Kuroneko003's English License Wishlist

Have you noticed the serious lack of manga licensing in the US over the past year or so?  It seems like the only titles that have been recently getting licensed are BL, moe, or ancient titles that have already had their runs 10 or 20 years ago.  None of the recently licensed titles, with the exception of "Dawn of Arcana" and "The Earl and Fairy" from Viz's Shojo Beat, line have interested me.  This is pretty sad considering that I have money to spend.  I have no idea what's going on, but it feels like the Japanese publishers are withholding content.  This is a weird way to do business, but it's their business and their choice to leave money on the table. A girl can dream though.  So here's the beginning my US English license wishlist (not including OS titles, because of course I want those licensed):

• Shitsuji-sama no Okiniiri  (The Fave of Mr. Butler) by Rei Izawa
• "Hana no Kishi" ("Knight of Flower") by Mai Nishikata
• "The Midnight Secretary" by Tomu Ohmi
• "Yanki-kun to Megane-chan" by Miki Yoshi-kawa
• "Kyou Kara Maoh!" by Tomo Takabayashi and Temari Matsumoto
• "Migawari Hakushaku no Bouken" by Mimori Seike and Isuzu Shibata
• "Baroque Knights" by Maki Fujita
• "Tou Long Merry Rose" by Ritsu Miyako
• "Corset ni Tsubasa" by Naoko Moto

Some of these I've read and others, I've only flipped through.  These are just the ones off the top of my head.  I'll be working on an ongoing list that I may add a as permanent page on this blog.  What are some of the series that you would like to see licensed in your country?  Please share :)
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Links to other Wishlists:

• Heart Crusader's List

English Licensed Manga Removed from Aggregator Sites

Well, it's begun...So far I've noticed that series licensed by Viz have been removed from MangaFox.  Good for Viz!  I know some of you who read scanlations are quite upset and I feel bad for those of you who cannot access these series without scanlation.  Viz, though, has to protect its market in the US.

Hopefully, once the manga aggregators purge their sites of licensed series, the pressure will be relieved and we can continue to enjoy series that are new outside-of-Japan or too niche-y to license outside of Japan.
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Update:  It's interesting to see what manga/manhwa rose to the top after of the popularity stack after MangaFox removed the Viz licensed titles.  Most of the top series are Shoujo.  Honestly, this seems quite healthy to me because many of these titles I've never explored and now that they are exposed, maybe I'll give them a read.

Scanlation Crackdown Group Formed

Here's an article about it from Publisher's Weekly.  Yikes, everybody...so you haven't been buying the books...hmmm...Actually, I know this very well, since NONE of you have bought a book from Amazon through the links I provide and less than .1% of you even click on the links.  All of you understand that "free" is not a business model.

Well, I certainly don't do scanlation to hurt the publishers or the artists and I'm sad to see that consumers will not pay for their favorite manga titles when they do become available for purchase.  At the same time, manga at ~$10/volume, in the US, costs way too much for the target audience.    Also, there's the problems of most US publishers being several years behind the Japanese release for manga series and don't let me get started about the space and tree destroying issues associated with multiple volumes of a series.  Sigh...it's all messed up and it will get even more messed up as lawyers are brought on board.  I really wish there way for us to all get along.

Anyhow...so the important thing to come up with is what to do about what's going on.  I want to continue to introduce manga series that are not available in the US in hopes that they do become licensed so the artists can make some money for their labor.  I, too, would like to make money for my labor translating it. On the licensed manga front, I have removed Arakure ("Wild Ones") from my blog, however, I cannot control distribution on the manga aggregation sites.  I will, though, take the step to no longer upload any of my translations of US licensed manga to any manga agreggation sites.  I also will start removing my translations of "Ouran High School Host" from my blog.  To the extent that I feel comfortable, I will continue to translate "Ouran," until the series ends.  But I may consider a time limit for the postings.  What can you all do?  You can buy at least one volume of your favorite manga series, also, on the publisher's website, make your desire for electronic manga known. Let the publishers know how much you are willing to pay for it.  Set their marketing experts' and business people's expectations correctly.  I will say, sooner or later, we all will have to pay.  And if we don't pay with money, then we will pay with personal information or we will pay by having to waste our time looking at advertisements.

What do you think?