What do you think of alt manga efforts like the Ax anthology

[Vertical Inc]

What do you think of alt manga efforts like the Ax anthology from a few years ago?

Not sure if you are aware, but we publish alt manga all the time!!
Lychee Light Club, Velveteen & Mandala, Peepo Choo, Utsubora, and PINK are all alternative or indie manga.
Witchcraft Works and AJIN will be continuing that trend, though the editorial direction for the magazine they launched in (good! Afternoon) is moving more towards the mainstream as of late.
We’ll continue to look at such works. However, as alt manga by nature are not going to be big-time works sales-wise Vertical has to be very careful with such releases to prevent experiencing some of the financial issues we faced in the past.
For full disclosure, I was initially courted to edit AX. But I just started working at Vertical at the time, and had no time as I was busy getting used to Random House and building Vertical’s manga catalog. With that in mind, I will refrain from commenting on that on this business blog. If you happen to run into me, individually, in person or online I might go into more detail.