Brigid Alverson

PictureBox has plans to publish five manga in 2013, including Osamu Tezuka’s The Mysterious Underground Men; ICv2 has the details.

Lissa Pattillo checks out this week’s new manga releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney looks forward to next week’s new releases at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

Moonlitasteria has some personal reflections on digital vs. print manga.

Reviews

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Barrage (I Reads You)
Connie C. on Doing Time, Disappearance Diary, and Panorama of Hell (Comics Should Be Good)
Milo on Gundam: The Origin (Blog of the North Star)
Michael Buntag on vol. 9 of Honey and Clover (NonSensical Words)
Matthew Warner on vol. 3 of Is This A Zombie? (The Fandom Post)
TSOTE on vol. 32 of QED (Three Steps Over Japan)
Kristin on Sakuran (Tentative) (Comic Attack)

At PW, I take a look back at JManga’s brief existence with business manager Robert Newman. And Justin rounds up some thoughts on the demise of JManga at Organization ASG.

I also rounded up the new license announcements from SakuraCon at MTV Geek.

PictureBox, which published Yoichi Yokoyama’s Garden and Travel, announced two new titles yesterday: World Map Room, by Yokoyama, and Gold Pollen and Other Stories, a collection of short stories by Seiichi Hayashi, the creator of Red-Colored Elegy.

Matthew Cycyk writes about Cross Game and the Artistic Subtleties of Mitsuru Adachi at Matt Talks About Manga.

Laura looks forward to some upcoming shoujo releases at Heart of Manga.

Reviews

Jeremiah Fajardo on vols. 50 and 51 of Bleach (Inside AX)
Sweetpea on Gunslinger Girl (Organization ASG)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Inazuman (Comics Should Be Good)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of Love Hina (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Manjiorin on Neon Genesis Evangelion: Comic Tribute (Organization ASG)
Matthew Cycyk on vols. 1-7 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (Matt Talks About Manga)
Anna on vols. 1-5 of Please Save My Earth (Manga Report)
Matthew Warner on vol. 8 of Psyren (The Fandom Post)
Derek Bown on this week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 13 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 9 of The Story of Saiunkoku (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Blogcritics)
Matthew Warner on vol. 8 of Ultimo (The Fandom Post)

Seven Seas confirmed a new license, Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows, which follows the adventures of a quintet of teenage girls in a secret ninja high school.

Still catching up with manga news… Lissa Pattillo has a quick roundup in which she notes that Seven Seas will not license future volumes of Blood Alone, as the title has shifted to a new publisher, Kodansha, in Japan. Kodansha, of course, has their own American arm, Kodansha comics, although they do license to other publishers as well (and they are co-owners of Vertical).

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Reviews: Adam Stephanides posts some quick reviews of untranslated manga at Completely Futile. Ash Brown looks at a week’s worth of reading at Experiments in Manga. And it’s time for more Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf.

Kristin on vol. 2 of 21st Century Boys (Comic Attack)
Katherine Hanson on vol. 1 of Asagao to Kase-san (Yuri no Boke)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 18 of Black God (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Bleach (Blogcritics)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Dark-Hunters: Infinity (ICv2)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Blogcritics)
John Rose on vol. 23 of Fairy Tail (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Ghost (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vols. 3-5 of Hero Tales (Manga Village)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Kamisama Kiss (Blogcritics)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Kikaider (Comics Should Be Good)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (omnibus edition) (I Reads You)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 66 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
TSOTE on vol. 31 of QED (Three Steps Over Japan)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 27 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Strobe Edge (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 34 of Vagabond (I Reads You)

The anime con season kicked off this past weekend with SakuraCon, where both Yen Press and Dark Horse had license announcements and other news. Yen Press announced it has licensed the Kingdom Hearts series and will re-release the volumes previously released by Tokyopop and publish the later volumes as well. They have also licensed Inu x Boku SS, by Cocoa Fujiwara, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! (Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!), by Nico Tanigawa, and the manga adaptation of the film Wolf Children Ame and Yuki.

Editor Carl Gustav Horn had two new licenses to announce at the Dark Horse panel: New Lone Wolf and Cub, an 11-volume sequel to the original Lone Wolf and Cub series, and Hatsune Miku: Unofficial Hatsune Mix (Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix), a series about the Vocaloid idol and her friends that originally ran in Comic Rush from 2008-2010.

It doesn’t look like there were any new license announcements at the Viz Media panel, but they did announce two new box sets, Bakuman and One Piece, as well as their publishing schedule for the coming year.

Sean Gaffney took a closer look at the new Yen Press and Dark Horse licenses at his blog.

This past week had an unusually strong set of new releases; I covered ’em all at MTV Geek. And the Manga Bookshelf team takes a look at this week’s new manga as well.

I’m playing a little catch-up here, but I wanted to get this in print before JManga went dark: The most fun interview I had at New York Comic Con was with manga-ka Masakazu Ishiguro, the creator of Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, and his editor at Young King Ours magazine, Masahiro Ohno. It’s up now at MTV Geek, along with a preview of SoreMachi, which will stay up after JManga goes down.

Erica Friedman cues up the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss an assortment of new titles, including the Sabrina the Teenage Witch manga, in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf. And MJlooks at three older series she is enjoying in her 3 Things Thursday column. And Anna, MJand Sean open up the Manga Shopping Bag and discuss their recent purchases.

Somehow I was so busy last week that I missed the Manga Moveable Feast, which focused on history; it was hosted by Khursten Santos at Otaku Champloo, and here are her introduction, Day 1 roundup, discussion of the power of historical manga, Day 2 roundup, review of Ooku, and a post on World War II as viewed by three manga artists. This is a very nice collection and well worth a read. Also: Ash Brown is giving away a copy of Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths at Experiments in Manga.

