Tokyopop Closes North American Publishing Division

Postby **TopazRaven** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:15 pm

Yes, I'm not worried at all for Hetalia. Someone will pick that up in no time I'm sure.

Postby **mysngoeshere56** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:51 pm

Does anybody have news as to what series have definitely been re-licensed yet? I've been looking around for information but I haven't seen any. Have they even released any news, or are they still waiting to start telling us?

Postby **AnimeGirl** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 6:47 pm

Mr. Hat'n'Clogs (post: 1472322) wrote:Kobato is Yen Press, so you're fine.

Really? *eases up* Thanks! I have no idea why I mixed them up O.O But I think there may have been some TokyoPop titles I wanted to read, so it still worries me if there's ongoing series I may want to read licensed by them.

Postby **broly146** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 7:58 pm

I never really cared for tokyopop

Postby **Atria35** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:01 pm

mysngoeshere56 (post: 1474040) wrote:Does anybody have news as to what series have definitely been re-licensed yet? I've been looking around for information but I haven't seen any. Have they even released any news, or are they still waiting to start telling us?

No one knows yet. I don't think anyone can pick up the licenses until the presses stop at the end of the month.

broly146 (post: 1475714) wrote:I never really cared for tokyopop

Care to expand on that statement? Why didn't you like Tokyopop?

MAL · Postby **Mr. Hat'n'Clogs** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:10 pm

I obviously can't speak for Broly, but I've typically found that Tokyopop does a pretty good job of annoying me with what they do. The translations are usually annoying to read and this might sound petty but I hate their ads. They look really ugly and make me want to avoid the series rather than check it out. I was pretty disappointed when I learned Aria was being done by Tokyopop, since I'd been interested in it before. Also, they typically do a pretty good job of picking up terrible series.

Maybe since I'm a new anime fan(I've almost been a fan for three years), I don't know the huge impact Tokyopop used to have but I do know what their products are like now.

Postby **mysngoeshere56** » Sat May 14, 2011 11:14 am

Hey, this is something I just thought of...

Since Tokyopop's foreign markets won't be closing, does that mean that they'll still have English manga translations available? If so, does that mean we'll be able to order from another English-speaking country that they have bases in (like the UK), and still get English manga shipped overseas? Granted, that'd be a lot more expensive, but it's better than nothing I 'spose...

Postby **MasterDias** » Sat May 14, 2011 12:18 pm

Can you read German? Tokyopop Germany is the foreign branch that is remaining open. I think all the UK office did was import their manga from the United States...

I'm pretty sure most English manga translations originate from the United States actually.

Postby **mysngoeshere56** » Sat May 14, 2011 2:42 pm

MasterDias (post: 1478991) wrote:I think all the UK office did was import their manga from the United States...

I'm pretty sure most English manga translations originate from the United States actually.

Yeah, that's what I thought, but it didn't seem to say anything about the UK office closing down. So I was wondering if *maybe* they would start translating on their own. But, if all they did was import, then I guess that could be closing down too. I guess time will tell...

Postby **Lynna** » Tue May 17, 2011 5:11 pm

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I've been saving up and saving up to buy more Fruits Basket, Gakuen Alice, and Aria, and now they're just GOING?????

Postby **mysngoeshere56** » Tue May 17, 2011 5:53 pm

Lynna (post: 1479646) wrote:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I've been saving up and saving up to buy more Fruits Basket, Gakuen Alice, and Aria, and now they're just GOING?????

We don't know yet. A lot of people seem to be hoping that these three series in particular are going to be rescued, though (including people I've read discussing the shutdown outside of this site). I'm hoping we'll find out what series are going to be rescued soon...

Postby **KougaHane** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:03 am

So it looks like the already dwindling manga section of my local bookstore is going to shrink even more. T_T

Postby **Nami** » Wed May 18, 2011 6:32 am

Hmm, I'm not too afraid. XD there is always Shojo Beat. I'm sure there are other companies that will get some of the titles. Have no fear!

Postby **mysngoeshere56** » Wed May 18, 2011 7:29 am

Nami (post: 1479782) wrote:Hmm, I'm not too afraid. XD there is always Shojo Beat. I'm sure there are other companies that will get some of the titles. Have no fear!

