A couple of great articles at PWCW: Ed Chavez interviews Yukari Shiina (aka ceena?) of World Manga, a literary agency which seeks to import manga-inspired comics into Japan, while Professor Todd Allen talks to several comic publishers who have found success by going outside of the traditional direct market to find readers.
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ICv2 has chimed in on Iris Print’s closure, and concludes that the yaoi market has simply become too glutted, with releases outpacing growth. I’m just a hair skeptical of this explanation, if only because so many announced yaoi titles didn’t actually make it to print.
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According to Diamond’s latest retailer order form, the following Tokyopop titles which were solicited for Previews July have been cancelled:
- Atelier Marie And Elie -Zarlburg Alchemist Volume 5
- Blazin’ Barrels Volume 11
- Blood Sucker Volume 8
- Dragon Voice Volume 11
- Forget About Love Volume 2
- Gakuen Heaven-Nakajima
- Gosick Volume 2
- I Wish… Volume 3
- Kat & Mouse Volume 4
- Liling-Po Volume 9
- Love Mode Volume 11
- Missing (Novel) Volume 4: The Hanged Man
- Mobile Suit Gundam Ecole Du Ciel Volume 9
- Nosatsu Junkie Volume 7
- Pick Of The Litter Volume 5
- Planet Blood Volume 9
- Poison Candy Volume 2
- Rure Volume 4
- Saver Volume 7
- Shin Megami Tensei (Kahn) Volume 3
- Snow Volume 2
- Sorcerer Hunters — 100% Authentic Format Volume 11
- Suppli Volume 4
- That Guy Was Splendid Volume 1
- Trinity Blood – Reborn On The Mars Volume 3
- Zig*Zag Volume 4
- Star Trek: The Next Generation Volume 1 (postponed until Spring 2009)
In addition, the following June solicitation was cancelled:
- Lagoon Engine vol. 6
Now, keep in mind this does not necessarily mean that these books have been cancelled completely… it’s possible they may be re-solicited at a later time. On the other hand, only Star Trek is specifically mentioned as having been postponed. If one of these books is a definite must-have for you, it might be time to start a letter-writing campaign to Tokyopop.
Edit: Initially I debated whether to post this list, because I was afraid some people were going to stop buying certain titles based on the belief that the series may not be completed. I’m speaking with my publisher hat on here: Please don’t do that. The only way to save these books is to show there is demand for them. Capitalism is a democracy of money, and you have to vote with your pocket. If you choose to drop books and read scanlations or whatnot, then you are disenfranchising yourself. Regardless of whatever may have been said about Tokyopop here, I implore you to continue your support for the books you love.
Edit 2: Via Kuriousity: an editor for BLU says the two yaoi titles on the list, Love Mode 11 and Gakuen Heaven Nakajima, are merely postponed without a firm release schedule yet.
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Pingback from MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Among the missing on June 18, 2008 at 5:03 am
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Blerg.
Was it here on your blog that you pointed out Love Mode 9 (Blu Title) had recently done well in the direct market?
I really hope this means delays NOT cancellations because it would really suck to put out 10 volumes of Love Mode and not finish the last one (not to mention to only publish half of Suppli).
I’ve said it again and I’ll say it before — blerg.
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Someone over at the ANN forums speculates that because TP solicited Love Mode 10 & 11 within two-three months of each other (unusual for TP, since most titles are released four months apart) it is more likely that they would delay 11 until early next year….which is optimistic and I’ll take it!
Certainly better than the alternative….
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Pingback from More From Tokyopop « GAR GAR Stegosaurus on June 18, 2008 at 7:43 am
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thanks for the compliment, Simon. It was a good conversation and Shiina-san is trying some something quite unique given how small the import OEL market is in Japan.
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There were several titles I’ve been reading, among them Love Mode, Gakuen Heaven (alternate ending books like Nakajima–and there are a couple more), Nosatsu Junkie, and Suppli. In the latter case I think that the packaging doesn’t entice well enough–it took me a while, waffling, before I bought the title, and it turned out better than I expected, sort of a reminder (not too much of one, but similar), to Kimi wa Petto (Tramps Like Us), which was pretty popular. And I’ve preordered a couple of these titles as well, so I wonder what’ll happen to my orders?
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Pingback from Otakunvirka » Tokyopopin joutsenlaulu on June 18, 2008 at 8:35 am
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Pingback from a geek by any other name on June 18, 2008 at 8:58 am
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The demise of Iris Print resulted from lower sales caused by the glutted manga market where the number of new releases has overwhelmed any growth in sales.
Whut?
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I emailed Dan Kim and he told me that this Yukari Shiina is his agent in Japan…obviously she has some good talent behind her, not just crap like Megatokyo.
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Well, as a customer, I am well aware that one sale means jack in the grand scheme of things. Even if I spent my entire yearly discretionary income on Tokyopop–not that I would want to–it wouldn’t keep a title in print (might pay the light bill for an hour). From the list, the only title I was intending to get was Atelier Marie And Elie, although I suspect most of what I was buying from TP will be cut eventually (plus, I’m still rather irked regarding how they handled the layoffs according to rumours).
I’ve decided to keep existing pre-orders, because it is unfair to penalize RightStuf for the actions of Tokyopop (whom, at the moment, I loathe only slightly less than Viz). Beyond that, Tokyopop is dead to me. I’ll just import what I want that they license. I admit this is selfish, but I cannot trust the industry to publish what I want to read anyway (the sales just aren’t there). I need to be become more self-sufficient. On the plus side, like I said above, my actions are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It’s sad when a favorite publisher goes under (and I do wish, for example, Seven Seas does not end up going under), but if there is anything I learn from watching the anime industry it’s how powerless I am.^^
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Simon->
Hey, I calls ‘em as I see ‘em. -
I am really really sad. I own
1. Love Mode Series
2. Liling Po Series
3. Dragon Voice Series
4. Trinity Blood Novel SeriesThe first three titles are about to END ( 1 or 2 volumes left )….and they just cancelled it. I mean…what am I going to do with my incomplete series.
Honestly, Tokyopop should take note…we are your customers. Even if these titles are not marketable, at least Tokyopop should have a social responsibility towards its readers.
Anyway, I hope these titles releases are postponed at a later date and NOT cancelled. Otherwise, I doubt I will buy any new series from Tokyopop for the FEAR that Tokyopop would cancelled the titles as they wish.
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Tokyopop started out so well. But, they seem to have over-extended themselves. And, they’ve also angered quite a few die-hard manga fans with the way they “Westernize” their manga. Obviously, they want to try and make manga more popular with casual fans. But, at the cost of alienating their hardcore fans who love Japanese culture.
Plus, I had heard that they still were using honorifics. And, that they edited Initial D manga and changed names of characters. That is stuff that turns off the hardcore fans. The ones who are the most likely to buy stuff.
That is also what hurt ADV when they replaced NewtypeUSA magazine. Argh, I forgot the name of the replacement magazine. Since, it was a forgettable replacement that lasted only a few months. No, surprise since they made it a magazine with lots of US stuff. That magazine had a hard time appealing to either anime and manga fans or US comic fans.
No surprise that ADV is also having financial problems. People have been critical for years about the way they handle things. Sure, they do a good job on lots of anime in terms of the dubs. But, they also fail to include stuff like honorifics.
I remember when Viz first started. They made the mistake of totally editing manga and trying to westernize as much as possible. This irritated readers. Now, with Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump they’ve learned from their mistakes.
And, when it comes to manga they do it well. Like Dark Horse does as well.
Too bad that TP had so many manga series. Now, this type of news hurts a lot of their readers.
It seems like they don’t want to release very much manga anymore. Well, compared to how they used to do things.
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Ops, typo..it should be: Tokypop still doesn’t use honorifics.
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Oh my sweet freaking Christ, they BETTER NOT completely cancel Rure! I LOVE that manhwa! T___T
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Bummer.
The above titles had better only be delayed and not canceled, because I preordered one of those manga and spent good money doing so. If they don’t arrive by Thanksgiving, I’m going to have to cancel that order.
F*@k.
The manga I’m reading is right at the climax too.
T_T >_____< -_- T_T
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