Rocket Bomber - article - manga - commentary - Spotlight: Del Rey

I’m using my manga charts to look at the output of select publishers —

covered previously: Aurora Publishing, ADV Manga, CMX, Dark Horse

Today the spotlight is on

Del Rey

Let’s start where Del Rey started:

96. ↓-20 (76) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 17 – Del Rey, May 2008 [269.6] ::
132. ↓-30 (102) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 16 – Del Rey, Feb 2008 [222.8] ::
141. ↑65 (206) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 18 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [210.8] ::
303. ↑98 (401) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 1 – Del Rey, Apr 2004 [95] ::
327. ↓-99 (228) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 15 – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [84.5] ::
517. ↓-65 (452) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 4 – Del Rey, Jan 2005 [35.8] ::
531. ↓-31 (500) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 3 – Del Rey, Oct 2004 [33.2] ::
583. ↓-120 (463) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 2 – Del Rey, Aug 2004 [25.8] ::
755. ↑35 (790) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 10 – Del Rey, Jul 2006 [9.6] ::
759. ↓-199 (560) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 5 – Del Rey, Apr 2005 [9.4] ::
809. ↑30 (839) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 9 – Del Rey, Apr 2006 [8] ::
960. ↓-265 (695) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 14 – Del Rey, Jul 2007 [4.1] ::
1145. ↓-49 (1096) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 13 – Del Rey, Jun 2007 [0.4] ::
1163. ↑104 (1267) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 8 – Del Rey, Jan 2006 [0.4] ::
1165. ↑116 (1281) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 12 – Del Rey, Jan 2007 [0.4] ::
1182. ↑9 (1191) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 7 – Del Rey, Oct 2005 [0.3] ::
1286. ↑29 (1315) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 6 – Del Rey, Jul 2005 [0.2] ::
1501. ↓-48 (1453) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 19 – Del Rey, Nov 2008 [0.1] ::
1605. ↑new (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 11 – Del Rey, Oct 2006 [0.1] ::

24. ↔0 (24) : xxxHolic 12 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [479.5] ::
488. ↑187 (675) : xxxHolic 1 – Del Rey, Apr 2004 [42.4] ::
582. ↑641 (1223) : xxxHolic 2 – Del Rey, Jun 2004 [26] ::
659. ↓-86 (573) : xxxHolic 11 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [17] ::
690. ↑395 (1085) : xxxHolic 3 – Del Rey, Oct 2004 [14.4] ::
797. ↑440 (1237) : xxxHolic 7 – Del Rey, May 2006 [8.3] ::
859. ↓-77 (782) : xxxHolic 8 – Del Rey, Dec 2006 [6.3] ::
951. ↑new (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : xxxHolic 5 – Del Rey, May 2005 [4.4] ::
1187. ↑20 (1207) : xxxHolic 10 – Del Rey, Sep 2007 [0.3] ::
1202. ↑45 (1247) : xxxHolic 9 – Del Rey, Jul 2007 [0.3] ::
1471. ↓-69 (1402) : xxxHolic vols 1-3 collection – Del Rey, Mar 2007 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : xxxHolic 4 – Del Rey, Jan 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 15 Jun 08) : xxxHolic 6 – Del Rey, Oct 2005 [0] ::

50. ↓-12 (38) : Negima! 18 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [380.8] ::
298. ↑6 (304) : Negima! 17 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [97.3] ::
348. ↑60 (408) : Negima! 15 – Del Rey, Aug 2007 [76.8] ::
547. ↑115 (662) : Negima! 14 – Del Rey, May 2007 [30.1] ::
654. ↓-41 (613) : Negima! 16 – Del Rey, Dec 2007 [17.3] ::
800. ↓-261 (539) : Negima! 4 – Del Rey, Dec 2004 [8.2] ::
820. ↓-34 (786) : Negima! 10 – Del Rey, May 2006 [7.6] ::
970. ↑131 (1101) : Negima! 6 – Del Rey, Jun 2005 [3.9] ::
1123. ↓-68 (1055) : Negima! 7 – Del Rey, Sep 2005 [0.5] ::
1124. ↓-37 (1087) : Negima! 1 – Del Rey, Apr 2004 [0.5] ::
1149. ↑33 (1182) : Negima! 3 – Del Rey, Oct 2004 [0.4] ::
1191. ↑26 (1217) : Negima! 2 – Del Rey, Aug 2004 [0.3] ::
1217. ↑282 (1499) : Negima! 19 – Del Rey, Sep 2008 [0.3] ::
1234. ↓-394 (840) : Negima! 5 – Del Rey, Mar 2005 [0.2] ::
1409. ↓-359 (1050) : Negima! 9 – Del Rey, Feb 2006 [0.1] ::
1579. ↑new (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Negima! 13 – Del Rey, Feb 2007 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Negima! 11 – Del Rey, Aug 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Negima! 12 – Del Rey, Nov 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Negima! 20 – Del Rey, Dec 2008 [0] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Negima! 8 – Del Rey, Dec 2008 [0] ::