Travis Anderson has a license request: Tea Girl.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on the weeks’ manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of 21st Century Boys (Comics Worth Reading)
Manjiorin on Accidental Princess (Organization ASG)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts: My Fanatic Rabbit (The Fandom Post)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 4 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 54 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 and vols. 3 and 4 of A Bride’s Story (Manga Xanadu)
Jocelyne Allen on vols. 2 and 3 of Chokodoshoujin (Brain Vs. Book)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of The Dark-Hunters: Infinity (The Fandom Post)
Connie C. on A Drifting Life, Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga, and I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (Comics Should Be Good)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Emma (Manga Xanadu)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on vol. 2 of Finder (All About Manga)
Ash Brown on The Heart of Thomas (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 21 of Higurashi: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel (Experiments in Manga)
Jocelyne Allen on vol. 1 of Ippo (Brain Vs. Book)
Angela Eastman on vol. 3 of Jiu Jiu (The Fandom Post)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Kimi Shiruya—Dost Thou Know? (All About Manga)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on vols. 1 and 2 of Kiss Blue (All About Manga)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on vol. 3 of Kizuna (All About Manga)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on A Love Song for the Miserable (All About Manga)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Mr. Convenience (All About Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 14 of Pandora Hearts (The Fandom Post)
Anna on vols. 2 and 3 of Paradise Kiss (Manga Report)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Restart (All About Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 10 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Derek Bown on the March 25 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Shy Intentions (All About Manga)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Sleepless Nights (All About Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Tokyo Babylon (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 3 of Vagabond (omnibus edition)
John Rose on vol. 30 of Wallflower (The Fandom Post)

Jason Thompson’s House of 1000 Manga column this week offers a concise history of manga in the U.S. from 1961 to the present.

Mike Toole muses about prequels, sequels, and spinoffs, and why we sometimes see only part of a manga or anime franchise in translation.

Next week’s Shonen Jump will include a one-shot manga, Sakuran, by Psyren creator Toshiaki Iwashiro.

Ken H. writes about the creator Shotaro Ishinomori, in preparation for a month’s worth of reviews of his work.

Reviews

Matthew Warner on vol. 53 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Btooom! (ANN)
Connie C. on Detroit Metal City, Nana, and 21st Century Boys (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie C. on The Embalmer, Black Jack, and Anesthesiologist Hana (Comics Should Be Good)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Blogcritics)
Angela Eastman on vol. 2 of Jiu Jiu (The Fandom Post)
Connie C. on Iron Wok Jan, Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture, and Toriko (Comics Should Be Good)
Ken H. on vol. 1 of Kamen Rider (Comics Should Be Good)
Vom Marlowe on vol. 10 of Loveless (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 66 of One Piece (ANN)
Kristin on vols. 11 and 12 of Oresama Teacher (Comic Attack)
Ken H.on Skullman (Comics Should Be Good)
Kristin on Trigun: Multiple Bullets (Comic Attack)

Erica Friedman explains why she is stepping down as Yuricon events chair and giving up on yuri publishing: “I can’t afford print, you don’t want digital, the JP companies won’t talk to me and all the many differences between JP publishers and US fans are so huge and insurmountable. I don’t have the energy or clout or money to bridge the gap.” While this is a loss for readers, Erica will continue promoting yuri manga and blogging at Okazu.

Vertical, which has resisted digital up till now, will make three of its manga series available on several digital platforms: Twin Spica, Drops of God, and 7 Billion Needles, will be available for Kindle, Nook, and iBooks later this year.

The Manga Bookshelf team devotes their Pick of the Week to JManga, with recommendations for those of you who still have some points you want to use before the shopping stops on March 26.

MJ and Michelle Smith chat about Tokyo Babylon, Durarara!! Saika Arc, and Hiroaki Samura’s Emerald in their On the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Lori Henderson and Alex Hoffman discuss the digital Shonen Jump in their He Said, She Said column at Manga Village.

Lori Henderson rounds up some manga about earthquakes at Manga Xanadu.

How do you organize your manga? MJ explains her system, then throws the thread open for others to share how they do it.

News from Japan: Banana Fish creator Akimi Yoshida has received this year’s Manga Taisho award for Umimachi Diary; Kaoru Mori’s A Bride’s Story came in second in the voting. Chitose Get You manga-ka Etsuya Mashima has launched a new series, Zombie-chan, in Shogakukan’s Sunday GX. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews: Ash Brown wraps up a week’s worth of manga reading in one easy-to-digest post at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team keeps it short and sweet with a new Bookshelf Briefs column.

Kate O’Neil on vol. 7 of Afterschool Charisma (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Arata: The Legend (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 5 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Werner on vol. 52 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Chris Kirby on vol. 1 of Btooom! (The Fandom Post)
Chris Kirby on vol. 7 of Bunny Drop (The Fandom Post)
Chris Kirby on vol. 4 of Durarara!! (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vol. 4 of Flowers of Evil (Manga Village)
Daniela Orihuela-Gruber on Hot Steamy Glasses (All About Manga)
Erica Friedman on Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san (Okazu)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Kamen Rider (Comics Should Be Good)
Daniela Orihuela-Gruber on vol. 2 of Kizuna (All About Manga)
Anna N on vol. 9 of Library Wars (Manga Report)
Daniela Orihuela-Gruber on The Man I Picked Up (All About Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Message to Adolf (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 3 of Paradise Kiss (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Rin-ne (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Soul Eater Not (Manga Xanadu)
Lori Henderson on Start with a Happy Ending (Manga Village)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Blogcritics)
Drew McCabe on vols. 13 and 14 of Toriko (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on Trigun: Multiple Bullets (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

I weighed in on the demise of JManga at MTV Geek. Sean Gaffney works through several of the stages of grief, while Lori Henderson discusses JManga’s good and bad points and speculates on what may have gone wrong. At The Digital Reader, Nate Hoffelder argues that publishers who use DRM are punishing their paying customers (like the people who are about to lose the comics they thought they purchased). Lissa Pattillo compares JManga to other digital manga services and points out some of the flaws at Kuriousity.

I looked over the past week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo tackled the list as well at her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Jason Thompson takes a look at Black Lagoon in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

The local paper interviews Chris Beveridge, the guy behind the anime/manga blog The Fandom Post.

