Tokyopop Hetalia 3 and 4 update...

[jaseya.livejournal.com]

From: http://www.facebook.com/notes/tokyopop/hetalia-3-update/10150316977277230

"Thank you everyone for your enthusiasm to the Hetalia #3 question. It looks like almost 1000 "likes" and over 75% of the comments being "yes" - a very positive reaction! I will clarify a bit more of the Hetalia approach since there are a few questions out there. First, "limited" does not mean limited copies - all fans will be able to access the title. "Limited" here means channel (i.e. retail). Second, Hetalia #4 would be published as well. Third, other titles are different rights owners - this project is a partnership with the Hetalia rights owner, but titles owned by different rights owners are unrelated. That means even if TOKYOPOP wants to publish other titles, it can't. But if the model can be proven, perhaps other rights owners will let other titles be released as well. It's still at the experimental stage - and not fully within TOKYOPOP's control. Once again, thanks for your enthusiasm and continued support! The feedback has been very helpful - now it's time to work out the details and make it happen! Will check in again soon. Oyasumi!"

...This is a good thing, right?

Comments

[ichii-lemoncat.livejournal.com]

So...yes, this seems good? If/when volume 5 rolls around, then does this mean it'll be published by tokyopop too?

[wickedlady101.livejournal.com]

This does seem promising, I am just confused by what they mean by 'limited', are they going to publish it online as webcomic or will we get to actually buy it and put it next to our other two copies? I guess only time will tell.

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

I think they mean limited as in retail- like, maybe they'd only publish them in barnes & noble's? or only at books-a-million. Which would be lame because they don't really have those anywhere near where I live, though rumor has it it might go where our border's used to be

[kamikazemusume.livejournal.com]

I... am honestly not sure whether this is a good or bad thing. I mean, I'm open to pretty much whatever will get us fans legal English copies of volumes 3 and 4, but Stu Levy's track record of successful vs. disastrous "experimental models" is not helping me feel optimistic about this.

(EDIT: Just rewording for clarification.)

[haro.livejournal.com]

...

Yeah I'd rather them just let the license expire so another company can snag it. I thought Tokyopop was going out of business, but I guess Stu Levy changed his mind because he's reliable like that.

...

[hoka-no-koto.livejournal.com]

Am disappointed that this 'idea' has gotten so much traction and there's so much trust being placed in the man now. Not that I don't want volume 3 and 4 and whatever else might be made available in English - I do! But really. RLY?

Levy made it very clear before he shut TP's doors he was bored with manga publishing and wanted to explore other things - like film. When TP exited the NA manga market, it should have freed up it's licenses and let other interested publishing companies pick them up/negotiate for them. But nooooooo! He's apparently held on to them. And now he's 'exploring' a seemingly convoluted co-publishing/licensing scheme that *might* result in at least a Hetalia title or two being made available in some form to perhaps some people? Give me a freakin' break!

With 'Priest' tanking at the BO and your year long documentary junket to Japan already looking for additional funding under the guise of charitable fund raising, guess that film thing isn't working out the way you hoped, eh Stu?

Still bitter and feeling utterly abandoned? You bet I am. When he pulled the plug, he didn't just kill Hetalia but a whole slew of other (popular) titles under multiple imprints - the majority of my regular manga purchases (and they were MANY) were from TP's imprints.

In any case, the chance of Levy getting another penny out of me is like a snowball's chance of living a long and happy life in Hell. :P

[jammerlea]

I got a little more information from them.

Me: Please explain the "limited" thing more. It seems hard copies are what's desired from fans. Do you mean that the distribution would be limited to certain stores? Or might it lean more towards special orders or a digital release? It's very confusing and a lot of people are worried about how difficult it'll be for fans to get the book.
I hope you understand that I have some issues putting any trust into this, considering the company is officially defunct.

Tokyopop: the details are still being worked out, which is why all the details are not clear yet. But it would include printed copies, not just digital, and fans will not have a difficult time accessing the book. TOKYOPOP will be working with another company to accomplish this - it's not possible for TOKYOPOP to do this alone since TOKYOPOP has no office or staff in North America. But the partner is a strong partner that can bring this title to the fans in the way the fans want. Hope this helps!

[dilemina.livejournal.com]

If by limited they mean limited retail, it's still limited. Just because all fans will have access to purchasing the title doesn't mean well, just that, doesn't mean we'll be able to obtain such.

In before prices from hell. Levy just needs to let the licenses expire.