These 3 are also the top 3 Del Rey series (in the order posted above, currently ranking 15th, 16th, and 17th overall as of 27 July).

Del Rey had *4* titles way back in April of aught-four; the other was Gundam Seed. Not one of the five volumes of Gundam Seed actually rank, though, and the most recent spin-off of the popular Gundam franchise…

1505. ↓-36 (1469) : Gundam Seed Destiny 1 – Del Rey, Jun 2006 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Gundam Seed Destiny 2 – Del Rey, Nov 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 1 Jun 08) : Gundam Seed Destiny 3 – Del Rey, Mar 2007 [0] ::

…is, hm, impressive in it’s own way. Gundam Seed Destiny vol 1 scores a single point this past week, tied with 245 other books for last place and nominally 1505th of 1606 ranked volumes. The series is also tied for last place, with 78 others. (nominally 516th of 539 titles)

##

Del Rey, before the manga, before the Star Wars novels, before the sci-fi, before the 1977 release of Sword of Shannara as the original Del Rey debut title — before the company, Del Rey was a guy: Lester del Rey, author and editor.

Actually, Judy-Lynn del Rey (Lester’s fourth and last wife) should get more of the credit, as she was the lead editor at the imprint and had worked for years at Ballantine with such success that, heck, they named the sci-fi line after her.

I’ve used the phrase “since Random House repurposed the venerable Del Rey imprint for manga” as a qualifier so many times that it trips easily off the tongue. [metaphorical tongue… you know what I mean…] And Del Rey deserves much respect, both for the reasons listed above and the continued sci-fi and fantasy output of decades, and for

Robotech!
(no, no… imagine the voice-over guy saying it, with the Minucci/Ober score starting to swell in the background.)

Starting in 1987 (and concurrent with the ongoing re-runs of the anime localization then showing in syndication on American TV sets) Del Rey published 21 Robotech volumes, books that sought to fill in the gaps and plug the gaping continuity holes that Harmony Gold introduced when it stitched 3 completely different anime series together into a single 85 episode epic. If you’ll graciously permit me two grave internet sins:

To quote Wikipedia: “Many Robotech fans consider the McKinney series to be an unofficial canon of its own, despite notable divergences in the writing from Harmony Gold’s current official animation-based canon.”
…and to quote myself: “All the different Robotech things had a multiplying effect, and while the timing was still just a bit early, some of the newly founded institutions had real sticking power; the long, slow decline of Robotech made it the vehicle for fandom through the long drought until the mid 90s.”

I know at least one fan who points to these Robotech novels (not the TV show) as the hook that got them interested in anime.

##

In 2004, well, I’ll let them tell it

Del Rey Manga launched its first titles in May 2004, when Random House and Kodansha entered into a large-scale cross-publishing relationship. As a result, Kodansha, the largest publisher in Japan, brought their strongest properties to the Del Rey Manga line. When the first four titles were released, Ken Akamatsu’s Negima and CLAMP’s Tsubasa were the top two graphic novels in the country, and CLAMP’s xxxHOLiC and Sunrise’s Gundam SEED were close behind. With just eleven manga releases that year, Del Rey’s success resulted in its becoming the number four manga publisher in the United States

And now, let us plunge into Del Rey’s catalog and my rankings:

