NEWS: Bandai Entertainment to cease any new releases in the US
Anime News Network announced yesterday that Bandai is changing their company model from releasing DVDs, Blu-rays, and manga domestically to handling licensing and sub-licensing for digital, tv and merchandise for group company properties. This means that effective immediately, Bandai will no longer be releasing any new properties in the US or Canada.
While this primarily effects anime releases, Bandai does also release manga. So titles that were announced for a 2012 release--Kannagi, Gurren Lagann, Code Geass: Renya of Darkness, Mobile Suit Gundam OOI, Lucky Star Boo Boo Kabagoo and Tales of the Abyss: Jade in My Memories--will NOT be released, and Bandai has no idea what will happen to these titles at this time. (Though from what it sounds like, Bandai wouldn't mind letting another publisher pick up the rights to finish these titles.)
Bandai says that while they are no longer going to be releasing new titles, they will keep making and selling what they already have to shops and distributors (like The Right Stuf, for example) until they lose individual licensees for titles. So everything Bandai has put out up to this point will not be going out of print, though it sounds like from this interview released today about the downsizing that Bandai doesn't have much interest in publishing manga anymore, thus their manga titles might not be reprinted once stock is depleted.
So what does this mean in general? If you've been following any Bandai-released manga that still hasn't been finished, you're probably going to have a long wait to see it picked up again--and that's only if we're lucky. Some companies picked up titles were Tokyopop left off when they called it quits, but license and distribution red tape could hold up these titles; or even prevent it from even happening.
If there were any Bandai manga titles you were interested in before and never picked up, you might want to do so just in case they become out of print.
While this primarily effects anime releases, Bandai does also release manga. So titles that were announced for a 2012 release--Kannagi, Gurren Lagann, Code Geass: Renya of Darkness, Mobile Suit Gundam OOI, Lucky Star Boo Boo Kabagoo and Tales of the Abyss: Jade in My Memories--will NOT be released, and Bandai has no idea what will happen to these titles at this time. (Though from what it sounds like, Bandai wouldn't mind letting another publisher pick up the rights to finish these titles.)
Bandai says that while they are no longer going to be releasing new titles, they will keep making and selling what they already have to shops and distributors (like The Right Stuf, for example) until they lose individual licensees for titles. So everything Bandai has put out up to this point will not be going out of print, though it sounds like from this interview released today about the downsizing that Bandai doesn't have much interest in publishing manga anymore, thus their manga titles might not be reprinted once stock is depleted.
So what does this mean in general? If you've been following any Bandai-released manga that still hasn't been finished, you're probably going to have a long wait to see it picked up again--and that's only if we're lucky. Some companies picked up titles were Tokyopop left off when they called it quits, but license and distribution red tape could hold up these titles; or even prevent it from even happening.
If there were any Bandai manga titles you were interested in before and never picked up, you might want to do so just in case they become out of print.