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NEWS: Some Tokyopop Manga Volumes Out of Stock


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GeneralArrow



Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 225
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:16 am Reply with quote
Well Screw Diamond Comic. They're probably just taking advantage of the situation.
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Richard J.



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis.
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:26 am Reply with quote
Geez, I hope these aren't completely cancelled. I'm buying Moonphase and I would like to get This Ugly Yet Beautiful World. My sister's been buying Tactics and Speed Grapher too. (Maybe Elemental Gelade too but I'm not sure.)

It would suck if all of these were totally gone now. I hope this is either just a reschedule or Tokyopop starting to move to a different distributor. (From everything I've heard, Diamond is annoying as hell to deal with in good times.)
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:27 am Reply with quote
DEC084271 CAUSE OF MY TEACHER GN-street is supposed to be 3/10 per TRSI
JAN094444 DEMON FLOWERS GN VOL 05-street is supposed to be 4/7 per TRSI
JAN094443 DEMON SACRED GN VOL 01-street is supposed to be 4/14 per TRSI
DEC084256 GET BACKERS INFINITY FORTRESS GN VOL 03-street is supposed to be 3/10 per TRSI
JAN094445 JYU OH SEI GN VOL 03-street is supposed to be 4/7 per TRSI
JAN094448 KING OF HELL GN VOL 23-street is supposed to be 4/7 per TRSI
DEC084269 TACTICS GN VOL 08-street is supposed to be 3/10 per TRSI

which covers stuff I buy/pre-order.
So they didn't even print enough to fill pre-orders?
Or they are dropping more titles?
My daughter is refusing to start any titles until they complete publication.
And what's the deal with killing stuff almost at the end? I think they cancelled Satisfaction Guaranteed & Queen's Knight with only a volume or 3 left to go.
They are just really trying to kill their fanbase, aren't they?
Those few of us who are left will drop them, then they can join all the companies going belly up.
I can sort of see Demon Sacred because that was Vol 1, but come one--GetBackers is doing that badly?
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6199
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:19 am Reply with quote
they canceled Speed Grapher? i was hoping to check it out.
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poweranime



Joined: 29 Jun 2004
Posts: 51
Location: Los Angeles
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:09 am Reply with quote
Get ready folks... TP is next to go... saw this coming months ago...
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ConanSan



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 1818
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:16 am Reply with quote
They were dead the second Del Ray came into play, Kodancha was thier last easy way to good stuff. Since then they've been stanching the bleeding to a fatal wound and, honestly, not doing a good job of it, Princess Ai, realy? And Why can't I find any of the FMP novels for trying?

So in in the imortal words, "They're already dead".
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KanonAirHaruhiShuffle



Joined: 18 Jul 2008
Posts: 199
Location: California
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:56 am Reply with quote
well this just sucks Moonphase and Speed Grapher are series i collect and wanted to check out the manga version for This Ugly Yet Beautiful World since i have the anime version and didn't even know the manga version was already out in America.
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tsukikage



Joined: 31 Aug 2002
Posts: 68
Location: Champaign, IL
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:37 am Reply with quote
CCSYueh wrote:
My daughter is refusing to start any titles until they complete publication.

I can see where she's coming from, but honestly I think that sort of approach will just lead to more titles being dropped.
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bci110



Joined: 02 Sep 2006
Posts: 391
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:09 am Reply with quote
CCSYueh wrote:
So they didn't even print enough to fill pre-orders?
Or they are dropping more titles?


I think it's more of the latter - it looks like that TP is planning on dropping titles, which would suck big time especially for ARIA fans as this would be the second time the manga would be kicked to the curb. I'm not ready to jump on Conan-san's bandwagon and claim TP dead just yet, but as I pointed out yesterday on the Manga forum this could be part of the fallout of the combined forces of the current recession and Borders' recent financial problems. Or maybe it could be related to Diamond Comic's new minimum order policy.

