English Spice & Wolf Ditches Horo
- Categories: Manga, News
- Date: Oct 14, 2009 23:41 JST
- Tags: Furries, Horo, Light Novels, Marketing, Spice and Wolf, Translation, USA, Yen Press
Horo fans are aghast at the decision of the English publishers of sagacious wolf light novel series Spice and Wolf to dump the titular spicy wolf Horo completely in an effort to appeal to “fantasy audiences,” who presumably cannot be expected to buy anything without a scantily clad lady or dragon on the cover.
Yen Press lengthily excuses their decision to dump the charming cover illustrations which formed the basis for a series of light novels, anime, games and manga, saying there is no way real Americans will buy books with funny Chinese cartoons on the cover:
What is a light novel, really? It’s a novel. It’s a book with spiffy illustrations.
Sure, there are some distinct challenges when it comes to positioning these books in our market, but ultimately there are a lot more readers of novels out there right now than there are readers of manga and comics.
That’s a huge potential audience, and we really want to help our novels realize that potential. These are great stories, and we’re proud to be introducing them to whole new readership.
Some of the “spiffy illustrations” currently getting in the way of marketing this book to the swords and sex hungry US fantasy market:
They are keen to spin the decision as one made “in the best interests” of Horo fans and light novel aficionados alike:
We think this design really captures Holo’s playful spirit in a way that will appeal to fantasy audiences. At the same time, though, we certainly know that some of the existing SPICE AND WOLF fans out there might have a harder time embracing this new direction.
What we hope, though, is that those fans understand our reasons for making these changes and will turn out to support this property that they know and love and in turn support the success of light novels in general in this market so that one day — hopefully! — we’ll be in a very different place where we can confidently and successfully utilize the original cover art for these books.
What I’d really like to see come to pass is the day where light novels are actually bringing new readers into the manga community!
Possibly not if all the existing fans of the franchise are aghast at the ruination inflicted upon poor Horo by a now almost universally vilified Yen Press.
Yen Press are attempting to appease actual Horo fans, whom they dismiss as “hardcore,” and hawk their own rag in the process, by offering a limited edition dust jacket featuring the original artwork packaged with their magazine, though it is hard to see many being satisfied by this…
Fans can however take scant solace in the fact that even Yen Press is not ready to start stripping out the interior illustrations yet – these will remain intact for now.
It is indeed curious that whilst some companies are desperate to copy Japanese visual styles in order to effectively market their own products, others actually dealing with licensing Japanese works are desperate to downplay the same visual elements, even to the extent of suppressing the art in favour of western styles or 3D CG…
Generic fantasy novel edition Spice & Wolf goes on sale in December.
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What were they thinking? I can't read something with a cover like that on the subway!
It would look creepy as opposed to a more childish cover in which people would just assume you're just immature.
I guess the west loves censorship as much as equality now too.
Mmmmmm, sideboob.
Also outrage, of course.
Siiiiiiidebooooooooooob...
A bit unrelated but japanese people fuck up with L's and R's all the time Holo/Horo L being pronounced eru in Death Note Light being pronounced Raito in one episode of Death Note an american F.B.I. agent is named Larry Conners and on the computer screen it says Rally Conners in short japanese fail at L's and R's in english even one of my japanese friends who is very good at english spells helicopter as hericopter
I learned to distrust localization companies a long time ago. Then I bought the Tokyopop Slayers novels against my better judgment and that cemented my position. I won't be buying anything "officially translated" anymore. I'm learning Japanese now so I don't have to deal with fuck-ups like them anymore.
this is BLASPHEMY
fuckers
P.S.
----> HORO <----
Why did you have to post this? It makes me FUCKING RAGE.
That is not my HORO!!! Yen press is retarded if they think they are going to broaden the sales base by putting some 3d ugly on the cover.
Fans of Spice and Wolf will buy the light novels....and the 3d ugly makes us cringe!
The cover is ugly,
but Horo will never be yours.
Isn't this exactly what was done for the Suzumiya Haruhi novels? Was it really so hard to anticipate this coming?
(FWIW, the Haruhi covers were more tasteful than these, though the principle is the same.)
Yeah, but they haven't mentioned about different covers for different versions. So far, this is the only 'official' American version, where you only get the original art if you choose to get it from their magazine.
For Haruhi, at least they told you right out original=hardcover, other version=paperback.
What's all the commotion about? It would make perfect sense for them to broaden the reader fanbase by using a more socially-acceptable cover. Remember that anime are Chinese cartoons for kids and people do not want to be seen walking around reading books with Chinese cartoons on it.
I learned to distrust localization companies a long time ago. Then I bought the Tokyopop Slayers novels against my better judgment and that cemented my position. I won't be buying anything "officially translated" anymore. I'm learning Japanese now so I don't have to deal with fuck-ups like them anymore.
Cover is fine.
You're all dumb.
Get over it.
I don't mind they did away with the cover but the one they replaced it with is just awful. Really tacky.
while the original cover says i'm a manga reader the new cover screams i'm a creepy fantasy nerd furry who faps to transvestites and is gonna rape you your children and your pets with my +5 1inch dick of fagging while I roll a set of 20-sided dice in your asshole
while the original cover says i'm a manga reader the new cover screams i'm a creepy fantasy nerd furry who faps to transvestites and is gonna rape you your children and your pets with my +5 1inch dick of fagging while I roll a set of 20-sided dice in your asshole ^ THIS
wow the actual novel must be terrible if the cover matters this much
the cover represents what is included inside.. it isn't going to catch fan's eyes, but it'll scare teh F outta the new fans, so who cares
if i get my hands on it, just might tear off the cover and cry at my new doorstop
Holo/Horo is cute in the original but new cover model = fugly man Leave Holo/Horo (and all anime/manga/light novel/video game characters) alone in original format and leave 3D modeling to hot girls like my Aki Hoshino for things things unrelated to 2D
You're all faggots. The new cover is much better. Get out of your basements and suck a dick.
do i spot armpit hair?
Anon at 12:18 it is obvious that the hermaphadite buck toothed model both sucks and has dicks
And you are thoroughly aroused by said genital features. Amirite?
So just make the fans deal with it? Yen press, I'm disappointed in you. That's why I'm gonna work for delrey.
This sucks, but I'll probably buy a limited edition, though.
I bet she's a 43year old transsexual with a withered twat and a 12in futanari schlong
that bitch looks like a buck toothed hermaphadite
I still believe in Yen Press :p
Fail.
Yen Press is the sexually abused and confused child struggling for identity in the world of manga magazines
Nerds are a hoot
MaidNiac you're a fucking retard what they changed was the cover big fucking deal the point is everything inside is intact, I can't believe you fags complain about the cover do you buy books for the cover alone?!
Nope, in this case and when it comes to Japanese light novels, we buy them BOTH for the content and the fresh looking cover/illustrations.
And keep in mind, chances that the illustrations inside are most likely already removed so "new" readers would believe that Holo is a trans man with beaver teeth.
That cover seriously puts me off picking the novel off the shelf :|
I reckon it doesn't look good or appealing, if they want to change the cover do it properly and hire better artist.
The current one looks more creepy than appealing...
This is an insult to the genius of Ayakura.
Do they even have the legal rights to alter content to such degree when distributing material? Seriously, I dunno, so I was just wondering.
Talk to Japanese side of things
Explain objectives and reasoning
Get okay to change cover
Hire a horrible artist
Result.
I was always thinking that the cover should represent something from the story, in this case its Holo.
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE THOUGHTS.
Old news, rage'd and calmed down already.
I came, I saw, I rage'd
Came, Saw, Raged, Raged again, Raged some more, Will not stop raging till Fail Press burns to the ground.
To some degree Square-Enix is attached to Yen Press so they have a good backer in them.
I was considering buying these novels, but if they start out by removing one of the most charming parts of the novel then I'm not wasting my money.
I hope this fails like Obama.
I hope you fail like your ignorant comment
You're right. You can't fail if you don't do anything.
I hope this flails like your mama...
That said, I'll stick to the anime and hentai...
Needless to say, they won't be getting my money.
