Disney Comics in Japanese

[redotakuking]

Hello everyone! As someone who has been learning Japanese for quite a while, I've been wanting to find some Disney comics in the language, but aside from Kingdom Hearts adaptations (no slight to KH, it's great) and a few others pickings seemed slim. I did some research recently though and found out that there are a good few out there! Some particularly intriguing ones are a pre-war Donald comic where Donald's name is Gaasuke instead of the typical Donarudo and a series of bilingual Mickey books, but the thing that caught my attention the most was this magazine of Disney comics. I've tried to find some more info on them or a place to buy them, but it seems difficult. From the photos I've been able to find at places like Yahoo Auctions, they appear to have a mix of translated comics and Japanese original ones. Another nice find was a hardcover set of translated Mickey comics, which, had I not already spent a good amount on comics this month, I might've bought. My question after all this is, do you all have any more info on Disney comics in Japanese, and do you know where to find more of the magazine issues?

[Ramapith]

Feb 26, 2023 16:45:49 GMT redotakuking said:

The thing that caught my attention the most was this magazine of Disney comics. I've tried to find some more info on them or a place to buy them, but it seems difficult. From the photos I've been able to find at places like Yahoo Auctions, they appear to have a mix of translated comics and Japanese original ones.

I can tell you all about this series!

The magazines you show were published by a Japanese affiliate of Egmont 23-25 years ago, and the stories were largely "D/N-coded" stories, mostly adapted/rewritten by Japanese mangaka—in manga storytelling style—from existing Egmont or occasional Barks stories. The final results were then drawn by traditional Egmont artists in a layout that directly matched the mangakas' scribbles.

Fresh out of college, I was an editor working at Egmont in Copenhagen at the time this was going on. The Japanese creatives reported directly to Egmont editors—often Byron Erickson and occasionally me. At one point, I worked directly with a mangaka who was adapting one of my own Mickey stories to a D/N remake ("A Bomb Deal," D 96223 and remade as D/N 98021).

The target age was 12-year-old kids (with intended appeal to older readers too, of course), as was typical for Egmont the time.

Sales were good when this series started, but notably, there was a debate inside the Japanese publisher as to whether the comic would sell even better if it had "cuter" covers (e.g. Mickey and Minnie biking with a puppy, as opposed to Mickey as a daring detective or Donald mischievously abusing hi-tech machines). In the 1990s, Mickey and Donald were often marketed in Japan as icons of cuteness without much personality. The debate pitted those who wanted to lean into that tradition against those who felt it would build a new audience to promote the characters as adventurous and funny.

The parties insisting on "cute" covers won out, and sales irreversibly fell, eventually leading to the end of the series.

I think the conflict reflects a larger discussion—around the world—about how funny animal characters should be marketed. Their actual fans, and potential fans, want comedy and adventure. Another faction with no personal interest in the form tend to believe stereotypically cutesy mush is the way to go—and that it will reach a huge untapped audience, often implying preschoolers. In truth, from Warner properties to Disney to Hanna-Barbera, a preschool audience (including its parents) has no tradition of buying comic books in large quantities, even comic books aimed at it. Going "cute" is fatal; it sells shirts, but not storytelling.

[redotakuking]

Feb 26, 2023 19:28:29 GMT Ramapith said:

Wow, thank you for the info! It's a shame that the series fell through, feel like we could have had something really good had they not pushed for cute covers.

[The KKM]

Oh man, have those D/N stories ever got reprinted elsewhere?

[bats]

Feb 26, 2023 21:59:40 GMT The KKM said:

Oh man, have those D/N stories ever got reprinted elsewhere?

I think all of them got published in Germany, with a smattering popping up in other European countries, sometimes in black-and-white and with the original right-to-left orientation intact, presenting them as "Donald manga", other times mirrored and colorized and just presented as any old story.

Feb 26, 2023 19:28:29 GMT Ramapith said:

I think the conflict reflects a larger discussion—around the world—about how funny animal characters should be marketed. Their actual fans, and potential fans, want comedy and adventure. Another faction with no personal interest in the form tend to believe stereotypically cutesy mush is the way to go—and that it will reach a huge untapped audience, often implying preschoolers. In truth, from Warner properties to Disney to Hanna-Barbera, a preschool audience (including its parents) has no tradition of buying comic books in large quantities, even comic books aimed at it. Going "cute" is fatal; it sells shirts, but not storytelling.

Ehh... one of the best selling comic books in Japan is Ciào, a monthly anthology aimed at grade school girls that's ALL about cute. And the monthly preschooler anthology  Pucchigumi has a very healthy monthly circulation of 40k.

[Mesterius]

Feb 27, 2023 14:32:05 GMT bats said:

Feb 26, 2023 21:59:40 GMT The KKM said:

Oh man, have those D/N stories ever got reprinted elsewhere?

I think all of them got published in Germany, with a smattering popping up in other European countries, sometimes in black-and-white and with the original right-to-left orientation intact, presenting them as "Donald manga", other times mirrored and colorized and just presented as any old story.

Feb 26, 2023 19:28:29 GMT Ramapith said:

I think the conflict reflects a larger discussion—around the world—about how funny animal characters should be marketed. Their actual fans, and potential fans, want comedy and adventure. Another faction with no personal interest in the form tend to believe stereotypically cutesy mush is the way to go—and that it will reach a huge untapped audience, often implying preschoolers. In truth, from Warner properties to Disney to Hanna-Barbera, a preschool audience (including its parents) has no tradition of buying comic books in large quantities, even comic books aimed at it. Going "cute" is fatal; it sells shirts, but not storytelling.

Ehh... one of the best selling comic books in Japan is Ciào, a monthly anthology aimed at grade school girls that's ALL about cute. And the monthly preschooler anthology  Pucchigumi has a very healthy monthly circulation of 40k.

Maybe it could be slightly rephrased. Whether "cute" sells or not depends on many factors, not least of which is the characters and what their fans want.

[bats]

Feb 27, 2023 15:31:17 GMT Mesterius said:

Feb 27, 2023 14:32:05 GMT bats said:

I think all of them got published in Germany, with a smattering popping up in other European countries, sometimes in black-and-white and with the original right-to-left orientation intact, presenting them as "Donald manga", other times mirrored and colorized and just presented as any old story.

Ehh... one of the best selling comic books in Japan is Ciào, a monthly anthology aimed at grade school girls that's ALL about cute. And the monthly preschooler anthology  Pucchigumi has a very healthy monthly circulation of 40k.

Maybe it could be slightly rephrased. Whether "cute" sells or not depends on many factors, not least of which is the characters and what their fans want.

Indeed, that's almost definitely what the problem is. It's not that cute characters don't sell in Japan, because they do. It's not that comics for young children don't sell in Japan, because they do. It's not even that the artstyle is too associated with material for much younger children, because legends like Tezuka and Mizuki made comics for older audiences in their normal artstyle (which was considerable more "childish" than the artstyle in your typical Disney comic), and those sold.

Instead the issue is the same as in America - Disney comics don't sell because your potential audience associates the characters with little more than them being Disneyland mascots, so those interested in Mickey and Donald aren't going to want humorous action adventures, while those interested in humorous action adventures aren't going to want Mickey and Donald. In Japan you got that TIMES TEN.