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.
段落書き込みもある興奮、あなたがあれば、あなたがそうでなければあるいは 知っているそれはない場合 複雑に書き込みます。
期間限定ポイント10倍 一部予約販売 http://aone-boutique-hotel.com
The US cover win alot.
I find the dark-zombie cover deceitful. The manga and anime isn’t even really that dark yet the cover potrays as if it is! It’s about a dude that wants a GF for a zombie and a weirdo family.
It’s not like Berserk.
You guys should check the JP covers of the Dragonlance covers.
I doubt your average fan would NOT bithc about those…
Simple question: which one actally properly conveys what the series is actually ABOUT?
Japanese cover: generic cute girl.
American cover: generic cute girl IS A ZOMBIE!
Hell, I’m surprised it’s even getting released. I thought it was going to fall victim to the dying US manga market.
Well duh, Americans are necro for zombies, to the point:
— Capcom will switch its mascot from Classic Megaman to Nemesis.
— Zombies will become its own genre in the US gaming scene and then topple FPS.
— A growing number of Japanese developers naively dismiss “only zombie games sell… in America”, despite the fact Japanese game fans exist in the same country.
— The American Psychology Association would be politically pressured to NOT classify obsession with zombies as necrophilia.
If anyone’s satanic around here, it’s you. You’re the one always calling for destruction and doom. If we were to ask, “which person around here is most like Satan?” you would come out at the top of the list.
Repent.
Lol fuck u religious prude!
‘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
http://www.slumberlandbd.com/103913-thickbox/Sankarea-adorable-zombie-Tome-1.jpg
Fuck I prefer the french cover ^^
It’s the same shit.
Because cute sex appeal is the RULE now not the exception. The other one is way more artistic and cooler!
The US cover looks too awesome to represent the generic moe crap within… I might be tricked into buying that, it’s just wrong.
Come on, people, what’s wrong with guro!?
This may just be a theory but I think americans are used to gore that they can watch gore movies and be bored all through out the movie. Having the original covers would raise american brows as it looks like porn. Heck, they got playboy beat by a long shot and that’s just the cover
If that cover is considered porn then they might as well pull down SPORTS Illustrated and VOUGE covers for their use of bikini-spotted females too. Oh wait, they DON’T.
No, you’re just a retard. This book would be on the manga shelf, so everyone would know hat the content of it would look like.
That must be because yankees always need something to shot at.
Shoot*
Sorry, I’m just mad
Can’t say that new cover is perfect, but the old one was a piece of useless generic crap, so yeah, good riddance.
Japan: Sex sells everything.
USA: Truth in advertising.
Are you saying that there is truth in advertising?
Amurrican must have some modicum of truth in advertising, disclaimers, and so-on-so-forth just so the Trade Commission doesn’t ride up their doorstep with a spiked horsecock strap-on.
Japan cover says ‘loli inside’, american covers says ‘expect some gore, you’ve been warned’.
US is transparent film; you can see what’s inside, even if the part you show your customer is a bit decieving.
JAP cover is a nice thematic gift wrapping, you see something nice and still can have your special surprise.
Personally, for a first volume the JAP one, since SankaRea can be pretty decieving at the beginning of the story and that is better kept by the jap one. It would be best if it had a bit of the US one in the back cover, but that may be asking for too much…
If I was just browsing the racks and saw the US cover, I would think, ‘Okay. Horror story’. I would walk right past the Japanese version, with the vague notion of a chick story.
Look at that armpit pussy!
To be honest, the USA cover matches how shit gets real serious in the later chapters…
So maybe they should use this cover towards the later volumes instead…?
Nice last pic. I liked the childhood friend better than the zombie girl really. The little sister was cute too.
American cover: Here is an interesting story you may want to pick up. “Undying love” Half dead girl..get it? You should try it out. Seems interesting right..?
Japanese cover: Girl with a cute face, that’s all we have to say here. You’ll buy it. Oh and heres a little anime armpit ya sic freaks.
I don’t like when they change the covers around. Strange since this is Kondasha comics as well.
Those filthy americans strike again.
Why do people who don’t like foreigners hang out on Sankaku and pay attention to our every opinion?
looks yandere on both covers
I,d take the American one too… I wouldn’t want anyone seeing the Japanese cover and think it’s some kind of hentai…
Who cares what anyone thinks I’d buy the original as a fan. Not some noob that thinks “Oh blood n guts is cool” like the general audience morons.
