In March 2017, Shuyingsha established a new department “Image Business Department”, serving as the Minister of Asada, and was the responsible editor of well-known works such as “One Piece”, “Bleach”, “Lightspeed Masker 21” and “Blood Front”. He has created the magazine “JUMP SQ.” and the electronic bookstore “JUMP BOOK Store!”, which has accumulated countless experiences as the ace editor and business core of Shueisha. The role of Asada Tadashi in the cover picture “The Detective of the Devil” is based on him. .
Asahi’s image department, the task is to work with outside companies to create entertainment works from scratch, not to stick to the form of publications, and to conduct business in the most appropriate form. .
The Shueisha, which is the head of the Japanese manga, why set up such a department and focus on creating new works? . FINDERS 网站 Interviewed Asada and listened to him about his own observations and the expectations of the future. .
Asada graduated as a fresh graduate in 1995, and worked in the editorial department of “Weekly Junior JUMP” for about 10 years, and then worked in the monthly magazine “JUMP SQ.” which was published in 2007 for 3 years, and returned to “ Zhou Juvenue JUMP has served as the deputy editor-in-chief for 4 years, and recently served as the editor-in-chief of the comic book, film, animation, and game’s derivative novel department “JUMPj BOOKS” for 3 years. .
Although the department has been changing, the unchanging thing is that there are many opportunities for Asada to deal with creators such as cartoonists and novelists. Among these work subjects, he often feels that cartoonists are particularly hard. . Other creative industries are advancing the division of labor, but the ability that cartoonists need to have is too large and too much. . If you want to use a movie, it is like a person must be responsible for actors, photography, scriptwriting, performances, art, images, costumes, and props. .
Although it is a matter of course, not all cartoonists can accomplish all of these tasks, each with their own abilities. Some paintings are good, but they are not good at shaping characters; some people design drama conflicts and lines of skill, the style is not acceptable to all readers; or the output is too low. In short, there are all kinds of cartoonists. .
Thus,. If Superman can do anything, it will become a benchmark, and of course more and more writers will have nowhere to publish. . Asada has always regretted this in his past work. He thought that if Shueisha does not pursue book-based “because we are publishers”, but instead adjusts the talents of writers to various forms such as games and animations, it may increase the success rate and allow writers to earn more. Royalty. .
Prior to this, Shueisha, although the authorized business unit sold a lot of licenses for publishing books, rarely participated in the creation of IPs other than books from the beginning. Their old way of thinking is “how to connect the best-selling comics with the next business.” .
The newly established Image Division is based on. “It’s not limited to publications, it’s a best-selling work from scratch, and it’s widely spread as a business.” The idea to take action. Asada believes that he has accumulated experience in magazine editing, licensing, e-book business, novel editing, etc. Now that he can achieve this, he has submitted a plan for the establishment of a new department to the company. .
To determine which form is best for the writer’s talent, the Image Division wants. Compare and analyze the characteristics of different media, the attributes and financial status of the expected customer group, the skills and conditions of the writer, the market conditions and the places the customer wants to add. .
Take the analysis of media characteristics as an example. When you tell stories, different media, the audience will enter the story at different speeds. Asada has his own opinion on this. He said how fast it is to write a story, that is, how easy it is to be substituted into that world. Among the various media, the fastest is the game. Because the player is manipulating the character himself, he will understand that “this character is me”, so it is easy to give them a sense of accomplishment = pleasure.
The drama is second, because the space is small, the actors are in front of the audience, so the audience can be forced into the story space through acting and sound. The movie is again, the audience is locked in a closed space for two hours, even if the work is somewhat boring, after all, it costs 1,800 yen to buy tickets, and is not willing to leave the middle, so no matter how the final satisfaction, or will Being “invested” in it. .
TV and web animation are ranked 4th. These media can control the level of input of the audience through seiyuu sounds and music, but at the same time the audience can easily give up halfway, which is a difficult place. Finally, the lowest input speed is actually comics. Readers read the first few pages and feel that they don’t look good. They don’t want to see them. It is difficult for them to care about the characters and continue to pursue them. For the reader, the characters tend to be “others” at the end. .
Just like this, different media have their own characteristics, and depending on the customer population, the scriptwriting techniques required are also different. And this is just an analysis of the “investment appreciation” type of work, as well as other types of works to be considered. .
By the way, the only exception is the novel. The things written in words are the most costly to read, and they need to understand the ability, so the threshold for the customer to pick up the novel and read it is the highest; but at the same time, the novel can directly describe the heart of the character. .
