hetalia | Volume 3 to be published!

I'M SO TORN

I want it so bad, SO BAD, but I don't want to encourage TokyoPop to get back on their feet, nor support any more of Stu Levy's shenanigans!

FANGIRL PROBLEMS! OTZ

Ah, wonderful! I already have it in Japanese, but it'll be so nice to have it available in English.

Saying it everywhere else, might as well say it here.

I have NO FREAKING CLUE what to do with this. On the one hand, I'd rather hit Stu Levy over the head with 2P Fem!America's bat than give him ANY more money...

On the other hand.... GOD I want this so much...

I don't understand how the hell this was approved. If Stu truly did give the rights back to Gentosha for this series like he fucking promised, then Gentosha should be allowed to do whatever it wanted with the English translations and could have released it through Right Stuf on their own, but I dont' know if that would have been 100% possible.

Everything is just... so... UGH!!!!!!! FUCK YOU, LEVY! FUCK YOU AND YOUR COMPANY FOR MAKING THIS CHOICE SO FREAKING HARD. I SHOULDN'T EVEN HAVE TO BAT AN EYELASH FOR THIS ONE, BUT YOU HAD TO ATTACH YOUR GODDAMN NAME TO IT, DIDN'T YOU???

This is weird news.
What a plot twist in the life of the Hetalia manga.

I'm just glad I know WHY WE HAVEN'T HAD A DECENT RERELEASE YET!

Honestly, I don't want to have to buy it online through an on-demand company if I miss the initial printing (with black and white front pages and possibly pixelised graphics if the previous books are anything to go by). I want to be able to go into the local Dymocks (or local comic shop) and buy it off the shelf. I want other people to be able to go into book shops and pick it up thinking it looks interesting or funny or whatever and get into the series that way.

Despite all this, I really want it but despite how much I want this, I'd rather buy the Japanese version than give Tokyopop a reason to keep hold of the rights.

How long to go before I cave and buy it anyway, though?

Edited 2012-05-01 23:00 (UTC)

Ugh typical. The site seems to have something against international buyers (well not AGAINST them persay but they like making it awkward).

Is this RightStuf site safe and secure? 'Cause according to this if you're an international buyer and don't have American Express they want personal details (eg. a copy of a bill/passport) and a scanned image of yuor credit/debit card... seriously wut?

I really want to buy this but i won't until I know their site is safe.

What great timing, it's coming out near my birthday! I hope to hear news about the fourth volume soon!

Rightstuf is totally safe. I've been using them since '99 and they've always been sweethearts to me.

Volume 3 was basically done and waiting to be published when Tokyopop went under, so what they're doing now is printing off the merchandise they decided not to sell last year because now they have the means to mass produce them.

This also means that as long as this deal is in place, the chance that Hetalia Volume 4 will see an English release is slim to none.

If I remember correctly, the original release date for volume three was May of last year. Of course, if this volume sells well enough, they may be able to negotiate for the rights for the fourth volume.

They would need staff in order to translate/design the English cover/etc. (i.e. workers that would need to be paid), and with all the bridges Stu Levy has burned and the basic nonexistence of funds to do any of that I doubt they would have the resources to pull it off. :/

EDIT: And yeah it was due for release in May, but they begin working on each of those books months in advance, so it was more-or-less done and they even had preliminary copies printed by March/April, when it shut down.

Edited 2012-05-01 23:19 (UTC)

This isn't a DIFFICULT decision... just a very, VERY painful one...

I am NOT buying it. I want it so, so, SOOOOO BADLY! But I didn't even consider buying it for a moment! Not a micro-second!

Not after what Jerkface McCoy did to us! And to so many other manga fans who have been left hanging.

This makes me sick to my stomach. No wonder no other publishing companies haven't happily announced a license for it... he's been holding it hostage so he could milk it, so he could get nice soft dollars to line the bed of thorns he already made for himself, to soften the sting.

Absolutely not. Not a penny from me! I'm so sad, I wanted it sooo much! But no. Even such an amazing, awesome book, is not worth blackening my principles. I refuse to fund a guy who is such a failure, that he quits at quitting!

>plot twist

Quick! Someone write a manga about the manga!

Hmm. I have no idea what to think about this.

But tokyopop. Where the heck is this money going.

...what's that phrase again? Oh yeh...

"you can't have your cake and eat it too."

It may suck, but it's in English. I'm buying it. Once I get monies.

"Beggers can't be Choosers"

is another phrase that comes to mind after reading all of these comments.

Edited 2012-05-02 00:52 (UTC)

Wait... Does this mean that the rights were not returned to Gentosha? Is that why another company hasn't picked it up yet? What the hell is going on here?

Count me in on the Not Buying list. I'm not giving a penny to Stu Levy at this point.

Nope, not buying it.

~~I still dislike those redone covers, but that's not the reason I'm not getting it.~~

lolwut.

I always use a middleman there, since I lack a credit card.
It's a safe site, according to everyone I know that's used it. They won't ask for any details beyond name, address, and phone number if you get a US resident to order it, entering your own address as the one to ship to.

That's strange. It didn't ask anything like that of me when I made an international order. My order went through in the normal way, without it asking for any personal details.

Huh. I haven't heard anything about this since back when it was announced they wouldn't be publishing manga, right before volume 3 came out. I have no idea where the hate is coming from. I still wanna get it... I'd had it preordered when it was supposed to come out before, you better believe I've been waiting a long time!

Edited 2012-05-02 01:52 (UTC)

No.

Don't for a minute buy into a gimmick. If this d*&#-for-brains is desperately trying to slimeball money into his pocket by luring in fans, I'm just going to sit back, enjoy the lovely yet not quite legal scanlations, and wait for a LEGIT organization to publish the official translation.

Ah, the hate...

Back after Tokyopop shut down manga publishing, there was a poll on the Tokyopop facebook page, asking if fans wanted the third book to be released. We were all super happy and said "Yes, please!" Then a few weeks later Stu Levy turned around and said "LOL, JK!" So fans were rightly pissed, griped about it, and hoped another company would pick up the licensing for Hetalia so we could get a non-jerk to publish it.

And now a year later it turns out that Tokyopop's held onto the license all that time (or so it would seem, anyway), and are now publishing it again. The hate' coming from the way fans were jerked around back then, got their hopes up for another publisher, and are now being given a (sub-par after initial printing) publication, (probably) by the person who jerked us around back then.

I'm in Canada and I buy from Right Stuff quite often (their prices are cheaper than stores). The only information I ever have to give them is the address it's being sent to, phone number (I think), and then just the payment info you have to put in. I don't have American Express and I've never had any problems with them.

VOLUME 3????

I want it so bad, but not from tokyopop...

~~they should be called tokyopoop~~

I'm so torn.
I'm staring at it, and I want it oh so much. I've been waiting for Volume 3 forever.
But now, I'm not sure if I wish to buy from Tokyopop...

But I'm scared if I don't buy it, I'll never get the chance to own it, done by TP or not.
I'm so conflicted!!

...Sadly enough, I think I will buy it still. I gotta decide. *sigh*
This whole entire thing is just insane.

Volume 3 to be published!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject