Word: formulaic
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...venture is not without risk. Shonen Jump is up against the tried-and-true formula of American comics, which are traditionally based on red-blooded superheroes triumphing over evil in 36 pages or less. The five series that appear in the 300-page first issue of Shonen Jump?Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball Z, SandLand, YuYu Hakusho and One Piece?have nuanced story arcs that may not be resolved for years. For example, the archives of Dragon Ball Z?a tale of galactic war over a set of wish-granting orbs?run to 8,000 pages printed over more than...
Selective colleges have long argued that there is no formula or “big secret” in the quest for the coveted letter of acceptance. But Kennedy School of Government economists Christopher N. Avery ’88 and Richard J. Zeckhauser ’62 and former Wesleyan admissions officer Andrew Fairbanks conclude in their new book that applying early can give an applicant an admissions edge equivalent to an increase of 100 points...
...rivals. By exploiting a loophole in Japan's anachronistic, anticompetitive business rules, the 62-year-old former piano salesman has built Bookoff from a single store into a 700-outlet phenomenon in only 12 years. While nationwide book sales have declined 14% over the past six years, Bookoff's formula of selling secondhand best sellers at bargain rates has been a recession-era boon. In the past fiscal year, Bookoff increased sales 20% to $179 million, making it Japan's ninth largest bookseller. "There was a demand for inexpensive used books out there," says Sakamoto. "We just fill that demand...
...German retail landscape. Owners Theo and Karl Albrecht took over their parents' grocery store after the war and built it into a retail powerhouse. To keep costs - and prices - down, the stores are deliberately Spartan and understaffed, and feature a restricted number of staples, about 700 in total. The formula has been a smashing success: in the low-margin world of grocery retailing, where many chains earn a net return of just 1%, Aldi nets as much as 7%. The Albrecht brothers are now among the richest people in Germany. When the euro was introduced, Aldi rounded its prices downward...
It’s hard, though, to advance beyond perfection, which was The Sea And Cake’s self-titled 1994 debut. That is, the band hasn’t changed much at all. Those who liked the formula The Sea And Cake have used from the beginning will probably enjoy One Bedroom—particularly the opening track “Four Corners” and its wonderfully tight instrumental, as well as John McEntire’s impressive drumming on “Hotel Tell...