As of the most recent weekly rankings, Del Rey publishes 227 of the total 3291 volumes in my database (6.9%) and has 121 of 1606 ranked volumes (7.5%)

Let’s round out Del Rey’s top 10 series:

#4, 37th overall
99. ↓-14 (85) : Fairy Tail 3 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [264.9] ::
272. ↑45 (317) : Fairy Tail 1 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [109] ::
425. ↓-30 (395) : Fairy Tail 2 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [56.9] ::

#5, 48th overall
201. ↓-28 (173) : Shugo Chara! 4 – Del Rey, May 2008 [154] ::
239. ↓-18 (221) : Shugo Chara! 2 – Del Rey, Aug 2007 [130.5] ::
316. ↑55 (371) : Shugo Chara! 1 – Del Rey, Mar 2007 [89.9] ::
631. ↑57 (688) : Shugo Chara! 3 – Del Rey, Feb 2008 [19.8] ::

#6, 49th overall
91. ↑9 (100) : In Odd We Trust — Koontz, Chan – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [285.9] ::
(not a bad performance for a single volume, actually; especially considering B&N classes Odd as strictly a graphic novel and it does not appear on their manga lisitngs)

#7, 58th overall
116. ↓-30 (86) : Kamichama Karin Chu 1 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [245.1] ::

Ranking jumps in the hundreds? Hey, T’pop, if you’re not too bitter over losing the series, you should send Dallas a fruit basket. [get it? fruit basket? yuk yuk yuk. …aw, forget it. ] And this is what I meant yesterday by a ‘force multiplier’: a brand new volume, like a rising tide, raises all ships.

#8, 65th overall
179. ↓-8 (171) : Kitchen Princess 6 – Del Rey, May 2008 [177] ::
381. ↑28 (409) : Kitchen Princess 5 – Del Rey, Feb 2008 [68.3] ::
577. ↓-3 (574) : Kitchen Princess 2 – Del Rey, May 2007 [26.4] ::
679. ↑171 (850) : Kitchen Princess 3 – Del Rey, Jul 2007 [15.4] ::
740. ↓-150 (590) : Kitchen Princess 4 – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [10.4] ::
1128. ↑72 (1200) : Kitchen Princess 1 – Del Rey, Jan 2007 [0.5] ::

#8, 77th overall
142. ↑76 (218) : Gacha Gacha The Next Revolution 7 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [208.5] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Gacha Gacha 3 – Del Rey, Feb 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 8 June 08) : Gacha Gacha The Next Revolution 1 – Del Rey, Dec 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Gacha Gacha The Next Revolution 3 – Del Rey, Jun 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 8 June 08) : Gacha Gacha The Next Revolution 4 – Del Rey, Sep 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 8 June 08) : Gacha Gacha The Next Revolution 5 – Del Rey, Nov 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Gacha Gacha The Next Revolution 6 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [0] ::
(Well, having a new volume doesn’t always move the back list.)

#9, 108th overall
210. ↓-21 (189) : Suzuka 8 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [151] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Suzuka 1 – Del Rey, Aug 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 8 June 08) : Suzuka 4 – Del Rey, May 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Suzuka 5 – Del Rey, Aug 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Suzuka 6 – Del Rey, Nov 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Suzuka 7 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [0] ::

#10, 110th overall
220. ↑226 (446) : School Rumble 10 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [146.9] ::
1251. ↓-112 (1139) : School Rumble 8 – Del Rey, Jan 2008 [0.2] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : School Rumble 1 – Del Rey, Feb 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 23 Mar 08) : School Rumble 2 – Del Rey, May 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 22 June 08) : School Rumble 6 – Del Rey, Jul 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : School Rumble 7 – Del Rey, Sep 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : School Rumble 9 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0] ::

##

And even though Genshiken and Nodame and Mushishi and Chevalier d’Eon and Wallflower and Jason Thompson all deserve better, (…OK, so most of Del Rey’s catalog deserves better) I’d like to get to bed before midnight tonight. I now rather unceremoniously present — everything else in alphabetical order:

