The choice of cover for Sankarea’s US edition has raised more than a few fan eyebrows – ditching as it does the eye-wateringly cute cover of the original in favour of hanging intestines and undead menace more befitting Romeroland and its eternal zombie boom.
Whatever its unwitting commentary on the state of the American psyche versus that of the Japanese, the new cover design is proving a hit amongst Japanese – most of whom it would seem prefer the US edition over the original, however enticing Rea’s armpits might be:
Hanging intestines presumably mean the manga’s other meatier elements will survive intact, although American fans have long complained nothing is certain in the land of the free when it comes to such matters:
The first English volume is due in June.
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If I were to pick I would vote for the American one but I do kind of dislike how we don't have the "original" cover (I let it slide for anime but with Manga that was the cover chosen by the author).
Not to big on the silly font either but even Japan had it bad there; I'll be picking it up either way.
Well to be honest if I saw the second cover would be sorely disappointed that the zombies aren't attacking once I turned the page :) On the other hand would enjoy the pleasant surprise ha-ha and avoid some inqusitive looks since the covers incognito
Well to be honest if I saw the second cover would be sorely disappointed that the zombies aren't attacking once I turned the page :) On the other hand would enjoy the pleasant surprise ha-ha and avoid some inquisitive looks since the covers incognito
Khaha, of course. Well, in the end, Sankarea's biggest flaw is that it tries too hard to be moe. Consumer market, etc.
What? You mean you don't like that universal font we use for all comics since the 60s?
Not to drop the ball here, but all personal tastes aside I think the US cover is more fitting. It tells the custom what he's buying.
Not really. The show is far more about the moe/cute girls than zombies, so the Japanese cover is more fitting.
I think the American is just more sexy for Japan. I mean, you can see inside her. How lewd!
It's also as generic as it is physically possible to be, short of being completely blank.
thing is the overall story isn't, its about slightly more than just the girls at any rate.
the whole thing is addressing concerns.
The fact that she's dead is kinda important to the story as a whole and character type. Don't try to deflect the issue by cherry picking only things you like.
US cover is a bit exaggerated but still better representative of the story than japanese version which is just cheap and shallow with elementary-school panty-oogling mentality so befitting the infantile race called japanese.
Thing is moe IS SHIT and something to be ashamed of, good ridance, the the show itself sucks due to the moe
I disagree. The US version makes it look like a horror story (which it isn't). The JP version shows that while she's a cute girl, there is something strange, creepy or scary going on (see her facial expression).
The US cover looks like it's going for a campy, classic monster-comic look. It might not be the best representation of the comic's contents, but I'd say it's better than the original.
Your impression of her facial expression may be one of something strange going on, but that's because you already know what the manga is about. Someone unfamiliar with the series, seeing it for the first time, would just dismiss it as being about the life and times of some happy girl, and not look further into it.
JP Cover is much more accurate to what the story is about. The stupid NA cover rides off the zombie thing as if the whole novel is a High-School Of the Dead.
It's not but more about romance and cuteness and some zombie moments.
YOU ARE FUCKING STUPID! NO ZOMBIE IS MOE! FUCK OFF LOSER!
I'm guessing you don't understand...anything can be moe-fied look at that cockroach girl moe as fuck
I agree. The US cover suggests "cute zombie girl." The Japanese cover suggests "girl" or "cute girl," which these days, is useless. It may as well just say "manga" on the cover and leave it at that.
Which part of that zombie on the cover is cute?
Where does the US cover say ">>CUTE<< zombie girl"???
What the fuck is cute about guts hanging out of her abdomen?
but we are talking about selling a book are we not?
I don't know. I think the US cover tells a better story than the Japanese one. The Japanese cover says 'a girl', but the US cover says, "The return of the girlfriend you murdered".
I meant I don't know if the cover is saying 'cute zombie girl' because from the way I see it, it's saying 'That girlfriend you murdered'.
@3:09 That's kind of a puzzling response. It sounds like you disagree with me... by saying the same thing I'm saying? Or is "I don't know" meant literally? I'm saying the Japanese cover is so generic it's meaningless.
