Viz vs. Tokyopop

[HaNeul]

So. Viz or Tokyopop, which do you think is better, and why? Since I'm not able to read Japanese, nor would I have any access to original Japanese copies of manga anyway, I can't really compare an original copy to an english-translated copy, unless I somehow found a scanlation on the inet, which I usually don't. Which company has more accurate translations, and which one doesn't try to edit a manga so that it's suitable for first graders? Yes, that was an exaggerration, you know what I mean...

[Yuy Ren]

well... usually.. what tokyopop is translating and publishing.. viz isn't...and vice versa. And also... Tokyopop seems to be the one translating most of the manga being translated..... so do you really have a choice?

[ShinobiSquirrel]

TokyoPop licensed some shounen-ai manga, so I like them a whole lot. Viz seems to have a few problems in translating according to some of the other people...

[HaNeul]

I realize that the two companies do not translate any manga that the other company has already lisensced. Another choice that I could have, if I was desperate, is that now that I think about it you could buy almost anything on the inet. I bet that if I searched, I could find a place that sells original copies of Japanese manga, and I could try to learn the language, or I could use other webpages that have translations of that manga. Of course, I wouldn't do that if I knew Viz and Tokyopop had accurate translations and didn't change the story. But opinions seem very much divided. There are those who swear that the companies try their best, the story is completely unchanged, and the translation is as close to the Japanese original as can be. Others say that the manga is horribly butchered and has many differences compared to the original version. However, from every opinion that I've read, Yuumei on the s-c discussions message board is the only one who ever gave an example (you probably already read it, but just in case, she said that Viz, in a Hikaru No Go scene, altered an image to erase a cigarette). The dozens of other opinions I've seen either just say 'I love it' or 'It sucks. Die, die die!'

I still can't really judge Viz, still, from erasing a cigarette, becasue Viz is divided into several sections, such as Shounen Jump and Shoujo, and there might be the possibility that some sections are more geared towards older teenagers, or at least they have ratings where manga for older teenagers would be categorized into. If Naruto from Shounen Jump was butchered, but Fushigi Yugi from Shoujo was not, then maybe I would save some money and buy Fushigi Yugi from Viz, but buy the original Japanese copy of Naruto online.

So it seems like I've created this thread due to pure selfishness [img]biggrin.gif[/img] which is partially true. But I'm also genuinely curious. Otherwise, I wouldn't spend time searching on the inet for info on Viz or Tokyopop.

[Mikochan]

I saw one of their Fuushigi Yuugi books. Ugh. they flipped the art for that one and it made it strange that Miaka was stabbed in the heart and had the wound on her *right* side. >_> Singapore's starting to do English translated manga too and they've picked up Fuushigi Yuugi anf Fruits Basket along with some others. I haven't seen their FY yet but I think they did a pretty good job on Fruits Basket considering they've just started doing English translations not long ago... [img]tongue.gif[/img] and their manga is so much cheaper than Viz or Tokyopop-- I'd say 50-60% cheaper ^^

[HaNeul]

Viz published Fushigi Yugi volumes one through eight with the art flipped, then they started publishing volumes nine and onward in the original format, and they're releasing volumes one through eight again in a 'second edition,' with the artwork unflipped. Problem is, I had already bought volumes four through eight in the flipped version, so I'm debating whether or not to buy the second edition versions... Why do they flip the artwork? Leaving it unaltered would make their editing process so much easier, anyway -.-; In the flipped versions, they said they had to rewrite Tamahome's character on his forehead every single time, which means that they did that for all the other celestial warriors also, I'd assume.

[miyun]

Singapore's doing Fruits Basket?! *dies of happiness* i'm going to buy cheaply priced fruits basket!... waiiiiii [img]graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/heart.gif[/img] *coughs*

uhm... anyway, i was thinking.. about the two publishers Viz and Tokyopop.. both have their good points and bad points, i guess. ._.'' Tokyopop has TONNES of typos and stuff, and viz has less, it hink... but they take ages. both of them used to do flipped manga anyway, but tokyopop's stopped, and Viz has a few that don't go flipped.

i don't much care either way, as long as what they do is a good job and not butcher things... which is a lot to ask. ._.'''

[crystalgryphon]

As a general rule, I'd suspect that the quality of any given project at either company depends on 1. the particular staff working on that specific project and 2. the extent to which the marketing department is sticking its oars in (which is what would have happened with Hikaru no Go). In other words, you're going to get both good and bad product from each company . . . but if you really hate (or like, for that matter) the way they treated a given title in particular, *tell them so, and explain why* (ideally by snail-mail--they'll take that more seriously, and stamps aren't all *that* expensive). Their customer base isn't that large, so they might listen to some extent.

(Yeah, I'm not all that optimistic either, but snail-mailing them is marginally more constructive than just griping about them here.)

Viz's contact info: http://www.viz.com/about/contact/
Tokyopop's contact info: http://www.tokyopop.com/aboutus/contactus.php

Gryphon, who seems to have roughly equal amounts of manga by each company.

[Jackrum]

Really, I'd have to say that both companies have improved immensely over quite a short period of time. Looking at Fushigi Yuugi for example, the fact that they even considered flipping the images back to the oiriginal, right way, shows that Viz aren't completely the cold-hearted manga-raping bastards we sometimes condemn them as. But the censorship? Dude, there is no fucking excuse for editing out a goddamn CIGARETTE, like they did in HnG. I mean, Christ. If a kid's gonna be as stupid as to start smoking if he or she sees a cigarette in HnG, then the little tard is going to do it anyway, HnG or no HnG. Therefore, I'd have to say that at their current stages, I would prefer Tokyopop to Viz. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[jadey]

i agree...the companies have come a LONG way from even just a year ago. i mean the manga section in my local walden books and borders...is soooo much bigger than it used to be.

they do edit a lot out...and they do change translations..but if u never read or saw the originals then u dont really know what your missing. and the story isnt really changed that drammatically. i will always prefer scanlations over viz or tokyopop. i mean if the teams on the net were the ones working for those companies...im sure quality would go up 10 fold...cuz i think they put much more care into it.

however if you're reading a brand new series...you dont know the difference right. i mean i refuse to buy angel sanctuary. i was about to buy it untill i saw how crappily mutilated it was. instead i buy mangas where i cant tell if they were butchered or not.

but quality has been consistently going up i think, and i believe it has something to do with the companies coming in contact with threads like these. i mean..thank god the price went down from like 17$ to 10$. i buy so much more manga now...its really rediculous. i should stop now haha.