Russia
Comics never gained high popularity in Russia, only few Marvel's titles being a moderate success. Russian readers traditionally considered them children's literature, so the manga market developed late. A strong movement of anime fans helped to spread manga. The general director of Egmont Russia Lev Yelin commented that the most popular manga series in Japan are comics which "contain sex and violence", so they probably won't be published in Russia. A representative of Sakura Press (the licensor and publisher of Ranma ½, Gunslinger Girl and some other titles) noted that although this niche is perspective, it's hard to advance on the market, because "in Russia comics are considered children's literature". It is also impossible for publishers to predict the success or failure of any specific title. On the contrary, Rosmen's general director Mikhail Markotkin said the whole popularity of comics doesn't matter, as only artistic talent and good story make a successful project, and only such manga "will work" on the market.
The first officially licensed and published manga series in Russia was Ranma ½. Sakura Press released the first volume in 2005. Since then several legal companies appeared, including Comics Factory and Comix-ART. Comix-ART, which is working in collaboration with Eksmo, one of the largest publishing houses in Russia, was the first company to publish Original English-language manga (usually called "manga" or just "comics"), such as Bizenghast, Shutterbox and Van Von Hunter.
Read more about this topic: Manga Outside Japan
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