There is a lot of movies adapted from girl comics. These movies will drive the sales of publications, not just the original, but the official novels will also sell well. The reason why many Japanese movies will be published in the novel is also the reason. Especially for works with love themes, many readers will want to use books to appreciate more deeply how “the character feels the love of this person’s deer jumping.” But if it is a manga, the number of words will be limited, and it is impossible to spend so much information on the landscape of the mind. .
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Comic adaptation of the film and then adapted into the novel “teacher monarch”, such official novels are often sought after by the audience. .
As Asada said, different media, readers will be different in speed and depth, so the way to create stories is not the same as the way to make money. It needs the theory and experience of different media. Therefore, Asada believes that. When introducing writers, there is a growing need for a person who is familiar with the key to different media and has comprehensive capabilities, just like producers, to adjust the creativity of co-authors. .
Asada claims that although he has accumulated such work experience, people who can do this are rare in the industry. The Shuying Society has juvenile comics, youth comics, girl comic magazines, animations, games, and 2.5-dimensional musicals. By sorting out and sharing the experience values of various works, including successful and failed cases, and studying hard, it may constitute the soil for cultivating what he calls “production human talent.” .
The Shueisha Image Business Unit will develop works in collaboration with other partner companies in different formats. Sometimes they only receive remuneration for specific positions. Sometimes companies that participate in cooperation will jointly own IP, and sometimes they will sell the set-based authorization created by the author to other companies. .
They have always adhered to the attitude of “hoping that people who sweat can get proper compensation.” and so,. For important writers who have been involved in production planning since the beginning, they will certainly sign a revenue sharing contract instead of a commission contract to return the greater benefits to the writer. .
Games, animation, and comics. Different industries have their own business practices and common sense. When they cooperate, they feel that “Hey? Why don’t you do this? Is it not taken for granted?”, conflicts are not uncommon. The Image Business Unit must mediate between the parties and try to keep all parties under pressure and keep their work running. .
Next, Asada used several specific cases that the Jiyingsha Image Department has disclosed to further describe how they work. .
Case 1: “Abyss Rebel” (mobile games).
“Abyss Resistance Army” is a project of the cooperation between the Image Department of the British Society and Alt Plus. The game was launched in June 2018. The Image Division is responsible for planning and development collaboration, text development commissioning, introducing writers, illustrator fees, contract comics, and publishing.
Generally speaking, unless the authorized game adapted from comics needs to pay royalties to the original author, the scripts and illustrations of the mobile game are mostly bought out. However, the Image Division and the author signed a revenue sharing agreement to return the income generated by the game to the writer. .
Case 2: “DARLING in the FRANXX” (robot animation).
“DARLING in the FRANXX” is a TV animation produced by TRIGGER×CloverWorks, and the Image Division is responsible for comics. The comic version of the painting was created because of the color of the “Bag of the King” series, which is known as Yabuki Kentaro, which sparked the topic. .
The Image Division started to discuss the comics meeting very early. In January of this year, on the night of the animation broadcast, the mobile application “Youth JUMP+” published a 60-page × 2 comic version, and the second volume of the comic book in February was already on the market, and the speed was very fast. The comic book has also been well received, and the current circulation has exceeded 550,000. .
Previously, the comics movements of animations were often slow, and many works, until the animations were finished, began to sell the single book. Even the end of the comic version of some works is 5 years after the end of the animated broadcast. This is because it is very difficult to make a manga in a state where there is no finished product on the animation side, only a script and a split mirror. The image department must harden this difficulty, and this must be closely coordinated with the animation producer. .
Yabuki Kentaro’s comic version fully compensated for the “even if the animation can be clearly explained, but it is difficult to make it clear with comics”. As a comic editor, it is very remarkable to be able to perform such technical analysis. .
In addition, the Image Division also produced a four-dimensional biography of mato, which was published in “Juvenile JUMP+” and animated officials. .
Yabuki’s comics also released behind-the-scenes datasets that are different from the animations, including comics and unpublished sketches. The behind-the-scenes datasets were sold first in the Comic Market and then sold in the official online stores of Aniplex and Shueisha. .
The reason why it is not distributed through bookstores like a regular book is because this behind-the-scenes data set is only 50 pages, and the price is as high as 1,500 yen. There are not many such pages, and the products with low prices are not sold except for those who know that there are fans. But as long as the existence of the fans is clear, a softer production method can be realized to ensure that the interests are generated and the writers receive royalties. .
Case 3: “MIST GEARS” (a cross-media project consisting of games, novels, and comics).
