Manga covers for 2005

[telophase]

Here's a montage of 49 of the top 50 manga (plus one novel - Vampire Hunter D) covers (I couldn't find #29 on Amazon.com, so there's a white space marking its place). I have no OMG WOW insights, but a couple of observations.

List from Love Manga, where David loves crunching numbers. :D This is from the direct-sales market - comic book stores - and not bookstores. (which is interesting in reference to the number of shoujo series in the top 50, I think, since the market at comic stores tends to be more male and bookstores more female. We'll see how it looks when David posts the bookstore list. :D)



(Key to the covers at the bottom of the post)









I was surprised at the prevalence of cool colors, especially in the first couple of rows up there. And before you start telling me it's 'cause they're all shoujo, note that the two covers of Berserk are pastel, and Ghost in the Shell and Battle Royale have a lot of cool colors, and Samurai Executioner tends to the desaturated.

What's also notable is what's missing - there's only one with green on it (Fullmetal Alchemist 3), and none with bright yellow. One of the Hellsing covers has a mustard yellow on it, which is a bit overshadowed by the BRIGHT RED on the rest of the cover. Very little bright blue, except, again for FMA 3 and a couple os spots on a couple of the Rurouni Kenshin covers. Except for FMA at the #1 spot, red as a major accent doesn't even come in until #12 and #17.

There's only a couple of covers with more than three characters on them, and most have one or two, and none set a real scene, if you understand what I mean. Which makes sense, because the mroe characters and the more surroundings, the more detail, and you can't make it out from a distance.

OK, my brain is hurting now, so I'll leave it at that for now. What do you guys see?



---------
Key:

Position Title Publisher
01 Fullmetal Alchemist vol.01 Viz Media (May 3, 2005)
02 Fruits Basket vol.07 Tokyopop (February 1, 2005)
03 Samurai Executioner vol.03 Dark Horse (January 26, 2005)
04 Fruits Basket vol.10 Tokyopop (July 31, 2005)
05 Fruits Basket vol.09 Tokyopop (June 30, 2005)


06 Fruits Basket vol.08 Tokyopop (April 30, 2005)
07 Ghost In The Shell 02 vol.01 Dark Horse
08 Naruto vol.06 Viz Media
09 Fruits Basket vol.11 Tokyopop
10 Dead Boy Detectives DC


11 Samurai Executioner vol.04 Dark Horse
12 Hellsing vol.06 Dark Horse
13 Megatokyo vol.03 Dark Horse
14 Naruto vol.07 Viz Media
15 Fruits Basket vol.12 Tokyopop

16 Fruits Basket vol.01 Tokyopop
17 Fullmetal Alchemist vol.03 Viz Media
18 Samurai Executioner vol.05 Dark Horse
19 Berserk vol.06 Dark Horse
20 Naruto vol.01 Viz Media

21 Samurai Executioner vol.06 Dark Horse
22 Naruto vol.02 Viz Media
23 Warcraft vol.01 Tokyopop
24 Berserk vol.07 Dark Horse
25 Naruto vol.05 Viz Media

26 DN Angel vol.06 Tokyopop
27 Trigun Maximum vol.04 Dark Horse
28 Battle Royale vol.11 Tokyopop
29 Tim Burtons NBX Manga Disney Press (could not find the cover anywhere)
30 DN Angel vol.07 Tokyopop

31 Samurai Executioner vol.07 Dark Horse
32 Battle Royale vol.12 Tokyopop
33 Battle Royale vol.13 Tokyopop
34 Hellsing vol.07 Dark Horse
35 Berserk vol.08 Dark Horse

36 Rurouni Kenshin vol.10 Viz Media
37 Trigun Maximum vol.05 Dark Horse
38 Naruto vol.03 Viz Media
39 Vampire Hunter D vol.01 Dark Horse
40 Fruits Basket vol.02 Tokyopop

41 Rurouni Kenshin vol.11 Viz Media
42 DN Angel vol.08 Tokyopop
43 Naruto vol.08 Viz Media
44 Naruto vol.04 Viz Media
45 Rurouni Kenshin vol.12 Viz Media


46 Negima vol.05 Del Rey (March 29, 2005)
47 Inu Yasha vol.21 Viz Media (April 12, 2005)
48 Fruits Basket vol.03 Tokyopop (June 1, 2004)
49 Rurouni Kenshin vol.13 Viz Media (April 5, 2005)
50 Rurouni Kenshin vol.14 Viz Media (May 4, 2005)

Comments

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

To me, the Fruits Basket, Samurai Executioner, and Battle Royale really stand out from the rest of the crowd. I can't tell you exactly why - perhaps is the strong geometric elements, perhaps it is the overall simplicity of the design, perhaps it is the use of a more subdued palette.

And I'm about as unbiased a judge as you can get - I read no manga at all, but those are the covers to which /I/ would be drawn.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

They pretty much also have one character with a strong silhouette that isn't obscured by the background or major design elements. The only other one that really comes close to that is D. N. Angel volume 6 (#26), and he's got the title slapped over the top of his head, obscuring his silhouette. Hm.

[keelieinblack.livejournal.com]

It probably doesn't mean anything, but I was amused that the in first four rows, all the title blocks (with the exception of Naruto) are at the top of the cover, and then when you hit the fifth row there's a sudden shift downward.

I know it's because there are more Viz books in that row and they're freer with the title location, but it was definitely something that jumped out at me.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

*snerk* You're right, I hadn't noticed that. :D

What would be really useful is to get an equivalent set of the 50 *lowest* selling manga, but somehow I expect that'd be impossible. XD

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

After staring for some time, I think the ones that catch my eye the most are the ones with single figures on the front. Fruits Basket, with the pastel colours, lots of white and the T shaped pattern on the front, catches my eye the most and even though its title lettering sort of fades into the background, that layout makes it very recognisable. Samurai Executioner with the block layout is eyecatching too, although kind of dull at the same time. And Hellsing with the red upside down L shape is striking.

Naruto's horrible orange lettering really jumps out too, although, especially the two on the bottom row.