walkin butterflyEd Chavez begins a series of very detailed report cards on various manga publishers, and starts with Aurora Publishing, home of mostly female-focused manga, including josei.

Aurora Publishing tried to rectify that problem. Already a leader in manga for women in Japan, Ohzora’s catalog of josei titles cannot be rivaled. Their titles dominate the josei/ladies sales charts on a weekly basis overseas. And they have literally developed new genres of women’s comics on their own (ladies, young love, teen love, wedding…) throughout their 19 year history. With a pedigree like that I thought Aurora was taking their time to select the best of the best to bring to the American reader. Instead, Aurora turned their focus on how to best reach the North American market. Instead of hitting the ground running with big titles, Aurora launched in the fall of 2007 with three imprints; each focusing on a different sector of the women’s manga audience. The idea itself was quite timely considering the success Viz Media has had with their Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat lines. However, content should be the true measure of success for any publisher let alone their various imprints.


Check back at MangaCast for more report cards.

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