“MIST GEARS” is a joint project of Alim, Tri-Ace and Jiyingsha Image Division, which will begin in the fall of 2018. The Image Division is responsible for the plot production and leads the character design. Tian Zhongchuang, who is the official novel version of “Fake Love” and “Double Stars of Yin and Yang”, makes plots and novels. The man and comic version are the cartoonist Amano. .
Alim’s game “The Brave Frontline” official novel was published by JUMP j BOOKS, who was the editor-in-chief of Asada, so the company had a long relationship with him. When they want to launch a new game, they contacted Asada and wanted to work with the writers of Shueisha. .
Although the writers of Shueisha are responsible for the plot and the business composition of this person are similar to the aforementioned Abyss Rebel, but the form of payment to writers is different. Because writers are more involved in the work, they often need to ask writers to cooperate with the revision of articles and illustrations, and often have more subtle work. And so,. They don’t pay the writer according to how much money is in a picture and how much money per thousand words. Instead, the Shuying Society guarantees a certain fixed fee to the writer every month. After the game is opened, the writer is divided according to the game’s income. .
Through one project after another, the Image Division has gradually become a “temporary Buddha’s foot” and “everything house” when it is in trouble.
Whether in the past or the present, the editorial departments are working honestly with the writers. More than just making a work, what kind of things does the writer like? What kind of work do you want to do? If the editor and the writer do not have daily close communication, they will not know it, and the writer may not raise it. Today, the inside of the collection has begun to share the soil between different editors. .
Asada said that if he has only done comic editing, he has not accumulated the experience value of the authorized business, and he will not understand: this seemingly detailed information may bring the next business. Today, he feels that the Image Division has begun to create such an example. Someone inside the company has asked him “○○ teacher wants to do such a thing, is there any interest in the company?”
Of course, outside companies will come to him to discuss, and the Image Division will actively launch sales and planning brainstorming sessions. .
To create a new job for a writer from scratch, what is needed is a long-term exchange between the editor and the writer, a deep understanding of what the writer is, what he wants to do, and where he feels pressure. .
For example, suppose a customer says: “I want to be able to draw people like Mr. Toriyama’s teacher.” At this time, they can’t immediately go to the teacher of Toriyama. . Don’t think about the timing just to ask for it, anyone can do it. . And the more the opponent is the big card, the lower the possibility of realization. . The value of Jiyingsha can’t stay in the basic place of “We have been to Birdshan’s teacher so we can ask the teacher of Toriyama”. It is necessary to be able to communicate with customers. “If you want to convince the writer, can we add this element to the plan?” “The writer has not produced any work yet, but he is interested in this aspect. Very good at “and then go to find a writer, only in this way can improve the possibility of planning.” .
Being able to make full use of the resources of Shueisha, and even if the first-volunteer writer refuses, he can also propose the B plan, which is the strength of the Jiyingsha Image Division. In addition, they also have the experience and knowledge of the profitability of publications, and can realize the multi-faceted development of e-books and overseas publishing. .
Light said that the profitability of books, the knowledge required for different commodities is far apart. If you want to have a translated version because it is popular with foreign readers, it may be difficult for other industry people to read the contract of a foreign publisher. Even if you go to a lawyer in intellectual property, lawyers have their own areas that are not good at. The business habits of China, the United States, and Europe are also different, and it is even possible that the cost will not be recovered overseas. At this time, it is necessary to collect the British community to take action to avoid losses for writers and customers. .
With the expansion of business content, the capabilities that Shunye needs to be more diverse. Asada hopes that writers will concentrate on creating as much as possible; and new skills needs such as planning adjustment and publicity marketing need to be dealt with by the power of the organization. .
However, although the required skills have increased, you can’t forget your biggest strengths. After the establishment of the Image Division, Asada often felt that “the pastry shop is the pastry.” . And for the publisher, the real “pastries” lies in the accumulation of experience with writers. .
Since it is an editor, it will deal with newcomers, backbones, and senior writers. It is necessary to contact both the best-selling writers and the writers who cannot sell them. In this process of dealing with different writers. Whatever you say can help him, and it’s different. It is the strength of the publishing house to be able to accumulate a large amount of this kind of experience. .
And above, Asada personally thinks that. A failure case may be more likely to grow than a successful experience. .
It’s important to succeed, but there is a lot of mines that “will fail if you step on it”, knowing where mines are more critical. Asada hopes to share this experience with writers and customers as much as possible. .
Now, how can we make writers willing to become partners of Shuyingsha? What can be achieved by a writer alone and only through the form of organization? The meaning of the image business department lies in insisting on answering these questions. In the future, they also want to continue as a partner to maximize the activities of writers. .
References: .
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