Tokyopop to Close North American Publishing Division

Has been on the cards for years, tbh, but still I guess it's a shame given how much they did for the Western manga scene.
 
Paradox295 said:
A bunch of Clamp stuff is gonna be rereleased by Dark Horse.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.uk/news/ ... -omnibuses

Apparently, they were only left with six employees. Everything they have will probably be released by Viz/Dark Horse/etc in the future..
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They lost all the Kodansha licenses years ago, that basicaly killed them, including nearly all their big titles except Fruits Basket. Just been a few years for them to finaly die.
 
Total Bummer. They basically started the manga boom of the noughties, so it's a shame to see them go. With cmx and del ray gone too, it's a tough time for manga publishers. It seems to be going through a similar thing to when the anime bubble burst a few years back
 
christor said:
Total Bummer. They basically started the manga boom of the noughties, so it's a shame to see them go. With cmx and del ray gone too, it's a tough time for manga publishers. It seems to be going through a similar thing to when the anime bubble burst a few years back
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Delray aren't gone yet. They were the result of a partnership between Random House and Kodansha.
They were killed off by Borders closing down, whilst owing them an awful lot. Similar to how Wolworths death killed Virgin Megastores. Wasting lots of money on stupid sideprojects didn't help either.
 
I'm also surprised TP lasted as long as it did. At least my daughter can finish Animal Academy, but Gakuen Alice will be missed until someone else picks it up along with the other now abandoned titles. Kodansha US perhaps.
 
Mohawk52 said:
I'm also surprised TP lasted as long as it did. At least my daughter can finish Animal Academy, but Gakuen Alice will be missed until someone else picks it up along with the other now abandoned titles. Kodansha US perhaps.
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Tokyopop had no Kodansha licences left, they lost all of them at once.
It's now mostly just Yen Press licensing stuff. Viz don't license much, except from Shopro, FMA is their only big title not from their parent company.
 
So, what manga publishers are left that release English translations?
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as well as Yen there is the mighty Vertical and Dark Horse's Manga imprint- but most of DH's manga editors got sacked this week. :( There's the occasional more experimental release from Fanfare and drawn and quarterly too.

Delray aren't gone yet. They were the result of a partnership between Random House and Kodansha.
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My bad, I thought kodansha USA had taken over all their licences all ready.
 
Reaper gI said:
Mohawk52 said:
I'm also surprised TP lasted as long as it did. At least my daughter can finish Animal Academy, but Gakuen Alice will be missed until someone else picks it up along with the other now abandoned titles. Kodansha US perhaps.
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Tokyopop had no Kodansha licences left, they lost all of them at once.
It's now mostly just Yen Press licensing stuff. Viz don't license much, except from Shopro, FMA is their only big title not from their parent company.
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I get that, but it still doesn't mean that Kodansha couldn't pick up the license of these as well, or any of the other two for that matter. One new company comes on line, one old company drops off. It's a question of balance. :wink:
 
Wow, I just read what the founder of Tokyopop USA, Stu Levy, had posted as a farewell... And then the comments made by some of the customers underneath.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r513Ch0V9x0

Well, I wasn't affected by the lost licenses crush so I've not had any hatred for them. I can understand people being annoyed at the loss of a series 1/2 way through it, but if a company's struggling, then it's not like it hasn't tried and brought something to the readers.

It's upsetting to see a vastly influencing group such as Tokyopop take such a fatal blow. They still have somewhere in Germany, right? Will they keep up their work and try to finish/sell off their products/series and such?
 
At least it only appears to be in North America where they have stopped publishing.

Then again, if things are not going well there, how long will it be before they stop selling in Europe.
 
christor said:
My bad, I thought kodansha USA had taken over all their licences all ready.
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Nope they still have most, it's only what Kodansha is publishing they've lost. They're finishing Tsubasa, xxHolic etc.
 
Mohawk52 said:
I get that, but it still doesn't mean that Kodansha couldn't pick up the license of these as well, or any of the other two for that matter. One new company comes on line, one old company drops off. It's a question of balance. :wink:
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But so far we're just losing companies. No one new is stepping up to license off third parties. Viz and Kodansha USA show no signs of going after others properties.
We're down to Dark Horse, Yen Press, Seven Seas, Bandai and Digital Manga (and some other hentai/yaoi publishers).

Vertical will actively avoid popular series (anything that's popular enough to have been scanlated).
 
Reaper gI said:
But so far we're just losing companies. No one new is stepping up to license off third parties. Viz and Kodansha USA show no signs of going after others properties.
We're down to Dark Horse, Yen Press, Seven Seas, Bandai and Digital Manga (and some other hentai/yaoi publishers).

Vertical will actively avoid popular series (anything that's popular enough to have been scanlated).
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You don't know that for sure, and wild speculation and needless worry will serve nothing to no one. We will just have to wait. Some one at Tokyopop's Facebook blog has stated:
We’re very sorry for the sad news. Nothing has made us happier than being together with you guys as one community. We wish we could keep publishing all your favorite series but unfortunately reality isn’t so kind. We’ll be announcing the future of specific titles in the next couple weeks. Thank you for all the support and understanding – we love you all. TOKYOPOP fans are still the best fans around!!!!
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, so it seems to be a work in progress, stay tuned! :wink:
 
Argh I was almost safe since I'd stopped following a lot of manga releases due to the incessant cancellations blighting the industry, but Hetalia v3 will vanish into the abyss :( along with Chibisan Date.

It's sad that a series which was regularly tearing through the sales charts since its release in English couldn't help them.

It's also sad to lose the Tokyopop name, somehow. I remember picking up Mixxzine in Cambridge for the first time many years ago and being delighted that someone new had entered the fray despite the duff translations and cheap production of the time (which they had since improved). And now they are gone. I only hope that this bolsters the other companies' sales; cancelled series suck and we've had quite enough of them in the last few years.

R
 
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