Forum - View topicNEWS: Tokyopop to Restructure - Update
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Teriyaki Terrier
 Posts: 5689 |
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I am glad that there is a update, but this is a realitively family friendly site, so I wonder how " explicitly sexual images" really are?
So the people who posted that they lost their jobs weren't joking or making it up, that is impressive. |
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Panon
Posts: 242 |
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Feel free to not click on it. |
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sykoeent
 Posts: 160 |
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This is sad news, but, yeah. This is what happens when the marketing doesn't work and you flood the market. Haven't we learned from the American comic's Speculator age of the 90's?
Unfortunately, it seems like they didn't keep any of the important people, the creative side. Without product, what can you market or sell? Nothing, you lose, Close the door on the way out. |
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Ryusui
 Posts: 461 |
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Not like Tokyopop had much. I could forgive ADV for butchering names and terms in the Zone of the Enders anime because the English dub itself was excellent. Tokyopop's work on the .hack manga and novels was not only brutally underresearched, but went with the annoying weeaboo style that appears to be becoming the norm these days: "we can't write worth a damn, so we'll honorific their pants off!"
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Dramatis Personae
Posts: 88 |
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I just hope they continue to liscence Japanese titles.
Last edited by Dramatis Personae on Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:34 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Ariolander
Posts: 66 |
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From what I understand it is part of a movement toward OEL & Original creative properties and this mass layoff was a suprise to everyone within the company. A facebook group has beens tarted by layed off employees and former staffers are speaking out, Reallly a lot going on here.
Icarus Publishing's staff blog has some excellent coverage on this issue and some insightful speculations. With a staff of around 100 39 people is a lot of layoffs and it has me worried about some TP licenced properties might be in danger with Tokyo Pop cutting a bit too deep with the recent pruning. |
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Re-Elu
Posts: 4 |
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I have about 150 Tokyopop titles, so I'm not happy with this news, lol.
I hope they will quit the OEL titles though, I hate those. The artwork is horrible at most times. I loved the Labyrinth movie, so I was thrilled when I heard about Tokyopop's Labyrinth sequel. And the cover artwork looked beautiful. And then you open the book, and I was like WTF? The artwork is horrible, and the story isn't that great either! Still, I bought vol. 2 as well... I hope they will continue their current series though. Luckily Clamp No Kiseki and Fruits Basket are almost finished (and FB is a huge success ofcourse). But what about Good Witch of the West? And Saver, one of my fav series at the moment? And Queen's Knight, still 5 volumes to go (of 16)? I love that series as well! And I hope they will continue 12 Kingdoms, I was sooooo happy when the novels were finally licensed and translated. I also hope they will continue INVU, Loveless, Platinum Garden, Rure, Strawberry Marshmellow and V.B. Rose. Then, all my Tokyopop titles are save... Good luck for those who were laid off btw, I hope they won't have any problem finding new jobs and everything. |
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FireChick
 Subscriber Posts: 2390 Location: United States |
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I wonder if this is why they didn't license Kamichama Karin Chu?
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saishokushugisha
Editor, Anime Insider
 Posts: 101 Location: USA |
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I just heard that Susan Hale, TP's dedicated publicist and saucy lady, was affected by the change. If the changes are going that high, I'm curious who else will be let go. I agree that the volume of material on the market is way too high, though, and that's in general, not just Tokyopop.
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cool3865
 Posts: 770 Location: Austin, TX |
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really?? i can go to any book store and bearly see Viz media or Dark Horse but will see 3/4 of the book cases filled with Tokyopop manga. sorry but they shot themselves in the foot with this, i really do feel sorry for the people that got affected with the lay-offs. i hope you guys can find jobs soon |
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Batman3777
 Posts: 160 Location: Down the Shore, NJ |
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Good luck to the 39 folks who are losing their jobs. It's a tough market out there; hopefully no one will hold the companies reputation against you.
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vincent iii
 Posts: 37 |
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http://www.japanator.com/elephant/post.phtml?pk=8035
Even though its just a rumor, if it is true, it would explain this situation a lot. I just hope it doesn't mean we have to wait a year just for a series that is released, to get re-released in order to fill the gaps in our collections. |
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sdsyukichan
 Posts: 93 Location: Ontario, Canada |
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I'm all for OEL manga and everything - I don't buy much of it (1-2 titles) - but it's good to see people being able to put out manga. That said, I think if that's the direction Tokyopop is heading in, they're going to lose a lot more than they are now.
My collection used to consist mostly of Tokyopop titles, but I'm shifting towards Viz now (which I've never been a huge fan of) because they're doing a far better job liscensing titles I actually want to read. That said, I do have quite a fair bit of Tokyopop titles that are ongoing, and I'd be pretty angry if any of them got cancelled. |
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BellosTheMighty
 Posts: 767 |
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Still an unconfirmed rumor, and you know what they say about those... However, if it IS true, then it justifies TokyoPop trying to run with the OEL manga thing for so long. Yes, they crippled it with poor business and misunderstanding the market, but the thing is, if manga continues to have a following in the states, it will eventually become impossible to run a company that specializes in stateside publishing. TP, Viz, Del Rey, etc. are all really just middlemen, and once they've convinced the overseas publishers that there's a market here, they can be cut out quite easily. All you really need to distribute a manga in the states is a good translator and a marketing department that understands the American market. The former can be hired by the original publisher, and the duties of the latter can be handled either by subcontracting to a marketing firm, or by training some of your own people to do it. I doubt it would be hard at all for a Japanese publisher to just re-focus on the international market, and with no need left for region-specific publishers, companies like TokyoPop simply cease to exist. I think five years from now we'll realise that the OEL manga initiative was prescient- it realized there would be a time when these companies would need to sell products of their own, rather than other peoples'. It's a pity TP wound up doing it so horribly wrong. BTW, that "Gundam in the forest" picture is hilarious. 
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I would think we would have heard about the Kodansha thing somewhere by now if it were true. But even if it is, it doesn't explain Tokyopop's sudden restructuring and laying off nearly half of their employees. |
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