786. ↓-180 (606) : Air Gear 8 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [8.6] ::
1284. ↑21 (1305) : Air Gear 1 – Del Rey, Jul 2006 [0.2] ::
1392. ↓-598 (794) : Air Gear 2 – Del Rey, Oct 2006 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 18 May 08) : Air Gear 4 – Del Rey, May 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Air Gear 6 – Del Rey, Nov 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 25 May 08) : Air Gear 7 – Del Rey, Feb 2008 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Air Gear 9 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [0] ::

791. ↑37 (828) : Alive 5 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [8.5] ::
857. ↑49 (906) : Alive 4 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [6.4] ::
885. ↑51 (936) : Alive 3 – Del Rey, Feb 2008 [5.8] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Alive 1 – Del Rey, Jul 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Alive 2 – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [0] ::

. (last ranked 8 June 08) : Aventura 2 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0] ::

762. ↓-95 (667) : Avril Lavigne’s Make 5 Wishes 2 – Del Rey, Jun 2007 [9.4] ::
1387. ↓-703 (684) : Avril Lavigne’s Make 5 Wishes 1 – Del Rey, Apr 2007 [0.1] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Basilisk 3 – Del Rey, Dec 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 23 Mar 08) : Yagyu Ninja Scrolls 1 – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 4 May 08) : Yagyu Ninja Scrolls 2 – Del Rey, Feb 2008 [0] ::
. (last ranked 8 June 08) : Yagyu Ninja Scrolls 3 – Del Rey, May 2008 [0] ::

. (last ranked 22 June 08) : Dark Wars: The Tale of Meiji Dracula (novel) – Del Rey, Jan 2008 [0] ::

605. ↓-35 (570) : Dragon Eye 5 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [22.7] ::
1566. ↑122 (1688) : Dragon Eye 4 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 15 Jun 08) : Dragon Eye 1 – Del Rey, Jun 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 8 June 08) : Dragon Eye 2 – Del Rey, Sep 2007 [0] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : ES: Eternal Sabbath 1 – Del Rey, May 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : ES: Eternal Sabbath 6 – Del Rey, Aug 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : ES: Eternal Sabbath 7 – Del Rey, Nov 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : ES: Eternal Sabbath 8 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [0] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Free Collars Kingdom 1 – Del Rey, Feb 2007 [0] ::

. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Genshiken 1 – Del Rey, Apr 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Genshiken 3 – Del Rey, Oct 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Genshiken 4 – Del Rey, Jan 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Genshiken 5 – Del Rey, Apr 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Genshiken 6 – Del Rey, Jul 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Genshiken 7 – Del Rey, Oct 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Genshiken 9 – Del Rey, Nov 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 25 May 08) : Genshiken Fanbook – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [0] ::
related:
1370. ↑new (0) : Kujibiki Unbalance 1 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [0.1] ::

580. ↑160 (740) : Ghost Hunt 9 – Del Rey, Sep 2007 [26.1] ::
751. ↑new (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Ghost Hunt 8 – Del Rey, Jun 2007 [9.7] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Ghost Hunt 1 – Del Rey, Sep 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Ghost Hunt 2 – Del Rey, Dec 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Ghost Hunt 3 – Del Rey, Mar 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Ghost Hunt 4 – Del Rey, Jun 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Ghost Hunt 5 – Del Rey, Sep 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Ghost Hunt 7 – Del Rey, Mar 2007 [0] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Guru Guru Pon-Chan 5 – Del Rey, Jul 2006 [0] ::

. (last ranked 8 June 08) : Haridama Magic Cram School 1 – Del Rey, May 2008 [0] ::

1132. ↑95 (1227) : Hell Girl 1 – Del Rey, Jan 2008 [0.5] ::
1193. ↑27 (1220) : Hell Girl 2 – Del Rey, May 2008 [0.3] ::

226. ↑124 (350) : Kagetora 10 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [139.9] ::
1168. ↑471 (1639) : Kagetora 9 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0.4] ::
1436. ↓-133 (1303) : Kagetora 1 – Del Rey, Mar 2006 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : Kagetora 8 – Del Rey, Jan 2008 [0] ::

1221. ↑new (0) : Kasumi 1 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [0.2] ::

578. ↓-35 (543) : Le Chevalier d’Eon 5 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [26.2] ::
. (last ranked 27 Apr 08) : Le Chevalier d’Eon 4 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Love Roma 1 – Del Rey, Aug 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Love Roma 2 – Del Rey, Jan 2006 [0] ::

