix of promising items in the May 2008 Previews catalog. Let's take a look, shall we?
It's Go! Comi for the win this week, with new volumes of three of my favorite series arriving simultaneously.
I've almost run out of good things to say about Setona Mizushiro's After School Nightmare, which is probably one of the best Japanese comics currently in release, and certainly one of the best examples of the shôjo category. The cover of the seventh volume, due tomorrow, is particularly creepy for regular readers of the series.
While the second volume of Yuu Asami's A.I. Revolution didn't have quite the same feeling of discovery I found in the first, it was still a lovely reading experience. It's got a sweetly old-fashioned feel as it explores the relationship between humans and robots. The robots are hunky, the humans are quirky, the stories are comforting and varied, and the art is gorgeous.
Train + Train, by Hideyuki Kurata and Tomomasa Takuma, got off to something of a weak start, but it's become one of my favorites over its six-volume run. Likeable kids Arena and Reiichi get more education than they bargained for as they travel across a teaching planet on the "Special Train," learning lessons in the form of dangerous missions. I'm not sure Takuma ever fully realizes the visual possibilities of this set-up, but the development of characters and themes is strong.
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