News
Chuang Yi Publishing in Liquidation
posted on by Jon Hayward
On the 7th of February 2014 Madman Entertainment published a news update on their website stating that it has been increasingly difficult to resupply Chuang Yi Manga and that they have discovered that the company has ceased operations. And while the (admittedly well out of date) Chuang Yi website is still online, there has been no official announcement from Chuang Yi that they have entered into voluntary liquidation.
There is not much information online about Chuang Yi's demise, their wikipedia page states that "The company is now defunct" and a discussion on the Singapore Hardware Zone has readers discussing if the company is dead in February 2012. However this discussion later reveals that Chuang Yi just greatly reduced the volumes of manga they were publishing (potentially due to licensing), not the closing of business.
The only proof we could find was from the Singapore Government's Account and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) through their BizFile service to search the online directory of registered entities. The file for Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. states[1] that the company is "In liquidation - Creditors' voluntary winding up" with no date or list of registered events. We can find no further information beyond this.
Chuang Yi was originally founded in the early 1990's to distribute Japanese comics in simplified Chinese and soon branched out to comics from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea after the early success of publishing Dragon Ball and Slam Dunk. In the year 2000 Chuang Yi obtained the Pokémon manga license and launched several Pokémon series in English which by 2003 allowed Chuang Yi to secure distribution into Australia, New Zealand and other nations. Madman Entertainment have been distributing Chuang Yi titles in Australia and New Zealand, the titles being published in a format far similar to Japanese tankōbon complete with translated Japanese dust covers and the back cover art.
In order to help continue distribution of the titles previously published by Chuang Yi, Madman have worked with Viz Media to replace the supply with Viz editions. Vampire Knight and Ouran High Host Club will be the first two titles made available, filling in the gaps until the Chuang Yi editions run out. In addition Madman will be bringing out the Ouran High Host Club box set in May and the first Vampire Knight box set in June.
1. Image of BizFile's Listing for Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. Retrieved on 2014 02 16.
