Tokyopop Tour
I should preface this by saying that though I'm calling a lawyer, the odds of the insurance covering my car look virtually nil, so it's most likely a total loss. And I have to see a dentist to find out why my jaw suddenly started hurting, or if it's actually a problem with a tooth (it's hard to pinpoint.) Maybe I'm clenching my teeth in my sleep. Or I have emerging wisdom teeth. Or jaw cancer. I can't believe how fast my life went from really great to being hit with a Biblical spell of bad luck that shows no signs of abating.
However, I did have a nice tour of the Tokyopop offices. They're huge-- taking up what I think is the entire twentieth floor of a skyscraper across from the La Brea Tar Pits (more or less). They're very consciously hip and cool, with all the desks in various big open areas and posters all over the walls, a library of Japanese manga that I could have spent all day in, clocks set to Tokyo time, and manga and manga-related toys everywhere.
I don't think it's spilling priveleged information to report that the majority of their readers are women, with their current best-selling titles being FRUITS BASKET and DNANGELS-- both very shojo. I told Luis about my circle of manga-reading female pals, many of whom are reading this now, and what they like and how recently some of them got into manga, and he agreed that we are probably Tokyopop's core audience. I'm told that I will be receiving a gift package next month. Which is just as well, because I probably should not be spending my money on manga at the moment. Or on anything but car rentals and dentistry.
However, I did have a nice tour of the Tokyopop offices. They're huge-- taking up what I think is the entire twentieth floor of a skyscraper across from the La Brea Tar Pits (more or less). They're very consciously hip and cool, with all the desks in various big open areas and posters all over the walls, a library of Japanese manga that I could have spent all day in, clocks set to Tokyo time, and manga and manga-related toys everywhere.
I don't think it's spilling priveleged information to report that the majority of their readers are women, with their current best-selling titles being FRUITS BASKET and DNANGELS-- both very shojo. I told Luis about my circle of manga-reading female pals, many of whom are reading this now, and what they like and how recently some of them got into manga, and he agreed that we are probably Tokyopop's core audience. I'm told that I will be receiving a gift package next month. Which is just as well, because I probably should not be spending my money on manga at the moment. Or on anything but car rentals and dentistry.