[News] Tokyopop intends to publish manga again

[fh14]

I don't even know anymore you guys.

via animenewsnetwork:

The new TokyopopManga Twitter account confirmed on Wednesday that it is "hoping that [it will] be able to release new manga very soon." The account mentioned it is "laying the groundwork for publishing new manga again," but added that because all of its previous titles had "reverted back to their Japanese publishers" that the company would "have to work to get them back." The Twitter account also stated the company's "ultimate goal is to start publishing manga again."

The Twitter account noted it is "planning on starting with an old license." The account also stated it plans to release manga in both print and digital form.

In an open letter from Tokyopop founder Stu Levy that was posted on GeekChicDaily on Tuesday, Levy wrote, "I know that you're all eager to have the same access to your favorite manga titles that we could previously provide and I promise that I am continuing to explore any and all opportunities to relaunch the manga publishing operations of TOKYOPOP's business."

Tokyopop shut down its North American manga publishing division in May. On Tuesday the company revealed it will launch a new editorial newsletter "about all things otaku and Asian pop-culture" powered by GeekChicDaily. Tokyopop gauged interest in the release of more Hetalia manga volumes last month.

So much for getting Hetalia relicensed soon. My Spidey senses foretell another Sailor Moon-esque licensing nightmare if Stu Levy actually has any pull left. This is why we can't have nice things.

Comments

[kyoko215.livejournal.com]

I hope he's just talking out his ass. He DID say the titles "are hard to get" now that they've gone back to their source.

Honestly, by this point, I'm hurt. The man's said manga is a dying industry and then shut it down to pursue his "dream" of making a documentary about the Japan earthquake. Now he's deciding to come back to manga after only a few months?

I feel like he's treating manga fans as a dog he's been allowed to abuse for years, then he gets a new puppy and gets rid of the other dog, and once the puppy turned into a total terror he's realized the former dog was the better dog, and now he's trying to take the dog back.

Except the dog doesn't want to go back, but he's just a dog so what can he do?

[hoka-no-koto.livejournal.com]

Love your analogy! :)

Yesterday the TP FB page stated they were NOT relaunching any manga, just starting up their little newsletter. Today, they are back in the manga publishing business (even though titles are "hard to get" and all the yada-yada Levy spit forth the other day). And even though they said they'd answer all your manga questions in a FB Q&A - if you want want those answers about manga they might be talking about, then you have to follow them on their brand new Twitter account. Number fishing for ego-boo, anyone?

*head desk*

[hoka-no-koto.livejournal.com]

My Spidey senses foretell another Sailor Moon-esque licensing nightmare if Stu Levy actually has any pull left. This is why we can't have nice things.

This. Exactly.

For f*cksake, Levy....just go away.

[cidal-fun.livejournal.com]

):

I hope this will just be written off as another "misunderstanding."

[xxwolfgirlxx.livejournal.com]

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!

Stu, stop being menopausal and make up your mind!

You already had your chance, blew it, and now are trying to get it all back? You're just guna dig yourself into a deeper hole here so just leave it be!

I think we should all send in letters to Yen Press or some other prefered company. That way we can maybe raise the chance of them getting Hetalia, hopefully before tokyopop tries to get it back. Ya know if they aren't guna change their minds about it tomorrow.

[hypercoffee117.livejournal.com]

Wow. I really hope this is a fucking joke. Tokyopop is just so unreliable right now with all this changing of their minds, not to mention their strips are so obnoxiously-close to the spine.

If they do release it, I'd rather not get it.

I'M LACKING SAD ICONS

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

That does it, I'm contacting Yen Press like right now :|

I'll even send them the Captalia poll (which is over here http://captalia.livejournal.com/326656.html even if some of the options are a tad out dated) and pretty much every fan's reaction so far.

Stu Levy seems like the kind of guy who's at least *trying* to do fun things for the manga fandom, but he's just so out of touch and absolutely refuses to listen to constructive criticism that he's just p*ssing everybody off. It's really annoying, and it's getting old, FAST!

Dude needs to pick a project and f*cking stick with it. None of this hopping around with manga, film making, reality tv, documentaries, news letters and now- gasp- MANGA, AGAIN, even though he said it was a dying industry.

Sorry. I just ; A ;

I'm just gonna repeat what I said on ANN

[kenzi-chi.livejournal.com]

Didn't TP shut down because they were backrupted? How can they just come back?

Though I'll be happy if they manage to get Deadman Wonderland again, but I think he's only doing this to finish collecting his money for Hetalia. Last month he was talking about publishing Hetalia 3 and now he decides to come back? Not a coincidence.