300. ↑11 (311) : Mamotte! Lollipop 6 – Del Rey, May 2008 [96.2] ::
497. ↑44 (541) : Mamotte! Lollipop 4 – Del Rey, Nov 2007 [40.4] ::
559. ↑27 (586) : Mamotte! Lollipop 2 – Del Rey, May 2007 [28.5] ::
568. ↑27 (595) : Mamotte! Lollipop 5 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [27.5] ::
1220. ↑368 (1588) : Mamotte! Lollipop 1 – Del Rey, Feb 2007 [0.3] ::
1577. ↑new (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Mamotte! Lollipop 3 – Del Rey, Jun 2003 [0.1] ::

. (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : Manga: The Complete Guide — Thompson – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [0] ::

1112. ↓-393 (719) : Mushishi 4 – Del Rey, May 2008 [0.6] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Mushishi 1 – Del Rey, Jan 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 18 May 08) : Mushishi 2 – Del Rey, Jul 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 22 June 08) : Mushishi 3 – Del Rey, Feb 2008 [0] ::

845. ↑633 (1478) : My Heavenly Hockey Club 5 – Del Rey, May 2008 [6.8] ::
. (last ranked 15 Jun 08) : My Heavenly Hockey Club 1 – Del Rey, May 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 25 May 08) : My Heavenly Hockey Club 2 – Del Rey, Aug 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : My Heavenly Hockey Club 4 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [0] ::

282. ↓-22 (260) : Nodame Cantabile 14 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [102.7] ::
858. ↓-275 (583) : Nodame Cantabile 13 – Del Rey, May 2008 [6.3] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Nodame Cantabile 1 – Del Rey, Apr 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Nodame Cantabile 10 – Del Rey, Jul 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Nodame Cantabile 11 – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Nodame Cantabile 12 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Nodame Cantabile 2 – Del Rey, Jul 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Nodame Cantabile 4 – Del Rey, Jan 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Nodame Cantabile 5 – Del Rey, Apr 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Apr 08) : Nodame Cantabile 6 – Del Rey, Jul 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Apr 08) : Nodame Cantabile 9 – Del Rey, May 2007 [0] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Othello 5 – Del Rey, Sep 2005 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Othello 6 – Del Rey, Dec 2005 [0] ::

. (last ranked 13 Apr 08) : Parasyte 2 – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Parasyte 3 – Del Rey, May 2008 [0] ::

310. ↑331 (641) : Pastel 11 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [91.6] ::
919. ↑49 (968) : Pastel 7 – Del Rey, Jun 2007 [5.2] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Pastel 10 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Pastel 2 – Del Rey, Mar 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Pastel 5 – Del Rey, Dec 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Pastel 8 – Del Rey, Sep 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Pastel 9 – Del Rey, Jan 2008 [0] ::

. (last ranked 20 Apr 08) : Phoenix Wright 1 – Del Rey, Sep 2008 [0] ::

607. ↓-126 (481) : Pichi Pichi Pitch 1 – Del Rey, Apr 2006 [21.9] ::
656. ↑8 (664) : Pichi Pichi Pitch 2 – Del Rey, Jul 2006 [17.2] ::
912. ↑408 (1320) : Pichi Pichi Pitch 3 – Del Rey, Oct 2006 [5.3] ::
991. ↑676 (1667) : Pichi Pichi Pitch 6 – Del Rey, Jul 2007 [3.5] ::
1151. ↑37 (1188) : Pichi Pichi Pitch 4 – Del Rey, Jan 2007 [0.4] ::
1278. ↑10 (1288) : Pichi Pichi Pitch 5 – Del Rey, May 2007 [0.2] ::
1390. ↓-629 (761) : Pichi Pichi Pitch 7 – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [0.1] ::

1580. ↑new (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Princess Resurrection 3 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Princess Resurrection 1 – Del Rey, May 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Princess Resurrection 2 – Del Rey, Aug 2007 [0] ::

894. ↓-76 (818) : Psycho Busters 3 – Del Rey, May 2008 [5.6] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Psycho Busters 1 – Del Rey, Oct 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 20 Jul 08) : Psycho Busters 2 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [0] ::