Reviews

Connie on vols. 3 and 4 of Ai no Kusabi (Slightly Biased Manga)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Apartments of Calle Feliz and Yakuza Cafe (All About Manga)
Connie on vol. 15 of Bakuman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 19 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Manjiorin on vol. 1 of Blood-C (Organization ASG)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Caramel (All About Manga)
Erica Friedman on the March issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Justin on chapters 22, 23, and 24 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 6 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Slightly Biased Manga)
Drew McCabe on vol. 23 of D.Gray-Man (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 6 of Dogs (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of His Favorite (I Reads You)
Connie on I Love You, Chief Clerk! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Kamisama Kiss (Blogcritics)
Jocelyne Allen on vol. 8 of Kaze to Ki no Uta (Song of the Wind and Trees) (Brain Vs. Book)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on vol. 1 of Kizuna (All About Manga)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Manga Report)
Connie on Laugh Under the Sun (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Limit (Slightly Biased Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries (Comics Worth Reading)
Connie on vol. 1 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on New Beginnings (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sweetpea on Oresama Teacher (Organization ASG)
Kristin on vol. 14 of Otomen (Comic Attack)
Matt Cycyk on Planetes (Matt Talks About Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Rosario + Vampire: Season II (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 6 of Sailor Moon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 9 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Daniela Orihuela-Gruber on Same Difference (All About Manga)
Connie on vol. 2 of Strobe Edge (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna N on vol. 3 of Strobe Edge (Manga Report)
Katherine Hanson on A Transparent Orange in the Lip (Yuri no Boke)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Tsubasa (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 16 of Vampire Knight (The Comic Book Bin)
Justin on chapters 3, 4, and 5 of World Trigger (Organization ASG)

Wow! An e-mail came in overnight from JManga, saying they are shutting down as of May 30. They have already stopped selling points, but users can buy manga with their existing points through March 26. Unused points will be refunded in the form of Amazon gift cards. Details are here, and I’ll be back with analysis later.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber bought a big stack of manga at DMP’s Warehouse Sale, and she’s reading—and blogging about—one volume at a time, mixing her opinions of the books with commentary on the genre and common yaoi tropes. Here are her first four: All Nippon Air Lines, Ambiguous Relationship, Affair, and Secretary’s Job?

At Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo opens up the swag bag and shows us her latest purchases.

News from Japan: Eiichiro Oda is taking a week off from One Piece due to illness. Highschool of the Dead will be back in the next issue of Dragon Age. Negima creator Ken Akamatsu has a new series in the works, as does Blade of the Immortal creator Hiroaki Samura. Boys Over Flowers manga-ka Yuko Kamio is starting a new series, Ibara no Kanmuri (Crown of Thorns), starting in the May issue of Bessatsu Margaret. Also coming to Bessatsu Margaret: Stand Up!, by Chocolate Underground manga-ka Aiji Yamakawa. With the release of volume 12, there are now 10 million copies of Yotsuba&! in print.

The strange saga of the Kuroko’s Basketball threats continues: Studio You, which organizes Kuroko’s Basketball doujinshi events, cancelled an event that was scheduled for April 7 in Osaka, but they have announced another one that will take place on April 21 in Shizuoka. Someone has been sending threatening letters to manga-ka Tadatoshi Fujimaki and venues associated with the manga, and at least one of them may have contained a potentially lethal chemical.

Reviews: Carlo Santos brings us up to date on recent releases in his Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Ash Brown takes us through the past week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Katherine Hanson on vol. 1 of Ameiro Kochakan Kandan (Yuri no Boke)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 18 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Ash Brown on vol. 11 of Death Note (Experiments in Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1 and 2 of Demon Love Spell (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 21 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Helen on vols. 2-8 of Sailor Moon (Narrative Investigations)
Leroy Douresseaux on Three Wolves Mountain (I Reads You)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Tokyo Babylon (Comics Worth Reading)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 2 of Triage X (The Fandom Post)

We lost one of the pioneers of the manga industry last week when Toren Smith passed away at the too-young age of 52. Smith was the founder of Studio Proteus and one of the first manga entrepreneurs in the U.S. Here’s a roundup of remembrances and obituaries from around the internet:

Jonathan Clements, Toren Smith, 1960-2013: Remembering one of the prime movers of modern manga (Manga UK)
Mike Toole, Mr. Smith Goes to Osaka (ANN)
Mike Hansen, Toren Smith (All Day Comics)
Chris Warner, A Tribute to Toren Smith (Dark Horse)
Ryan Sands, Toren Smith RIP (1960-2013) (awesome cover gallery) (Same Hat!)
Scott Green, Manga Translator Toren Smith Passes Away (Crunchyroll)
Andy Khouri, Pioneering Manga Translator Toren Smith Passes Away at 52 (Comics Alliance)
James Hudnall, Toren and I: 1987 (photos) (James Hudnall)
Toren’s Barnes & Noble author page

I’m playing a bit of catch-up with the news, after a busy week and an unexpectedly heavy snowstorm. (The bad part: I had to go to work on my day off. The cool part: I rode to work in a snowplow.) Here’s a quick roundup, and I’ll have more tomorrow.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss their Pick of the Week in print manga and look over this week’s new releases in print and the latest batch at JManga. I made my picks from the past week’s new releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo does the same in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Erica Friedman has the latest episode of Yuri Network News for us at Okazu.

Reviews

Johanna Draper Carlson on Beautiful Creatures: The Manga (Comics Worth Reading)
John Rose on vol. 12 of Black Butler (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on Danza (ANN)
Sakura Eries on vol. 11 of Dengeki Daisy (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 5 and 6 of A Devil and Her Love Song (ANN)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 8 of Dorohedoro (The Fandom Post)
Josh Begley on Emerald and Other Stories (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Girl Friends: The Complete Collection (Okazu)
Rebecca Silverman on Good-Bye Geist (ANN)
Michael Buntag on vol. 8 of Honey and Clover (NonSensical Words)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 2 and 3 of Jiu Jiu (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something (ANN)
Steve Bennett on The Misfortune of Kyon and Koizumi (ICv2)
Carlo Santos on vol. 12 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (ANN)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 9 of Omamori Himari (The Fandom Post)
Nicholas Smith on chapter 701 of One Piece (Kaleo)
Sakura Eries on vol. 9 of Oresama Teacher (The Fandom Post)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 13 of Pandora Hearts (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on vol. 9 of Pure Yuri Anthology, Hirari (Okazu)
Carlo Santos on vol. 8 of Psyren (ANN)
Mark Thomas on vol. 8 of Raiders (The Fandom Post)
Josh Begley on vol. 3 of Tale of the Waning Moon (The Fandom Post)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 3 of Until Death Do Us Part (The Fandom Post)

I talked to Kevin Hamric, director of publishing, marketing, and sales for Viz Media, about his company’s digital program and the logistics of simultaneous U.S./Japan publication of Shonen Jump. Lori Henderson responds by calling on Viz to offer digital manga on 10″ Android tablets.

Viz has been busy lately. Last week, they announced two new box sets, the full run of Bakuman (vols. 1-20 plus the mini-comic Otter #11 and a poster) and the first 23 volumes of One Piece. If you like your manga all in one place these are the products for you; both will be out next fall. Another fall release is an updated My Neighbor Totoro artbook and a new novel, marking the 25th anniversary of Hayao Miyazake’s film.