Two words describe the publishers perfectly in this case: Blasphemous Fucktards.
They violated the godess ;_;
What the hell? The original cover image was beautiful, I can't believe they decided to ditch it.
They release a jacket if you buy their magasine... The best from both world, no?
WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY MUST US FANTASY PUBLISHERS ALWAYS GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO RAPE MY EYES? WHY! KEEP THE GODDAMN FOREIGN COVERS! YOU USELESS AESTHETICALLY RETARDED FUCKS! First the First Law Trilogy and now this. The American covers are always so fuckawful. I just don't understand. Is it an American lack of basic aesthetics? Someone explain this to me. Seriously, I'm an American and I just don't get it.
Well, apparently the light novel market in the States hasn't been doing very well. Tokyopop and several other publishers have attempted to push light novels (like Slayers and Chibi Vampire) but it's never caught on, and failed on most occasions.
Yen Press figures they can trick the market into unwittingly getting into the light novel scene by changing the cover to look more like a mainstream fantasy novel (by Yen Press' reasoning, the regular novel market makes a lot more money than manga by a large margin, so they figure it's a more profitable move too).
What they REALLY ought to be doing instead of this cover-changing business is to not clump the light novels with manga in the first place, and just try to fill up a shelf of light novels in the Young Adult section of bookstores. When people are in the manga section and they have a choice between pure words (light novel) or words with pictures (manga), they almost unanimously choose manga, it just makes sense since it's an easier format and that's what they were there for in the first place. Remove that kind of comparison shopping by separating the two formats physically from each other and you'll get respective audiences for the different types.
Course, it could be that they've tried that in the past and stores just don't 'get' that the books should be separated. =\ Can't really say for certain.
Anyway, it sucks, and I sure as hell ain't supporting a cover change.
This is redonkculus....
that being said, this is a bad move for yen press. I mean, tokyopop kept it's original cover for the .hack series (i never read it myself, but it seems to be doing great without me reading it) and Bandai has kept the Code Geass light novel's original cover along with all of its spin-offs(not sure about Kara no Kyouhai seing as del rey licensed it but I have yet to see it in stores). So why did this happened?
This is great all the clowns of this place come to shine now, Guess what you wouldn't even be given the chance to buy light novels without companies like Yen Press, Hell if any of you can read in the December issue of Yen Plus you can get a slip cover for the novel with the original illustration Christ stop bitching for nothing.
The thing it that the cover represents Holo.
I wonder how would the readers react when they see the illustrations, as they get the wrong impression with the cover.
That doesn't help anyone that buys these light novels overseas. As far as I'm aware of, you can't get the magazine anywhere outside of the US. Tons of people have been pissed for that reason.
As for me, I refuse to buy the subscription or just that issue of Yen Plus, since I probably have all the volumes of the manga series shown in it that are worth reading anyway. What a waste of money.
well, i dont think changing the images and cover of the novel is a capital sin, i do like horo illustrations but i think what really makes this novels so good is the text on int more than the images, i know that takeing away the effort of the illustrators is bad, and thats what displeases me the most but its good to have this book on english... so north-americans can read it........ damn, i am not north american TT. (but i have read the first 5 ones)
where once american use to touch things and turn them into gold (money) , they seem to have lost that gift or more precisely mutated, and now everything they touch they turn it into crap.
Wrong impression? HELL if she was on the cover they would get the wrong impression. ECONONICS =/= fox eared girl standing in a wheat field.
"What is a light novel, really? It’s a novel. It’s a book with spiffy illustrations."
Yeah, A NOVEL WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. WHICH ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE PRODUCT.
I definitely understand why they did that. It is unfortunate, but I can see their point. The book will most likely sell much better in the United States with that cover. Before I started reading manga, I was a bit of a novel fan. And I definitely would not have picked up the book if it had the anime/manga inspired cover. Which would be unfortunate since I know that Spice and Wolf is has a great story, one of my favorite.
"And I definitely would not have picked up the book if it had the anime/manga inspired cover. Which would be unfortunate since I know that Spice and Wolf is has a great story, one of my favorite."
