Panic at the Disco!

[teddog]

Tokyopop to Restructure - Company to be split into two; 39 employees to be laid off

Not sure what to think, other than I'm kinda not shocked. Other than Aria, I don't touch most of what Tokyopop publishes. It's mostly trash and they burned me with the light novel thing. I now am the owner of three incomplete series by them after those titles were cancelled.

Most of the books I'm picking up now are through Viz and come this fall, Yen Press will be seeing a lot of my money. ADV may or may not see my business again if they manage to start up again.

I have a sinking feeling that they're going to axe some titles and Aria will go under. It's science fiction/slice of life and completely character driven. It doesn't have a chance in Hell.

The unstable market crushes ANY hope of seeing Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō brought over, but that horse wasn't really worth betting on.

Comments

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

Along with Aria, I have Planetes and Scrapped Princess (the later I might get rid of, because it's AWFUL), the rest are light novels. Again, everything else is ADV, Dark Horse and Viz.

TokyoPop used to have some series.... back in the day. Right now, they reminded me a bit of Dark Horse, although the big difference is Dark Horse publishes titles that appeal more to old school fans, while TokyoPop is trying to appeal to the younger set. A release like Planetes? That would NEVER happen with TokyoPop today.

With novels in general, I'm not holding my breath anymore. Seven Seas is about the most honest when it comes to the novel issues. Their comments on their releases is that they're trying the smaller format as a gimmick, but people aren't buying them. Likewise, I would comment "I would buy them if I could FIND them". XP

I have no idea what's going on with ADV. I saw a news post about how their manga end was dead, now it's alive again. ZOMBIE! I would love to start Yotsuba, but I can't justify throwing money at anymore incomplete series. D:

[urufudo.livejournal.com]

DarkHorse still has immensely popular series though. They have Trigun and Oh! My Goddess, both of which I collect (or try to, anyway). I can't remember what else they have but you're right, they're generally classic series as opposed to TokyoPop's trying to appeal to younger audiences.

I still have faith that light novels can make it here, as long as the industry continues to thrive. I think it's kind of hitting a slump again right now but if it picks up again, I think people could get interested in light novels and they could become more popular over time. What they need to do is really continue to bring light novels for very popular series over and get people aware. They aren't going to fly off the shelves immediately; manga sure didn't when it first came out.

It'd probably also help if all the light novels were kept in one section, separate from the manga in book stores. They kind of get lost among all the other stuff. I think if there was a shelf or two dedicated completely to light novels, it'd be easier to see what other series were being made available. It'd also draw more attention to them too.

ADV is weird. They keep stopping and starting with their manga division. x_x You should still pick up Yotsubato, it's a series that's still continuing in Japan. I think they have 7 volumes right now, possibly 8. ADV published 5, and it's such a cute series that it's really worth it. I'm pretty positive that they'll continue to publish it if their manga division continues. :9