Tokyopop to split into two companies.

[Noodle]

Originally Posted by Peter Ahlstrom

So anyway the lead time may not be as long as you think it is. There's usually no more than one book finished beyond the most recent one on the shelf.

I see. This isn't the case for all the manga companies, though.. but then again, TP has a lot of output though, so I guess that makes more sense. Interesting, thanks.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Lead time in normal book publishing is much longer than it ever was at TOKYOPOP...I know the text of most books is pretty much finalized a year before street date. But I don't know how things are scheduled at other manga publishers.

Originally Posted by adam_omega

Jeez, the news over at PW's The Beat just put into perspective just how bad things are. Tokyopop let go of a number of their best editors that had been there for years... People like Rob Tokar, Luis Reyes, Paul Morrissey, Hope Donovan and Tim Beedle.

And editors Kathy Schilling, me, Stephanie Duchin, and Nikhil Burman, and both copy editors. There are five editors left, and two of them are now assigned to TP Media.

[sir_integra]

Originally Posted by Draneor

I've never cared about the law (one way or the other) so I couldn't care less if what Tokyopop did was legal.

You really should care. Since it's often only the law that keeps people "decent" to one another.

I'm not saying that just because other companies do it, that makes it ok for TP to do what they did. But I do think you're be unrealistic if you think that a lot companies do the right thing because they want to.

[ronq]

Originally Posted by adam_omega

Jeez, the news over at PW's The Beat just put into perspective just how bad things are. Tokyopop let go of a number of their best editors that had been there for years... People like Rob Tokar, Luis Reyes, Paul Morrissey, Hope Donovan and Tim Beedle.

Aw man... Luis too? I have fond memories of hanging out with Luis when I was at TP. I hope he gets a chance to play more music now. I remember his band Jacaranda. He has an awesome song called Chewbaca did a Caca.

[bctaris]

Originally Posted by Peter Ahlstrom

And editors Kathy Schilling, me, Stephanie Duchin, and Nikhil Burman, and both copy editors. There are five editors left, and two of them are now assigned to TP Media.

I've never been a prodigious buyer of TP books compared to other publishers (only title I was buying at the moment--N.H.K.--I have on hiatus; and I was possibly looking into Aria), but Morrissey and Reyes were coincidentally the editors on nearly all the stuff I have bought. I always felt comfortable in their hands, even when I wasn't in agreement with some of TP's policies.

Wow. Good luck to all landing on their feet. (There's enough of you former employees now to start your own company, if the market were permitting...)

So, effectively three editors for the bulk of the line now? That's fewer than pubs with far less output than TP right now. Laying off so many experienced people, this looks more like the layoffs and buyouts seen in the newspaper industry of late--"restructuring", but really just trying to do the same or more with less, all to save money.

[chojinlocke]

Originally Posted by ronq

Aw man... Luis too? I have fond memories of hanging out with Luis when I was at TP. I hope he gets a chance to play more music now. I remember his band Jacaranda. He has an awesome song called Chewbaca did a Caca.

Luis was awesome! Way cool to hang out with. The first time I hung out with him at Comic-Con I was telling him he that he edited all my fave series, Cyborg 009, Skull Man, and others. He said "Oh, so you're the guy who is buying those." He, Filipe' and my editor Bryce really made that con for me. Way cool. There were way too many cool people let go actually. Jeez.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by adam_omega

That would be Shueisha (they do all the mega-selling Shonen Jump titles), which is also partnered with Viz in the states.

Maybe I'm thinking of the overall publishing and you're thinking of just the manga segment?
According to wikipedia Kodansha is the largest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodansha

[HellKorn]

Condolences to those who lost their jobs. Wasn't following any of Tokyopop's manga (novels are what I'm concerned about), but a major and sudden lay-off like this is never a good thing.

I'm confused on what TP plans on doing from here on out, though. They've effectively cut nearly two-fifths of their staff, seem to be spreading themselves thin between two different... divisions? With only three currently remaining editors covering their manga, they don't seem to have any long-term plans for that medium.

[thecapt1701]

So I made a list of what is currently being released (not counting series that have completed fully like Ai Yori Aoshi, etc.) by TP that I am buying and added in what info I could find. And then added my commentary.

Note that "current to Japan" below assumes that solicited volumes actually ship.

Battle Club [6 volumes out (volume 7 not yet listed), current to Japan]
[may be safe as it's current and has lots of T&A]

Battle Vixens (Ikki Tousen) [12 volumes out (volume 13 listed as out on 6/17/08), current to Japan after volume 13]
[again, may be safe as it's current and has said T&A]

Kannazuki no Miko [1 volume out (volume 2 listed as out on 7/7/08), ?? volumes left]
[Not sure how many volumes this has. I think someone said it was only 2 volumes. If that is the case then this could be safe as the release date is close]

Manga Sutra (Futari Etchi) [2 volumes out (volume 3 listed as out on 9/16/08), 35+ volumes left]
[There was never any real hope even before things hit the fan that this title would ever complete given it's volume count. Fortunately the story is more fun and fluf then serious and on-going]

Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel [8 volumes out (volume 9 listed as out on 10/14/08), current to Japan]
[May be safe again as it's close to what is out in Japan and thus they could do long delays between volumes as they wait for the Japanese editions to come out. On the other hand, it's old school Gundam and we know (suspect!) that sells slightly better then early Dunbine DVDs. ]

Rose Hip Rose [1 volume out (volume 2 listed as out on 7/15/08, volume 3 listed as out on 11/11/08), current to Japan]
[Not sure what to think here. Might be okay due to the long waits and because it is hip]

Sorcerer Hunters 2nd ed. (authentic) 10 volumes out (volume 11 listed as out on 10/7/08), 2 volumes left]
[This would blow monkey balls if it were dropped, but as it's a second edition and possibly not that popular I think this may be doomed]

Strawberry Marshmallow [4 volumes out (volume 5 listed as out on 6/10/08), current to Japan]
[More monkey ball sucking here if this were to be droped. However given what Peter mentioned above this (volume 5 at least) should be okay as it should have already been printed and in the shipping lanes by now]

Suppli [2 volumes out (volume 3 listed as out on 7/7/08), 3+ volumes left]
[I have no hope for this. Sad but true I think it's already on the flush list]

Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase [10 volumes out (volume 11 listed as out on 8/5/08, volume 12 listed as out on 12/16/08), current to Japan]
[Hard to call. If it is selling well then they may keep going as it comes out in Japan]

Welcome to the NHK! [6 volumes out (volume 7 listed as out on 6/17/08, volume 8 listed as out on 9/16/08), current to Japan]
[Not sure if this is only 8 volumes or if it is still running in Japan. If it is only 8,
then maybe it could get finished assuming sales are okay]

Yubisaki Milk Tea [7 volumes out (volume 8? listed as out on 10/08), current to Japan]
[Another one I'm fairly sure will get the boot. T&A yes, but too much story and character for those who only want said T&A. Only save might be if it is selling well and they want another 'as it's release in Japan' title]


Well there you have it. There are a couple of titles that I would have listed but they have not yet released even volume 1 (Tokko for example) so I didn't even bother.

I've never been happier that Black Lagoon got picked up by VIZ.



Enjoy!!

[jlazar]

Originally Posted by thecapt1701

....

Looking at your list and other comments here makes me see that a lot of titles from Tokyopop (in particular ones that I'm collecting) seem to have caught up with the Japanese releases. I wonder if that played a part in who got laid off and when?


I am grateful that Moonphase vol 4 finally got it's unedited release before all this happened, since who knows what those left at Tokyopop will do in the future.