I my self love both , but the american one is a cool change
They licensed it in France too and kept the original cover.
Unfortunately they complety fucked up the title artwork.
It’s just publisher jumped on zombie bandwagon, and since in murica zombies more popular than cute girls, so it makes sense.
lol, America.
“most of whom it would seem prefer the US edition over the original, however enticing Rea’s armpits might be:”
How did I know that the armpit exposure would be a point of emphasis as soon as I saw the initial image? Heck, I didn’t even know that was a fetish until one of Artefact’s Kiss X Sis articles awhile back.
Undying Love? Come on the MC doesn’t in love with the girl at first sight. He only interested with zombies maybe later he did… So the Jap version is the winner.
The fact is this anime is Shounen not Shoujo.
A stalker serial murder manga? Hmm how unique.
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…
Well, I didn’t like the manga or the anime so I don’t really give two sh*ts.
I go with my principles.
No original cover == Won’t buy
Changed order of names == Won’t buy
Mr./Ms. instead of suffixes == Won’t buy
Original colored pages are black and white == Won’t buy
Censored == Won’t buy
Changed character names == Won’t buy
ū instead of uu etc. == Won’t buy
sister/brother instead of whatever word the Japanese version used == Won’t buy
Teacher instead of sensei == Won’t buy
I could go on, but I won’t and yes, I rarely ever buy manga these days…
That’s some autism right there.
That’s an excellent guideline, what’s the point of supporting anything that has gone that far.
why should every word translated, except “teacher” or “brother” or “sister”??!! sounds like creepy fetish there..
if you want japanese words, just read the japanese version, what’s the point of some half-assed jobs….weaboo much ? :p
also the ù vs uu thing…. you’re just refusing the Hepburn romanization standard, wich is even mandatory on passports according to the japanese ministry of foreign affairs!
so in other word, you’re being pretty much an illiterate autistic asshole with your rules, accepting only english-translated stuff at the only condition that it doesn’t respect either english or translation rules….
Because sister doesn’t mean the same as aneue, onee-sama, onee-chan, onee-san, nee-san, nee-sama or whatever word was being used to convey the meaning of sister. For teacher it’s just a preference. Onizuka-sensei just sounds better than Teacher Onizuka or Mr.Onizuka.
Yes, I refuse the Hepburn romanization standard.
I don’t see what being autistic has to do with anything. But if it makes you feel better, yes, I am autistic. Maybe I’m illiterate, too. Doesn’t matter, I still stick with my principles. Asshole.. well.. to you it’s still Mr. Asshole. What a rude person you turn out to be.
ū is actually right (since you are being a purist there) since, for example, tokyo should be Toukyou(とうきょう、東京) and it does not sound like that at all since the ou sounds as “oo”, so ō should be used, so you get Tōkyō
I know it’s technically right. I just don’t like it and what’s the point of reading something that pisses me off?
.. Does mommy still cut the crusts off your sandwiches too?
The french version of Sankarea has the same cover as Japan but it is sold as “kawaii zombie”
Anyone else notice that manga/anime always have a stock set of female designs for their characters? There is always the one with big tits (she probably thinks she’s “fat” too, despite weighing 90lbs), a loli looking one with a flat chest (probably self conscious when comparing herself to big tits girl), and then usually a “middle of the road” type who doesn’t give a shit and is also some sort of tsundere.
Yep, crap all around.
Character stereotypes are nothing new. Mangaka did not invent the concept. This goes all the way back to Ancient Greece, and probably earlier, although no written records of that remain.
I would agree with you. MOST anime’s will at least contain one if not ALL of the following.
-School Girl(s)
-Set in a school
-Bath scene
-and a rather weak storyline
I miss the good old days 😛
You’re thinking of that one title that is part of Hotdog, ain’t you?
True for some but not all… Psycho Pass is first to pop into mind from the running series alone.
Where have you been all these years…? That has been like that since, like, Sailor Moon, or even before. Japan is no less guilty of stereotypes than any other cuntry that produces entertainment at wide amounts.
The US cover looks horrible, but it’s fitting for the Yanks.
I hope your not delusional enough to expect your country to be any different.
I’m more concerned with the recycled newspaper they use as pages, the 200 translation notes at the end of a volume, the blatant advertisement and previews of other manga, and the higher prices for certain series.
Reading the comments on Japanese websites about this is pretty funny. They are pretty much horrified about how “America turned our fun romance comedy into some generic looking zombie manga”. A lot of people even are worried that they changed the content in the manga to remove a lot of the moe stuff.