Reset your bookmarks: Erica Friedman has moved Okazu to its own domain! Go pay her a visit in the new digs, and savor the design by Kuriousity’s Lissa Pattillo. While you’re there, check out her most recent Yuri Network News post.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

At Heart of Manga, Laura looks forward to the new shoujo volumes coming in March.

Reviews: Check out the latest round of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf.

Kristin on vols. 1 and 2 of 07-Ghost (Comic Attack)
Anna on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game (Manga Report)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Barrage (ICv2)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Barrage (I Reads You)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 8 of Cross Game (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Demon Love Spell (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Dorohedoro (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vols. 3 and 4 of Durarara!! (Manga Xanadu)
Sean Gaffney on Emerald and Other Stories (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 17 of Hayate x Blade (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 21 of Hayate the Combat Butler (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 21 of Hayate the Combat Butler (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on Message to Adolf, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, and Barefoot Gen (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 14 of Otomen (The Comic Book Bin)
Serdar Yegulalp on vols. 2 and 3 of Paradise Kiss (Genji Press)
Anna on vol. 30 of Skip Beat (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Strobe Edge (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Tenjho Tenge (Full Contact Edition) (The Comic Book Bin)
Ken Haley on vol. 2 of Trigun (Comics Should Be Good)

Vertical had two new licenses to announce at Genericon last Friday: Kyoko Okazaki’s Pink and Tōru Oikawa’s From the New World, an adaptation of the novel by Yūsuke Kishi.

Johanna Draper Carlson looks at the new shoujo titles announced by Viz, two of which are rated 18+, and wonders if they will be closer to josei than shoujo.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss this week’s new manga, and MJ and Michelle Smith chat about some recent releases in their Off the Shelf column. And Travis Anderson has a license request: He wants to see the return of The Kindaichi Case Files.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks at a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Katherine Hanson on vol. 7 of Aoi Hana (Yuri no Boke)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Barrage (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of A Bride’s Story (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of BTOOOM! (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 7 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Limit (Comics Worth Reading)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 4 of Love Hina (omnibus edition) (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Laura on vols. 1 and 2 of Missions of Love (Heart of Manga)
Sean Gaffney on Neon Genesis Evangelion: Comic Tribute (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Derek Bown on last week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 30 of The Wallflower (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Stu Levy, the CEO of Tokyopop, is one of the founders of the manga publishing industry in the US and indeed, it’s not too much of a stretch to say that he has had a lasting effect on the entire graphic novel industry. Beginning as Mixx in 1997, Tokyopop brought Sailor Moon to America, first in the pages of its MixxZine and then Smile magazine and later as graphic novels. Tokyopop grew rapidly from there and in its heyday was the largest manga publisher in the U.S. Levy helped standardize the manga format and popularize unflipped manga, which Tokyopop billed as “100% Authentic.” Shoujo (girls’) manga helped bring girls and women into the comics world as readers, and the company’s Rising Stars of Manga program and its line of original manga provided an avenue into paying work for many creators.

Tokyopop was ahead of its time in many respects (they were making cell phone manga before smart phones were in widespread use, for example) but the company also suffered a series of setbacks, and it closed its doors as a book publisher in April 2011. Recently it has re-emerged, selling off its backlist and publishing a handful of volumes in print-on-demand format and as e-books.

Many people, myself included, have been critical of Stu and his stewardship of Tokyopop over the years. Nonetheless, his contributions to the world of manga and graphic novels cannot be denied. I asked him to do this interview, which was conducted via e-mail, in order to hear his perspective, and I appreciate his candor in answering some difficult questions.

Brigid: I read in another interview that you didn’t read comics as a child. Is that true, and if so, why did you turn to the medium as an adult?

Stu: I grew up watching cartoons and television, movies, listening to music, reading books, playing video games, and partaking in other geek activities such as D&D, Rubik’s Cube, model trains, and science experiments. But for some reason I was never exposed to comic books. I’m not really sure why—maybe it was just my neighborhood in Los Angeles and that particular era.

Let’s start with Mixx: What inspired you to publish a manga magazine in the U.S.?

In my early 20’s, I went to Japan to study, and became hooked on Japanese culture ever since. While I lived in Japan studying the language, I lived with a Japanese host family. The son and daughter, who were in middle school, watched Dragon Ball Z every night during dinner, and I quickly became hooked. Soon after, a Japanese friend gave me my first manga—Parasyte (Kiseiju). I was skeptical since I had not read Western comics growing up, but as I devoured it, I became addicted. Next I read Slam Dunk and it continued from there. It seemed to be the stories of manga were cinematic with incredible character development, and a few years later when I met Kodansha at a new media trade show in Cannes, I recommended to them developing Parasyte as a feature film. The Kodansha staff and I became good friends and he taught me all the “inner secrets” of Japanese manga, from editorial to marketing. It was from that point on that I came up with the concept of bringing Japanese manga to America, and starting with a magazine that mixed manga titles seemed like a convenient platform to introduce readers to manga.

What was your original plan for it—did you plan to simply keep it a magazine, or were you planning from the beginning to expand in different directions, such as digital publishing?

The goal from the beginning was to create a “mix” (hence the original name “Mixx”)—a mix of stories, a mix of media, and a mix of cultures. That was the company’s vision. It was very natural to develop an online presence from very early in the company, but back then digital publishing outside of a simple website was not an option (no smart phones, no tablets, no e-readers, and not even PDFs!).

From what people tell me, conventional wisdom at the time was “girls don’t read comics.” You published Sailor Moon. How did you get that license, and what made you think it was a good idea?

It was definitely conventional wisdom. Sailor Moon already had a huge following because the anime had been introduced on American television, but the ratings weren’t particularly high so it had been cancelled. A growing base of fans created a mammoth petition asking for it to be returned to television, but when I started the manga business it was off television. I had a very small team at that time and we reviewed Kodansha’s titles. Sailor Moon seemed like a big opportunity, mainly because of its awareness, and our concept of “mix” included different readership demographics. So, we chose two stories aimed more at female readers (Sailor Moon and Magic Knight Rayearth) and two aimed more at male readers (Parasyte and Ice Blade). We were fortunate that Kodansha had not licensed it to their main licensee at the time, Dark Horse, who supposedly had turned it down because of the “conventional wisdom” that girls won’t buy or read comics. When we launched it at our first San Diego Comic-Con—I believe that was 1997—Sailor Moon was a huge hit, and it established us quickly. A few months later, the videos were released and the anime returned to TV at Cartoon Network, where its ratings were pretty good.

