original thread by reader lunyeah
===== Translation ======
Jun Zhu Dian, the editor of Ravages, mentioned this [in a forum post]:
“If I say our change to bi-weekly from a weekly schedule was due to awesome sales figure of ‘New Youth’… I think even 3-year-olds won’t be fooled. So… to be honest, we had no other choice. The biggest influence on our [lack of] sales these years are of course the ‘online comics piracy’ [phenomenon]. When this trend has become the norm, less and less people are willing to pay money for comics magazines. Thus I’m really moved when readers tell us that they’ve been supporting us for ten years. I hope you will continue to support us for the next ten years~~^__^”
—–
I feel terrible after reading that.
Who knew the financial state of “New Youth” has fallen to such a low point.
I think my uploading [photos of the magazine] releases is like “killing the goose that lays the golden egg.”
If “New Youth” keeps losing sales, who knows if we’ll be able to read [Ravages] at all at some point.
I know all of you here (Baidu tieba forum) wishes to see the newest release as soon as possible.
But our desire may be ruining Ravages.
I want to read the story til its end. I don’t want to see “New Youth” cease publication.
From now on, I will not upload photographed version of the new releases.
And I hope the [good] person who scans the pictures would delay uploading them, so as to give “New Youth” some leeway.
======================
This is talking about the sales of the MAGAZINE (which features mostly Japanese Manga stories), not the BOOK/VOLUME. Although I have no numbers to back up any claim.
Some readers think that the “delay” is already happening. And now we see either a valid explanation or a valid reason that it will continue this way.
Basically, we need to become more patient. XD If any of you once followed Avatar: The Last Airbender as the episodes are first aired on TV, you will know the agony of waiting months for a new release. So, be prepared.
Apparently most mainland Chinese readers have trouble buying the book version – let alone the magazine – from Hong Kong, especially when the shipping fee makes it less appealing. So it’s not just you guys who complain that “our country/region doesn’t market this directly to us.”
OK, getting off my manipulative soap-box. XP
Ravaging Times 
does this mean the guy won’t upload chapter raws anymore (and we will have to wait for the volume raws), or he’s gonna wait at least 1-2 week after release ? If it’s the former then we’re officially screwed up, but if it’s the latter then frankly I don’t think it will be much different anyway. Save for some (fortunate) periods when there’re weekly raws, we’re still having raws on a bi-weekly basis after all.
And I’m surprised the mainland readers read the HK copies. Don’t they use different character styles now ?
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Comment by lindaiyuzz — December 1, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
The poster is not the scanner. He/she has only recently been uploading photographed version of the releases. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the scanned version. Maybe just delay.
I’m from mainland. We didn’t learn traditional format in school, but we picked it up from the media (HK movies, Japanese Kanji in manga, etc.). In US it’s almost a necessity since traditional format is so widespread. However, I can only write in simplified format.
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Comment by merc — December 2, 2009 @ 7:18 am
I see. I just wondered since many fans here complain they can’t translate themselves due to the simplified Chinese they learn.
Then I guess things won’t change much. We’re only getting HQ scans weeks after photographed version on baidu, after all.
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Comment by lindaiyuzz — December 2, 2009 @ 8:17 am
i dont think the cause of the down-sale is the scan of ravages
the new youth is full of japanese manga which have already scanlated up-to-date in some chinese sites (i.e. fairy tail). so it wont sell that much when it comes to the magz.
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Comment by z_r — December 2, 2009 @ 11:34 pm
Maybe. But quite a few people said (on a different forum) they only buy the magazine to read Ravages, and every time new scans become available on one of the Taiwan bulletin boards (I think), there are still at least 3 or 4 people who say “thanks”. We can only speculate that Ravages readership is not the biggest audience for the magazine, but the effect all trickles down. :'(
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Comment by merc — December 3, 2009 @ 7:46 am
Maybe they should focus on making it easier for the China market first for their next real plan. After all, which market loves 3 Kingdoms more than the country that started it all?
New Youth obviously only has Ravages as a local staple, as it’s pretty much a global stereotype that China can only bootleg products and never create them to the point where they even have bootleg Disneyland. No other country in the world has the audacity to rip off Disneyland.
But it is exactly because of piracy and the super competitive attitude of China that it is growing into the #1 of the world. In exchange, creativity is punished.
=] Chen Mou in this regard really is like Lu Bu. A man ahead of his time and in the wrong place with the right idea.
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Comment by Boo — December 12, 2009 @ 5:39 am
Yeah, they get a taste of their own medicine too, when other countries take their culture heritage and copyright them. I can’t even decide what to make of this “don’t make something when you can steal” trend (supposedly all the rage too in the real art business). Ambivalent!
In terms of strength of comics field, Chen Mou may be a little bit behind his time. Back a few more years during the golden age of comics (or so people tell me) he might make it bigger. In terms of ideas he is at the right time, which is why RoT rings true. If RoT comes out later, maybe we would be even more jaded to his themes. But sure, I get what you’re saying. :)
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Comment by merc — December 12, 2009 @ 8:32 am
Another thing is the fact that video games and computer/console/interactive software is now much more popular than 20 or so years ago.
With comics or visual arts, it is basically one step below animation and television, because you lack motion and sound.
Video Games are more bang for your buck than anything so far, and the production cost put into it justifies it costing more than a comic. If you buy WSJ, how much is that per week? Around the same as WoW if we go by monthly cost.
But how is WSJ gonna keep you busy as long as WoW? Impossible right? There’s no “value” to it if it’s not special.
I don’t believe Chen Mou is a bit behind his time. The fact that he missed out on the golden age does not mean he is behind, because the golden age of comics wasn’t exactly very intelligent in it’s content
You can say Urasawa and friends were very smart and their content was okay, but none of their works were well rounded enough to match DBZ or Naruto or other mainstream comics. ROT at the very least, in China and other Chinese countries, can “match” the big 3. This proves that while Chen Mou still produces a level of intellect (perhaps even higher depending on the reader) yet can still get it across.
I mean, how are you gonna make an anime out of 20th century boys? The drawing is damn ugly. It’s not marketable. It takes an actual manga reader to even get into it, let alone like it.
The reason I believe Chen Mou is ahead of his time is because his product is actually polished, and unless you are working in an environment where you can finish making your cake, you can’t put icing on top of it. I’ve yet to see another series make a cake as big as his without being unbalanced. If he was not ahead of his time, other mangakas can also produce series like his, and he would no longer be praised.
ROT coming out later would indeed make us more jaded to his themes provided someone actually creates a series that produces the same level of effectiveness in communicating those themes. But that would also mean he would be in the right time.
The right time means being as close to perfect competition as possible. When you are ahead of your time, you are producing something that others cannot match, when you are behind the times you produce something no other even bothers to because it’s been perfected already.
You may not understand what I’m saying, but in terms of business from a society stand point, the right time where his work will be most understood is definitely when there’s actually competition, forcing Chen Mou to level up his game even more. Profit wise, he may be worst off, but that’s another story.
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Comment by Boo — December 13, 2009 @ 1:02 am