They probably did since they already ‘westernized’ the manga with some shitty deceiving blood and gore zombie cover.
If anything, they ought to be worried that the zombie stuff will be removed.
In my opinion, the cover was changed specifically because even though the guro elements don’t dominate the story, there is just enough of the bloody stuff to set off potential alarms with, say, parents.
If someone looks through their kid’s manga that has just a cute girl on the front and sees a scene with some guts or bloodshed, they might scream “how dare you shock my precious darling with this gross stuff!” But, if the cover already has a taste of the more gruesome elements inside, nobody can say that they had no idea what they were getting into when the book was bought.
The ratings on the back cover aren’t there just to look pretty, you know.
Whatever, necrophilia still doesn’t bode well with me.
It bodes very well in Japan.
And in Canada.
More in Japan. Canada had one legal incident, but the Japanese fantasize and masturbate to it all the time.
what!!!
JP version is way better than that grabage picture.
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!
I’m guessing Artefact wasn’t expecting readers to actually disagree.
I’d rather *own* the Japanese cover, but I also know I’d probably never pick it up from the bookstore shelf. At the end of the day, the most important thing a US release should do it sell units to send money back to Japan.
Kodansha does make some weird decisions in their US manga covers though. Weird font choices and copy that seem very Japanese. I’d actually bet that a lot of the marketing decisions are made by Japanese, not Americans.
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.
It tells those strangers one thing while you get another when reading it 🙂
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
but we are talking about selling a book are we not?
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?
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?
Not really. The show is far more about the moe/cute girls than zombies, so the Japanese cover is more fitting.
It’s also as generic as it is physically possible to be, short of being completely blank.
I think the American is just more sexy for Japan. I mean, you can see inside her. How lewd!
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
Who cares which one is better, they are being marketed to 2 different audiences.
Japan has been on a Moe binge for years now, in the us most don’t really care about that.
Who cares which one is better, they are being marketed to 2 different audiences.
US has been on a guro binge for years now, in Japan most don’t really care about that.
Actually you’re wrong.
Japan LOVES guro.
Guro and necrophilia is a tradition for the Japanese!
Here in Canada too. *Remembers freak who ate boyfriend*
Us isn’t on a guro binge but what ever
AS if that’s “torture porn”.
You’re a moron.
It seems you missed all that torture porn like SAW and its ilk.
That looks like the Walking Dead font…
the american version is a bit misleading, as she IS cute in the story…. even tho the japanese cover is also misleading in the way that there’s no way you can guess any zombie plot from it…
a mix of both would have been smarter :p
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.
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.
Less discerning Western fans might discount them as just standard “weird anime eye colors” rather than picking up on the creepy intent behind them.
Just look at her eyes in the Japanese cover. There is no way this is a generic moeblob manga
“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.
>>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.
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.
Also forgot to I’d that our resent Zombie Trend makes marketing it as such a lot easier.
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.
You blind? Slanty eyes don’t see too much.
thats because in the US little girl sex appeal doesnt move product.
Sankarea is not even loli you epic faggot.
What does any of that have to do with this?
New one looks way less generic than old one.
Sure, if you’re around ten it does.
I think the American version is better.
The Cutesy wutesy one is cool, but to be honest the Darker one is way better not to mention cooler.
But then again japan makes more money if they have a cute anime girl on it 😛
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.
Khaha, of course. Well, in the end, Sankarea’s biggest flaw is that it tries too hard to be moe. Consumer market, etc.
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
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
What? You mean you don’t like that universal font we use for all comics since the 60s?
Despite the fact that one of the main characters is a “zombie” Sankarea is STORY DRIVEN ROMANCE, not a bloody horror/necrophilia manga. In other words the US version is misleading. And I mean both, cover and back.
“Furuya suggests that she could serve as a test subject” I don’t remember anything like this happening. Rea wanted to help him to resurrect his dead cat and drank the potion on her own accord. Furuya knew nothing about it until she fell of a cliff and ripped her stomach open.
‘Merica sucks and loses in every way.
WAAHHHH WAHHHHHH WAAAAAAAHHHHH
Asian bitches sure scream a lot when they are getting raped.
Its ‘Murica. Moron.
Yeah…I saw an image of the US cover for this and said, “Nope”.
japan is better. USA is sucking, but USA might try to mess up the anime to get back at japan(USA is big baby about japan making things that people love). USA give up, Japan created anime and own it forever, deal with it.
my god you must be one of the dumbest posters i have ever encounted.