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

This is pretty face-palm worthy.

Okay, on one hand I'm fine with getting volumes 3-4 in English. Any future volumes? Awesome.

But I'm less than enthusiastic about this. I liked the cute little Hetalia trailer they posted on youtube, and I like how they were pretty much faithful to the original, but I'd really rather Yen Press would just redo the whole thing :I

Didn't like TP's hetalia covers, or the flimsy material, or the honorifics for non Japanese characters, or the pixelated quality, or the strips being too close to the spine, and I wanted that sparkley cover darnit ashslkdh ; A ;

Also, to post a quote on tumblr, and then to post my reply to that:

“But the partner is a strong partner that can bring this title to the fans in the way the fans want.”- Levy

"When they say “what the fans want”, do they mean the people who love Hetalia and know that Tokyopop’s manga isn’t very good quality, or all the fans who immediately jumped on the “OMG YES PLEASE <33333” bandwagon on facebook…?"-me

In fact if that was Levy's quote on facebook, I'll go give him that piece of my mind right now XD

herp wrong icon

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

my bad orz

[jammerlea]

Yeah, that's what I got in reply to my question about the meaning of "limited". I'm surprised I got any response at all. Dunno what he's basing it on.

So, yeah, okay... they're working with another company to try to publish it-HUH? Who holds the rights then? Are they transferring rights? It's all so vague, I don't know how to interpret it. A friend suggested maybe they were offering the vol. 3 translation they must have already... but that doesn't relate to vol. 4.

It'll be more limited than the previous books, but fans won't have a difficult time accessing the book-WHA?

I don't get it. ;A;

(Also, totes agree on the poor print quality and the crummy cover designs. I'd love to see how another company handles the covers, but that's wishful thinking. XD)

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

lol yeah you were pretty lucky XD If only I saw their post sooner I could have written a snarky come-back while they were online!

Anyway, yeah, SUPER CONFUSING. When they say "limited", I guess they mean only in certain stores- or maybe only in certain locations? Since they aren't really in short supply...much...?

Since they're working with the Japanese holders (Gentosha maybe?) I'm guessing he's trying to convince Gentosha into some whacky scheme like the whole digital publishing thing only not-online-stuff?

Part of me wishes that Gentosha would just be like "scre you guys, Yen Press out-bid you so we'll let them take care of it" but...again...wishful thinking on my part XD

[sasuheat.livejournal.com]

"Didn't like TP's hetalia covers, or the flimsy material, or the honorifics for non Japanese characters, or the pixelated quality, or the strips being too close to the spine, and I wanted that sparkley cover darnit ashslkdh ; A ;"

I agree with all of this.

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

Glad you agree <3

[wafflesama.livejournal.com]

Great. Just perfect. Another beautiful cover destroyed by the hands of TOKYOPOP.
/is gonna get hate for this/

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

It's okay, I hated the Tokyopop version of the Hetalia cover since volume one

[mashednothashed.livejournal.com]

I completely agree. I want sparkles, dammit.

[kyoko215.livejournal.com]

Unless this "other company" is Yen Press or another decent publishing company I know of, I don't give two shits about how much positive feedback you got, Stu, LEAVE THIS SHIT ALONE AND STOP TRYING TO MOOCH OFF THE INDUSTRY YOU ABANDONED AND CALLED DYING!

Also, 1,000 likes= 1/80 of the people on your FB. 75% of the even fewer comments is NOT a lot to go on.

[kuroi-hemlock.livejournal.com]

I hate to be pessimistic, but this is not good news. What about the first two volumes? I have neither and I was happily waiting for another publisher to pick them up, rather then blow all my money trying to grab them for the prices they are selling on ebay and Amazon for second hand copies.

As for this "limited" retail distribution, it's STILL going to be "limited". It means that only certain retailers, like Barnes & Noble will get it and if you don't live near one then too bad. I don't see this being distributed in Canada at all unless Indigo (the only major bookstore chain here) is one of the so-called "limited" retailers. Otherwise I have a feeling it'll only be distributed in the States.

I really think the fandom is being taking advantage of and nothing he says can change that. Limited is still limited.

[jammerlea]

That's a super good point about the first two volumes. I wish I had brought that up.

Added in: " Someone on another community made a good point on the questioning of future reprints of the first two Hetalia volumes. What would happen with those? I know some people who had ordered volume 2 right before Tokyopop's shut down had their orders canceled on them. The books are impossible to find in stores and I've actually heard random people in the retail stores make comments on how they can't find it."

