Tokyopop Closing N. American Operations!

[azureus]

This news is a day or so old, but just came to my attention.

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/19869.html

After the initial shock, the first thought that comes to mind is:
Will June Manga PLEASE rescue Love Pistols!! Pretty Please?!!

[Noon]

This is really terrible news! I was so shocked as I bought TOKYOPOP's March and April releases on that same day just to hear the news as soon as I get home.

A lot of unfinished series. I am especially disappointed about Gakuen Alice, V.B. Rose, Alice in the Country of Hearts, Jyunjyo Romantica, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi and You Will Drown in Love. Sekaiichi Hatsukoi was to debut in July but no more, sadly. I was so looking forward to it.

I really, really hope some other company rescue some of these series.

[azureus]

There's something in Deb Aoki's report that suggests Tokyopop's German branch will take over the English manga rights. Hope they will continue to release English manga from Europe.

http://manga.about.com/b/2011/04/16/tokyopop-to-close-its-u-s-manga-publishing-offices.htm

TOKYOPOP film and television projects and European operations, including the German publishing program, will not be affected by the Los Angeles office closure. In addition, TOKYOPOP will continue its global rights sales via its office in Hamburg, Germany.

[2old4yaoi]

What depressing news! Even if the HQ will remain in Germany with international distribution rights, is it really possible for them to publish English mangas & distribute to the US from there? What a waste if so many of their wonderful series (especially in the yaoi niche) will no longer continue.

[Senyoru-Chan]

You'll have to do what we Europeans do. Import yourself or buy at stores that imports. But I'm not sure that will even happen. THIS SUCKS! Tokyopop needs to be bitch slapped. I got 4 series now that might never be finished. Or 6 if you include Gakuen heaven and Takumi-kun. If now DMP, who the hell is gonna continue Junjo romantica? :/

[2old4yaoi]

At least Gakuen Heaven is in complete one shot archs so it might not be an issue to find a US publisher who is willing to pick it up. But the same can't be said for Junjo Romantica since it has been published up to volume 12 so far. Most publishers will likely be reluctant to re-publish vol 1 - 12 (unless in bunko or multi volume series) and/or pick up from volume 13 onwards only. As much as I admit DMP is one of my favourite publishers, I think they might use the same excuse for Love Pistols as well as they have give me for "Haru Wo Deiteta" I will settle on being estactic if for some reasons, DMP manage to wrestle the license to "Sekaiichi Hatsukoi"

I am still dumbfounded to see how TP manages to run their awesome Blu licenses to the ground.

[Noon]

Definitely bad news especially that TOKYOPOP confirmed that titles scheduled for releases after May 4 have been canceled and so they have been removed from pre-order. I was having a little hope that they might be able to at least continue publishing some of their bestselling titles but it doesn't seem likely to happen.

I am so, so disappointed. I just finished reading volume 12 of V.B. Rose and thinking that I will not be able to get the last two volumes is driving me crazy. I hate when this happens. Why did this have to happen when series are almost coming to an end?

BLU titles is another story. I am not sure what is going to happen to Jyunjyo Romantica but I hope some company license rescue Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi. I was so looking forward to it and then this had to happen.

[azureus]

I collect Silver Diamond, which is at volume 9 of 20+!!
And Love Pistols.
Not to mention BLU was starting to release some really good stuff. I really wanted Madarame Hiro's sequel to Kawai Akuma/Cute devil. It was meant to be published in Dec 2011

[Senyoru-Chan]

Truth to be told I wanted DMP to license sekaichi to begin with...

[lore]

Here's some technical notes for people looking here about Tokyopop/BLU info:

1. TP will own the licenses of the books they had previously listed until the license runs out. I very seriously doubt TP will just release the licenses right now, even though it could do that. That means that DMP will not have a chance to rescue any of the TP licenses until they expire, and we don't know how long that is. So, don't expect rescue news anytime soon.

2. TP's media arm is still open, which means if any of the book licenses included media rights, TP has the right to develop media based on the license. This could mean movies, TV shows, podcasts and who knows what else. I wouldn't hold your breath for BLU titles to be developed, but you just never know. I'm pointing this out because if TP does any developing of a license, there's usually a clause that will then extend the license. TP might do insanely small things with a book title just to maintain the license. Tread lightly on any future TP offerings, book or media.

3. We are unlikely to see English-language books from the German TP. Don't get your hopes up for that; Deb's article didn't imply that to me. However, I would love to eat crow on this!

4. DMP has said in the past that it's rare to make money on re-releasing books that have already been published by another publisher. Both Finder and Kizuna are insanely popular titles, and Kizuna had the benefit of having new omnibus editions for DMP to license and, thus, offer fresh appeal to old fans. Keep your eye out for Junjou Romantica and Love Pistols omnibuses in Japan; I think that might be our only hope for those titles. You Will Drown in Love and other series, I'm thinking are 50-50 in terms of appeal to DMP. The more volumes of You Will Drown in Love past #2, the better; Hinako Takanaga seems popular enough that DMP might pursue the series eventually, especially if it ends with a medium number of volumes. <------note: These are just my educated guesses. The point is, you might want to temper your expectations of DMP on rescuing titles.

If I think of anything else, I'll say so. I'm very sad for the remaining TP staff, freelancers, and us readers.