Oh god, There is so much wrong with your comment. Many people actually think this so I don’t even know if you’re trolling.
Animation started in the Us. Not in Japan.
Moe doesn’t sell well in the US. And the US is in this dumb as shit zombie craze going on.
This is about selling copies and not the actual story in this case.
I’d buy the US version first….. the Japanese one is definitely more attractive and uses better art, but I honestly have no idea what it’s trying to sell. Looks like a generic harem moe crap book that I would ignore.
and I’ll add that in Japan they can become familiar with the comic in the monthly or whatever magazine so people buying the Japanese comic probably already know it’s about zombies even if the cover doesn’t tell them. In the US, the book cover is the first (and often last) chance a series has of introducing itself to the buyer.
The girl on the cover is painfully unattractive looking anyway, so personally i dont see this as much of a loss.
I like the guro one better
Japan must be angry that they’re not getting the guro one. Probably killed their boners.
Nah, they seem pretty happy.
They seem upset about America “ruining” the cover, according to 2ch and Yaraon.
Since when did bitches’ feelings matter? For a nation that markets children’s attitude as befitting adults and trying too hard to take their own ridiculous fantasies too seriously, these japs sure have some mouth on em.
I like the USA Version !!
I like it too! It’s almost poetic!
Well, I guess in America they DO judge a book by its cover.
Like every other country as well. dont kid yourself.
doesn’t everyone do that anyway. I mean seriously I bet at least ONCE you clicked on a video because of its Display picture (which is no different to its cover).
I mean 13.5 MILLION people clicked on a 51 second video because its a picture of Yoko pulling up her shirt (video is titled when I’m bored)
Yes just like everyone else in the world. That is kinda the point of the cover.
Most of the people judge a book by this little thing, you usually can find on the back cover or before the title page. Called summary.
Guess ‘murikans are more about comics though. Not enough time to read all thouse letters
Lol little girls picking up cover and ignoring the big and bright “M” sticker is fault of parents.
It says T/M not E for little brats.
00:41 & 02:44
lol two bitches sucking each other’s cock. How does your fail dick cheese taste when you can’t even get your life in order?
And you don’t seem to have the time to spell check.
While everyone doesn’t pass judgement on something due to it’s cover, it does give them an idea if it’s their taste or not. A cover should at least be there to pique interest/curiosity.
And outside of Japan, moe does not do the trick. Moe is a far smaller niche outside of Japan and it can even be misleading, maybe causing little girls to actually pick it up to see the horrors within. This cover change is perfectly understandable.
Preach it, bro!
Honestly, the USA one looks WAY more appealing and interesting.
Probably just because you are a typical American who loves violence.
I’m neither, but the Japanese cover really only says “the art in this isn’t by Buronson.” Even if I’d heard of Sankarea, I wouldn’t even notice it in a shop.
Actually I’m European and I love moe, you judgmental piece of shit.
European gore eating shit-fest fuck face!
Or is it Americans don’t always bitch about ‘violence’ whenever they see a little bit of blood and anything that doesn’t match your narrow-eyed ideals of fantasy?
Bitch.
Or maybe it’s because the cover better represents the actual contents, instead of being an obvious bait-and-switch?
HAHA downvote whining is an asian bitch move.
The Japanese is MUCH better… US isn’t moe, who the fuck would buy that?
I would and I don’t care about Sankarea to begin with.
that means he isnt part of an shitty alliance.
That means you are a violence loving americajin…
GITS mean anything to you?
Sorry. Ghost In The Shell
GhIst In The Shell
You ask TITS?
Let’s be honest here. Playing the zombie theme will sell more books, since zombies are popular now and moe, despite the vocal wailing of a small minority, is not, and never will be popular in America. To begrudge a company for trying to make more money is foolish.
Them Japs sure love their guro. Dead girls make them strong in pants.
He’s right you know. Take a look at your average hentai.
Uh, what about all of those zombie games and movies that the Yanks are so obsessed with? They sure get hard for that stuff.
yeah, i remember when left 4 dead was sexual… oh wait
They get hard at the thought of brains busting infront of them and blood splashing upon their buldging pants.
A Guro-infested HARD-ON. Amerifags drop their pants whip out their dicks and fap excitedly to the sight of blood like vultures. The excitement of something being torn apart or insides dragging out sends the hairy barbarian blood-thirst gene into a rage.