I don't think that you've actually read the comic.
Did you even read the source?
I have to agree, and let's face it, it uses as the fandom base created by current shows like the living dead, as well as hardcore zombie fans.
It tells those strangers one thing while you get another when reading it :)
Honestly, the American one will appeal to a more wide spread audience, considering the rise in popularity zombie movies, tv shows, and video games have been getting. And just seeing some random girl like that on the cover would make it look more appealing to girls, who may think it is a romance series. Without the zombie part.
Then the "wrong" people will find out about it's true content and boycott it!
'muricans sure love violence and hate sex.
At least it better that burqa wearing europoors.
Geee, someone sure thinks he knows a lot about Europe here, lmao
Honestly the original cover is just way to generic. The US one is far better.
The US one looks no less generic, it looks like any other American zombie graphic novel.
"It looks like any other American zombie graphic novel." ... in spite of it obviously looking like manga.
I am glad you think that. Being wrong and making mistakes is how we learn.
As an advertising student, I'd the US one simply is superior by all means.
- You can describe the story to a friend and they'll know it's the right manga as soon as they see the cover.
- The American audience are pretty educated in the archetypes of manga that get published here, the japanese cover would have fell among the Ken Akamatsu manga- completely indistinguishable at first glance.
- there are no easy access monthly manga magazine that promotes these products. You go into a store and you browse for manga. The cover has to do as much work as possible.
- Americans liked fucked up shit. This was a smart design decision.
>>Also forgot to I'd that our resent Zombie Trend makes marketing it as such a lot easier.
Whereas this clearly is an American, unable to write in proper intelligible English.
@08:16
Generalization and I can guarantee that if you are infact not an American yourself that your country is no different.
Also forgot to I'd that our resent Zombie Trend makes marketing it as such a lot easier.
No offense but forget the stereotypical mindset of America and get back to the real sense of story.
Going by the American cover your everyday sheep is going to think there's going to be gore and guts every other scene. The Japanese cover is much more fitting for this type of story since the Zombie circumstance's is only half, if not less, then the actual story.
American audience are too dull in sense when it comes to archetypes and story telling. Almost everything is pigeon held or watered down. Letting this go will only add to the mountain of piled up dumb shit we are spoon fed everyday.
They pretty much all look the same generic shit. Dark colors, blood, organs hanging out. Where has this not been seen before honestly? It's a wannabe Walking Dead than Sankarea cover!!
Another 'general audience' appeal for those who hate anything from japan anyway.
That's exactly the point. The publisher wants customers to know this is a zombie graphic novel, and not a generic moeblob manga that just happens to have zombies.
@06.02 I agree with you there. Considering wacky eye colours are 'de regeur' in anime, it tells little to the uninitiated what the story's about.
Saying that, neither cover hits the spot for me; the original Japanese cover, while gorgeous, tells little to those who haven't had the advantage of reading the serialisation elsewhere which presumably, the Japanese have.
Conversely, the US cover fails too, in that it comes across as a kitsch zombie pulp book, especially with that god-awful type. Sankarea isn't that one-dimensional. I'll still be buying it as from what I've seen of the anime, it'll be a worthy read, but admittedly, I'll be gritting my teeth a bit when I put it on the shop counter.
Just look at her eyes in the Japanese cover. There is no way this is a generic moeblob manga
Less discerning Western fans might discount them as just standard "weird anime eye colors" rather than picking up on the creepy intent behind them.
You blind? Slanty eyes don't see too much.
What a patetic Cover, the original is much better.
A Zombie cover for "zombie americans". Is the same case of the cover of Bio Hazard.
Patetic.
First of all, it's "pathetic" you ignorant dolt of a human.
Second, I would rather buy something that shows what I'm in for instead of a cover that blatantly tells me "Hey! You're about to buy some sick pedophile manga that probably contains armpit fetish."
You must be at the wrong site then huh? Go back to church buraq nun!
But... what it would blatantly tell you is almost exactly what you would be in for...