ICv2 @ NYCC: Manga ratings panel

Tokyopop actually released their new ratings system earlier this week, presumably in time so everyone would know about it for the manga ratings panel at the ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference. After the cut: A detailed but hastily written summary of a very interesting discussion.

ICv2 honcho Milton Griepp moderated the panel, which brought together an interesting crew: Tomoko Suga of Kodansha, Liza Coppola of Viz, Kurt Hassler, now of Yen Press, Dallas Middaugh of Del Rey, Mike Kiley of Tokyopop, and YA librarian and expert Michele Gorman, who helped Tokyopop create the new ratings system. Although it looked like everyone was agreeing with everyone else, the panel provided a rare peep into how different publishers handle questionable content.

Suga led off, at Griepp’s invitation, saying that the Japanese publishers prefer to let the American publishers make decisions about ratings and appropriateness. “We tend to respect that decision and go along as long as we feel that it is being done responsibly,” she said. Much of this discussion is happening because the manga market is relatively new in the U.S., she said. “It’s not that manga hasn’t run into problems like this with parent teacher associations and even the police in Japan,” she said. “Manga has a subversive side to it.” But in Japan, where manga has been around so much longer, the market has naturally segmented itself; manga for different audiences look different and are sold in different venues. “You walk into a bookstore here… and you find books on that shelf that you wouldn’t find on the same shelf in Japan,” she said.

Later in the panel, she elaborated a bit, saying that when American publishers ask for changes the Japanese publishers usually talk to the artists, who may themselves suggest ways to make the change. “We often do get requests to make changes from other Asian countries as well, from Korea, Indonesia. It’s not such a strange thing. And it’s very interesting to see that some readers here actually object to that very strongly”

Coppola presented a peek at the sausage-making machine, saying that Viz has a very defined ratings system and a committee that holds monthly meetings to discuss ratings. “The hot buttons in the U.S. audience are mostly sexual overtones, religious, not so much violence.” But the decisions are made on an individual basis: They changed a crucifix into a stake in one manga but left a Buddhist symbol that resembled a swastika in another, opting to add a translator’s note instead.

Describing manga is like describing television, Middaugh said, with content for everyone from kids to adults. In the American market, publishers are still fighting the perception that manga is for kids. In the case of Basilisk, which has quite a bit of violence and nudity, Middaugh said, Del Rey’s solution was not just to put a label on the book but to change the entire look, including the trim size (and the price) to make it look different.

As an aside into cultural differences, Middaugh asked Suga who the audience was for mah jong manga. “Adult males,” she said, setting off a ripple of laughter in an audience that associates mah johg primarily with their grandmothers. “I wanted to bring that up as an example of how those cultural differences come up in ways you don’t expect,” Middaugh said.

“At Tokyopop, we have put fairly explicit and overt ratings symbols on our books for a decade now, but we recently realized we suck at that,” said Kiley. “I publish flesh eating zombie lesbian horror manga. I am the last person who should be let loose on a group of parents.” That’s why he hired Gorman. He described the new ratings system as “a list of ingredients” that is designed to provide “truth in packaging”

Although Yen Press hasn’t announced any titles yet, Hassler said he is trying to be “as invisible as possible,” saying, “My goal is to present readers and fans with as authentic an experience as I can give them short of teaching them Japanese. I am not looking to edit material to make it palatable to U.S. audiences.”

Gorman said the biggest problem she encountered when speaking with parents, librarians, and principals is that they simply didn’t know what to buy. The new ratings will hehlp: “Instead of telling you what is good or bad for you, we’re going to tell you what’s in it,” she said. “This is truly about being objective. The whole idea is to put the information out there.”

Griepp asked the question that has already come up in the blogosphere: Citing an e-mail from an anonymous industry insider, he asked, won’t this just draw more attention to the questionable content?

Basically, the answer from the panel was, it’s better to give out more information than not publish the materials at all. “If we increase the visibility, if we increase the debate, if we make the discussion more lively about the content of the book, we’re all for that,” said Kiley. And Griepp mentioned the protests from fans when publishers make changes.

The editors also talked about the problems that occur when a series starts out at a 13+ level and then, six or seven volumes in, ramps up the sex and violence. Kiley explained that when a series runs for a long time, the ratings eventually drop, and the creators begin to introduce these new elements. “It’s done for purely commercial reasons,” he said. Still, he said, his advice to budding manga publishers would be “Do not change the art.” “I’ve done it once or twice, and it never has a happy ending,” he said.

Finally, one audience member addressed “the elephant in the room”: Why don’t the publishers all use the same system?

“It speaks to the infancy of the category,” said Kiley. “We’re all trying to do the best we can. I wouldn’t put words in Dallas’s or Liza’s mouth, but we haven’t gotten to the point where as an industry we are talking to each other int hese kinds of collaborative attempts like we should.”