Tokyopop pioneered what has become the standard format for manga today—5 x 7 trim size, unflipped, black and white—none of these things were inevitable when publishers first started importing manga to the U.S. I know Viz was toying with it at the same time—why did you decide to go this route, and what do you think made it a success?

By 2000, the business was doing pretty good, but Sailor Moon continued to be our mammoth hit. Other titles struggled, although we did pretty well with Magic Knight Rayearth. One of the challenges was creating awareness for what was still mainly an unknown niche. The term “manga” had not been introduced, and we manga publishers were calling them “comics.” But Western comics were at a low point, and retailers weren’t excited by comics. We were trying to expand our presence in regular bookstores because we felt this was the best way to expose manga to many people who did not read comics or visit comic book stores. The problem, in particular, was that girls at the time did not shop at comic book stores, and they were our largest group of fans thanks to Sailor Moon. Early on, Waldenbooks and Borders supported manga and that is where we sold most of our product. But we wanted to expand with other titles.

I had previously worked in the video game industry, as Japan correspondent for Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine and as a licensee of Sony Playstation. I had also published CD-ROMs in the beginning of my career. And I had seen how CD-ROMs died as a market because the formats were not standardized. Standardization was an effective way of growing a market segment, and branding was the other. I was inspired by Playstation’s approach to 3rd party licenses, requiring consistent branding, packaging and distribution. So, my concept was to apply this approach to manga—to make the format consistent and standardized and to aggressively brand Tokyopop as the main purveyor of great manga. At the same time, we decided to use the Japanese word “manga” instead of “comics” to differentiate. No one had ever done that before. Finally, I had observed “right-to-left” work in Korea and Germany, which convinced me to give it a shot in the US. Retailers were against it, but the Japanese licensors and artists very much preferred not “flipping” the reading to Western style. Combining the format and branding strategy with the “right-to-left,” authentic reading style was our big launch in 2000. Honestly, we gambled the entire company on this and did not “test” the product since I believed such tests wouldn’t work—it was all or none. We launched with 9 titles, which was an unheard of number of titles at the time, and we used in-store displays which was also non-existent in graphic novels and rare in books. But it worked! In fact, at our peak, many people assumed that all manga—even big hits published by our competitors—were Tokyopop books. And one of my most cherished contributions personally is bringing an entirely foreign word—manga—to the English language. It’s something I’m quite proud of.

Marketing to teenage girls is very tricky—just ask the Minx folks! Why did Tokyopop succeed at this?

I don’t think we aimed to market at girls per-se. We had a very strong weapon with Sailor Moon and expanded that by bringing a number of compelling shojo titles to market, including of course the mega-hit Fruits Basket. It was really the amazing content that built up the teenage girl market—and our ability to make it easily accessible.

Why did you think it was important to establish an OEL manga program?

While the licensed manga business was doing well, it wasn’t entirely satisfying for a couple of main reasons, which led to my decision to invest significant capital into our original manga program. The main reason was creative—there is only a certain amount of satisfaction from adapting existing stories into English. It’s certainly enjoyable, but for those of us who have a passion for storytelling, it doesn’t completely satisfy. Actually creating stories from scratch is much more creatively rewarding, although it is also a much more difficult business model. But I firmly believed that manga would inspire talented artists and storytellers to hone their craft if we could provide an outlet and platform for them financially. That was my goal. I saw it work in Korea, and to a lesser degree, in Taiwan and Europe. Because I was not clued into the Western comics world, I wasn’t aware of the talented storytellers published on that side of the aisle. Manga and Western comics have some key differences as a reading experience and it was difficult for me to enjoy Western comics since I was so used to manga. The biggest challenge though was finding artists that were not only talented enough to draw at the Japanese quality level, but to do so for an entire graphic novel in a relatively quick period of time. The Japanese weekly and monthly magazine market’s prevalence over decades had trained a mentoring system where artists could start learning while children and the top could eventually become professional and earn substantial income. That farm team of thousands or more, leading to a few dozen stars, had not existed in the US for a few decades. I’m quite proud of the original titles we published, which launched many creators’ careers as writers and artists, as well as offered a unique and exciting opportunity to existing writers and artists. Originally I believed that it would take 5 years to truly develop a crop of top-tier talent but unfortunately the market crash and financial woes of 2008 hit us before we could make it to five years. Looking back, I believe we rushed too many titles to market in too quick of a period. It would have been better to spend time on each title and build up the program less aggressively. But I knew we were also “racing against the clock” since manga publishers (especially us and Viz) were absorbing years of top manga titles from Japan and translating them into English so quickly. I was worried we would run out of titles and be unable to maintain our publishing program, which would have prevented us from maintaining or growing our business. There was a lot of pressure from investors, so growth was the top goal—and I learned that growth has its time and place, but should not be the be-all and end-all in business. Finally, I’d like to add that the term “OEL manga” somehow became established, but I never felt it was the right term for our program since we had original manga titles we created in different languages, including Korean, German, and even Japanese. We would need to call these OKL manga, OGL manga and perhaps OJL manga, and that didn’t make sense to me. We used the term “Global Manga” which may or may not be the best term. I always wished we could simply call it “manga” and people would not distinguish between the ethnicity or national origin of the title. I think there are quite a lot of undiscovered gems in our library and I urge fans to read the titles and support their creators.

What was the inspiration for the Rising Stars of Manga competition?

Rising Stars of Manga’s goal was always very clear—to facilitate the discovery and growth of talented manga creators. In Japan they have various competitions to discover talent, so I utilized their model initially, although publishing an anthology as a graphic novel was unique to our market since we don’t have manga magazines like they do in Japan (which is traditionally where the winners have their works published).

Tokyopop provided an avenue for many veteran and aspiring creators to create a complete manga series and get paid for it. Some of your practices came in for some heavy criticism from other creators, however, with regard to payments, rights, and the terms and even the wording of the contracts. What is your response to that?