A company shouldn't just quit then come back like this. He fired hundreds of people and now he decides to change his mind? Very irresponsible in my opinion. I don't know anything about this Levy, but I don't like him now because of this.

Re: I'm just gonna repeat what I said on ANN

[hoka-no-koto.livejournal.com]

Nope, TP did NOT go bankrupt. Levy made tons of bad management decisions which didn't help their bottom line (including the distribution agreement with Borders) but they did not go bankrupt. Levy had been systematically dismantling the NA publishing company for a while and when he finally closed the doors, diverted remaining capital into his films. Just another example of his (possibly) ADD-fueled decision making.

If TP manga came back with someone other than Levy in charge and who is committed to the industry (which Levy called a "dying industry" that he couldn't believe he was still stuck in...) & the readers, enthusiasm for the rebirth of TP - at least mine - might be more, um....enthusiastic.

lol WAT

[mad-kitty12.livejournal.com]

Well, afer reading the tread's title I did the same face as your icon, fh14. Now excuse while I reread the thread because things are very confusing in my poor brain while I struggle to translate. (english is not my mother language, heh)

[pixygal.livejournal.com]

I'd just like to point out that, having read that twitter account, they DO NOT have any licenses right now. When asked about it, they said they have a "relationship" with some of the license holders. Well whoopie doo. I could write an email to Gentosha and have a "relationship" with them too. In other words, this looks to be Stu Levy being desperate for attention again. In any case, at the moment they have no more rights to publish Hetalia in English than any other American company so... here's hoping a company that's not run by an attention-starved idiot will pick it up.
But I sure am looking forward to their "Asian Culture Newsletter"! I am sure it will be chock full of information I couldn't possibly find elsewhere, and won't be typo-ridden in the slightest.

[omgimsuchadork.livejournal.com]

"But I sure am looking forward to their "Asian Culture Newsletter"! I am sure it will be chock full of information I couldn't possibly find elsewhere, and won't be typo-ridden in the slightest."

Sumimasen pixygal-san, I think you forgot a "desu" on the end of that, ne? (´･ω･`)
/s

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

Just feel like asking, if anyone feels like replying;

Would it be smarter to contact Gentosha, and then Yen Press? or Yen Press, then Gentosha? Or maybe both at the same time?

[cidal-fun.livejournal.com]

Maybe both at the same time? That way they both have an understanding of the situation and the appeal of buying/selling the rights?

I don't know how the business works.

[pixelmicrocat.livejournal.com]

...Thank god I don't live in America. Everyone deserves better than this :(

I'll only say 2 words to our dear Stu:
FANGIRLS.

HETALIA. FANGIRLS.

You know better than messing with them.

[xxwolfgirlxx.livejournal.com]

I feel a lot of pride flowing out of me after reading your comment :)

[taylorphantom.livejournal.com]

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK is the only thing I can think of saying.

I mean seriously... what? I must be brain-damaged or something beacuse I don't seem to understand this whatsoever. Tell me if I got this right:

- Tokyopop closes
- Tokyopop holds on to manga publishing rights
- Tokyopop offers the chance for more Hetalia volumes
- Tokyopop says it was a misunderstanding and all they are doing is making an Otaku Desu Ne newsletter
- Tokyopop says they are releasing manga again

Eh?

Using this as a chance to bring up some old convo we had a while ago that I remember for some reason

[xxwolfgirlxx.livejournal.com]

...Yeah that's pretty much it. Except I don't think they have the manga publishing rights by the looks of this.

Ah well, moi from the future, we can only wait to see what other brain-damaging fucks they spawn next.

[lunarsonata5.livejournal.com]

Let it go, Stu.
Just
LET IT GO. :/

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

Gentosha Contact Info: http://www.gentosha.co.jp/ir/contactus.php or just their e-mail: comment@gentosha.co.jp

Yen Press Contact info: http://www.yenpress.com/about/

Just...casually leaving this here. Y'know in case I derp up my letters and if smarter people wanna give it a whirl

[chaobu.livejournal.com]

Because my brain has ceased to function at the utter what-ness of this, I'll say:

Stu, GTFO.

I absolutely refuse to support Stu. I absolutely refuse to buy any volume of anything that Tokyopop releases. I absolutely refuse to support Stu.

[jevia.livejournal.com]

I agree. I refuse to supply a man more money who's caused so much trouble toying with fans and indulging himself.

[sindragosa.livejournal.com]

After all of this, even if they do manage to hang on to Hetalia, I don't think I'll be able to buy it from them. All of this reeks of Stu's desperation, it's really pathetic!

[dilemina.livejournal.com]

Oh, let me get my popcorn so I can watch him run this bullshit endavour into the ground. He's worse than this one con organizer in Las Vegas who scammed everyone who went.

