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PR: Tokyopop Looks Ai-Head at 2007




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ZeroRyoko1974



Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 258
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:44 pm Reply with quote
I thought Fruits Basket was their top selling Manga. I don't recall Princess Ai ever being listed in the top selling graphic novel or usa today book sales list.
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mufurc



Joined: 09 Jun 2003
Posts: 612
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:49 pm Reply with quote
Pssh. Vanity projects are always "best-selling," even when they're not.

(Btw, "ai-head" is the worst pun I've seen in years...)
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ZeroRyoko1974



Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 258
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:51 pm Reply with quote
OEL's aren't manga anyway, I hate it when they call it manga.
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Abarenbo Shogun



Joined: 19 Jul 2005
Posts: 1573
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:40 pm Reply with quote
ZeroRyoko1974 wrote:
OEL's aren't manga anyway, I hate it when they call it manga.


Too bad we can't sue TOKYOPOP for false advertising.
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Tempest
I Run this place.
ANN Publisher


Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:52 pm Reply with quote
ZeroRyoko1974 wrote:
OEL's aren't manga anyway, I hate it when they call it manga.


Princess Ai's "OEL" status is debatable.

The artist is an established Japanese manga-ka. Although "DJ Milky" is credited as the author, we don't know if he wrote an outline and allowed the artist full creative freedom, or if he dictated each panel.

-t
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Ktimene's Lover



Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 2242
Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:32 pm Reply with quote
I find it to be manga. Here's something to consider: if there's no such thing as OEL manga or anime since anime can be only be done by the Japanese, can Americans only do American animation (which is often animated by the Asians)? That is, since it's American, can no other country work on it. I think we are too critical of manga and anime.
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Abarenbo Shogun



Joined: 19 Jul 2005
Posts: 1573
PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:44 am Reply with quote
Ctimene's Lover wrote:
I find it to be manga. Here's something to consider: if there's no such thing as OEL manga or anime since anime can be only be done by the Japanese, can Americans only do American animation (which is often animated by the Asians)? That is, since it's American, can no other country work on it. I think we are too critical of manga and anime.


When I want a Pepsi, I don't want Safeway Go2 Cola.

When I ask for Nike's, I don't want Keds.

Likewise, when I ask for Manga, I don't want some Amercian artist/company trying to peddle American Art as Manga. It's called a Comic Book or Graphic Novel.
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Otaku0013



Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 19
Location: SC
PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:30 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I thought Fruits Basket was their top selling Manga. I don't recall Princess Ai ever being listed in the top selling graphic novel or usa today book sales list

Its not their topselling overall manga, just their topselling OEL manga.
Well, it was in the Bookscan, here. and Tokyopop has said that Princess Ai is their best selling OEL title.

Quote:
OEL's aren't manga anyway, I hate it when they call it manga.

Manhwa isn't manga either but everyone still calls it manga anyway.

Princess Ai is overall a mediocre series but has sold well thanks to Tokyopop's heavy promotion of it. Any idea why they promoted it so much?
Answerman tells us who DJ Milky is and why Princess Ai recieved such heavy promotion here. Or if you're too lazy to click the link:
Quote:


Dear Answerman, I was reading princess AI the other day and I noticed it was written by someone called "DJ Milky". when I went back to the bookstore I saw his name on some other books too, so I looked around on the internet and couldn't really find out a lot about him besides his website which doesn't really tell me a lot. who is DJ Milky? Is he a real DJ?

Ahhh, DJ Milky. One of the industry's worst-kept "secrets" (although I'm not sure if it's even really kept "secret" anymore). If you go by his Myspace profile, DJ Milky appears to be a hip young dude who's responsible for Princess Ai and a few other titles; there's even some animatics from the upcoming Princess Ai movie, credited as "A DJ Milky Film". There are a few choice quotes on that page that kinda sum up the image DJ Milky is trying to project:

Funky ass beats so u can move to the groove

About me:
i create. i chill. i bug. i trip. so don't hate. word.

Who I'd like to meet:
the realest muthas out there.

There are a handful of photos there, but the personal information is all purposefully vague (like his age being "100 years old"). The fact is, if you scour most of DJ Milky's site, you'll never once see him cop to the fact that he's Stu Levy, founder and CEO of Tokyopop.

Generally when people find out about that a whole bunch of puzzle pieces fall into place.

Levy's projects - OEL manga like Juror 13, Karma Club, and especially Princess Ai, are all aimed squarely at the young adult market, and DJ Milky is a persona Levy created in order to more effectively sell these titles and indeed the entire "manga lifestyle" thing he's been pimping for a few years now. There isn't anything necessarily "wrong" with it, but there are a few things about it that some fans may find a little irritating.

The whole "yo sup im just buggin here writin princess ai yall" thing is really transparent; it's obvious that someone of Levy's age and position in life doesn't really talk like that. He might be "sincere", but it comes across as an incredibly thick layer of marketing speak designed to reel in kids.

The other thing about this is that Levy's projects - especially Princess Ai - appear to get the biggest marketing push Tokyopop has to offer, with DJ Milky's name slapped all over it (most of the books also advertise "original poetry by DJ Milky!" as though he's already a well-known artist). Not only is the guy apparently using the company's best resources to pimp his own projects, he's also positioning himself specifically so if any of them are a success, he gains a whole lot of celebrity. In my estimation, it's all a little crass and transparent; if I were a teenager and I bought into DJ Milky's whole thing and then found out he was the middle-aged CEO of the company that publishes the book I'm reading who is A) not actually a DJ and B) nowhere near my age, I'd probably be a little pissed off and feel like I'd been duped.

But hey, maybe that's just me.
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Kouji



Joined: 01 Oct 2005
Posts: 978
PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:50 pm Reply with quote
Abarenbo Shogun wrote:
Likewise, when I ask for Manga, I don't want some Amercian artist/company trying to peddle American Art as Manga. It's called a Comic Book or Graphic Novel.
I'd like to see you try living in Japan where all comic books are called manga regardless of their origins.
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