[lord-sandwich.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm very concerned about how easy they will be to obtain outside the states.

[island-of-myst.livejournal.com]

...I'm okay with this I guess (and if it's limited retail then what's the problem? Most bookstores have websites and everyone here has internet connection). If it works and other dropped books might get released then I'm all for it

[hoshiko-2000.livejournal.com]

But the thing is: what if it's a bookstore only accessible to American buyers? As someone in the UK that's what's worrying me. I've heard of barnes and Nobles, but it doesn't exist in the UK, and not all books companys ship to other countries.

[island-of-myst.livejournal.com]

But isn't there some similar book chain in the UK? And I know for a fact that Barnes and Noble ships worldwide

[hoshiko-2000.livejournal.com]

Ah, well that's a relief :D! Thanks!

[wafflesama.livejournal.com]

H-hey guys, why not create a petition against this? Maybe if we get enough people, TOKYOPOP will not publish Hetalia volume 3 and 4( and possibly hand over the publishing rights to some other company? )?
It kinda sounds stupid... But...

[oldladynamedbob.livejournal.com]

If Tokyopop is getting another publisher to help them with the Hetalia, why can't that publisher get the license instead? Like I said in my comment on the site, Tokyopop is dead. I just want Yen Press to pick up the license already! I don't have volumes 1 and 2, and I would much rather wait for another publisher than buy the crappy Tokyopop edition for an insane amount on Ebay.

Quick question: If Tokyopop still has Hetalia's license...how many other licenses did the company keep? Because there are a ton of other series I'm waiting for, like Loveless and Gakuen Alice.

[jammerlea]

Yes, this! Why DOES Tokyopop have to be involved? Are they special friends with Gentosha are something? I've seriously never heard of that sort of thing. Did ADV try to cling to its anime titles when it collapsed? No, they resold/passed them on to other divisions and companies. Tokyopop itself picked up some of the ADV manga titles.

[pinaki93.livejournal.com]

......Still utterly confused about all this. 8[

If you're dead, why are you still publishing things? Lies! D:

[kenzi-chi.livejournal.com]

Exactly, right!? He just wants more money :I

[novara-chan.livejournal.com]

I think they should give up the rights to someone who actually knows what their doing and isn't just in the business for all the publicity.. >.>

[taylorphantom.livejournal.com]

Uh is anyone here a lawyer or have a parent for a lawyer because I'm pretty sure that when a company goes out of business, it goes out of business. As in, YOU CANNOT KEEP USING THE NAME TOKYOPOP ASDFGHJKL YOU DON'T EXIST ANYMORE D:<

I mean, I cannot imagine Gentosha being in on this. He's litreally keeping a license to print a manga when he doesn't have a company to print manga so what the Hell? Plus, Tokyopop is a North American company, but I doubt a limited retail release would include Canda so fuck.

I actually never had anything against the first two Hetalia volumes. The covers didn't bother me and I didn't find the pages that flimsy. The only thing that pissed me off was the honourifics for characters other than Japan, but I kinda expected that :I My dream copy would have included more foreign languages but I doubt ayone other than the fans would take time with that...

[jammerlea]

It's like... if you start something and people have certain expectations of you. Then somewhere down the line you're like "I quit", whether it be for valid reasons or not. Suddenly a couple months later being like "Oh, how about this?!" your credibility is going to be questioned because... you quit. ;w;

[chuugoku-aru-yo.livejournal.com]

My aunt's a lawyer! I can't remember what she said exactly about this kind of thing, but I remember it being along the lines of you A) still have ties to the industry, B) have a deal with another/new company to release/publish it, or C) You ARE the other/new company. Choice B sounds like what he's doing, but it's still....odd, to put it lighty.

OrIcould'vegottenthatwholethingwrongbuthe'sstillwrong

[taylorphantom.livejournal.com]

This whole thing smells fishier than the stomach of a whale shark :U

[tokyohottie11.livejournal.com]

/Mixed feelings

[hoshiko-2000.livejournal.com]

I'm even more confused than I was before: okay, are we going to be able to *buy* hetalia volume 3 or not? I wish he'd stop being all cloak and daggers and just tell us yes and no, and if so under which circumstances. It's the fact that's he's continually avoiding the question which makes me worried about this. What is he not telling us that he fears may reduce interest o.o?

[seileach67.livejournal.com]

THIS so much.