Broccoli’s Yamashita confirms closure

The first confirmation from within the company, this blog post by Broccoli Books product manager Shizuki Yamashita reveals, somewhat casually, the publisher is indeed dissolving at the very end of the year.  ICv2 has a more formal statement from Yamashita, while ANN provides some additional background on Broccoli’s various businesses.  Shoot, totally forgot about that cosplay magazine…

The latest in a seemingly long line of manga publishers to have run aground within the past year, Broccoli would only be the second Japanese-owned company to retreat from the US market in recent memory (the first being the much-lamented Raijin).  And the company may face one final indignation… Nui, presumably Broccoli’s last manga release, has a binding error that may force a recall.  But reflective of the class with which the company has consistently handled itself, it seems Broccoli will do everything within its power to make its exit from North America a graceful one.  There’s a reason Broccoli’s a fan favorite at conventions.

In such unfortunate events, there’s a tendency to look for shortcomings in gameplan and assign blame, even where no technical fault may exist.  But, with one exception, there does seem to be a common thread between all the manga publishers who’ve severely redacted their release schedules this year, or worse… they all made a play for the mainstream, middle ground manga readers.  When one aims to appeal to a wide segment, be it through choice of licenses or a liberal number of imprints, it’s very difficult to develop enough of a personality to distinguish oneself in the market, especially one inhabited by some very dominant players.  Ask any direct market retailer what your prospects are of starting a succesful new superhero publishing company, and the most likely answer you’d get would be an emphatic, ”don’t do it.”  The manga industry is now at that same point, with regards to a generalized approach to manga publishing.  It’s still true that manga readers are not ardent brand loyalists, but readers are only part of the equation… bookstores ultimately choose what gets prominent shelf space, and unless one’s product line is easily distinguishable, there’s no reason for booksellers to choose it over more books from Viz, or TP, or Del Rey.  Now, I don’t mean that any manga publishing hopeful should only work in esoteric genres, but to be selective and show enough focus to build an identity.  There’s just no room for another generalist.  The problem isn’t the gameplan or the execution… we need to play a different game altogether now.