Of course I am aware of the negative criticism that various people aimed at our original manga publishing programs. I think it is unfortunate because, frankly, this type of program was very ambitious and unique, and it needed everyone’s support to succeed. I learned the hard way that the comic book creative community in the West has a tendency to “bite the hand that feeds it,” which I do not perceive as healthy. We were very transparent with our approach: if you have an idea and pitch it to us, and together we team up to bring it to market, we both share the rewards of its success. Tokyopop would finance, develop, produce, market, and distribute the title, and the creator would write and/or draw it. We would co-own the copyrights and split up the profits, if the title became profitable. That was our business model, and I stand by it. It’s perfectly legitimate for a creator to keep one’s copyright, but when someone is willing to contribute significant value, they are going to want consideration in return. Each company has its own business model, and in our case we thought it would be fair to share. I always have felt that if terms of a contract are not attractive to you, don’t sign the contract. We always explained our intentions and worked very closely with the creators to discuss their contracts. Then it was their decision whether or not to accept our terms. It was entirely up to them, of course. Over the years, I receive emails from creators who tell me Tokyopop was more fair and transparent with them than any other publisher they’ve worked with, which makes me proud. I do think that when we released the titles, we put quite a lot of effort into marketing them, but the fanbase was not ready for these “OEL” titles so we lost a significant amount of money to build up the program. I did think it would take time, but the initial push-back of some fans who would not accept non-Japanese titles was disappointing. I’m pleased to see that the market and fandom has now moved beyond that—it seems that people are a lot more accepting of original manga titles, which is healthy. Ultimately, only a few titles hit, whether or not they originate from Japan or elsewhere. Our “OEL” program featured a very talented group of creators, and I wish I had the resources to continue that program even today.

One thing that was notable from the beginning was that Tokyopop did a lot of experimenting with new media such as cell phone manga and limited animation. Why did you do that, rather than sticking with printed books? What were the upside and the downside?

I never formed the company as a pure book publisher, and none of our investors ever invested in the company for it to be such. I have been involved in various aspects of media, especially digital media, from the beginning of my career, and I’m very much a believer in technology and the evolution of media. Those experiments were the right moves to make—I think we were just too early.

Your partnership with HarperCollins led to one of your most successful non-Japanese titles, the Warriors books, as well as some books that didn’t do so well. What effect did the partnership have on Tokyopop in the long run?

It was a profitable and successful partnership, and I think we established a market for adapting fiction into graphic novels.

The BLU manga line was popular with readers, but at first it seemed almost not to be associated with Tokyopop. How did it come about, and why did you keep it so separate from your main line?

We separated it so that we could publish explicit titles without associating the main Tokyopop brand with those titles. We were a Disney licensee at that time, as well as publisher of family and children’s titles, and the explicit BLU titles were not appropriate for the same brand.

In 2008, Tokyopop split into two different companies, one that would do publishing, one that would handle other media. What did that accomplish?

The main goal was to focus our resources on each of those two main endeavors. Ultimately, my plan was to raise money for the Tokyopop Media company, but the timing did not work out since the market crashed shortly thereafter.

At the same time, you cut back on the number of books published (and laid off some editorial staff). Why did you feel that was necessary?

2008 was a terrible time for our company when the financial and retail markets crashed, from the Lehman Shock and sub-prime mortgage crisis that led to the Great Recession. As a small, independent company that subsisted from its own cash flow, we were hit very hard. Product returns alone approached 80% during 2008, and we were unable to sustain a large staff of 90 people and a large office. We had no choice financially but to do significant cost reductions, including a major layoff—that was the only way to stay in business. It was the most upsetting day of my life.

When did you learn that Kodansha was going to stop licensing manga to Tokyopop, and what was the effect on the company?

It was a process but the first major problem occurred in 2006, maybe 2005. I first learned that Kodasha did a deal with Random House by reading it online—I had not heard about it directly from them. We were publishing Love Hina, Chobits and a number of major hits, and we did a wonderful job with those titles. We edited them and marketed them well, growing the market materially. But Kodansha told me they felt Random House could expand the market. Initially, they explored acquiring our company together with Random House, but ultimately Random House decided they could publish internally at Del Rey without buying Tokyopop. So, all the key titles at the time—Negima, Ken Akamatsu’s follow-up to Love Hina; Tsubasa and XXXHolic, CLAMP’s follow-up titles to Chobits—were given to Del Rey. It crushed us. Losing Kodansha was probably the most devastating factor that hurt our business.

Overall, what were Tokyopop’s strongest sellers?

Fruits Basket was absolutely the top series. We sold more of that series in the US market per capita of manga readers then Hakusensha did in Japan. It was unbelievable, considering it wasn’t a TV anime. After that, Sailor Moon, Chobits, and Love Hina, along with GTO and Magic Knight Rayearth were huge. For our original titles, Princess Ai was #1 on Bookscan, and together with Dramacon, Bizenghast, and I Luv Halloween was our most successful series.

What books do you wish you had never licensed?

There were some Cine-Manga that we did which cost a lot of money for licensees and bombed at retail. They weren’t aimed at manga fans, but mainly children and families. Our NBA license was probably the most glaring example, but Shrek and even Family Guy performed poorly. Timing was difficult with Cine-Manga. I think both Shrek and Family Guy—even the NBA—could have been very successful if we had nailed the timing and format.

Here’s the big question: What were the factors that led to the demise of Tokyopop as we know it? Since Tokyopop was two different companies at that point, and you were on the media side, how involved were you in the decision to shut down publishing?

I was very involved in the publishing side, especially at that time. After all, Tokyopop is my baby, and as founder, chairman and shareholder, I have the responsibility for critical decisions, especially since we’re a small company. It’s actually in some ways an easy question and in other ways very complicated. I list the main factors, which are a combination of external, market factors and internal, management factors, as being as follows:

(1) Decline of the manga segment overall—the biggest factor here was piracy. Piracy disrupted this business. I realized how critical that factor was through Gakuen Alice. This is a very entertaining shojo series that we had big hopes for. When we released it, we sold barely anything, maybe a few thousand units. This should have been the next Fruits Basket. I wondered if we could have been wrong about the title itself and perhaps it just didn’t work in North America. But we noticed that it was in the Top 5 on OneManga.com and had been viewed over a million times. That was when I realized we’re screwed.

(2) Book retail problems and the Borders bankruptcy—the book retail problems started in 2008 with significant product returns. It continued over time. Borders was on credit hold with Harper through 2008 and 2009 but they were our #1 customer so it affected our sales materially. This is one key reason we had to downsize—we were selling a lot less product. In 2010, Harper took them off credit limits, and we sold into them as normal. In December 2010, we heard that they hadn’t paid their bill, for the first time ever. That led to their bankruptcy in early 2011, and our write-off of close to $1 million in receivables for products we had already sold. That cash hit, combined with the loss of our #1 customer (1/3 of our sales) put us underwater. At that point, there was nothing to do but throw in the towel for publishing and our US office.