And doesn't it make you realize that you, like the target public of the Yen Press cover, might well be just a little FUCKING NARROW-MINDED ? Not to mention the whole "buying a book or not on its cover", which every man or woman with a bit of self-esteem should feel shameful about.
If I were a US citizen, I would be furious to hear what is pretty much an aknowledgement of a number of less than flattering stereotypes about Americans. Or is it that Americans really ARE preposterone-drunk foreign-despising asses who would laugh at a "funny Chinese cartoon"-looking cover while picking the ones with nude chicks on them ?
Come on.
It's not hard to see that the new cover does not serve the book's interest. It's not distinctive in any way, it does not advertise the content as it ought to be (may I remind you it is a light novel and a localized product we're talking about ?). It's lying to the consumer.
The article doesn't say anything about the translation, so there's hope at least for a faithful localization in the inside.
Not buying this bullshit.
Shame on, you, Yen Press.
Facepalm.
'Limited Edition' Horo cover? Good Lord, if I want the good one, I'd better hurry, then.
...Dammit, Yen Press!
This is in the best interest of fans, unless you want the series to never go beyond 2nd volumne. As sad as it is apealing to anime and manga fans has killed light novels in US. The market is just too small, especially since only small portion of that fanbase wants to read a novel instead of manga.
The only way to give it any chances of surviving is apealing to novels readers, hence the cover.
I don't get the crying anyway, it's a novel, hardly any novel keeps it's original cover when translated. Just take a look at urban fantasy novels, they often have amazing US covers, but japanese version are changed into some horrible manga nonsense. Go and look up japanese versions of Dresden Files or Cal Leandros, where the original beauties by Christian McGrath were replaced with some crappy 2nd rate manga images. I somehow doubt japanese readers are crying about the change as much.
You people really aren't going to buy a damn book because of a cover? really?
It's not the fact that they changed the cover, it's the fact that the new cover looks like absolute shit. Not that the original cover was all that great, but it was decent enough. I'll still buy the book, but I'll tear the cover off if I don't find the old one to put over it because I read outside a lot and I really don't want to be seen reading something that looks like that.
God damn some of you people are stupid. It's not the fact that they used a different cover or a less "manga-ish" cover or whatever. I don't care about that. If they'd made a new cover that looked good, there would hardly be any complaints. The problem is that the cover they did choose to go with is shit. I'll still buy the book, but if I can't find the admittedly bland but decent original cover to put over this one I'm tearing the front cover off. I've done it before. After all, it's the insides that matter.
The cover looks kinda weird, but you're making too much of a fuss. The cover is not the most important thing of the book, and everybody knows that. Books like Harry Potter and Twilight don't have the same covers worldwide. Actually, they don't have the same cover in UK/USA and Japan. So, the Japanese basterized the book? Or is it allowed for them, since they're supperior Nihon?
Seriously, you're such a bunch of stupid otakus sometimes.
anyone else think:
http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2007/10/08/carveyx.jpg
Bad Move, Yen Press... very bad...
Fucking yen press. And Might i remind you no. That's not Horo or even a 3d cover of her. It's what i call a fugly bitch on the cover where it looks like she's shitting smoke or something while having an orgasm. Geezuz horrible.
Did Yen Press just call Spice and Wolf a Chinese cartoon character?!?
THIS IS JAPANESE ANIME NOT COMMUNIST CHINA BOOTLEGER-COPYCATS!!
No fuckhead, that was just a joke. Wow you're an idiot. Fucking learn english you worthless dick.
They were saying what the average American would say if they saw it. However, I sure that if they are going for the science fiction crowd then the people that would be looking at this book would be a little familiar with anime and at least know that it's Japanese.
FAIL!
It's fine with me with them changing the cover to attract more readers as long as they don't mess with the content and they find a more decent cover picture than what Yen Press posted here. I agree the cover is horribly done. Find a good photographer, model, pose, Horo character 3D or 2D. Just change the d*mn current cover!!!
