TOKYOPOP’s Manga Player site is just one of the many new technologically enhances ways that comicbook publishers are getting their content to customers. © TOKYOPOP.

Comicbook publishers and distributors of comic-based animation — particularly those involved in manga and anime — are starting to test new technologies such as mobile phones, Internet streaming and video on demand, both as means of marketing and distributing their properties. Initially, these steps are viewed mainly as a way to promote the primary printed or video product, but eventually they may become alternative distribution channels, generating revenues from subscriptions or downloading fees.

In general, manga and anime property owners are ahead of the leading U.S. comicbook publishers — Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse — in experimenting with these technologies. The main reason for this is that the core manga/anime customer tends to be an early adopter of advanced technologies such as broadband, digital television and smartphones, all of which make transmission of graphics-driven and animated content possible. For example, virtually 100% of U.S. anime/manga distributor Central Park Media's customers already had DVD players two years ago, according to John O'Donnell, CPM's managing director, while only about two-thirds of the populace at large owns such a device today. Traditional comicbook publishers tend to target a more mainstream, younger audience, which is less likely to have the technological capability to receive comics through nontraditional channels.

Mobile Manga
Cell phones have become one area of interest to manga/anime content owners. ShoPro Entertainment, an anime licensor and U.S. affiliate of ShoPro Japan, a subsidiary of Japanese publisher Shogakukan, did a deal with mobile content provider Sorrent to distribute wallpapers, text messaging and games tied to its property Inuyasha, a top graphic novel series with more than 30 million copies purchased worldwide. U.S. publisher VIZ, a sister company of ShoPro, has sold more than a half million copies each of Inuyasha DVDs and graphic novels, while an animated television series airs during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. Sorrent was interested in Inuyasha "because of the vast fan base and the natural connection between wireless users, manga readers and gamers," says Monika Salazar, ShoPro's director of marketing for North America. ShoPro also has several wireless deals pending in Europe.

CPM recently signed a deal with mobile marketing company Zingy to provide images from The World of Narue and several other of its properties for downloadable mobile wallpapers. Consumers can access the images at Zingy.com and from mobile phone operators including AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless and Nextel, as well as from the AOL, MSN and MTV Websites. CPM is talking to European companies about mobile deals as well.

John O’Donnell, CPM’s managing director, and Mike Kiley, TOKYOPOP’s vp of operations, are both vying to leverage their company’s content to tech savvy fans.

"We're in the experimental stage right now, but it's certainly worth checking out," says O'Donnell, who notes that cell phone content licensing is a big business in international markets. Although cell phones are certainly a means of promoting properties, O'Donnell points out that it is not yet known whether mobile licensing will become a revenue-generator for manga or other comicbook publishers. For example, will consumers be willing to pay for mobile wallpapers and, if so, how often will they want to change their screen's look by purchasing another image?

Internet Initiatives
Comics-based content owners also are experimenting with streaming and downloadable images, both still and animated, on their Websites. The main purpose is to preview comicbook, graphic novel or DVD titles that will become available soon. TOKYOPOP — which, like its competitors, has done sub-licensing deals with companies for cell phone and PDA distribution, and has a deal pending for mobile wallpaper images — recently introduced its online Manga Player. As Mike Kiley, TOKYOPOP's vp of operations, explains, the Manga Player allows consumers to view a 30-second Flash animation clip and 10 to 20 sample pages (usually a complete chapter or story arc), with art, from the company's graphic novels. About half the books featured on the Player have been published, while the remainder are upcoming titles. Customers can link to the main TOKYOPOP Website, where they can order or pre-order copies of the previewed novels.