(3) Titles—after losing Kodansha, we had a tougher and tougher time accessing hits from Japan. The big Japanese manga publishers are Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Kodanasha. Viz is owned by the first two, which left Kodansha as our main partner for much of our history. But when they stopped licensing to us, we lost all access to the Top 3. We licensed from Hakusensha and Kadokawa, which are the second tier in Japan, and provided some big hits for us (like Fruits Basket) but we were not exclusive with either of them and the titles were spread out amongst a number of licensees. It was very difficult to build a strong line-up of licensed titles, especially trying to maintain the high overhead we had. And original titles were not yet contributing to the bottom line—in fact, they were in the red. Cine-Manga helped for awhile, Harper’s YA novel adaptations helped, and so did certain original adaptations such as Warcraft. But the Japanese licenses were always our “bread and butter” and not having access to a strong line-up was a problem that affected us over a few years.

I’d like to add that there is a misconception some people have that if we had not pursued film and television projects, or if we had been more proactive in ebooks, we could have saved the company. Just to make it clear, that was definitely not the case. On the film and television side, we did not spend any significant sums of money, and in fact deals like Priest were income-generators since we were paid fees. Regarding ebooks, we wanted to be more aggressive, but most Japanese licensors were holding back those rights as they worked on their digital strategies, which prevented us from offering a legitimate alternative to piracy.

What is the status of Tokyopop now: Is the publishing arm of the company bankrupt or still in existence?

Fortunately, Tokyopop has never been bankrupt or put into receivership. We simply wound down our publishing operations.

And what about the media part?

Tokyopop Media still exists and has a slate of film/television projects that I’m developing as producer.

Recently, Tokoypop partnered with RightStuf to publish some print-on-demand volumes. What part do you play in that, and why did you decide to return to print publishing?

I worked with RightStuf to set this up, so we can offer our titles to customers. Of course, we focus only on the titles we still have the rights to publish, and we have not gone back into retail, but have focused on POD. I would love to bring the rest of all our series to market, but unfortunately I do not have the legal ability to do so. Also, I think the business model has changed significantly and I’m not sure how to succeed as an independent publisher. I’m watching other companies and how they are approaching their businesses.

Are you actively seeking the license for vols. 4 and 5 of Hetalia?

I am working with Gentosha to bring those volumes to market so fans can complete their collections. I have faith that Gentosha will allow me to facilitate this, hopefully soon.

Where do you see Tokyopop going from here?

Tokyopop made a strong impression on the pop culture landscape of America and of course touched the lives of many fans. My goal is to keep that legacy alive and to evolve it to a business model that makes sense in our increasingly digital world. Knowing my personality, that means I will experiment even more and hopefully find the right formula for Tokyopop’s next stage.

The day before the news of the closure hit, you Tweeted

“Wow #GDC2011 is blowing my mind. Why have I been stuck in such an old-school, out-of-touch industry for so long?! (yes I mean books!)”

A lot of people (myself included) criticized you for that. Why did you feel that way? Do you still feel that way?

I wish that was the only thing people criticized me for over the years! Certain people online love to express their “passion” towards me in creative ways—it’s always so amusing. But I understand how that Tweet upset people. Expressing the nuances of complicated thoughts in a Tweet is not something I had mastered at the time (and still don’t feel comfortable doing). The book industry that I experienced over the years never knew how much product was really sold, let alone to whom that product was sold. Inventory sat in retailer warehouses and on shelves that was returned to publishers many years later. The systems used to quantify information were archaic. The inefficiencies were considerable—and that is why Amazon, which never had those problems, has grown while book retail chains have shrunk. Mind you, I’m not referring to independent retailers who run their business out of passion and love for the product. Those businesses remain healthy, but they are a limited few. I was attending GDC for the first time—to see if there were potential investors that could help finance Tokyopop if Borders filed for bankruptcy (which had not been announced at that point)—and I was shocked to see the level of quantitative details that the social gaming companies had access to. They knew exactly who purchased what and when and adjusted their offerings based on that information—on a daily basis. They were virtual so there were no inventory problems either. This highly efficient business model was a stark contrast to the arcane business model of book retail that was collapsing around me. I was exasperated by that incredible difference, and that was what my Tweet meant. So, to answer your question, I still feel that book retail is archaic compared to social gaming, and I wish that there had been an efficient way to bring Asian pop culture including of course manga to fans so that Tokyopop could have kept its staff and office. Of course I wish I had worded my Tweet in a way that would have clarified this—or blogged it instead so I could have written out the nuances.

Shortly after that, you were in Japan at the time of the earthquake and were involved in some of the relief efforts. You made a film about the quake and its aftermath. How did these experiences affect you?

I had flown to Japan on March 9, 2011, to let our Japanese licensors know that we had to shut down our publishing operations. Two days later, the earthquake hit. I was on the 49th floor and the building shook like a boat in a storm. I watched the tsunami destroy the shore up in Tohoku, where I had been previously on holiday, and I couldn’t believe it. Immediately after the earthquake, all the companies were closed, so I decided to try to be of some use, which led to my volunteer relief excursions to Tohoku. Ultimately, when local volunteers learned I am a filmmaker, they asked if I would film their story. That seemed like a meaningful way to give back to the culture I had cherished throughout my adult life. Spending time with the victims and other volunteers taught me that life truly is precious and the people you love are more important than anything else. It gave me great perspective which I feel lucky to have received.

Given the opportunity, what would you do differently and what would you do exactly the same way?

Certainly I have my regrets, but my personal philosophy is not one to question the past, only to learn from it. If I was in the exact same situation as times in my past, but with my current level of knowledge and experience, my decision-making process would naturally differ. If the question means how will I apply what I have learned to my decisions in the future, that could be its own interview. But I’d sum it up by saying I put more emphasis nowadays on what matters to me as a person holistically. For a lot of my career, business was my main focus, but that’s not the case now. Business is fascinating and at some point it may become my top priority again, but right now I live a balanced life and enjoy that approach much more.

Do you still read manga?

It’s pretty rare nowadays. I have a range of personal interests and have read piles and piles of manga over the years. But sometimes when a hobby becomes your job for a long time, it’s not as fun as it used to be. Musicians tell me that a lot. But there’s nothing quite like curling up with a truly engaging manga.