The new cover isn't great, and yes, the way the shadows falls do make her look buck-toothed, which is pretty bad design, but I can't really bring myself to care about this. It's only the cover. It's not as if they were editing every panel of a manga. As a novel, it's about the words, not the few pictures that are associated with it.
The Japanese pop aesthetic is trasmitted though images. Using these images is going to keep the product locked into the existing anime/manga fan niche, while dropping only one of them opens it up to fantasy fans who may be repelled by it otherwise. This is a good business decision with a minimal impact on the product itself.
"there are a lot more *buyers* of novels out there right now than there are *buyers* of manga and comics."
fixed
the english cover makes horo the old wise wolf into horo the old hag witch
3DPD.
I remember seeing this in the bookstore and thought "fuck this I'm not buying this shit."
I can appreciate 'westernising' the art in the hopes of drawing in new readers, and if an expanded market would lead to more titles becoming available I'm all for it; the biggest problem I have is that the font looks like it was published in the fucking 70s, vs the subdued, modern style in the original covers. Additionally, it looks like the designer is taking cues from Twilight and I'm pretty sure Spice & Wolf has a different demographic there. And jesus wept, get a better artist. Horo looks mannish there.
I understand them, but like someone said, they are already in the manga shelf, so what the heck.
PS. It's good <3
I have a strong feeling the people who edited the cover don't even know what the hell the book was about or even cared.
This is the most retarded looking thing ever! 1. Those teeth make Horo look like a Beaver. Yen Press has disappointed me!
"Holo"
Forget the cover, I won't be buying a book that calls Horo-sama "Holo".
Noooo, I've been reading this stuff translated. I love the illustrations. They are lovely and quite cute.
this article is too sensationalist. they didn't ditch Horo, they just put a 3D version of her on the cover.
For those planning to 'boycott' the cover, please keep in mind that this cover will help the novel stay alive in this market. If it can make it's way into fantasy section and cement itself, there will come a time when you can have your original cover as the default. It's fact that the hardcore alone will not bring revenue for this book, other audiences need to be pullled in.
Until then, the original is being offered in Yen Plus. You don't have much to complain about.
Complete utter bullshit. Spice & Wolf isn't SnW if there is no Horo.
Should I cry or Vomit? really man WTF evidently someone needs to be fired :(
Yen Press, huh?
So this is what they do.
WTF are they trying to say with Americans not wanting to see "Chinese characters" or whatever?
They are so gonna bastardize the first volume of Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler and turn it to a real Crawl-SHIT-Sue-Gee.
Ugh...
Wow, yeah.. cause American males DISLIKE half nekkid chicks.
Judging a book by its cover? Fucking pussies. Even while I'm a hardcore Horo fan, I understand that this could be a necessary measure in order to pave way for more light novels released on this side of the pond. I will support this decision and buy this book. Not only to have something to read and support the author, but to put a bit of effort into having more of these novels released in the west. Perhaps one day we could see a new print with the original cover.
Purist "hardcore fans" are usually the worst kind of idiots... YES, I'M TALKING TO YOU.
If you really want to support the author, you should buy the original novels instead of the 'fake' ones. Don't encourage them to publish this stuff. There are many ways to get the original books for western fans.
I guess you are one of those guys who also watches dubbed anime on tv, am i right?
OH? HOWS THOSE SLAYER NOVELS DOING? HOW ABOUT SCRAPPED PRINCESS? HUH WHATS THAT? OH CAN'T FORGET FULL METAL PANIC?! Point is if Yen Press doesn't do good with these then no one will and they will NEVER be released here again so yeah go ahead don't buy them don't support one of the few companies who even bothers to release light novels in the us.
fucking idiots.
The new cover looks butt ugly even for a geneic fantasy novel and not that appealing for even an average fantasy novel fan/reader.
while the original cover says i'm a manga reader the new cover screams i'm a creepy fantasy nerd furry who faps to transvestites and is gonna rape you your children and your pets with my +5 1inch dick of fagging while I roll a set of 20-sided dice in your asshole ^ THIS
Don't delude yourself pal, the kids laughing at Borders while you stand in the manga aisle are in fact laughing at you.
the English version cover looks bad. Whats with the big teeth? D: