Tokyopop
If I'm understanding this properly, Tokyopop is ceasing operations in North America. Although anime/manga was always existent in America -- early series such as Speed Racer (Mach Go Go Go in Japan), Transformers, and Ranma ½ are good examples -- I wouldn't say it became popular until the past decade or so. I jumped on the manga/anime bandwagon pretty early on (back then, anime was often called Japanimation) because my older brother and cousins followed series like Macross, Gundam, or movies like Ninja Scroll. I believe Cartoon Network's Toonami really opened the door for a lot of younger viewers with series like Gundam Wing (I even watched it back in the day with Moltar), and, whether you like it or not, Naruto really pushed awareness into the popular mind, opening people to other series within the Shounen Jump catalog.
I bought copious amounts of Viz titles, mostly because that company was created first. In the early 90s most manga translation companies flipped the pages around, realizing Americans were not accustomed to reading from right to left. When Tokyopop came onto the scene in 1997, they made an "innovation": They didn't flip the pictures, something that most companies follow today. In fact, I believe Viz rereleased their Ranma ½ with the original format (I still have the early 90s version, the huge volumes). Throughout high school, I was quasi-popular because I owned over 300 volumes of manga, and people would often request to borrow volumes. Looking back at it, it was pretty ridiculous: Jump titles generally cost $8, Viz were $9, and Tokyopop were $10. How the hell did a high school have all that money for manga? Anyway, I generally bought from two companies: Viz and Tokyopop. Other distributors, like Dark Horse, Del Rey, and Central Park Media, were rare if nonexistent in my collection.
Out of all my series, without a doubt the most popular was GTO. Not Naruto, not One Piece, not FMA, but GTO. People ate that up. I had long waiting lists for the newest volume. And on the top of the spine was that giant, red Tokyopop logo right in your face. (When I first started the series, they just put a small watermark on the top. Then throughout the years they added that thing. I hated it because it clashed with the cover.) So in my mind I thought those two companies would stay strong. Even after Central Park Media folded, I knew Viz and Tokyopop would still be there.
So you can imagine my surprise when I heard the news today via Tokudane (yeah, yeah, Kisha Club. I still have Tokudane in my head). I stopped buying English manga as my Japanese improved and now am repurchasing all those series in Japanese (it's a pain in the ass to find the older series), so I've been out of the loop for awhile. Has online translation really hurt the industry that much? If so, I'm actually pretty surprised. I would say the mid-2000s was the Golden Age of translation; people just did it without fear of repercussion. Then afterward companies got wise and began issuing C&D letters. Take, for example, how Libre (a Japanese company!) sent out those letters to the yaoi groups in September of 2010. It creates a fearful atmosphere. Although free, online translation is still going strong, it feels more stilted than before.
So what the hell happened? Either way, R.I.P. my dear friend Tokyopop. Even though you're still alive in Germany, even though your translations often sucked, you still were a good friend to me in my younger years. Thank you, thank you.