BL novels publisher declares bankruptcy

I missed UFC 69, because I was on a business trip this weekend… to Texas.  AUGH! 

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From our super-secret undercover double agent to the land of manga men who uphold the traditions of ancient Greece imbedded journalist Tina Anderson comes rumors on Friday that Yuuhi Publishing, described as a “major publisher of BL novels,” has fired off its entire staff without warning.  Today those rumors have been pretty much confirmed, as the official website of Yuuhi has been replaced with a declaration of bankruptcy on April 9th:

株式会社リーフと有限会社雄飛は、2007年4月9日をもちまして自己破産の申立てを行い、倒産いたしました。
それに伴いまして、当ホームページ及びリーフ・オンラインショップを閉鎖させていただきます。
ひとかたならぬご高配を賜りながら、このような結果を迎えてしまいましたこと、弊社の出版物及びホームページや弊社通信販売をご利用・ご愛読いただきました皆様方に、心より深くお詫び申し上げます。

Roughly translated… “we’re closing up shop and we’re sorry.”

Yuuhi published BL novels under the imprints “Leaf” and “Ai.”

I have absolutely no clue what the BL novels market is like in Japan, other than that quite a few of our licensors dabble in them as well.  So while I can’t really comment substantively on this news (not that that happens often), I am still quite fascinated by this as far as what implications we may or may not read from this for all of publishing, such as whether this bankruptcy was due to increased competition, which Tina Anderson champions, or if this is a sign of weakness in the overall BL novels market.  Also, I have no idea whether any of Yuuhi’s publications have been licensed stateside or anywhere else, and as we’ve seen from the fight between CPM and Libre, the biggest ripples from such events may not be felt or understood in the immediate.

Oh, and I suppose surprising your employees in such a way is a pretty crummy thing to do.