Manga's Boom in North America Has Caused a Major Shortage

Manga has been around for a long time, and its popularity in North America is nothing new. The [...]

By Megan Peters

Manga has been around for a long time, and its popularity in North America is nothing new. The medium has ebbed and flowed over the years, but manga has certainly turned its sales around in the last decade. After a pitfall in 2012, manga is recording all-time high sales in North America these days, and a new report is here to detail how those sales are creating shortages.

The whole ordeal was laid out by ICv2 as the organization recently reported on manga's new sales record in North America. The industry racked up nearly $250 million USD in 2020 which blows the previous record from 2007 out of the water. Of course, these sales are great for publishers, but a slew of issues are keeping them from re-stocking hit manga titles.

Chainsaw Man Anime
(Photo: Shueisha)

According to ICv2, the whole issue is coming down to transportation delays, port congestion, and shipping inflation. When it comes to print, a lot of material is needed to bring anything from manga to novels to life. Everything from paper to ink and even machinery is needed to bring manga volumes into existence, and that is if the volumes aren't imported themselves. All of these supply chain woes have existed for years per the report, but the ongoing pandemic has exacerbated the issue as a whole.

ICv2 even spoke with Kevin Hamric, the vice president of publishing sales at Viz Media, to get more information on the situation. It was there the executive said printers have been pushed to max capacity to meet the demand these days, but that can only do so much. Hamric said job positions haven't been able to be filled "in a timely manner" given the pandemic.

From labor gaps to supply delays, the entire publishing industry is feeling the strain these days, and manga is biggest medium to suffer. After all, even the biggest retailers from Amazon and Barnes & Noble are suffering wide stock shortages. Series such as Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and My Hero Academia are worth their weight in gold given the current shortage. But thanks to publishers like Viz Media, there are robust digital services that can deliver manga to fans while they wait on re-stocks.

What do you think of this manga shortage? Have you had any issues nabbing volumes in stores? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.

HT - ANN

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