457. ↓-1 (456) : Pumpkin Scissors 3 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [49.5] ::
. (last ranked 23 Mar 08) : Pumpkin Scissors 1 – Del Rey, Nov 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Apr 08) : Pumpkin Scissors 2 – Del Rey, Mar 2008 [0] ::

1038. ↑new (last ranked 18 May 08) : Shiki Tsukai 3 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [2.2] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Sugar Sugar Rune 3 – Del Rey, Jul 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Sugar Sugar Rune 4 – Del Rey, Oct 2006 [0] ::

1185. ↑13 (1198) : The Reformed 1 – Del Rey, May 2008 [0.3] ::

1378. ↑new (0) : Toto! The Wonderful Adventure 2 – Del Rey, Jul 2008 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 1 Jun 08) : Toto! The Wonderful Adventure 1 – Del Rey, May 2008 [0] ::

. (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Train Man (Del Rey) – Del Rey, Nov 2006 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Train Man Novel – Del Rey, Apr 2007 [0] ::

502. ↑632 (1134) : Wallflower 16 – Del Rey, Jun 2008 [39.1] ::
545. ↓-13 (532) : Wallflower 2 – Del Rey, Dec 2004 [30.3] ::
552. ↑183 (735) : Wallflower 7 – Del Rey, Mar 2006 [29.1] ::
854. ↑47 (901) : Wallflower 3 – Del Rey, Mar 2005 [6.5] ::
954. ↑new (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Wallflower 6 – Del Rey, Dec 2005 [4.3] ::
981. ↑81 (1062) : Wallflower 14 – Del Rey, Jan 2008 [3.7] ::
1000. ↑new (last ranked 13 Jul 08) : Wallflower 8 – Del Rey, Jul 2006 [3.3] ::
1120. ↓-177 (943) : Wallflower 15 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0.5] ::
1598. ↑new (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : Wallflower 5 – Del Rey, Sep 2005 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 22 June 08) : Wallflower 1 – Del Rey, Oct 2004 [0] ::
. (last ranked 27 Apr 08) : Wallflower 11 – Del Rey, Mar 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 29 Jun 08) : Wallflower 12 – Del Rey, Jun 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Wallflower 13 – Del Rey, Sep 2007 [0] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Wallflower 4 – Del Rey, Apr 2008 [0] ::

789. ↑35 (824) : Yozakura Quartet 2 – Del Rey, May 2008 [8.6] ::
. (last ranked 6 Jul 08) : Yozakura Quartet 1 – Del Rey, Feb 2008 [0] ::

##

That’s what just 7% of the market looks like. (The Dark Horse post last week was 6% of the market)

(This is my opponent. And my database maybe covers half of the stuff in print by this point. I must be nuts)

And at just 7% Del Rey is considered to be the strong 3rd place player in the market (I have a suspicion DMP/June/801, if taken as a single entity, might edge them out of third volume-wise, but I won’t know until I look into it next week)

The percentages are misleading though: each volume is given equal weight. Obviously something like xxxHolic moves a lot more units than Hero Heel (the new Vampire Hunter D manga may be giving it a run for it’s money though) but due to the the limitations of my method I can’t quite answer those questions. I traded precision for sheer volume four months ago, and the shotgun-method currently employed gives us that 7%

It is what it is.

—

Let me point out a couple of business factors that might not have occurred to you, though:

Del Rey, originally an imprint of Ballantine Books and now administrated as part of the flagship Random House brand, has the benefits of direct access to a distributor (RH ships their own books to the market — no middle men — it’s like living next door to a subway station, as opposed to always having to wait at the corner bus stop) and also a certain degree of autonomy because of RH’s own roots — Random House is a publisher, first and foremost, not a cobbled-together multi-media company like News Corp. or Time Warner. These folks dig books. While corporate overlord Bertelsmann AG is in fact one of the seven big media conglomerates (and an impenetrable privately-held company besides) as overlords go, RH seems to benefit from a beneficent master.

As long as the division is making money, I see no reason to worry for Del Rey Manga.

(so, um, buy stuff. best way to show your support and all)