I'll stay cautiously optimistic at this point and say that these volumes could be re-solicited in the future. But with the way the current market is acting I have my doubts.
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Pirkaf



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Posts: 156
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:42 am Reply with quote
I wouldn't panic. I'm sure the series like Aria or V.B. Rose are just postponed. They simply can't make everything in time with so many staff members fired...
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nargun



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 924
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:11 am Reply with quote
Here's the thing: Aria v4 exceeded sales expectations. Now, we know that it was "expected" to sell well enough to make enough money for tokyopop to be worth going on with [even after factoring for opportunity cost], because else it would never have been released and the plug would have been pulled after v3.

It met those expectations, and it exceeded them handilly; clearly the title's profitable for tokyopop.

Yet v5, of a line we know to be decently profitable, is being yanked. This suggests a couple of possibilities:
a: circumstances have dramatically changed, and a level of popularity that was profitable is so no longer, or
b: tokyopop is out of cash or some other resource[1], and can no longer support the merely "profitable" at this point,
[there's also a possible c:, contract renegotiations w/mag garden &c]

[1] Probably labour, but it hardly matters; it all boils down to a shortage of cash somewhere along the way.

EDIT: a moderately short print run and no reprint for aria v4 inclines me to think out of cash.
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JohnnySake



Joined: 22 May 2008
Posts: 582
Location: Auburn Hills, MI
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:20 am Reply with quote
Quote:
However, he was noncommittal about when or if Tokyopop will reprint the book (Aria 4) and explained, "It all depends upon demand — we do monitor our inventory very closely. I'm sure you can understand that we have to be very careful in this economic climate."


Hmmm, a given title sells out on it's first printing and they wonder what they should do. I guess they could call Marvel Comics and ask them what they did when their Spiderman comic with Prez. Obama on the cover sold out in record time. (they had a second printing)

There is nothing wrong with being careful, but to talk that way just rubs me the wrong way. Again, some companies like to keep supply tight so that the demand stays ratcheted up a notch.

However, to think of a positive suggestion you can always contact Tokyopop, in a constructive, well-written letter, and let them know what titles you are reading and ask them to keep them published.

But now I guess it's time to hit the local Borders and try to see if they have an instock copy of Aria 3 or 4...
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The Ramblin' Wreck



Joined: 07 Apr 2003
Posts: 924
Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:48 am Reply with quote
I thought Moonphase was relatively popular?

And, I agree, the decision to hold off on a second run of Aria v4 doesn't bode well.

Come on, Aria v5.
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VORTIA
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Joined: 26 Jul 2005
Posts: 941
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:14 am Reply with quote
One of the biggest problems in the publishing industry is overproduction. Many a company has gone under not because their works weren't popular, but because they overestimated the popularity and produced more print than they could afford to. I cannot blame TokyoPop for not wanting to be stuck with large stacks of manga they can't sell but are forced to pay for and pay to store. Hopefully, Diamond is wrong (as they often are) and these series aren't going out of production, but TokyoPop is simply taking action to protect themselves economically in this difficult market.
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:19 am Reply with quote
JohnnySake wrote:
Quote:
However, he was noncommittal about when or if Tokyopop will reprint the book (Aria 4) and explained, "It all depends upon demand — we do monitor our inventory very closely. I'm sure you can understand that we have to be very careful in this economic climate."


Hmmm, a given title sells out on it's first printing and they wonder what they should do. I guess they could call Marvel Comics and ask them what they did when their Spiderman comic with Prez. Obama on the cover sold out in record time. (they had a second printing)

There is nothing wrong with being careful, but to talk that way just rubs me the wrong way. Again, some companies like to keep supply tight so that the demand stays ratcheted up a notch.

However, to think of a positive suggestion you can always contact Tokyopop, in a constructive, well-written letter, and let them know what titles you are reading and ask them to keep them published.

But now I guess it's time to hit the local Borders and try to see if they have an instock copy of Aria 3 or 4...


Though maybe writing a letter might help, that doesn't guarentee a series will be safe. If the series doesn't sell well or isn't popular enough, more likely the series willl be cancelled regardless where the series is.

About two years ago, I politely and respectfully called Nintendo every day for three months to ask them to bring Mother Three (Earthbound 2) to North America. Two years later, Mother Three still isn't availble here in the United States. So either there are other circumstances or the employees I spoke to never told their bosses of the popuarlity of the game.

I don't think Tokyo Pop close just yet. This company still has some "strong" selling titles. As for Dimond, why are they even involved?
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