What do you see as the long-term impact of Tokyopop on the American comics market?

My understanding is that Tokyopop played a major role in popularizing sequential art in North America. Former president of DC Comics Paul Levitz once thanked me for revitalizing the market for comics in America. Even though our main business was English-language adaptations of Japanese manga, we published original manga and graphic novels, Cine-Manga, YA novel adaptations, film and television adaptations, art books, “light novels,” and experimented with mobile, web, social media, along with e-commerce, television, film, DVDs, online video, and merchandise. But I’m most proud of playing a key role in bringing another culture, especially one as fascinating and sophisticated as Japanese culture, into mainstream American culture.

(All photos are courtesy of Stu Levy.)

Shaenon Garrity writes about the manga-about-manga series Kingyo Used Books as guest columnist for ANN’s House of 1000 Manga.

The special Naoki Urasawa edition of the Manga Moveable Feast continues, with host blog Organization ASG’s roundtable on Astro Boy, as well as roundups for days 3 and 4. And at Manga Village, village leader Lori Henderson rounds up all their Urasawa posts.

Lissa Pattillo checks out this week’s new manga releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Sheena McNeil discusses gender-bending in Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight.

Reviews

Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of 21st Century Boys (Manga Xanadu)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Barrage (ANN)
Chris Kirby on vol. 8 of Cross Game (The Fandom Post)
Justin on chapters 20 and 21 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Ken H. on Emerald and Other Stories (Comics Should Be Good)
Lexie on Emerald and Other Stories (Poisoned Rationality)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Blogcritics)
Joseph Luster on vol. 7 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Otaku USA)
Joseph Luster on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Otaku USA)
Connie C. on Lives, Offered, and Apocalypse Zero (Comics Should Be Good)
Helen on Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep (Narrative Investigations)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 37 of Negima (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Danica Davidson on vol. 2 of Nisekoi (Otaku USA)
Ash Brown on Pineapple Army (Experiments in Manga)
Manjiorin on Pineapple Army (Organization ASG)
Erica Friedman on vol. 9 of Sailor Moon (Okazu)
Derek Bown on this week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Carlo Santos on vol. 10 of Tenjho Tenge (Full Contact Edition) (ANN)
Chris Kirby on vol. 12 of Toriko (The Fandom Post)
Justin on chapter 2 of World Trigger (Organization ASG)

Sean Gaffney has some commentary on the new licenses announced over the past week by Seven Seas and Vertical, and I had a few things to say at MTV Geek as well.

The Manga Moveable Feast featuring Naoki Urasawa continues, with host blog Organization ASG posting on Music in 20th Century Boys and Hatred in Pluto as well as a roundup of the first two days’ worth of posts.

Tony Yao writes about the child prodigy Orochimaru (from Naruto) and the power of sorrow in Gintama at Manga Therapy.

No Starch Press is listing The Manga Guide to Regression Analysis among its books for next year. It may sound incongruous, but the books in this series that I have looked at have been pretty good.

Well, here’s an innovation: Something called “Manga 2.5,” which is a motion comic version of manga, with voices. ANN has the deets; it launches with The Mythical Detective LOKI (available in its original form on JManga) and Ouji Hiroi and Yuusuke Kozaki’s Karasuma Kyōko no Jikenbo.

The staff at the Embassy of Japan in London have announced the winners of this year’s Manga Jiman awards.

Reviews: Anna N. reviews a handful of Harlequin manga at Manga Report.

Lori Henderson on vols. 1-22 of 20th Century Boys (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Kirby on vol. 22 of 20th Century Boys (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Barrage (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Blogcritics)
Anna N. on vol. 11 of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Manga Report)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Kristin on vol. 10 of Jormungand (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Katherine Hanson on Love Flag Girls!! (Yuri no Boke)
David Gromer on vol. 5 of Maximum Ride: The Manga (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vol. 5 of Negima (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Blogcritics)

There has been a flurry of activity on the licensing front: Viz announced five new Shojo Beat and Shonen Sunday licenses: Happy Marriage?!, Midnight Secretary, Voice Over!: Seiyuu Academy, Sweet Rein, and Magi. I dug up a bit more info on the last three at MTV Geek. Vertical announced Satoshi Kon’s Tropic of the Sea and Takahiro Seguchi’s Sickness Unto Death. And Seven Seas has three new licenses, all supernatural stories involving girls who aren’t human: A Centaur’s Life, Love in Hell, and Monster Musume. Sean Gaffney, who knows the Japanese side of things a lot better than I do, has more on the Viz and Seven Seas announcements at his blog.

Lissa Pattillo looks over the past week’s new manga in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and Sean Gaffney, MJ, and Michelle Smith discuss this week’s new manga at Manga Bookshelf.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman has a fresh episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast is hosted by Organization ASG, and Justin gets things rolling with an introductory post on this month’s creator, Naoki Urasawa and a discussion among the bloggers about how they first got into Urasawa.

Brian Hibbs looks at the BookScan numbers for 2012 and sees a grim picture for manga, as sales continue to decline.

Jason Thompson pays his respects to the uber-80s manga Cipher in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

News from Japan: Kaoru Mori brings back Shirley for a two-part story in Enterbrain’s Harta (formerly Fellows!) magazine.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on the past week in manga at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Awkward Silence (I Reads You)
Connie on vol. 14 of Black Bird (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 18 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Collectors (Okazu)
Jocelyne Allen on Dame BL (Brain Vs. Book)
Connie on vol. 8 of Dorohedoro (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 23 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Sweetpea on Her Majesty’s Dog, Slam Dunk, and Papillon (Organization ASG)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 12 of Kamisama Kiss (The Comic Book Bin)
Angela Eastman on vol. 12 of Kamisama Kiss (The Fandom Post)
Sakura Eries on vol. 2 of Message to Adolf (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 60 of Naruto (I Reads You)
Angela Eastman on vol. 12 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Ohikkoshi, 5 Centimeters Per Second, and A Drunken Dream (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie on vol. 18 of Ouran High School Host Club (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-8 of Pluto (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Kirby on vol. 2 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (The Fandom Post)
Derek Bown on last week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Connie on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lexie on vol. 1 of Tokyo Babylon (omnibus edition) (Poisoned Rationality)
Justin on vol. 11 of Yotsuba&! (Organization ASG)