I thought the Shojo Beat magazine was cancelled awhile back? Or are you talking about the imprint that Viz uses for their shojo manga? I think they still use the imprint even though the magazine's gone, and they're still publishing all the titles that were still in shojo beat magazine. Viz has been giving out more quality manga lately, so I'm hoping that they and/or Del Rey/Kodansha USA/whatever became of that legal merging picks up most of the titles.

But yes, I'm sure that other companies will get some of the titles. I'm just wondering how many will get rescued... Hopefully most will. Not that I read most of them, but I feel bad for the otakus who do. :-/ The only ones I've collected from Tokyopop are .hack//Legend of the Twilight, D.N.Angel, and Fruits Basket, and I either have every single volume of those published thus far on my shelf or scheduled to be delivered in the mail. I thought about checking out some of their other series (the less popular stuff by Natsuki Takaya, Yukiru Sugisaki, etc.), but I'll just wait and see if somebody else licenses them again before deciding.

Postby **ashfire** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:37 pm

I had 16 titles of Tokyopop manga I was reading or waiting for the next issue. Some of them just started coming out and I got the first or second of a title or waiting for the final of the series.
I think the Japanese publishing houses should take over and translate and ship for sell here in USA.

Postby **Atria35** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:22 pm

ashfire (post: 1484720) wrote:I had 16 titles of Tokyopop manga I was reading or waiting for the next issue. Some of them just started coming out and I got the first or second of a title or waiting for the final of the series.
I think the Japanese publishing houses should take over and translate and ship for sell here in USA.

Those shipping costs would make manga even more expensive than it already is >.>" It's not practical for a number of reasons, not only in shipping costs, but having enough printers and publishing places to print off all the manga that would come to the US.

Postby **ShiroiHikari** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:31 pm

E-readers would be perfect for publishing manga.

Postby **mysngoeshere56** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:42 pm

Atria35 (post: 1484730) wrote:Those shipping costs would make manga even more expensive than it already is >.>" It's not practical for a number of reasons, not only in shipping costs, but having enough printers and publishing places to print off all the manga that would come to the US.

Yeah, I agree. Maybe they could do what Kodansha does and have their own special US company that prints the English manga, but other than stuff like that, I don't see how that'd be more practical.

Any news on the future of some Tokyopop titles? I've heard that all Tokyopop licenses have been reverted back to their owners and it's up to every mangaka to decide the future of his/her titles in America... Last I've heard at least one publisher is considering attempting to rescue Tokyopop titles but I forgot which publisher.

Postby **Atria35** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:53 pm

Nope, no news yet! I'm keeping an ear to the ground, though!

Postby **ashfire** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 6:48 pm

Atria35 (post: 1484730) wrote:Those shipping costs would make manga even more expensive than it already is >.>" It's not practical for a number of reasons, not only in shipping costs, but having enough printers and publishing places to print off all the manga that would come to the US.

Well they could be printed in Mexico and sent across the Border.

Postby **Atria35** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 7:25 pm

ashfire (post: 1484777) wrote:Well they could be printed in Mexico and sent across the Border.

Then why not just print it in the US? You still have the issue of there possibly not being enough presses in Mexico, and shipping across the border still costs a ton- even if it's a border state. I should know- it cost me $5 to send 6 oz of cookies to a friend in Canada! Plus there's a ton of crime going on there right now, so I can imagine shipments being seized because of drug shipping going on >.> That would also raise the price again.

Postby **Davidizer13** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 7:46 pm

ShiroiHikari (post: 1484732) wrote:E-readers would be perfect for publishing manga.

Manga with black-and-white art also looks really good on e-ink displays, probably better than average paper - the shading and lines turn out really sharp and clear. Unfortunately, when I checked for some on the Kindle store a few months back, I couldn't find any worth reading. That's probably changed now, since Square-Enix (and maybe a couple other companies?) have tried experimenting with digital distribution.

Postby **ashfire** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:01 pm

Last year Tokyopop had a tour bus with images of Tokyopop all over it at Otakon in Baltimore MD plus their big industry display in the dealers room.
Could they have been spending money beyond their means. Maybe so.
I know a few publishers of manga were skimping to keep their heads above water.
Ironcat was one and they taken on a title that after the first issue was taken away from them and sold to another company causing Ironcat to close. they had their own titles but everything lost money with the lost of the license and money spent.
DC Comics published manga then closed that up to keep publishing their mainstay of Batman asnd other hero comics.

Tokyopop Closes North American Publishing Division

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