Same access =/= Same access, prepare for overinflated prices and probably a hard to access website. Tbh I'm better off torrenting the series I love since fan scans have been more quality than that.

Also, didn't he allude yesterday that Hetalia's license is back in Gentosha's hands?

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

Also, didn't he allude yesterday that Hetalia's license is back in Gentosha's hands?

I think he did, yeah, but he did say that he's trying to get "some" of these licenses back, (which may include Hetalia's license) but it's apparently pretty "difficult" to do.

I hope it's actually TOO difficult for him, because I don't want him touching Hetalia or anything else. Light Novels or OEL's idk how I feel, but actual manga's...yeah, don't want him getting those back OTL

[fivedayslater.livejournal.com]

Just, no. I'm sick of this back and forth back and forth. I don't even know anymore.

I'll buy the Japanese versions and become competent enough in Japanese to read them. It'll probably be faster than waiting for whatever this is to settle itself.

[rosetteroulette.livejournal.com]

I'm so confused. @_@

I hope it gets picked up again, somehow. I don't even care by who.

[bosscookie.livejournal.com]

I am really confused. I don't even know what is going on in people's heads anymore what.

Subject: Please Do Not Trust "Tokyopop"!

[mizu-takishima.livejournal.com]

Here's an e-mail I wrote to Gentosha (both here: comment@gentosha.co.jp and here: comics@gentosha-comics.net )

Just so ya know what's been said to them so far in case you feel like writing your own, or in case you feel like sending them something better and well-written ^^;;;

Hello! I'm a huge fan of Gentosha's manga, especially "Axis Powers Hetalia" :) 

(I apologize if you receive this e-mail twice; I wasn't sure which e-mail to use, but I felt it was better to be safe than sorry!)

I'm sure you're familiar with "Tokyopop", a company that used to publish and distribute Japanese manga here in the USA. Due to harsh economic times and their CEO Stu Levy making poor business decisions, "Tokyopop" had to close their USA division and are no longer publishing manga here in the states.

However, Tokyopop has tried to make a come-back. In addition to starting several projects that never got off the ground, they just recently created a newsletter that would supposedly appeal to those in the anime & manga community here in the west. Not only that, but Tokyopop is trying to negotiate with Gentosha (and other companies) about getting the licenses to a variety of manga, including Hetalia.

I'm writing to you in hopes that you will not let yourselves be duped by Stu Levy, and instead consider companies such as Yen Press or Viz Media for the rights to distribute and/or publish your manga titles. Judging by Yen Press & Viz Media's previous works, I'm certain that they would treat any and all Gentosha titles (that you approve of) with care and respect. Yen Press in particular produces gorgeous, well-translated, high-quality prints over-all, and Viz Media publishes both Manga and Art Books, which is also quite nice!

While Yen Press & Viz Media are fan-favorites, any other company such as Dark Horse, Digital Manga Publishing, and Seven Seas Entertainment would all be better choices than Tokyopop.

Good luck with any and all future projects, and hopefully this e-mail gets taken into consideration for the future of Gentosha's manga licenses!

~Lori

Sorry for spamming the crap out of this thread, had to delete a comment earlier 'cause I couldn't figure out how to use the small tag OTL I'll let you guys know if I get a reply though!

STU. STOP IT. JUST STOP IT.

[jevia.livejournal.com]

I swear he's purposely yanking on everyone's chains.
I'm sorry TP, but we've gone our separate ways and moved on.

Re: STU. STOP IT. JUST STOP IT.

[sindragosa.livejournal.com]

That gif. It's... amazing!

[wafflesama.livejournal.com]

Fuck. Just fuck.

[wafflesama.livejournal.com]

And Stu, you are an ass. Just go back home and get a life or something.

[miezen.livejournal.com]

Just. Stu Levy, please go away. I do not like you and I'd rather not give you another cent. Let manga publishing companies that actually know what they're doing take over for Hetalia and all of your other worthwhile licenses.

I'm about to the point where, if Tokyopop does come back and they do relicense Hetalia, I won't buy it from them. I'll buy the Japanese copies if anything and hope the strips all get scanlated, and continue to support the series by purchasing merchandise. I really do not want to give Stu Levy my money ever again.

[reyechan.livejournal.com]

I JUST.
I JUST WANT MY MANGA IN ENGLISH.
Y U DO DIS TOKYOPOP?
LET IT FUCKING GO.
DON'T MAKE ME FLY TO AMERICA JUST TO BURN YOUR BUILDING DOWN.
I'D RATHER JUST GO TO DISNEYLAND.
WITH MY HETALIA MANGA.